What happens when the mind distracts during meditation or discourse?

Osho, for a few days my heart settles into meditation; then for a few days worship and bhajans flow. But I cannot concentrate anywhere. I am troubled by this state. Kindly guide and train me.

About three years later he was found in Paris learning painting. Reduced to a beggar’s state. His friends rushed there. “What have you done? You had everything—everything was fine.” He said, “That was the obstacle—everything was fine. But there was no exhilaration. Nowhere any surge. Everything ran fine, and I ran it fine—but no stream of rasa was flowing. “All my life I longed to be a painter. I never wanted to be a broker. That success was accidental. Now I am happy. I have nothing. I paint; if paintings sell, I manage food and clothes. I have not even a roof of my own. I live in a friend’s room. But I am not going back. I am happy.” And the friends saw that the man was filled with a strange energy, a strange aura. His body had thinned, but there was a light. He said, “Tell my wife…

Osho, as you have said—to awaken awareness on the breath—but even then the attention does not stay on the breath; it wanders here and there. Should we let it go, or...?

No, no—don’t worry about that at all. Positively concern yourself with being on the breath. It goes here and there; if you start tracking it, you’ll go even farther away. Don’t bother about it. Just keep two things in view: is it on the breath, or not? If not, bring it back to the breath; if it is, all is fine. Don’t be anxious about going along with it. And don’t try to fight it either. Positively keep only this much in mind: with the breath that is moving—are you there, or not? In between it will slip; let it slip. Then return—come back again. It will slip, and it will slip a lot. It will stay for a second or two, and then slip. Because that is its habit of lifetimes. Its habit is doing; it has never been in the present. And now you are putting it into…

It has been asked: It has been asked, Osho, you tell us to think—yet what will come from thinking alone? As I keep thinking, I get drowned in thoughts themselves, and my conduct does not change. My conduct remains exactly the same. So please tell me, how is conduct to be changed?

Commonly it is said, “What value is there in thought? The real value is in conduct.” This is utterly false and futile. It is false and futile because conduct, deep down, is nothing but the expression of thought. Where there is no seed of thought, there can be no plant of conduct. Yes, it is possible to throw a false conduct over oneself from the outside. But false conduct has no value whatsoever, except that it deceives others and destroys one’s own life. The question asked is: “What will happen by thought alone?” This is why I ask, and why the question arises—if I were to pray to you, I would say: as yet no thought has been born in you. You are taking others’ thoughts to be your own. Hence the problem of trying to bring thought and conduct into harmony. If the thought were truly yours, it would…

Question: MASTER LU-TSU SAID: THE TWO MISTAKES OF INDOLENCE AND DISTRACTION MUST BE COMBATED BY QUIET WORK THAT IS CARRIED ON DAILY WITHOUT INTERRUPTION; THEN SUCCESS WILL CERTAINLY BE ACHIEVED. IF ONE IS NOT SEATED IN MEDITATION, ONE WILL OFTEN BE DISTRACTED WITHOUT NOTICING IT. TO BECOME CONSCIOUS OF THE DISTRACTION IS THE MECHANISM BY WHICH TO DO AWAY WITH DISTRACTION. INDOLENCE OF WHICH MAN IS CONSCIOUS, AND INDOLENCE OF WHICH MAN IS UNCONSCIOUS, ARE A THOUSAND MILES APART. UNCONSCIOUS INDOLENCE IS REAL INDOLENCE; CONSCIOUS INDOLENCE IS NOT COMPLETE INDOLENCE, BECAUSE THERE IS STILL SOME CLARITY IN IT. DISTRACTION COMES FROM LETTING THE MIND WANDER ABOUT; INDOLENCE COMES FROM THE MIND 'S NOT YET BEING PURE. DISTRACTION IS MUCH EASIER TO CORRECT THAN INDOLENCE.

Beloved Osho, many years ago, it seems, I used to be able to meditate -- I think. A beautiful, silent, transparent state would arrive from somewhere; I presumed this was meditation. Now, nothing comes except a racing mind. What happened?

The answer that Junnaid gave to his disciples is worthy of being remembered. He said, "For these three days, do you think I cannot see that food has not been given to us, that we have been thrown out, that we have been stoned, that we are thirsty, that for three days we had to remain in the open desert...? Don't you see that I am also aware of it? But this does not mean that he is not taking care of us. Perhaps this is the way he is taking care of us; perhaps this is what we need at this time. "It is very easy, when life is going comfortably, to thank God. That thankfulness means nothing. These three days I have been watching. slowly, slowly, all of you have stopped thanking Him after the prayer; you failed the test. It was a beautiful test. Even if death…