The Soft Power of Touching

When visitors come to Osho International Meditation Resort, they comment, "People look so happy and relaxed here. They touch so easily."

Yes, it is one of the Osho tools for relaxation.

Touch is the first language we learn. If you have forgotten it, go and watch a new born being caressed and cuddled by its mother. The infant has yet to enter the complex world of words, so the first communication it receives through all senses is by touch. And that remains with all of us throughout our lives -- an undercurrent of nonverbal transmition of love and support.

A  touch speaks more than a thousand words. A pat on the back, a caress on the cheek, or the warmth of a hug carries the bioelectric energy of  humanness.

In the brain, prefrontal areas, which help regulate emotion, can relax, freeing them for another of their primary purposes: problem solving. In effect, the body interprets a supportive touch as “I’ll share the load.”

“We think that humans build relationships precisely for this reason, to distribute problem solving across brains,” said James A. Coan, a a psychologist at the University of Virginia. “We are wired to literally share the processing load, and this is the signal we’re getting when we receive support through touch.”

At the Osho International Meditation Resort this happens so naturally, almost unknowningly. Hugs and  embraces flow as freely as the brookes and waterfalls here. This may be the reason why people look so relaxed, so happy. There is a sharing of energy all around, a kind of melting. By touching they participate in each other's being.

www.osho.com/meditationresort

Jesus In The Jar Of Marmite?

It's a BBC news guys : "Family see Jesus image in Marmite "
It may not be immediately obvious to everyone, but one family are convinced they can see the face of Jesus on the lid of a jar of Marmite. The family said they found the image comforting . Claire Allen, the housewife said she was the first to notice the image on the underside of the lid as she was putting the yeast spread on her son's toast.

Now one can understand the need for a saviour or a caretaker for people who are treated roughly by life. In this case Clair Allen admitted that they had a tough couple of months; her mum's been really ill and " it's comforting to think that if Jesus is there, he's watching over us."

That's the crux of the matter. People are desperate for a support, and they let their mind project anything that could give them solace. Since this was a Christian family they projected Jesus, a Hindu family would not have seen anything like this because Hindu gods are all decked up with ornaments and luxurious hairdo.

A Buddhist may project something else.

Osho warns people, particulalry spiritual seekers against falling into this trap as it only weakens the person. The real strength comes out of meditation.

While talking to a man wha had visions Osho said, " The mind starts playing tricks. Somebody will see lights, somebody will start hearing sounds, somebody will start experiencing something else, and the ego says 'This is something great -- it is only happening to you. It is rare. You are special, that's why it is happening to you' and you start cooperating.

My suggestion is: simply disconnect yourself from all this. Whenever anything like this arises just have a good laugh!

And don't pay much attention to it -- just neglect it! One has to become utterly empty. The only spiritual experience worth calling spiritual is the experience of nothingness, of emptiness... what sufis call 'fana', the disappearance of the ego. That is the only spiritual experience -- all else is just mind games. And the mind can create many things. The mind can start hallucinating; it can see visions, Christ and Buddha... The mind has the capacity to dream -- even with open eyes it can dream. When you see Jesus standing in front of you, how not to believe? And there is no Jesus standing before you -- it is your projection.

"That's why Zen masters say 'If you meet the Buddha on the way, kill him!' They are right... absolutely right. It looks sacrilegious, very disrespectful to say that if you meet Buddha on the way, kill him... but it is very true. You will meet the Buddha on the way or Jesus or Mohammed -- that is not the point. You will come across anything that you had been conditioned for in your childhood.

My work is hard because I cannot support any illusions of your mind, I cannot support any hallucinations. I have to cut all kinds of hallucinations."

Excerpted from The Tounge-Tip Taste of Tao

Are You Happy On The Vacations?

Everybody is waiting for and dreaming about the vacations, whether they are simple weekends or long winter vacations, but they are an integral part of work.

The question is: does the dream come true? Do people enjoy actual time spent on their favorite picnic spot?

I always wondered when I saw tourists with the usual paraphernalia going with great excitement from one point to another. The same crowd, the same gossips, the same gobbling between rushing. What is the difference from their daily routine?
Now there is a research available to support my doubt.
' Researchers from the Netherlands set out to measure the effect that vacations have on overall happiness and how long it lasts. They studied happiness levels among 1,530 Dutch adults, 974 of whom took a vacation during the 32-week study period.
' The study, published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, showed that the largest boost in happiness comes from the simple act of planning a vacation. In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks.'

Not only that, there was no post-vacation happiness either. The exhaustion and subtle  disappointment shadowed their much hyped up trips.
Osho makes fun of this attitude of looking for fun elsewhere, not where you are right now. The bottom line is, if you cannot be happy now/here, you cannot be happy anywhere.

Here is an Osho excerpt:
"There are people who are working their whole lives just waiting for their retirement; then they will relax and enjoy. And they know perfectly well: six days they work in the office and wait for the seventh day, the holiday, and hope, "Soon Sunday will come and we will relax and enjoy." And they cannot relax and they cannot enjoy. In fact, the holiday seems to be so long and so boring; they have to fill it with something.

They go for a picnic. The same things that they would have eaten at home, in a relaxed way, now they rush towards a picnic spot miles away to eat. And they are sitting in the grass, and ants are very clever; they know perfectly well where the picnic spots are.

And cars are going there bumper to bumper. And many more accidents happen on Sunday than on any other day, many more deaths on the road than on any other day. Strange! Some holiday!

