According to Osho, intense breathing is mandatory only in the first 10-minute stage; after that, continue it in stages two or three only if it suits you—there it remains secondary to jumping/dancing/shouting and to the 'Who am I?' inquiry. Never continue it in the fourth stage. What matters is depth and intensity for ten minutes, not duration; the first stage alone suffices.
Breathe very deeply for the first ten minutes, optionally and secondarily in stages two and three, and not at all in the fourth.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Another friend has asked: Can the intense breathing be continued across all three stages?
It depends on you. In the first stage it is to be maintained—this is a must. For those ten minutes do not drop it. After that it depends on you. If it feels comfortable, you can continue it in the remaining two stages, or in one of them. In the fourth stage it is not to be continued—this is a must-not. In the first stage you must continue it; in the fourth stage you must not. In the other two stages it is a matter of your personal convenience. If you feel you can keep deep breathing along with dancing, jumping, shouting—keep it. If you can keep it while asking “Who am I?”—keep it. But in the second stage the emphasis will be on jumping, dancing, crying and shouting; the breath will be secondary, not primary. In the third stage the inquiry “Who am I?” will be primary; the breath…
Someone else has asked: they have been doing the experiment for six months, yet the catharsis is still continuing, the purging is still going on. The crying, shouting, jumping, laughing continue. How long will this last?
Now enter the third stage. Now enter the third stage. Ask—Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Let it rain down—Who am I? Ask only this one question within, and outside—Who am I? Who am I? Keep swaying, keep dancing, ask—Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Not slowly—ask with power—Who am I? Let every hair of the body ask—Who am I?… Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?… This is the last stage—put in your total strength. Dance, jump, ask—Who am I?… Very good! Very good! Louder… stronger… put in more power… Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?… Louder… louder… a storm must be raised… Who am I?… Dance, jump, ask—Who am I? Who am I?… You must ask strongly—ask strongly—Who am I? Who am…
Another friend has asked: Osho, what is the relationship between the method of meditation and jati-smaran (recollection of past lives)?
But the one who becomes skilled in this—who can fully awaken any day’s memory up to the age of five—will find that the memories begin to awaken completely. And you should test it. As today passes, note down some events and lock them up. After two years, try to recall today. Most of it will have been forgotten. Then remember—and after remembering, break the lock and compare whether what you recalled matches what you had written. You will be amazed—astonished—that besides what you wrote, many more details have come back which you did not even note at the time. They will all be there in memory. Buddha called this alaya-vijnana. There is a corner of the human mind he called the storehouse of consciousness. Like a junk room in the house where we keep all the odds and ends, there is a storehouse that collects memories—where everything from birth after…
SECOND STAGE Now we have to enter the second stage. Continue deep breathing, and let go of the body. Leave the body to do what it wishes to do. Let go of it. Let it take whatever asanas or postures it wants to take; let it form whatever mudras or gestures it likes. Leave it free to move and shake and whirl as it likes. If it wants to weep let it. Let go of the body completely. Continue deep breathing and let go of the body. Let the body fall down if it wants to fall down. And let it rise again if it wants to rise. And if it wants to dance allow it wholly. Let go of the body absolutely. Let it do whatever it wants to do. Leave it free. Don't impede it even in the least. Cooperate with the body. If it spins, let it.
Another friend has asked—and two or three others have asked the same—Osho, how long will this crying, shouting, laughing, and dancing continue?
It can continue from three weeks to three months. Those who do the practice rightly will see the crying, laughing, and shouting dissolve within three weeks, and from the first stage they will enter directly into the fourth; the two middle stages will drop on their own. Those who don’t do it properly, who proceed slowly, may take anywhere from three weeks to three months. But this is not something that goes on forever; once the mind’s impurities fall away, it dissolves by itself. The length of time depends on how intensely you let the impurities drop. If you do the practice properly for three months, generally all this will settle within that time. Then you will take one or two deep breaths and immediately enter the fourth stage. But this will happen only if you fully complete the two middle stages. If you hold back even a little, it…