Osho on rules and regulations
[A sannyasin says: I feel very much depressed when I come to the ashram – I don’t know why. But I come because I feel very much love for you and I want to do all the meditations. It seems all the people around here are very jealous. ... There are rules and regulations everywhere.]
Osho – Rules and regulations are imposed by me. Nobody else is imposing them. If you love me, you love my rules and regulations also. You don’t understand. Without rules and regulations, you won’t be able to even see me.
For fifteen years I lived without rules and regulations, and there was always a crowd of thousands of people around me. I saw it was not possible to help anyone this way. I had become a marketplace.
Even one afternoon when I was asleep, I opened my eyes and saw somebody on the roof – he had removed a tile. I said, What are you doing?’ And he said, ’I was curious, and because I couldn’t reach you, I came this way.’
Without rules and regulations it will be just as if there are no rules and regulations for the traffic. You are a driver – you will understand what will happen. There will be no possibility to go anywhere; all the roads will be blocked. This much is possible – that here you can talk with me. You can have your problems solved, I can suggest something to you. It is possible because of rules and regulations, otherwise not.
So don’t take it the wrong way. It is to help you. The day I decide I am not interested in you now, not interested in helping people, I will remove all rules and regulations – and then you will repent. I will be happy with this – because this is a big problem, and then there will be no problem for me – but then I will not be of any help to you. So don’t take it wrongly. This is your misunderstanding.
Source – Osho Book “Nothing to Lose But Your Head”
Credit: www.oshoteachings.com/
Osho – Rules and regulations are imposed by me. Nobody else is imposing them. If you love me, you love my rules and regulations also. You don’t understand. Without rules and regulations, you won’t be able to even see me.
For fifteen years I lived without rules and regulations, and there was always a crowd of thousands of people around me. I saw it was not possible to help anyone this way. I had become a marketplace.
Even one afternoon when I was asleep, I opened my eyes and saw somebody on the roof – he had removed a tile. I said, What are you doing?’ And he said, ’I was curious, and because I couldn’t reach you, I came this way.’
Without rules and regulations it will be just as if there are no rules and regulations for the traffic. You are a driver – you will understand what will happen. There will be no possibility to go anywhere; all the roads will be blocked. This much is possible – that here you can talk with me. You can have your problems solved, I can suggest something to you. It is possible because of rules and regulations, otherwise not.
So don’t take it the wrong way. It is to help you. The day I decide I am not interested in you now, not interested in helping people, I will remove all rules and regulations – and then you will repent. I will be happy with this – because this is a big problem, and then there will be no problem for me – but then I will not be of any help to you. So don’t take it wrongly. This is your misunderstanding.
Source – Osho Book “Nothing to Lose But Your Head”
Credit: www.oshoteachings.com/
Our Center Suggestions
"Without rules and regulations, you won't be able to even see me." - OSHO
Attitudes to develop before coming to the Center
Protecting the success of your Individual effort and creating Meditation Space
First and Foremost, our Meditation Center represents our inner divine space externalized in the world. So what participant attitude protects this space and in return how does this space protect the participant?
Preciousness of Non-ego and its Space
Let us discover how to think about it. It is primarily the place of the non-ego. To think about it in terms of value, benefit, return on investment, socio-political/subculture ideas like coolness/valor/sexiness, and other market place ideas is a misplacement of egotistical tendencies on a place that needs your non-egotistical nurture to nurture your non-ego back. The judging mind of the ego, applied on this place and its contents including the people, is destructive to your own non-ego and the place and defeats the very purpose of this common sacred place.
To nurture a healthy ego outside is ok, but to dive into non-ego at the center is the essence of the practise. Our homes, cars, clothes, careers represent our ego. This Meditation Center is the only accessible physical space that stands to represent and nurture our non-ego so please be very careful with how you think about this place.
