Meditation is a Device is a practical bridge from where you are to where silence already is. Inspired by Osho’s discourse contrasting the summit-view of J. Krishnamurti with the seeker’s first steps in the valley, this method honors your present condition—restlessness, doubt, obsession, tenderness—and uses it as fuel. Like a compassionate doctor who first enters the patient’s world (the tale of the man convinced a fly lived inside him), this meditation meets your ‘fly’ directly, then escorts you—gently, skillfully—into clear awareness.
Designed as a living device rather than a doctrine, it begins by naming your current state, then invites intimate contact with one dominant sensation or thought. Through deliberate acceptance and a brief cathartic shaking, the stuck energy unknots; finally, you stand on the quiet peak of witnessing. Use it whenever the mind is crowded or the body hums with unresolved charge; practice alone or in a group, with the same spirit: start in the valley, arrive in the sunlit peak.
Phase Instructions
First Stage: Begin in the Valley (10 minutes)
Sit comfortably or stand with feet hip‑width apart. Let the spine be natural, chin slightly tucked, shoulders soft. Close the eyes. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth for a few cycles, then settle into easy nasal breathing. Silently name what is true right now—thoughts, moods, tensions—without judging: “worry,” “tight chest,” “fast mind,” “heavy belly.” Feel where each label touches the body. Let the breath touch these places like warm sunlight. Your only task: tell the truth of your present valley and allow it to be exactly as it is.
Second Stage: Meet the ‘Fly’ (8 minutes)
Choose one persistent element—thought, image, urge, or sensation—to be your ‘fly.’ Locate its strongest spot in the body. Place a relaxed hand there. Breathe directly into that place; on each exhale whisper inwardly, “Yes.” For 2–3 minutes, gently magnify your felt sense of the fly by giving it full permission to be known—track its temperature, texture, size, movement. If it shifts location, follow it with awareness. Keep jaw, tongue, and belly soft. Let the fly be completely seen without argument, fixing, or analysis.
Third Stage: Shake and Release (Catharsis) (8 minutes)
Stand (if seated) with knees loose. Begin a gentle whole‑body shake from the knees upward, as if dusting tension out of the joints. Let the breath flow through an open mouth with soft “haaa” exhales. Allow spontaneous sounds, sighs, or small movements of the arms and spine. Keep attention on the fly’s spot and let the shaking carry its energy outward. After 2 minutes, increase the vigor; after another 2–3 minutes, gradually slow until the body comes to stillness. Do not perform; let the body do itself. If emotions arise, give them room and keep breathing.
Fourth Stage: Sunlit Peak—Witnessing (12 minutes)
Stand or sit utterly still. Spine upright, crown light, hands resting easily. Close the lips and breathe naturally through the nose. Do nothing. Let thoughts, echoes, and body ripples pass like clouds. If attention clings to anything, notice the clinging and return to simple knowing: the body breathing, the space around you, the silence that contains all sounds. Be the summit that receives every weather without moving. No mantra, no effort—only naked witnessing.
Fifth Stage: Integration and Return (7 minutes)
Place one hand on the heart, one on the lower belly. Feel the warmth of your own contact. Silently thank the part of you that appeared as the fly. Ask inwardly: “What one compassionate action supports this clarity today?” Wait for a simple response—an image, word, or felt sense. Open the eyes softly, look around the room, and let colors and shapes arrive. If helpful, jot a single sentence describing what shifted and the action you will take.
Core Benefits
- Transforms restlessness and doubt into a pathway to awareness.
- Encourages self-acceptance of present conditions.
- Utilizes dominant sensations or thoughts as a foundation for meditation.
- Releases trapped energy through cathartic shaking.
- Concludes with a state of witnessing and clear awareness.