And the whole city is going towards the same picnic spot, the same beach! I have seen pictures of beaches and I cannot believe what is happening. There is not even space to walk! They are packed . Six hours it takes them to reach the beach, then for one hour they lie down amidst this whole mass of fools under the sun, and then back home... And the whole way they were quarrelling with the wife and the wife is quarrelling with... This you can do at home more at ease, relaxed in an armchair -- nag each other, do whatsoever you want! What is the point of going to the beach? Nobody is seeing the sea, nobody is seeing the sun. Nobody has time."

Excerpted from Guida Spirituale/www.osho.com/library

Active Humour Can Prevent Heart Attack

Laughter, along with an active sense of humour, may help protect you against a heart attack, according to a recent study by cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. The study, which is the first to indicate that laughter may help prevent heart disease, found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease.
An intense sense of humour is needed to be able to laugh at your own life situations. If you take life too seriously you won't be able to laugh whole heartedly.

Osho is the first spiritual master who has incorporated laughter and  jokes as a means to meditation.
He says, "I use so many jokes because I know religious truths are very boring. So first I take you towards boredom, I go into delicate matters, when I see now it is too much and you will not be able to tolerate any more, then I tell you a joke. The pendulum swings back. You are happy again. Again I can bore you! You are fresh, you are ready. Boredom and laughter are the most important qualities of human consciousness."

Many laughter clubs have sprouted around the world and the doctors advise it as a therapy, too. But this kind of laughter is devoid of two important points that makes laughter a meditation. First, laughter without tears cannot cleanse emotions as it does not dig deeper into the giggle points which are also the source of tears. If tears do not follow laughter, it remains superficial. If you laugh totally, it is bound to triggers tears which are cleansing and purifying. And second, silence has to follow laughter which connects one to the deeper layer of the self.

Laughing 'at' somebody is sick, laughing for a reason is intellectual, and laughing for no reason reason is spiritual.
If so much philosophy of laughter has bored you , here is some relief --
Solomon Einstein owns a nail-manufacturing company called "Einstein's Nails." Business is very good so he decides to take a winter vacation in Miami. He leaves his son, Matzo, to run the business while he is away.

One sunny morning, Solly is reading the Miami Tribune at breakfast when he comes across a full-page color advertisement with a picture of Jesus nailed to the cross. Under it is written, "They Used Einstein's Nails!"

Solly jumps on the telephone immediately and calls Matzo.

"You idiot!" screams Solomon. "Don't ever say such a thing again!"

Matzo assures Solly that he understands and not to worry, he will do better the next time.

Two days later, Solly is lounging on the balcony of his deluxe hotel room, reading the newspaper. He turns the page, screams and swallows his cigar. There in full color, Jesus is lying in a crumpled heap below the cross, and underneath is written, "They Should Have Used Einstein's Nails!"

http://www.osho.com/

OSHO Publications at The World Book Fair

Who says books are not being read anymore?

The internet is immensely useful but the warmth of paper which flows from the tree that has roots in the earth still appeals to readers around the globe.

One of the young learners has commented, " The internet is a mile wide and an inch deep. Stick to the books."

As if just to prove him right the 19th New Delhi World Book Fair is to be held from 30 January to 7 February 2010. There will be about three thousand stalls of pubishers, printers and distributers. It is observed that almost twenty four stalls have a prominent display of Osho books, CDs and DVDs. Osho has become a fragrance that permeates the globe.

Osho Publications organized by Osho Media International, Pune, is one of the major book stalls that attracts a huge crowd as the demand for Osho literature is ever increasing.

The name of the stall : OSHO Publications, Pune

 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Stall numbers 11-14 in Hall no. 1

Timing : 10 am to 8 pm
 www.osho.com/library

Osho : "Forget me and forgive me."

Can there be a death anniversary of one who is " never born and never died" ? Sounds ridiculous, isn't it?

When people try to fix Osho into a birth and death pattern, this is what happens -- it looks ridiculous.  Osho

says, death is a fiction . It means we have to drop our old habit of mourning  if we really want to understand Osho.

Osho  is a visionary that has become the vision. This is why Osho consciousness lives on,  it is timeless.

Once someone asked hm : " How Would You Like To Be Remembered?"

Osho said :  "I would simply like to be forgiven and forgotten. There is no need to remember me. The need is to remember yourself! People have remembered Gautam Buddha and Jesus Christ and Confucius and Krishna. That does not help. So what I would like: forget me completely, and forgive me too -- because it will be difficult to forget me. That's why I am asking you to forgive me for giving you the trouble.

"Remember yourself.

"And don't be bothered about historians and all kinds of neurotic people -- they will do their thing. It is none of our concern at all."

  Transmission of the Lamp, Chapter 29, Question 1

Friendliness : The Real Juice of Life

Enjoying Friendliness

OSHO International Meditation Resort, Pune

I have a friend who is very sociable, gets into relationships easily and gets out of them quickly, but  not without scars and wounds. We all see such people around and within us.

Is there a way out? No, there is a way in, says Osho.

 Beware, the moment  friendliness is  frozen into a " friend-ship" it sinks like The Titanic.

Osho says: " Friendship exists between two persons; it is relationship. Friendliness is only a quality; it need not depend on any relationship. It is just the way you live your lire -- it is a friendly life. You are friendly to everything, to the whole existence. You are just a friend, not addressed to anybody in particular, but addressed to the whole, to all.

" In friendship you make an exclusive relationship and you may remain inimical to many people. So enmity and friendship can exist together -- in fact you will have very few friends and many more enemies. But friendliness cannot have any enmity in it, it is inclusive, inclusive of all. And to know friendliness is to know the real juice of life. Life reveals its mysteries only to those who have come to the state of friendliness."

Excerpted From Going All The Way