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Osho - Whole art of Meditation
consists in Witnessing
Question :
Osho does Witnessing always bring joy? The moments that I call
Witnessing sometimes feel distant -- almost cold in their
neutrality. Other times it is like sprouting wings and soaring
in joy over the open sea.
Osho:
Deva Abhiyana,The
State of Witnessing is neither Cold not Hot. It is neither
happiness nor unhappiness. It is neither dark nor light. It is
neither life nor death. The Upanishads say Neti Neti -- neither
this nor that.
If you feel joy you have already become identified; witnessing
is gone. If you feel sad you are no more a witness; you have
forgotten witnessing, you have become involved. You are colored
by your psychology of the moment.
Joy, sadness, all these qualities, are part of your psychology.
And witnessing is a transcendence; it is not psychological. The
whole art of meditation consists in
witnessing. Then what does
it bring? At the most we can say it brings total peace; it
simply brings eternal silence. You cannot define it as joy. The
moment you define it as joy you have fallen into the world of
duality again. Then you have become part of what is passing, you
have started clinging to it. The state of witnessing remains
indefinable.
That's why Buddha has not used the word 'bliss' at all, because
it can give you a wrong idea -- because in your mind bliss will
mean happiness. That's how you are going to translate it, to
interpret it. Buddha has not used the word 'bliss', he has not
used the word 'God'. The word that he has used is 'absolute
void' --Shunyam. There will be nothing left, just absolute
silence, absolute emptiness -- but not emptiness in the English
meaning of the word. Shunyam has a totally different
connotation; it has been translated and can only be translated
as emptiness.
But emptiness is negative, emptiness means something is missing,
emptiness means loneliness. Emptiness is not a life quality but
a death quality. Shunyam is not negative; it is not even
positive, how can it be negative? It simply means you are alone
-- not lonely, but alone. You are not missing anything. You are
spacious, there is great space in you, but it is not empty of
something. On the contrary, it is utter plenitude. It is full of
emptiness -- if you allow me the expression It is FULL of
emptiness, but one is fulfilled.
Shunyam is blossoming in you. There is great peace but not joy,
because joy becomes positive; but not sadness, because sadness
becomes Negative. Peace is exactly the middle, neither cold nor
hot. It is not neutrality, it is not indifference. It is not a
state where you turn your back towards something, you are no
more interested No, there is no question of disinterest,
indifference or neutrality. You are utterly there, absolutely
there, totally there, but like a mirror, just reflecting
whatsoever is the case.
Joy passes by and the mirror reflects it,
but the mirror does not become joy itself; it never becomes
identified. And sadness comes like a cloud, a dark cloud,
and passes by, and the mirror reflects it. The mirror has no
prejudice against it. The mirror is not favorable to joy and
unfavorable to sadness. The mirror has no liking, no disliking;
it simply reflects whatsoever is the case. It is not neutral,
otherwise it will not reflect; it does not turn its back towards
things.
It is not indifferent, because indifference again means you are
already prejudiced; you have a certain conclusion. It is not
disinterested and you cannot say it is interested -either. It is
a transcendence. Abhiyana, don't get identified with the joy
that comes -- watch it.
Remain a watcher on the hills, a mirror.
Reflect it but don't cling to it. A bird on the wing...and the
lake reflects it. The Zen people say this is the state of
Buddha-hood.
The bird has no mind to be reflected in the lake and the lake
has no mind to reflect the bird, but the bird on the wing...and
the lake reflects it. You see the point: the bird has no mind to
be reflected and the lake has no mind to reflect the bird, but
the bird IS reflected. It simply happens that the lake is there
and the bird is on the wing...the reflection is bound to happen
-- it is natural! The bird is gone; the lake does not miss the
bird, it does not hanker for it, it does not long for it, it
does not hope that it will come again.
It does not go into the past, into the memories, or into the
future projections. The bird has flown; it never thinks of the
lake again, it never desires to be there again. One day it may
be there again, and again it will be reflected, but no
relationship is created. The HAPPENING IS there but no
relationship is there. This is what I call relating, not
relationship. It is a fluid phenomenon. This is witnessing.
Source: from book "Be Still and Know" by Osho
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