Meditation is becoming very popular these days. People do not have the time nor luxury of going to the Himalayas or to forests to meditate in isolation. They are happy meditating while living the urban life.<\/p>\n
It was very different in the Buddha\u2019s time. He left the city and his palace as it did not give him the space to be himself. But, when he realised his potential and attained enlightenment, he returned to the city to share the learning gathered in isolation.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s hectic pace may compel an escape into solitude, where the meditator\u2019s individuality can blossom. But this does not mean that it can blossom only in the jungle. If we know how to, we can also meditate in the marketplace.<\/p>\n
In a beautiful poem, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore tells us that after enlightenment, when Gautama the Buddha returned home, his wife asked him: \u201cWhat did you attain in the jungle \u2014 was it not possible to attain it here? Why leave home, me, your child?\u201d The Buddha remained silent.<\/p>\n
Kabir, the mystic, lived a domestic life, worked as a weaver and yet sang: Kabira khada bazar mein. He not only taught meditation but preached love and asked people to gather courage, burn their houses of imagination and transform their lives. Real meditation blossoms in love, spontaneous sharing and like a flower shares its fragrance, unconditionally.<\/p>\n
The alchemy of meditation and love transforms the ordinary love of attachment and possession into unconditional love.<\/p>\n
Ordinary relationships are based on conditional love. It is a barter \u2014 something, in return for something. And we keep calculating the profits. This cannot bring us bliss.<\/p>\n
Real joy comes when one shares unconditionally.<\/p>\n
The marketplace can corrupt the minds of those who are prone to get lost in it. We need enlightened people like Kabir and Osho to show us how to rise about the world while remaining in it \u2014 just as a lotus blossoms in a pond. Delhi, with all its political tangles, cut-throat competition, mazes of ambition is a real challenge to meditate in.<\/p>\n
Osho suggests Vipassna (watching your breath and the small gaps in the breathing) \u2014 simple meditation to be practiced amidst worldly activity. When you are eating try to be attentive. Be attentive while you\u2019re walking. Don\u2019t let your activity distract your mind. Practice a dual existence of doing and being.<\/p>\n
Doing is work (peripheral) while Being is consciousness (central). As you work on the periphery, attend to the core as well.<\/p>\n
Your activity will constitute the core. Like an actor, you can play several roles, while being rooted in consciousness. Life is just a role assigned to you by society, circumstance, culture and nation. Rejoice in it and settle in your Being.<\/p>\n
Swami Chaitanya Keerti<\/strong>, editor of Osho World, is the author of Osho Fragrance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meditation is becoming very popular these days. People do not have the time nor luxury of going to the Himalayas or to forests to meditate in isolation. They are happy meditating while living the urban life. It was very different in the Buddha\u2019s time. He left the city and his palace as it did not … Continue reading Rising above the din<\/span>