What is meditation

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You are still concerned with the other. In contemplation the other is there,

although of course not so exclusively as it is in concentration. Contemplation

has more fluidity than concentration. In concentration the mind is one-pointed;

in contemplation the mind is oriented towards one subject, not towards one

point. You can go on thinking about it, you can go on changing and flowing with

the subject, but still, on the whole, the subject remains the same.

 

Then what is meditation? Meditation is just being delighted in your own

presence; meditation is a delight in your own being. It is very simple -- a

totally relaxed state of consciousness where you are not doing anything. The

moment doing enters, you become tense; anxiety enters immediately. How to do?

What to do? How to succeed? How not to fail? You have already moved into the

future.

 

If you are contemplating, what can you contemplate? How can you contemplate the

unknown? How can you contemplate the unknowable? You can contemplate only the

known. You can chew it again and again, but it is the known. If you know

something about Jesus, you can think again and again; if you know something

about Krishna, you can think again and again. You can go on modifying, changing,

decorating -- but it is not going to lead you towards the unknown. And God is

the unknown.

 

Meditation is just to be, not doing anything -- no action, no thought, no

emotion. You just are. And it is a sheer delight. From where does this delight

come when you are not doing anything? It comes from nowhere, or, it comes from

everywhere. It is uncaused, because the existence is made of the stuff called

joy. It needs no cause, no reason. If you are unhappy you have a reason to be

unhappy; if you are happy you are simply happy -- there is no reason for it.

Your mind tries to find a reason because it cannot believe in the uncaused

because it can not control the uncaused -- with the uncaused the mind simply

becomes impotent. So the mind goes on finding some reason or other. But I would

like to tell you that whenever you are happy, you are happy for no reason at

all, whenever you are unhappy, you have some reason to be unhappy -- because

happiness is just the stuff you are made of. It is your very being, it is your

innermost core.

 

Joy is your innermost core.

 

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the

stars...and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is

joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not

going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become

rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers -- for no

reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.

 

The whole existence is made of the stuff called joy. Hindus call it

satchitanand, ananda, joy. That's why no reason, no cause is needed. If you can

just be with yourself, not doing anything, just enjoying yourself, just being

with yourself, just being happy that you are, just being happy that you are

breathing, just being happy that you are listening to these cuckoos -- for no

reason then you are in meditation. Meditation is being here now. And when one is

happy for no reason, that happiness cannot be contained within yourself. It goes

on spreading to others, it becomes a sharing. You cannot hold it, it is so much,

it is so infinite. You cannot hold it in your hands, you have to allow it to

spread.

 

This is what compassion is. Meditation is being with yourself and compassion is

overflowing with that being. It is the same energy that was moving into passion

that becomes compassion. It is the same energy that was narrowed down into the

body or into the mind. It is the same energy that was leaking from small holes.

 

What is sex? Just a leakage of energy from a small hole in the body. Hindus call

these -- exactly -- holes. When you are flowing, overflowing, when you are not

moving through the holes, all walls disappear. You have become the whole. Now

you spread. You cannot do anything about it.

 

It is not that you have to be compassionate, no. In the state of meditation you

are compassion. Compassion is as warm as passion -- hence the word "compassion."

It is very passionate but the passion is unaddressed and the passion is not in

search of any gratification. The whole process has become just the reverse.

First you were seeking some happiness somewhere -- now you have found it and you

are expressing it.

 

Osho: Dang Dang Doko Dang, Chapter 5