Hello Beloved Fellow Traveler,
After 21 Days of A.O.Y. and 1 week of Green Smoothies Detox…THEN WHAT?!?
This “Post” is addressed only to those of you who “actually did” the 21 consecutive days of ARUN/ OSHO Yoga, as well as doing the 1 week “Green Smoothie Cleanse & Detox”. If you did not participate, you now have all the materials in your hands… and we recommend you create the time and space to experience this very intimate and transforming“Body-Love Meditation” as soon as possible. If you do not “taste” what i am sharing, it will be difficult, if not impossible to appreciate these “songs of the inner life”… and my words may even trigger “irritations and resentments” inside of you, and that is definitely not my intention! I love the Human Energy Field. We have something precious and natural to share, but it needs to be felt, to be observed, to be experienced, to be “witnessed”, in order for it to make real sense. So if your life situation right now prevents you from spending “intimate time” with yourself each day, don’t worry about what i am about to share… leave it for now.
{I say this because during our 21 Day Immersion, i could not help but feel some people’s thoughts “jumping out”… and criticizing, or complaining about, what was being sent each day. I understand that if it is not your thing right now, or if your life is super busy, that it would appear to be “too much”, but for Anasha and i we want to make clear that ARUN Conscious Touch begins with “the inner touches” of Buddha-bones, and learning the basics of conscious, healing nutrition. But again, there is no problem because now you have it if you want to explore it. The friends who were sincerely participating had a very different experience of reading, practicing, and opening their minds… and they now have a new, more intimate connection to Yoga, their relationship with food, and with their Energy-Field in general. Many of your comments on the ARUN Blog and your personal e-mails to us were very touching and we thank you for sharing your energy. It was very inspiring to do this with 200 friends all over our Earth!}.
The “ARUN Vision” {or OSHO Vision} of Body & Consciousness deeply resonates with “Taoism”, and the beautiful ancient wisdom of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and Lieh Tzu… Meditate over this small, atomic story from Lieh Tzu that Osho shared with us 34 years ago in Pune… it is taken from the very precious Discourse Series “TAO: THE PATHLESS PATH, Vol. 1″…
‘VALUE IS NOT THE NAME FOR IT.
BEST BE STILL, BEST BE EMPTY.
IN STILLNESS AND EMPTINESS,
WE FIND WHERE TO ABIDE;
TAKING AND GIVING,
WE LOSE THE PLACE’.
“‘BEST BE STILL…’ Now, rather than answering what a value is or why emptiness is a value, the insistence of Lieh Tzu is on experience. The Taoist approach is basically existential. They don’t believe in abstract speculations and concepts. They say: You can experience it, so why borrow ‘second-hand’ knowledge? In fact, God can never be ‘second-hand’; he has to be ‘first-hand’. You cannot borrow my God– my God is my God. You will have to come to your own God… Of course, when you have come, you will find that my God and your God are the same, but you will have to come to it on your own; it has to bloom in your own being.
There is a Taoist story:
Duke Huan, seated above in his hall was once reading a book, and the wheelwright P’ien was making a wheel below it. Laying aside his hammer and chisel, P’ien went up the steps and said, ‘I venture to ask your Grace what words are you reading?’
The duke said ‘The words of the sages.’
‘Are those sages alive?’ P’ien continued.
‘They are dead’ was the reply.
‘Then’ said P’ien ‘what you, my ruler, are reading are only dregs and sediments of those old men’.
The duke said ‘How should you, a wheelwright, have anything to say about the book I am reading? If you can explain yourself, very well; if you cannot, you will have to die. I will kill you!’
He was very angry. This was too much! A wheelwright coming to the prince and saying ‘Whatsoever you are reading is nothing but the dregs and sediments of those old dead men!’
The wheelwright said, ‘Your servant will look at the thing from the point of view of his own art. In making a wheel, if I proceed gently, that is pleasant enough but the workmanship is not strong; if I proceed violently, that is toilsome and the joinings do not fit. If the movements of my hand are neither too gentle nor too violent, the idea in my mind is realized. But I cannot tell how to do this by word of mouth.’
Neither too violent, nor too gentle– just in the middle, balanced…
And the wheelwright said ‘But I cannot tell how to do this by word of mouth… how to attain this absolute midpoint between effort and effortlessness, between doing and non-doing. I cannot say how to do this by word of mouth; there is a knack to it, but still I cannot say it. I cannot teach the knack to my son, even to my son– nor can my son learn it from me. There is no way to teach it and there is no way to learn it. Learning and teaching, teaching and learning, can be only of the outer things– it is an inner feel. Thus it is that I am in my seventieth year, and am still making wheels in my old age. But these ‘ancients’, and what it was not possible for them to convey, are dead and gone. So then what you, my ruler, are reading is but their dregs and sediments!’
