Shiva: The God of Meditation points to a path without preface—no intellectual scaffolding, no detours—only the immediacy of practice. In the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, the dialogue of Shiva and Parvati, Shiva is said to offer one hundred and twelve methods that turn the mind from its habitual journeys into past and future, plunging awareness into the living present. Osho emphasizes this radical directness: when attention falls wholly into the now, the mind—whose very fabric is time—stops. There is nothing to solve, only a pivot of attention.
This practice honors Shiva’s life-affirming Tantra: the senses are not enemies, but doorways; energy is not repressed, but refined into presence, love, and compassion. The meditation below embodies Shiva’s immediate approach: enter now, through sensation; remain fresh, unarguing, unadorned. Let thought pass without negotiation. Abide where the mind cannot follow.
Phase Instructions
First Stage: Immediate Turn to Now
Sit or stand with the spine at ease and the jaw relaxed. Let the breath move naturally. Without any analysis or preparation, place attention in the raw fact of this moment—contact points of the body, the rise and fall of the breath, the simple presence of sound. Each time you notice the mind leaning into memory or anticipation, do nothing to explain it; silently withdraw attention from the story and return to bare sensation now. Keep the eyes gently closed or softly open, unfixated. This is not concentration; it is a clear, relaxed pivot into immediacy, again and again.
Second Stage: Enter Through the Senses
Open to the five senses at once. Let sounds arrive without naming; feel temperature, weight, and subtle vibrations on the skin; notice taste in the mouth, scent in the air, light and shadow before the eyes if they are open. Receive everything as a single field, unedited. If labeling begins, allow the label to fade and return to the texture itself. The instruction is simple: stay with what is unmistakably present, continuously.
Third Stage: Rest Where Mind Stops
Notice the natural pauses—gaps between breaths, brief silences between thoughts, the stillness under all movement. When a gap appears, don’t reach for the next thought. Let the pause widen. Rest as the one who knows, not as anything known. If thought reappears, see that it is already past or future, and gently re-enter the living present through breath and sensation. Remain effortless, alert, and unoccupied.
Fourth Stage: Carry the Present into Movement
Slowly open the eyes (if closed) and allow small movements—stretching, standing, or a few steps of mindful walking. Keep attention rooted in immediate sensation: the pressure of the feet, the flow of breath, the play of sound and space. Let silence continue inside activity. Conclude with one unhurried exhalation, acknowledging the taste of presence. Through the day, return to this pivot whenever you notice time-thinking; enter now, without commentary.
Core Benefits
- Direct entry into the present moment
- Mind stops its habitual journeys into past and future
- Energy is refined into presence, love, and compassion
- Senses are used as doorways to awareness
- Thought passes without negotiation
What Osho Said About This Technique
Therefore, gradually freeing oneself from all that is seen, dissolving into the pure seer—this is chintavan. “Only that shramana is a meditator on the Atman...” And Mahavira says: only he attains meditation who practices chintavan—who sees, who experiences, who realizes: I am not of the other; nor are others mine. I am pure, awakened, knowledge-filled Chaitanya. “The Tathagata does not look into the meanings of past and future... ” “The Tathagata does not look into the meanings of past and future. Free of imagination, the great seer, as a visioner of the present, drains the body of karma and renders it feeble.” “The Tathagata does not look into the past and the future”—this is the definition of Tathagata: one who looks neither back nor ahead; who is sufficient in this very moment; who does not step out of this instant.
‘तथागत अतीत और भविष्य के अर्थ को नहीं देखते.।’ ‘तथागत अतीत और भविष्य के अर्थ को नहीं देखते। कल्पनामुक्त महर्षि वर्तमान का अनुपश्यी हो, कर्म-शरीर का शोषण कर उसे क्षीण कर डालता है।’ ‘तथागत अतीत और भविष्य में नहीं देखते’--वही तथागत की परिभाषा है; जो न पीछे देखता है, न आगे। जो बस यहीं है; इस क्षण में पर्याप्त है। जो इस क्षण से बाहर नहीं जाता।
Sutra: devi asks: oh shiva, what is your reality? What is this wonder-filled universe?
WHAT CONSTITUTES SEED? WHO CENTERS THE UNIVERSAL WHEEL? WHAT IS THIS LIFE BEYOND FORM PERVADING FORMS? HOW MAY WE ENTER IT FULLY, ABOVE SPACE AND TIME, NAMES AND DESCRIPTIONS? LET MY DOUBTS BE CLEARED! ... LET MY DOUBTS BE CLEARED. ... The emphasis is not on questions but on doubts: LET MY DOUBTS BE CLEARED! This is very significant. If you are asking an intellectual question, you are asking for a definite answer so that your problem is solved. But Devi says, LET MY DOUBTS BE CLEARED. She is not really asking about answers. She is asking for a transformation of her mind, because a doubting mind will remain a doubting mind whatsoever answers are given. Note it: a doubting mind will remain a doubting mind. Answers are irrelevant. If I give you one answer and you have a doubting mind, you will doubt it. If I give you another answer, you
Common Questions
It emphasizes living in the now, with no focus on the past or future.
The senses are regarded as doorways to awareness, not obstacles.
Thoughts are allowed to pass without negotiation, without being engaged with.
Energy is not repressed but refined into presence, love, and compassion.
It involves a direct, unadorned entry into the present, with no intellectual detours.