Patience and Support
Supporting your Meditation Center with your body, speech/conduct, and mind then requires other criteria, than the habitual market place criterias. Just as your inner center requires your patience and constant support, the Meditation Center requires your constant support. The body and mind exist to support the inner center of an individual, it is not the other way around. In the same way, we (representing the bodies and minds) must constantly support the Meditation Center. The inner center like the outer center rewards us with direction, clarity, peace and quite celebration of life dancing through us, in return for the support from our body and mind. This will take time, and we who are used to an instant-gratification culture, should practice patience for it to succeed.
Commitment for Fulfillment
(Safeguarding our energy for the long haul towards fulfillment)
It is very common in the business place to cop-out / opt-out, break arrangements, as a method of profit maximization. In the inner world this behaviour reverberates into the minimization of peace due to breaking the space of the non-ego, with changes that never go deep, leading to no transformation. So your support and patience should not be transactional try outs (completely uninvolved / immediate breakage) or trial period like a few months (hesitantly involved / eventual breakage). These marketplace ideas of the ego, cause damage to your inner space as well as outer Meditation Center.
For maximization of your inner joy, you should be planning on a journey of 5-10 years to explore the pathways from your body and mind to your inner space. You need to have the patience and willingness to support yourself and your Meditation Space. In the middle of this journey, there will be readjustments to your body and mind as they attempt to support your inner space and many times there will be phases of maladjustment in the body or mind before the sicknesses that block your energy and emotions are derailed out of the pathways to your inner space. At these times, all habitual marketplace condemnations/judgments prove fatal to your journey. This has to be remembered, as these treacherous passing times are the times of cop-outs/opt-outs and eventual self-defeat. Instead success in the inner world consists of simple watching and letting things pass, being victorious through innocence and doing nothing. So let us learn to not make personal decisions through the mind, when it comes to our inner space and the Meditation Center. Let us be choiceless, accepting, embracing, letting things pass to succeed in our inner journey without halting.
At the Center
Protecting the OSHO Buddhafield during group meditations
Our Center is a place where people of all ages and walks of life can dive into their INNER NON-EGO and discover their innate ability for PEACE and CELEBRATION. This being so, we ask that all participants make themselves familiar with some suggestions such that the Buddhafield of OSHO is not violated during our programs and so our meditative energies are allowed to build up for our spiritual fulfillment.
Regulations
Suggestions for maximum enjoyment
Attitudes to develop before coming to the Center
Protecting the success of your Individual effort and creating Meditation Space
First and Foremost, our Meditation Center represents our inner divine space externalized in the world. So what participant attitude protects this space and in return how does this space protect the participant?
Preciousness of Non-ego and its Space
Let us discover how to think about it. It is primarily the place of the non-ego. To think about it in terms of value, benefit, return on investment, socio-political/subculture ideas like coolness/valor/sexiness, and other market place ideas is a misplacement of egotistical tendencies on a place that needs your non-egotistical nurture to nurture your non-ego back. The judging mind of the ego, applied on this place and its contents including the people, is destructive to your own non-ego and the place and defeats the very purpose of this common sacred place.
To nurture a healthy ego outside is ok, but to dive into non-ego at the center is the essence of the practise. Our homes, cars, clothes, careers represent our ego. This Meditation Center is the only accessible physical space that stands to represent and nurture our non-ego so please be very careful with how you think about this place.
Patience and Support
Supporting your Meditation Center with your body, speech/conduct, and mind then requires other criteria, than the habitual market place criterias. Just as your inner center requires your patience and constant support, the Meditation Center requires your constant support. The body and mind exist to support the inner center of an individual, it is not the other way around. In the same way, we (representing the bodies and minds) must constantly support the Meditation Center. The inner center like the outer center rewards us with direction, clarity, peace and quite celebration of life dancing through us, in return for the support from our body and mind. This will take time, and we who are used to an instant-gratification culture, should practice patience for it to succeed.