He is saying ‘I am alive, I know the knack of it, still I cannot convey it, I cannot transfer my Knowledge. And I am alive and I know… and I love my son and I would like… And I am so old, in my seventieth year, and still I have to work. If I could teach my I would retire. But if while alive I cannot convey it, how can these old sages who are dead convey something that can only be experienced? It cannot be conveyed when the sage is alive, so how can it be conveyed when the sage has been gone for centuries? You are just wasting your time, sir’ he said. ‘This is all rubbish’.
This old man is a man of Tao. Taoists have beautiful parables like these: an ordinary man, a poor man, wheelwright– nobody knows about him, but he has an insight. The whole approach of Taoism is that only experience can give you the clue.
Questions can be asked, questions can be answered, but they are of no ultimate value. You have to eat to know the taste, you have to love to know what love is. There is no way to convey it…
that’s why, rather than answering, Lieh Tzu said ‘BEST BE STILL’…
{ I first heard this story when i was just beginning giving bodywork sessions, in Poona 1 times, and it totally changed my vision of deep touch and massage. 2 years after giving this talk, Osho changed the name of our work in his Ashram to “Rebalancing”— but that’s another song, for another time!– Anubuddha}
“THE KNACK”… what is meant by “the knack”?
In the East, they have a different approach to learning than we have in the West. There is an ancient understanding in the Eastern arts that it takes “at least” 12 years to learn anything well. Any art… cooking, gardening, music, painting, all the healing arts- in fact any skill requires a long immersion of your total being in order to understand it and become good at it.
The “knack”, as Osho and the Tao mystics understand, implies a relaxed mastery and skill… a certain ease and innate ability to be present each time you are doing it… the ability to put all other thoughts and concerns aside, and to just be with the activity. The knack also implies an attitude that is not fearful or nervous about the result… you are not doing it for praise or recognition. You are in it for sake of your own creativity and energy flow. You are “responding” fresh to each new situation– you are never mechanical or half-hearted. It is very inter-related to the Taoist and Zen space known as “wu-wei-wu”, or “action without action”, or “effortless effort”.
Also in the West, we all recognize this space… sometimes an athlete, or a dancer, or an actor, or a healer does their art in such a way that it appears effortless, and very graceful… they do things very well, but what touches us the most is the ‘unpredictable’, spontaneous, and unexpected turns their art takes.
In the East, they have learned how to develop this ‘knack’… that is what i feel was most valuable for me learning Yoga around Osho. Osho always urged us to be “total” in whatever activity we were in… walking, sitting, eating, cleaning, talking, dancing, making love, meditating, working… the activity was never the main point. For Osho and other enlightened beings, totality and being centered is the main point.
But “words” can be very misleading…many sannyasins or other seekers hear the words “be total” and they translate that to mean “be tense”. I have seen this countless of times over the years in Dynamic Meditation. So many people hear ‘be total’ and then they “push themselves” in an un-natural way, or they put pressure on themselves, or they think they have to be serious. Just the tone of voice you hear sometimes when a sannyasin says “Be total” can make you nervous and scared that you will make a mistake, or not be good enough… or that now you “have to prove how total you are!”
This is not my understanding of “being total” at all… i never feel pressure related to being total… not from Osho and not from myself. On the contrary, i find it easier and more satisfying to be total than to do something half-heartedly. Being total has the “child-like quality of playfulness” connected to it… Haven’t you noticed a small child when they are really “into something”? Nothing else exists, just the moment and the activity becomes their whole world. Adults have completely lost this natural ability… even the “play” of many adults is business-oriented and dominated by their mind.
“ESSENTIAL EDUCATION” ==
“WATCHING INSIDE” ==
“ARUN/ OSHO YOGA”–
ARUN is a totally new kind of education available in the world today. A real, authentic education brings out the best in each individual… it does not try to create ‘carbon copies’. In the words of the Maha-Mystic Bubu— “nothing makes sense but to be yourself… to know yourself… to BE no-self”. And the only way for anyone to ever “BE themselves” is through totality… becoming aware of and loving their own “Body, Mind, Emotions, life force, intuition, and Consciousness” from inside, as a vibrating, moment to moment “Organic Unity”— What Patanjali and Osho call our 5 Bodies or 5 Koshas. And, with the right “essential education”, this is not only possible, IT IS SO EASY. Because this is our essential nature.
In our ‘Human Energy-Field’ we have 3 primary centers, or brains.
Osho talks about the “3 M’s”… ** MATHEMATICS ** MUSIC ** MEDITATION **
MATHEMATICS is centered in our Head… Cerebral Hemispheres, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth = our center of “THINKING” which creates Technology and Mathematics and Logic and INSIGHT.
