Contemplation

Osho, what do you say about meditation according to the three states of consciousness?

Contemplation is just the process of thinking, refining your thoughts; and the more you practise this refinement, the finer they become. And it is a joy in itself. It is a joy far superior to anything like food, sex, clothes; it is a finer joy. When you come across a new phenomenon which for millions of years people have passed by and nobody has detected and which you are the first to detect, a tremendous joy arises in you. Contemplation is of the intellect. Meditation is of intuition. Meditation has no subject matter. It is pure subjectivity. Meditation is not thinking about something. It is not thinking at all. But one thing has to be remembered: it does not mean falling asleep. That's what happens; if you are not thinking then the mind says, "What are you doing? Go to sleep." Mind is at ease with thinking or with sleep,…

Question: MASTER LU-TSU SAID: NOTHING IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT CONTEMPLATION. PERCEIVING BRINGS ONE TO THE GOAL. WHAT HAS TO BE REVERSED BY REFLECTION IS THE SELF-CONSCIOUS HEART, WHICH HAS TO DIRECT ITSELF TOWARDS THAT POINT WHERE THE FORMATIVE SPIRIT IS NOT YET MANIFEST. WITHIN OUR SIX-FOOT BODY WE MUST STRIVE FOR THE FORM WHICH EXISTED BEFORE THE LAYING DOWN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. IF TODAY PEOPLE SIT AND MEDITATE ONLY ONE OR TWO HOURS, LOOKING ONLY AT THEIR OWN EGOS, AND CALL THIS REFLECTION, HOW CAN ANYTHING COME OF IT? ONE SHOULD LOOK AT THE TIP OF ONE'S NOSE. BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT ONE SHOULD FASTEN ONE'S THOUGHTS TO THE TIP OF THE NOSE. NEITHER THAT, WHILE THE EYES ARE LOOKING AT THE TIP OF THE NOSE, THE THOUGHTS SHOULD BE CONCENTRATED ON THE YELLOW MIDDLE. WHEREVER THE EYE LOOKS, THE HEART IS DIRECTED ALSO.

Kindly explain contemplation, concentration and meditation.

`Contemplation' means directed thinking. We all think; that is not contemplation. That thinking is undirected, vague, leading nowhere. Really, our thinking is not contemplation, but what Freudians call association. One thought leads to another without any direction from you. The thought itself leads to another because of association. You see a dog crossing the street. The moment you see the dog, your mind starts thinking about dogs. The dog has led you to this thought, and then the mind has many associations. When you were a child, you were afraid of a particular dog. That dog comes to the mind and then the childhood comes to the mind. Then dogs are forgotten; then just by association you begin to daydream about your childhood. Then the childhood goes on being connected with other things, and you move in circles. Whenever you are at ease, try to go backwards from your thinking…

Master lu-tsu said: if you are not yet clear, I will make it clear to you through the threefold buddhist contemplation of emptiness, delusion, and the center.

EMPTINESS COMES AS THE FIRST OF THE THREE CONTEMPLATIONS. ALL THINGS ARE LOOKED UPON AS EMPTY. THEN FOLLOWS DELUSION. ALTHOUGH IT IS KNOWN THAT THEY ARE EMPTY, THINGS ARE NOT DESTROYED, BUT ONE ATTENDS TO ONE'S AFFAIRS IN THE MIDST OF EMPTINESS. BUT ALTHOUGH ONE DOES NOT DESTROY THINGS, NEITHER DOES ONE PAY ATTENTION TO THEM; THIS IS CONTEMPLATION OF THE CENTER. WHILE PRACTICING CONTEMPLATION OF THE EMPTY, ONE ALSO KNOWS THAT ONE CANNOT DESTROY THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS, AND STILL ONE DOES NOT NOTICE THEM. IN THIS WAY THE THREE CONTEMPLATIONS FALL TOGETHER. BUT, AFTER ALL, STRENGTH IS IN ENVISIONING THE EMPTY. THEREFORE, WHEN ONE PRACTICES CONTEMPLATION OF EMPTINESS, EMPTINESS IS CERTAINLY EMPTY, BUT DELUSION IS EMPTY TOO, AND THE CENTER IS EMPTY. IT NEEDS GREAT STRENGTH TO PRACTICE CONTEMPLATION OF DELUSION; THEN DELUSION IS REALLY DELUSION, BUT EMPTINESS IS ALSO DELUSION, AND THE CENTER IS DELUSION TOO. BEING…