OSHO MEDITATION TECHNIQUES - 4

Meditation on the Navel Center

Taken from:
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,
Dynamics of Meditation,
Bombay, India, 1972
page 278

This meditation is to be done in a sitting position.
The following are the instructions given by Bhagwan:

During the meditation,
you have to hold your backbone erect,
close your eyes and keep the neck straight.
Lips should be closed,
and the tongue should touch the palate.
You should breathe slowly and deeply.
You should concentrate your attention on the navel.
You have to be aware of the tremor that will be felt
at the point of the navel owing to the breathing.
This is all that you have to do.
This experiment calms the mind and stills all thoughts.
From this Shunya (Void) you ultimately enter yourself.

The body is naturally in a state of equanimity
when the backbone is held upright.
In that position the gravitation of the Earth
has an even effect on the body,
and one finds it easy to be free from its pull.
When the gravitation is at its minimum,
the body does not cause an interference
in one's becoming Shunya, Void of thought
or contentless.

Hold the backbone erect,
but let there be no tension or rigidity in the body.
Let it be relaxed, as if hung on the spine
like a piece of cloth hung on a peg.
Relax the body completely.
Then breathe slowly and deeply.
The inhaling and exhaling
will move the navel center up and down.
Keep observing this movement.
We have not to concentrate on it;
we have merely to observe it,
to be a mere witness to it;
Bear in mind, I am not prescribing concentration,
I am advising simple watchfulness and awareness.

In regard to breathing also,
do it as children do.
Their chests do not move; their stomaches move.
This is the natural process of inhaling and exhaling.
As a result of this,
peace descends on us
and becomes deeper and deeper.
Owing to the disturbed state and tension of our minds,
we gradually lose the ability to breathe fully and
deeply.
By the time we reach youth,
superficial, artificial breathing
becomes a habit with us.
You must have experienced that
the more your mind is disturbed
the more does your breathing lose
its naturalness and rythm.

Breathe in a natural way - rhythmically, effortlessly.
Its harmony helps in removing mental restlessness.