Transcription
What is meditation? Understand this small incident. It is said about Chang Ching, he was a great poet, a great connoisseur of beauty. They say, there has been no philosopher of beauty like him in China. He has written invaluable texts on aesthetics, on aesthetics, which no one else has written. He was like the Croche of those old days. For twenty years he remained immersed in texts. He kept searching for what beauty is. One night, at midnight, immersed in books, he got up, moved the curtain, peeked out the door—the full moon was in the sky. The tall poplar trees stood as if in meditation. A gentle breeze was blowing. And climbing on the breeze, the fragrance of flowers reached his nostrils. A bird, a water bird, cried out loudly, and in the cry of that water bird, something happened—something was accomplished. Chang Ching, as if speaking to himself, said—How mistaken I was! How mistaken I was! Raise the screen and see the world. How mistaken I was! How mistaken I was! Raise the screen and see the world! For twenty years, he did not know beauty from books. He removed the curtain, and beauty stood before him, in person. You ask, ‘What is meditation?’ Meditation is the art of removing the curtain. And this curtain is not outside, this curtain lies within you, it lies on your innermost being. Meditation is removing the curtain. The curtain is woven with thoughts. The curtain is woven from the warp and weft of thought. Good thoughts, bad thoughts, the curtain is woven from their warp and weft. As you begin to peek beyond thoughts, or succeed in stilling thoughts, or succeed in removing thoughts, meditation will happen. Meditation is the name of the state of thoughtlessness. Meditation means, a state within when you are, the world is, and there is no curtain of thought between the two. Sometimes, seeing the sun rise, sometimes seeing the full moon, sometimes seeing these quiet trees, sometimes meditating on the flowers of the Gulmohar—you are, the Gulmohar is, decorated like a bride, and there are no thoughts in between. Not even the thought that this is a Gulmohar tree, not even the thought; that the flowers are beautiful, not even the thought—words are not arising—speechless, silent, stunned you remain, that moment is called meditation. At first, it will be momentary, it will happen sometimes, and when you want it, it will not happen, when it happens, it will happen. Because this is not a matter of desire, in desire, thought has entered. This will happen sometimes. Therefore, regarding meditation, grasp one thing firmly, grasp it very deeply—it does not happen by your desire. This is such a big thing that it does not happen by your desire. It happens sometimes, spontaneously, in a quiet moment. So, what should we do? What should we do for meditation? This is perhaps what you wanted to ask, what is meditation? How to do it? For meditation, we can only do this much: relax ourselves, stop the hustle and bustle for a while, for a moment in twenty-four hours, leave all the rush. Take a pillow, go out, lie down on the lawn, lean against a tree, close your eyes; reach the riverbank, lie down in the sand, listen to the murmur of the river. I am not telling you to go to temples or mosques, because where is meditation in stones! You seek living nature. That is why Buddha told his disciples, go to the forest. There, nature dances all around. You will stay there for twenty-four hours, for how long will you resist, sooner or later—despite yourself—in some moment, nature will spontaneously embrace you. If for a moment you are touched, if for a moment the doors open, if for a moment the curtain is lifted, then the first experience of meditation has happened. And after the first experience, experiences become easier. They become easier because then you understand one thing: there is no direct way to attain meditation, it is an indirect path. Remain relaxed, walk slowly, leave the rush, immerse yourself in nature for at least an hour in twenty-four hours, listen to music, listen to the songs of birds; if there is nothing to do, close your eyes, listen to your breath. Buddha emphasized this greatly. Keep watching your breath—it came, it went, it came, it went—make a rosary of this, there is no better rosary than this. If you turn a rosary in your hand, that is a very inert rosary. Here, living breath is flowing, the rosary of breath is being turned—breath came in, went out, breath came in, went out—keep watching this inner cycle, this mandala of breath; with peace, in silence, keep gazing at it, and you will be surprised, in some precious moment, the rhythm will suddenly fall into place, suddenly everything becomes one, you are gone, the world is gone. At first, such glimpses will come for a moment, and then they will be lost. When they are lost, do not yearn for them intensely, otherwise they will never come. When they are lost, say, okay; when they come again, we will experience them again. But keep the doors and windows open for their coming. Understand it like this: the sun has come out, you are sitting in your room with the door closed, light does not come inside. Now, there is