What is self-centredness? - Osho.

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13. Of these two, abhyasa the inner

practice is the effort for being firmly

established in oneself.

 

The essence of abhyasa is to be

centered in oneself. Whatsoever

happens, you should not move

immediately. First you should be

centered in yourself, and from that

centering you should look around and

then decide.

 

Someone insults you and you are pulled

by his insult. You have moved without

consulting your center. Without even

for a single moment going back to the

center and then moving, you have moved

Abhyasa means inner practice.

 

 

Conscious effort means, " Before I move

out, I must move within. First movement

must be toward my center; first I must

be in contact with my center. There,

centered, I will look at the situation

and then decide. " And this is such a

tremendous, such a transforming

phenomenon. Once you are centered

within, the whole thing appears

different; the perspective has changed.

It may not look like an insult. The man

may just look stupid. Or, if you are

really centered, you will come to know

that he is right, " This is not an

insult. He has not said anything wrong

about it. "

 

 

....

 

So if someone is saying something

about you he may be lying, but just

look again. If he is really true, it

may be worse. Or, whatsoever he is

saying may apply to you. But when you

are centered, you can look about

yourself also dispassionately.

 

 

Patanjali says that of these two,

abhyasa the inner practice-is the

effort for being firmly established in

oneself. Before moving into act, any

sort of act, move within yourself.

First be established there-even if for

only a single moment -- and your action

will be totally different. It cannot be

the same unconscious pattern of old. It

will be something new, it will be an

alive response. Just try it. Whenever

you feel that you are going to act or

to do something, move first within,

because whatsoever you have been doing

up until now has become robot-like,

mechanical. You go on doing it

continuously in a repetitive circle.

 

....

 

Gurdjieff used to say that, " Man is

machine, as he is. You become man only

when you become conscious. And this

constant effort to be established in

oneself will make you conscious, will

make you non-mechanical, will make you

unpredictable, will make you free. Then

someone can insult you and you can

still laugh; you have never laughed

before. Someone can insult you and you

can feel love for the man; you have not

felt that before. Someone can insult

you and you can be thankful towards

him. Something new is being born. Now

you are creating a conscious being

within yourself.

 

But the first thing to do before

moving into act, because act means

moving outward, moving without, moving

toward others, going away from the

self. Every act is a going away from

the self. Before you go away, have a

look, have a contact, have a dip in

your inner being. First be established.

 

 

Before every moment, let there be a

moment of meditation: this is what

abhyasa is. Whatsoever you do, before

doing it close your eyes, remain

silent, move within. Just become

dispassionate, non-attached, so you can

look on as an observer, unprejudiced --

as if you are not involved, you are

just a witness. And then move!

 

....

 

And the more this gap grows, the more

he can look at his own action as if he

is not the doer. Continuous repetition

of Allah, by and by, he starts seeing

that only Allah is the doer. " I am not

the doer. I am just a vehicle or an

instrument. " And the moment this gap

grows, all that is evil falls. You

cannot do evil. You can do evil only

when there is no gap between the actor

and the action. Then good flows

automatically.

 

Greater the gap between the actor and

the action, more the good. Life becomes

a sacred thing. Your body becomes a

temple. Anything that makes you alert,

established within yourself, is abhyasa.

 

 

~Osho