Mystic Mantra: The path to samadhi

There is a Zen saying: “Before you meditate, mountains are mountains and water is water. After a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and water no longer water. After enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and water once again water. Meditation creates turmoil in your lifestyle, both within and without. It is not possible to meditate for one hour and then forget all about it in your working or your personal life. Meditation generates source energy and starts changing your body, your mind, your habits of eating, thinking and feeling, and also how you express yourself. If meditation doesn’t transform these baser qualities into more refined ones, know that your meditation is not going deep enough. You are just scratching the surface.

Enlightened masters like the Buddha have guided their disciples so they don’t waver on the long inner journey. The Buddha prescribed eight aspects to be remembered by meditators. He was camping in a forest with 500 monks, when he overheard monks gossiping about the outer paths: which city is good to go begging for food, where do generous people reside, which roads have big trees and which places have beautiful people. Buddha became sad listening to this. He called the monks and asked them to focus on the inner path and not the outer path, giving them eight steps to strengthen their journey.

Osho has elaborated on Buddha’s maxims in his book The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha. It is very helpful to know these steps; they are like statutory warnings to erring meditators. In Buddha’s vision saymaktv or rightness, is immensely important in life. Whatever you do, strike a balance between extremes; follow the middle path for if you follow the middle path you will not go astray. Sounds easy but walking in the middle is no cakewalk, it is walking on the razor’s edge. Constantly balancing while not allowing yourself to be swept away by the storms of life and regaining awareness.

Right vision: The first step implies looking at things without a prejudiced mind or an ideology; having a straight encounter of life.

Right decisions: If you acquire the right vision, you will have clarity and it will naturally lead you to right decisions. For example, have you decided to meditate because you are frustrated, or you want to run away from your failures? If so, you will not last long on this path. Your mind will bounce back to your previous life.

Right speech: Be very careful about what you say, and what your intentions are. Just watch how much unnecessary talk you make and how it creates trouble for you.

Right action: Neither overdo things nor be a lazy bum.

Right earning: It means earning exactly as much as is needed for your survival, neither more nor less. Do not let your greed consume your need.

Right exercise: Remember that the body is a vehicle, keep it toned and tuned.

Right memory: It can help you drop old baggage, the wounds hiding inside you long past their time. Drop them, so that you climb the eighth and the final step, samadhi or equilibrium.

Samadhi: Once you reach here you will find that the mountains are mountains again.

Amrit Sadhana is in the management team of Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune. She facilitates meditation workshops around the country and abroad.