no way to tie the sun in a bundle and bring it inside! There is no way to herd the sun's rays inside like cattle! What will you do? Open the door, the sun's rays will come inside on their own. Sometimes it will be night and they will not come, because the sun is not there. Sometimes it will be day and they will come, because the sun is there. Sometimes it will be day and the clouds will be overcast, and they will not come, because the sun is covered by clouds. But sometimes there will be opportunities when it is day, there are no clouds, the sun is visible, then the rays will come inside. You don't obstruct it much, that's enough. Take my words to heart. Meditation is not done directly, do not obstruct it. That is why I say, dance, sing. Immerse yourself in dancing and singing, and suddenly you will find, like a gust of wind, meditation will come, it will bathe you, it will make every hair on your body thrill, refresh you. Gradually, you will begin to understand this art—meditation is not a science, it is an art. Gradually, you will begin to understand in which moments meditation happens, and how I should leave myself open in those moments. As soon as you learn this little thing, you will have the key in your hand. Use it like this—sometimes at night you wake up, you are lying in bed, do not be troubled by insomnia, do not miss this opportunity, this is an auspicious moment. The whole world is asleep, wife-children, everyone is asleep, so you have got an opportunity. Sit up in your bed, listen to the silence of the night; these chirping crickets, this silence of the night, this whole world asleep, all the noise stopped, just listen to it peacefully. This silence will resonate silence within you too. This silence echoing outside will create a resonance, an echo, in your heart too. When the whole house and the whole world are asleep, it is difficult to find a more auspicious moment for meditation than sitting quietly in your bed at midnight. But I am not saying that you should set an alarm at midnight and sit up. Never! Otherwise, it will be a deception. If you make it a rule to set an alarm and wake up at two in the night and sit, then everything will go wrong. Meditation does not come by pulling. Meditation is such a delicate matter. When you call it, it becomes hesitant, it does not come. Meditation is a very delicate bride. Do not force it, otherwise it will be rape. It has to be coaxed very slowly. Remember the word coax. Meditation has to be coaxed. Then it can happen at any time in twenty-four hours; but keep in mind that it has to be coaxed, not planned. Otherwise, people wake up every day at five in the morning and sit for meditation. Like inert objects, mechanically, like machines. No, such meditation does not happen. Yes, keep in mind, have some feeling in your heart too, that when your heart is flowing, do not miss it. Then, even if there are a thousand tasks, leave them and sit in solitude. Even if you sit in your bathroom, it will be fine. But when you feel that yes, the inner clock seems to be ticking, thoughts are somewhat less, tension is somewhat less, the mind is somewhat cheerful, joyful—this is the moment! People often do the opposite. They meditate when their mind is sad. People remember God in sorrow! It will become very difficult when the wind is blowing in the opposite direction. Remember in happiness. Therefore, my principles are unique. I tell you, when your mind seems very happy. A friend has come home, met after a long time, hugged, chatted, the mind is fresh, light, you are very happy, do not miss this opportunity. Sit in solitude. In this moment, the melody of happiness is playing, God is very close. Happiness itself means, when knowingly or unknowingly God is near; whether you know it or not! When happiness rings within you, it means that God has come very close to you. You have reached God by wandering on some unknown path, the temple is near, that is why happiness is ringing. Do not miss this moment. In this moment, search quickly, the door of the temple will be found on the edge, within reach. But people remember in sorrow, forget in happiness! In sorrow, you have fallen very far from the temple, there is infinite distance. In sorrow, one does not even believe that God can exist. In sorrow, it feels like there is no one in this world. In sorrow, it feels like some devil is running this world. Some wicked person! In sorrow, it feels like ending oneself—no gratitude, no sense of thanks arises; how can it arise in sorrow! But people go to temples, mosques, remember God, pray in sorrow, and forget in happiness. And I tell you, it happens in happiness. In the moment of happiness, you are closest. At that time, slip away. At that time, lie down on the ground in prostration, place your head on the earth, lie down on the cool, wet lawn, close your eyes, think of yourself at that moment as meeting the earth, becoming one with the earth. And you will find, sometimes a wave comes, like a ripple, something trembles in your life, a new string is played. Gradually, you will recognize it. And gradually, you will learn the art. You will gradually begin to