Commitment for Fulfillment
(Safeguarding our energy for the long haul towards fulfillment)
It is very common in the business place to cop-out / opt-out, break arrangements, as a method of profit maximization. In the inner world this behaviour reverberates into the minimization of peace due to breaking the space of the non-ego, with changes that never go deep, leading to no transformation. So your support and patience should not be transactional try outs (completely uninvolved / immediate breakage) or trial period like a few months (hesitantly involved / eventual breakage). These marketplace ideas of the ego, cause damage to your inner space as well as outer Meditation Center.
For maximization of your inner joy, you should be planning on a journey of 5-10 years to explore the pathways from your body and mind to your inner space. You need to have the patience and willingness to support yourself and your Meditation Space. In the middle of this journey, there will be readjustments to your body and mind as they attempt to support your inner space and many times there will be phases of maladjustment in the body or mind before the sicknesses that block your energy and emotions are derailed out of the pathways to your inner space. At these times, all habitual marketplace condemnations/judgments prove fatal to your journey. This has to be remembered, as these treacherous passing times are the times of cop-outs/opt-outs and eventual self-defeat. Instead success in the inner world consists of simple watching and letting things pass, being victorious through innocence and doing nothing. So let us learn to not make personal decisions through the mind, when it comes to our inner space and the Meditation Center. Let us be choiceless, accepting, embracing, letting things pass to succeed in our inner journey without halting.
At the Center
Protecting the OSHO Buddhafield during group meditations
Our Center is a place where people of all ages and walks of life can dive into their INNER NON-EGO and discover their innate ability for PEACE and CELEBRATION. This being so, we ask that all participants make themselves familiar with some suggestions such that the Buddhafield of OSHO is not violated during our programs and so our meditative energies are allowed to build up for our spiritual fulfillment.
Regulations
- Silence will be kept during each program to enable each person the opportunity to have the meditation go deeper. No socializing please once you enter the door.
- Please arrive at the meditation center during the time designated for arrival. If you arrive after the meditation has started, you can wait in the lobby and join the next meditation, because each meditation has deep energetic principles that need to be undisturbed and protected for the technique to transform you. There will be a 5 minute break between each meditation where you will be able to arrive/leave if needed.
- DO NOT leave during a meditation. Disrupting the meditation space of others (floorboard noise from walking about, glare from texting) is disrespectful to their internal attention, energy movements and effort towards peace and will not be condoned.
- No Soliciting. This is not a place to just network especially during meditation sequence, since it brings hope of every social gratification trope as the center of attention, forcing loss of inner consciousness and exciting attachments.
- Do the meditations per Osho's instructions. If you find the meditations difficult to do and/or you require modifications, please notify the co-ordinator BEFORE the meditations begins for suggestions. We will make the meditation comfortable for you with additional suggestions.
- Minimal or No talking after meditations. Most participants continue to stay in a state of meditation and continue to enjoy the space for healing after meditation. Talking disturbs and diverts that energy. Please maintain the maximum possible quiet. There will be a chance for socializing around Osho and his meditations and your meditation journey at the end of the night. Please avoid talking about extraneous social issues and other trending cool things.
Suggestions for maximum enjoyment
- Be free and comfortable. Please bring any discomforts to the attention of someone. You can always discuss any issues with Sw. Prem Dhan. Additionally, bring cushions or blankets to use as they are limited at the center. We can always keep them in a closet for your use at the center.
- Try the meditations. If you are tired, we can also make accommodations for you to do a low impact meditation, sleep meditation or listen to an Osho discourse. But as Ma Anupama says, " Remember, you will never feel worse after an OSHO meditation!" Often times there is stuck energy or suppressed feeling and emotions that make us feel the way we do. Trust that the meditation will take care of you. This could be good meditative practice, time at the meditation center is intended to solidify the meditative feeling and bring it into our lives as a reminder. This suggestion is particularly important for the Friday Meditation.
- Read the instructions for each meditation BEFORE coming to the center. They will be made available here.
- Please respect the altar space. Though it is not customary in the US to have an altar, we find it useful to maintain one to hold the space for the invitation to meditate at the center. Please do not take anything from the altar nor place your personal affects on or around the altar. When possible, do not point your feet at the altar or at Osho during discourse.
