According to Osho, the mind is transcended not by effort but by total inactivity: let the body become ‘as if dead.’ Through deep relaxation and imaginative suggestion—feeling death descending, heaviness, stillness—the pulse slows, activity evaporates, and outward relations cease. In this deathlike quiet the gross subsides, the subtle ‘still, small voice’ appears, and pure presence shines, transforming mind into silent awareness.
Pretend your body is a perfectly still, sleepy statue so everything calms down, and then you can hear the tiny voice of your real self.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Vol 1 · Discourse 24
1972-12-17 · Woodlands, Bombay · English
How can the mind be transcended and transformed only by bringing the body to a death-like state?
Those eyes were part of a big whole. Their whole quality consisted in being part of a big whole. Now they are independent, not part of anything. The pattern is lost, the live contact is lost. All the traditions of yoga and tantra say that unless you can come to know the living body, your knowledge is false. But how to come to know the living body? There is only one way: you enter into yourself, and move within to see the details of the body. A different world was revealed through these techniques, an alive world. So the first thing: be centered at the heart, and look around at your body, move. Two things will happen. One: you will not feel now that you are the body -- you cannot feel it. You are the observer, one who is aware, alert, looking at, not being looked at. For the…Read the full discourse →
Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Vol 1 · Discourse 19
1972-12-12 · Woodlands, Bombay · English
4. Suppose you are gradually being deprived of strength or of knowledge. At the instant of deprivation, transcend.
5. DEVOTION FREES. But either way one goes on worrying about the future. Buddha said, "There is no heaven and no afterlife." And he said, "There is no soul, and your death will be total and complete; nothing will survive." People thought he was an atheist. He was not, he was just trying to create a situation in which you can forget the tomorrow and can remain in this very moment, here and now. Then meditation follows very easily. So if you are thinking of death -- not the death which will come, or is to come later -- fall down on the ground and lie dead. Relax and feel, "I am dying, I am dying, I am dying." And not only think it, feel it in every limb of the body, in every fib of the body. Let death creep in. It is one of the most beautiful meditations.…Read the full discourse →
Main Mrityu Sikhata Hun · Discourse 5
1969-10-29 · Hindi · English translation
(Osho remains silent for a few minutes, then begins to offer suggestions.)
Keep looking within... keep looking within... let everything outside become dead. Let it go... utterly dead... remain just watching... remain only the witness... drop everything... as if you have died... as if everything outside has died—the body too... thoughts too... only an inner flame remains, watching. Only the seer remains, only the witness remains. Let go... let go... let go completely... (Silence… solitude… hush…) Whatever happens, let it happen... let go completely... keep only looking within and let go completely... drop every grip... (Silence… solitude… hush…) The mind has become quiet and empty... the mind has become utterly empty... the mind has become quiet and empty... the mind has become utterly empty... the mind has become utterly empty... If there is even a slight holding, drop that too... let go completely... dissolve... as if you are not. The mind has become empty... the mind quiet and empty... the mind has…Read the full discourse →
Main Mrityu Sikhata Hun · Discourse 6
1969-10-30 · Hindi · English translation
(Osho remains silent for a few minutes, then begins to offer suggestions.)
Keep looking within... keep looking within... let everything outside become dead. Let it go... utterly dead... remain just watching... remain only the witness... drop everything... as if you have died... as if everything outside has died—the body too... thoughts too... only an inner flame remains, watching. Only the seer remains, only the witness remains. Let go... let go... let go completely... (Silence… solitude… hush…) Whatever happens, let it happen... let go completely... keep only looking within and let go completely... drop every grip... (Silence… solitude… hush…) The mind has become quiet and empty... the mind has become utterly empty... the mind has become quiet and empty... the mind has become utterly empty... the mind has become utterly empty... If there is even a slight holding, drop that too... let go completely... dissolve... as if you are not. The mind has become empty... the mind quiet and empty... the mind has…Read the full discourse →
Main Kaun Hun · Discourse 6
Hindi · English translation
(Osho remains silent for a few minutes, then begins to offer suggestions.)
Keep looking within... keep looking within... let everything outside become dead. Let it go... utterly dead... remain just watching... remain only the witness... drop everything... as if you have died... as if everything outside has died—the body too... thoughts too... only an inner flame remains, watching. Only the seer remains, only the witness remains. Let go... let go... let go completely... (Silence… solitude… hush…) Whatever happens, let it happen... let go completely... keep only looking within and let go completely... drop every grip... (Silence… solitude… hush…) The mind has become quiet and empty... the mind has become utterly empty... the mind has become quiet and empty... the mind has become utterly empty... the mind has become utterly empty... If there is even a slight holding, drop that too... let go completely... dissolve... as if you are not. The mind has become empty... the mind quiet and empty... the mind has…Read the full discourse →