recognize when its moments occur. What is your state when this happens in closeness; and what is your state when this is difficult. Then you will grasp the recognition; your self-knowledge, your recognition, your identification will gradually become clear. At first, it is like groping in the dark. But meditation happens. And sometimes it happens even to those people who have never thought about meditation. It happens even to the irreligious. Because there is no condition for meditation. It happens to small children. It happens more to small children than to adults. A child is running after a butterfly, the morning sun has risen, he is going after the butterfly, he forgets everything, the butterfly has become everything, he does not remember himself, he is flying like a butterfly, in that moment he gets a glimpse of meditation. People remember their whole lives that there was great happiness in childhood. What happiness is this memory of? Do you think you had a lot of wealth in childhood? You did not, not at all, you had to cry for two paise! You had to depend on your father and mother for every single paisa! There was no wealth. Was there any high position? Where would there be a position! There were all sorts of troubles, school was a prison, where you were sent daily tied up; where sitting, you only got troubled and understood nothing. And everyone suppressed you, you had no strength. Everyone was riding on your chest. So, how was there happiness in childhood? There was no wealth, no position, no prestige; no one gave respect, how could there be happiness? Happiness was something else. In running after butterflies, a ray of meditation descended. In collecting shells and conches on the seashore, a moment of supreme bliss descended. You brought pebbles and stones and thought you had brought diamonds, and with what gait you came, lost in yourself! You had nothing in your hand, but there was some facility of meditation. In my view, there is no happiness in childhood except meditation. You have forgotten, you only remember that there was great happiness. If someone asks you to tell what was the happiness, you will be in trouble. And you do not even remember meditation, the word meditation has become unfamiliar. The child did not even know that this is meditation. But what does knowing make a difference! Whether you know it is gold or not, what difference does it make? Gold is gold. As you grew older, meditation was lost, because you got caught up in thoughts. You were taught thoughts. Schools, colleges, universities, all teach thoughts. So far, humanity has such misfortune that no university teaches meditation! Thoughts. Gradually, you became filled with thoughts, filled and filled. Worries, worries, you missed those small moments when the curtain would lift—it would lift on its own. You see, how cheerful children seem! Small children, who have nothing! There is no reason to be happy, they are happy without reason. That uncaused happiness is meditation. See, a small child is lying in his cradle, there is nothing to suck, he is sucking his thumb, and how happy he seems! He seems so happy that Alexander would not have been so happy, Akbar and Ashoka would not have been so happy, owners of the largest empires would not have been so happy! He has nothing, or he is sucking his hand or his thumb. But something is happening. The curtain is still open, thoughts are not yet arising. There is a story among the Jews that when a child is born, gods come and touch the child's head; so that he forgets the happiness that he experienced in God's house, otherwise life will become very difficult—they do this out of compassion, otherwise life will become very difficult. If he remembers that happiness, life will become very difficult, in comparison. Whatever you do, it will seem futile. Earn wealth, gain position, get the most beautiful wife and husband, have the best children, have a big house, a car, nothing will seem meaningful if that happiness is remembered. So, the Jewish story says that a god descends out of compassion and just touches every child's forehead. With the touch of that hand, the curtain closes, he forgets God. He forgot happiness, then he starts thinking in the sorrows of this life, there will be happiness. That curtain has to be opened again, which the gods have closed. I don't think any gods close it. Gods cannot do such foolishness. But society closes it. Perhaps the story is indicating that. Parents, family, society, schools close it, they put up the curtain. They put it up in such a way that you forget that there is a door here, you start thinking it is a wall. Meditation means, removing this curtain. And let it happen spontaneously, let it catch you sometimes—and when this wave catches you, leave a million tasks and sit. Because there is no work more valuable than this. Be it night or day, morning or evening, do not look then. You will not miss anything, you will not lose anything. And your wealth will be unparalleled then. And this wealth lies within you, it is just a matter of removing the curtain. ‘What is meditation?’ Meditation is removing the curtain that lies within.