The first thing: for a patient to go to the doctor we must make him realize that he is sick; otherwise there is no need to go to the doctor.
Do we remember when we laughed from our very hearts? We have become robots – we do things because they have to be done but there is no joy in doing them. We are living an accidental life. Our birth is accidental, our marriage is accidental, our children are accidental, our job is accidental. Our life has no sense of intrinsic growth and direction.
That’s why we cannot feel like rejoicing. So first we have to make ourselves aware where we are – and almost everybody is in the same situation. Death is coming close – we cannot even rely on our being here tomorrow. And our life is an absolute desert – it has not found any oasis, it has not felt any meaning, any significance – and death may destroy all possibilities in the future.
That’s why we cannot feel like rejoicing. So first we have to make ourselves aware where we are – and almost everybody is in the same situation. Death is coming close – we cannot even rely on our being here tomorrow. And our life is an absolute desert – it has not found any oasis, it has not felt any meaning, any significance – and death may destroy all possibilities in the future.
So first we have to make ourselves aware of our meaningless, accidental, frustrated life. We know it, but we try to suppress our knowing in many ways, because to know it continuously is a torture. So we go to the movies to forget it. We go to parties, we go to picnics, we do everything – just to somehow not remember the reality of our life, our hollowness, futility.
This is the most important part – to remind ourselves. And once a person remembers all this, then to lead him towards meditation is a very simple thing, because meditation is the only answer to all the questions of man. It may be frustration, it may be depression, it may be sadness, it may be meaninglessness, it may be anguish: The problems may be many but the answer is one.
This is the most important part – to remind ourselves. And once a person remembers all this, then to lead him towards meditation is a very simple thing, because meditation is the only answer to all the questions of man. It may be frustration, it may be depression, it may be sadness, it may be meaninglessness, it may be anguish: The problems may be many but the answer is one.
And the simplest method of meditation is just a way of witnessing. There are one hundred and twelve methods of meditation, but witnessing is an essential part of all one hundred and twelve methods. So as far as I am concerned, witnessing is the only method. Those one hundred and twelve are different applications of witnessing.
The essential core, the spirit of meditation is to learn how to witness. We are seeing a tree: We are there, the tree is there, but can’t we find one thing more? – That we are seeing the tree, that there is a witness in us who is seeing we seeing the tree. The world is not divided only into the object and the subject. There is also something beyond both, and that beyond is meditation.
The essential core, the spirit of meditation is to learn how to witness. We are seeing a tree: We are there, the tree is there, but can’t we find one thing more? – That we are seeing the tree, that there is a witness in us who is seeing we seeing the tree. The world is not divided only into the object and the subject. There is also something beyond both, and that beyond is meditation.
So in every act... people do not need to sit for one hour or half an hour in the morning or in the evening. That kind of meditation is not going to help, because if we meditate for one hour, then for twenty-three hours we will be doing just the opposite of it.
Meditation can be victorious: witnessing is such a method that it can spread over twenty-four hours of our day. Eating, don’t get identified with the eater. The food is there, the eater is there, and we are there, watching. Walking, let the body walk but we simply watch. Slowly, the knack comes. It is a knack, and once we can watch small things....This crow, crowing... we are listening. These are two – object and subject. But can’t we see a witness who is seeing both? – The crow, the listener, and still there is someone who is watching both. It is such a simple phenomenon.
Then we can move into deeper layers: we can watch our thoughts; we can watch our emotions, our moods. There is no need to say, ”I am sad.” The fact is that we are a witness that a cloud of sadness is passing over us. There is anger – we can simply be a witness. There is no need to say, ”I am angry.” We are never angry – there is no way for we to be angry – we are always a witness. The anger comes and goes; we are just a mirror. Things come, get reflected, move – and the mirror remains empty and clean, unscratched by the reflections. Witnessing is finding our inside mirror. And once we have found it, miracles start happening.
When we are simply witnessing the thoughts, thoughts disappear. Then there is suddenly a tremendous silence we have never known. When we are watching the moods – anger, sadness, and happiness – we suddenly disappear and an even greater silence is experienced. And when there is nothing to watch – then the revolution. Then the witnessing energy turns upon itself because there is nothing to prevent it; there is no object left. The word ”object” is beautiful. It simply means that which prevents us, objects us. When there is no object to our witnessing, it simply comes around back to us – to the source. And this is the point where one becomes enlightened.
Then we can move into deeper layers: we can watch our thoughts; we can watch our emotions, our moods. There is no need to say, ”I am sad.” The fact is that we are a witness that a cloud of sadness is passing over us. There is anger – we can simply be a witness. There is no need to say, ”I am angry.” We are never angry – there is no way for we to be angry – we are always a witness. The anger comes and goes; we are just a mirror. Things come, get reflected, move – and the mirror remains empty and clean, unscratched by the reflections. Witnessing is finding our inside mirror. And once we have found it, miracles start happening.
When we are simply witnessing the thoughts, thoughts disappear. Then there is suddenly a tremendous silence we have never known. When we are watching the moods – anger, sadness, and happiness – we suddenly disappear and an even greater silence is experienced. And when there is nothing to watch – then the revolution. Then the witnessing energy turns upon itself because there is nothing to prevent it; there is no object left. The word ”object” is beautiful. It simply means that which prevents us, objects us. When there is no object to our witnessing, it simply comes around back to us – to the source. And this is the point where one becomes enlightened.
Meditation is only a path: the end is always buddhahood, enlightenment. And to know this moment is to know all. Then there is no misery, no frustration, and no meaninglessness; then life is no longer an accident. It becomes part of this cosmic whole – an essential part. And a tremendous bliss arises that this whole existence needs us.
Man’s greatest need is to be needed. If somebody needs us, we feel gratified. But if the whole existence needs us, then there is no limit to our bliss. And this existence needs even a small blade of grass as much as the biggest star. There is no question of inequality. Nobody can substitute for us. If we are not there, then existence will be something less and will remain always something less – it will never be full. That feeling –that this whole immense existence is in need of us– takes all miseries away from us. For the first time, we have come home.
Man’s greatest need is to be needed. If somebody needs us, we feel gratified. But if the whole existence needs us, then there is no limit to our bliss. And this existence needs even a small blade of grass as much as the biggest star. There is no question of inequality. Nobody can substitute for us. If we are not there, then existence will be something less and will remain always something less – it will never be full. That feeling –that this whole immense existence is in need of us– takes all miseries away from us. For the first time, we have come home.
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