MUSIC is centered in our chest and solar plexus… our heart, emotional brain {limbic system}, moods, “circulation” of life energy… it is our center of “FEELING” and helps to create Music, Art, Poetry, Beauty, LOVE.
MEDITATION is centered in our Hara, belly, low back, Spinal cord and pineal gland… it is responsible for co-ordination, gracefulness, “Source” of Life energy, Still point, TRUST, Let-go… it is our center of Being.
So the “knack” of doing ARUN/ OSHO Yoga is found in the intimate “Union” within our own Energy Field. Remember, Yoga means ‘to join’ or to ‘unite’… in other words, Yoga implies
“being total”! Totality simply means that we awaken and utilize these 3 primary centers during any activity. If you are doing the “Plough” position, you do it totally… your mind is present to this stretch, to this compression, and you don’t think of the ‘past ploughs’ or ‘future ploughs’ or ‘dream ploughs’ or your ‘neighbor’s plough. Your “feeling center is also participating… these sensations and feelings are new– you’ve never had them before… so don’t compare, don’t judge, don’t analyze. And your “center of being” is also present in “this Plough”… you connect with your source energy, you look for and open to gracefulness, you allow a still point to be there… you trust, you let-go. What can be easier than THIS?!?
In every asana, the principle is the same… the 3 M’s inside of you guide the way. You simply play with the angles between the bones of your skeleton, and you feel, and you watch. “Angle” implies “Mathematics”, and every asana brings a different mathematics to the Energy -field. “Feel” implies “Music”, and your Spinal Column and Body is a living, breathing “Musical instrument”… the “Core-Sequence” we teach in A.O.Y. “fine-tunes” the musical instrument of the Body, so that it hums and vibrates. “Watch” implies “Meditation”… through watching comes dis-identification and transcendence.
One last thing about “the knack”, “totality”, and “watching inside”… the essence of effortless effort is discovered in the Breath of Meditation and surrender to gravity and to what is.
{ see “A.O.Y. 21 Day Immersion”… Anasha w/ “Breath of Meditation” and Yoga }.
{ see “A.O.Y. 21 Day Immersion”… Anasha w/ “Breath of Meditation” and Yoga }.
When you play with A.O.Yoga next time, let this be in the atmosphere between the actions and no-actions, and you will always be total. To be total is very relaxing and alive simultaneously.
Lots of good vibes and love, Anubuddha
PS– So… After 21 Days of A.O.Y. and 1 week of Green Smoothies Detox…THEN WHAT?!?
I would say, 3 months, 3 years… after a total immersion like this, it can become a part of you. And then we have whenever we want it. It becomes part of our “sadhana” or spiritual journey. It is an on-going love affair within the Human Energy Field…
Beloved Anubuddha and Anasha!
Thank you so much for sharing all those jewels with us, thank you so much!
I have them all saved in my Arun-folder – this is my “Schatzkästchen” – anytime I can go there and open one of your posts, or at one point take the time to go through all of them one by one with time and space…
I do appreciate your both pouring and showering on us, all of what you have learned and experienced, it is so much and so rich – thank you, thank you for all your insights and hints and…
And a big, big thank you to the amazing translaters – to Pujarin and Vira – Thank you so much for putting all your love and energy and time into this!!!!
There is so much to tell you about what is happening right now in my life, it is very exciting, I am so much looking forward to see you so sooooon in UTA. Looking forward to our next Arun- Touching – Meditation – Training Slot!
All my love to you – big hug
Chirantan
Great to hear from you Chirantan! We were wondering how you are, and we are looking forward to “catching up” on all the latest news from your life, and the UTA happenings. Soon, i will send an e-mail with all of the Posts on one page, for easy and quick access. So many good things happening– more than ever, “there is a LOT to be grateful for”! Sending smiles and love, Anubuddha (and Anasha)
Ooooohhh …may I have a page too with them all on, I have saved everyone and am going to do the similar thing …I have been honored and nourished by your and Anasha’s words and heart, deliciously inspiring.. sweetening.. my opening spaces even more. I so resonate with you in relation to the inner musical cosmology that opens up in me when i do yoga..and especially when i toke a little somethin’…my absolute joy and pleasure divinely open musically open up in me and my yoga sessions have been for 2-3 hrs easy!
Anyway thats been a little’ thing’ of mine and am looking forwards to my 50th birthday present to myself being the Yogalates T T , and so..looking forwards to swimming in the whole experience free of that, I am still doing theory at present though coming in few weeks . ..and so feel Stoked for our timing on chat..and being welcomed again into your company. i just love your way..:) so much..:)
Love Rhi
Wow,
Thanks to you all.
Now I celebrate the meaning of my sannyas name even more.
Good vibes and deep understanding.
Veet Prayas
Effortless Effort.
Beautiful Veet Prayas…