Meditation For Busy People – The Art of Listening

The Art of Listening

THE ART OF LISTENING

“Your mind is continuously bombarded from all sides by all kinds of thoughts. To protect itself, each mind has created a subtle wall of buffers so those thoughts are turned back, they don’t enter your mind. It is basically good, but then slowly those buffers have grown so much that now they don’t allow anything in. Even if you want, they are no longer in your control. And the only way to break them is the same way as breaking your own thoughts.

“Just become a witness of your thoughts. And as your thoughts start disappearing, the need for the buffers to protect those thoughts will not be there; those buffers will start falling. These are all abstract phenomena, so you cannot see them, but their effects are there.

“Only the man who knows how to meditate knows how to listen, or vice-versa. The man who knows how to listen knows how to meditate, because it is the same thing.”

Step 1: Sit by the side of a tree, on your bed, anywhere — just try to listen to the traffic noise, but intensely and totally, with no judgment that it is good or bad.

“Your thoughts will drop, and with that your buffers will drop, and suddenly a gap opens up which leads you into silence and peace.

“For centuries this has been the only way for anyone to come close to the reality of his own being and the mystery of existence. And as you come closer, you start feeling cooler, you start feeling happier; you start feeling fulfilled, contented, blissful. A point comes where you are so full of bliss that you can share with the whole world; still your blissfulness will remain the same. You can go on giving, but there is no way to exhaust it.

“Here you can only learn the method; then you have to use that method whenever you can, wherever you can. And you have so much time — standing in a bus, sitting in a train, lying down on the bed….”

Osho, The Osho Upanishad, Talk #16

Osho on “The Mind”

“A readiness to take responsibility for the creation of your own misery, joy, negativity, positivity, hell or heaven.  When this responsibility is understood and accepted, things start changing.  Be open to a new possibility.

There is a famous parable:

Once a man was traveling and entered paradise accidentally.  Now, in the Indian concept of paradise there are wish-fulfilling trees.  You just sit underneath them, desire anything, and immediately it is fulfilled– there is no gap between the desire and the fulfillment.

The man was tired so he fell asleep under this wish-fulfilling tree.  When he awoke, he was feeling very hungry.  So he said, ‘I am feeling so hungry.  I wish I could get some food from somewhere.’  And immediately food appeared out of nowhere– just floating in the air, delicious food.

He was so hungry that he didn’t pay much attention to where it had come from– when you are hungry, you are not philosophic.  He immediately started eating, and the food was so delicious… Then, once his hunger was gone, he looked around.

Now he was feeling satisfied.  Another thought rose in him:  ‘If only I could get something to drink…’ And there is still no prohibition in paradise; immediately, precious wine appeared.

Drinking the wine relaxedly in the cool breeze of paradise under the shade of the tree, he started wondering, ‘What is going on?  What is happening? Have I fallen into a dream, or are there some ghosts around who are playing tricks with me?’

And ghosts appeared.  And they were ferocious, horrible, nauseating.  And he started trembling and a thought rose in him: ‘Now I am sure to be killed…’

And he was killed.

This parable is an ancient parable, of immense significance .  Your mind is the wish-fulfilling tree– whatsoever you think, sooner or later it is fulfilled.”

osho.com

 

A Doctor’s View of Meditation

“The benefits of meditation have been well proven by science. Meditation reduces chronic pain, blood pressure, headaches, anxiety and depression. It helps you lose weight, lowers cholesterol, increases sports performance, boosts immune function, relieves insomnia, increases serotonin, improves creativity, optimizes brain waves, helps in learning, focuses attention, increases productivity, enhances memory, and more.

But none of those reasons are the reasons I meditate. It is to be more awake to life, to myself, to cultivate loving kindness and compassion toward myself, others, and to the sordid human condition we find ourselves in.

The good news is that all you need is a few minutes and a place to sit and be quiet (you can do this anywhere).

Here is a simple instruction for mindfulness meditation you can do from Dr. Mark Hyman:

Sit in a comfortable position. Try to sit in the same place each day. Avoid positions that you might fall asleep in.
a. The back is long and supports itself.
b. Shoulders are relaxed downward, the neck is long, and the chin is pointing neither up nor   down.
c. The face is relaxed.

Begin to breathe (preferably through the nostrils). Feel the belly rise, the ribs expand, and the slight movement in the collarbones and shoulders as the breath moves upward. Feel the exhalation.

Focus on one aspect of the breath.
a. The movement of air in and out of the nostrils.
b. Or the lifting and falling of the belly.

Watch that one aspect of the breath.
a. When the mind wanders, gently bring it back to the breath and the aspect you have chosen to watch.
b. Do this as many times as you need to.
c. There is no such thing as a good or bad meditation. (Good and bad are judgments, events in the mind – just note them and go back to the breathing.)

Start with 5 to 10 minutes and then increase the time until you can sit for 30 minutes.”  Mark Hyman, MD, facebook@drmarkhyman

Meditation Stops Resistant Thought

“That’s why so many of us teach meditation. Because when you stop thought, you stop resistant thought. When you stop resistant thought, then you let it in. That’s why we teach appreciation, because when you’re in appreciation, you are not in the mode of resistance, and you are letting it in.”
—Abraham
Excerpted from the workshop: North Los Angeles, CA on August 13, 2001