What Osho Said About This Technique
Meditation will be a jump into the unknown. You can work with a device and the device will automatically push you into the unknown. The device is necessary only because of the training of the mind; otherwise, it is not needed. Once you have jumped you will say, "The device was not necessary, it was not needed." But this is a retrospective knowing; you will know afterward that the device was not needed. That is what Krishnamurti is saying: "No device is needed; no method is needed." The Zen teachers are saying, "No effort is needed; it is effortless." But this is absurd for one who has not crossed the barrier. And one is mainly talking with those who have not crossed the barrier. So I say that a device is artificial.Read the full discourse →
[NOTE: This is an unedited tape transcript of an unpublished darshan diary, which has been scanned and cleaned up. It is for reference purposes only.] Meditation is a full stop on the mind. Ordinarily the mind goes on and on, you don't know how to put it off. There is a way to put it off. That's what meditation is all about. Once you have learned, it is a very simple process, just like putting the light on and off. Then the same mind which is ordinarily a torture becomes immensely useful. Then you can use it but you are the master. Right now the master is absolutely in the hands of the servant. The mind goes on manipulating you; you have no power over it. You cannot even say to it 'Shut up!' It does not listen at all. One feels absolutely impotent with the mind.Read the full discourse →
Question: ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A MAN STANDING ON A HIGH HILL. THREE TRAVELLERS, PASSING IN THE DISTANCE, NOTICED HIM AND BEGAN TO ARGUE ABOUT HIM. ONE SAID, 'HE HAS PROBABLY LOST HIS FAVOURITE ANIMAL.' ANOTHER SAID, 'NO, HE IS PROBABLY LOOKING FOR HIS FRIEND.' THE THIRD SAID, 'HE IS UP THERE ONLY IN ORDER TO ENJOY THE FRESH AIR.' THE THREE TRAVELLERS COULD NOT AGREE AND CONTINUED TO ARGUE RIGHT UP TO THE MOMENT WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE TOP OF THE HILL. ONE OF THEM ASKED: 'O FRIEND, STANDING ON THIS HILL, HAVE YOU NOT LOST YOUR FAVOURITE ANIMAL?' 'NO, SIR, I HAVE NOT LOST HIM.' THE OTHER ASKED: 'HAVE YOU NOT LOST YOUR FRIEND?' 'NO, SIR, I HAVE NOT LOST MY FRIEND EITHER.' THE THIRD TRAVELLER ASKED: 'ARE YOU NOT HERE IN ORDER TO ENJOY THE FRESH AIR?' 'NO, SIR.Read the full discourse →
What is meditation?
Meditation is not an Indian method; it is not simply a technique. You cannot learn it. It is a growth: a growth of your total living, out of your total living. Meditation is not something that can be added to you as you are. It can come to you only through a basic transformation, a mutation. It is a flowering, a growth. Growth is always out of the total; it is not an addition. You must grow toward meditation. This total flowering of the personality must be understood correctly. Otherwise one can play games with oneself, one can occupy oneself with mental tricks. And there are so many tricks! Not only can you be fooled by them, not only will you not gain anything, but in a real sense you will be harmed. The very attitude that there is some trick to meditation -- to conceive of meditation in terms…Read the full discourse →
Question: WHAT IS MEDITATION? Now this is strange. It reminds me of a story. A cricket fan took his girlfriend for a date -- it was a full moon night and the beach was silent and they were sitting on the beach, and it was beautiful. They were holding hands and hugging each other. And the cricket fan continued to talk about cricket for three hours. Then, suddenly he became aware that he must be boring the girl. Three hours is too long! So he said 'Sorry, forgive me. I have been talking for three hours about my hobby. I am a fan, I am mad about cricket. I must have bored you utterly?' The girl said 'Not at all, not at all. But do tell me what IS cricket?' Now you ask 'What is meditation?' and my whole life I have been talking about meditation.Read the full discourse →
Common Questions
Start by naming your current state and inviting contact with one dominant sensation or thought.
This technique is designed for crowded minds, using deliberate acceptance to engage the mind directly.
Yes, it can be practiced alone or in a group while maintaining the same spirit of progress.
Shaking helps release stuck energy, facilitating a transition to a state of witnessing.
Use it whenever your mind is crowded or your body has unresolved energy.