Pyramids

The pyramids of Egypt are tirthas of some old, lost civilization. One interesting fact about the pyramids is that there is complete darkness inside. Scientists think that it is not likely that electricity existed when the pyramids were built -- some were constructed ten thousand years ago and others twenty thousand years ago. It is possible that people entered them with the help of burning torches, but there are no signs of smoke anywhere on the walls or ceilings of the pyramids. The paths within the pyramids are very long, with many twists and turns, and along them it is very dark. There could not have been electricity because there are no signs of electric fittings or a source to supply power. Torches burning oil or ghee would have left some signs of smoke. So a problem arises as to how people went inside.

Questioner: many yogis make use of mountain caves which utterly lack oxygen. How do the caves help in attaining samadhi or unity with the absolute?

A seeker can project his vibes up to a particular limit of his space, and through experimentation he will learn for himself how much space he needs in order to safely do his sadhana. For instance, if he comes to know that he can fill an area of sixty four square feet with his own vibes, that much space will be considered safe for him, and he will find just that much space for himself. Then he will see to it that his cave has the least number of openings--perhaps one will be enough. And this single door should have a shape and size of its own; it should preserve the vibes of the seeker and at the same time keep off other unwanted vibes from entering the cave. If a number of seekers have used a particular cave for this sadhana, that cave acquires extraordinary significance, and new seekers…

Osho, temples, pilgrimages, tilak and forehead marks, image-worship, rosaries, mantra–tantra, scriptures and Puranas, fire-offerings and Vedic sacrifices, rites, shraddha, planets and constellations, astrological calculations, omens and portents—these once had meaning, but now seem futile. Please explain them and tell us: were they merely outer instruments of sadhana? Merely external arrangements for remembering, which time’s swift pace uprooted? Or did they also have inner interrelations? Will time consent to take them up again?

In the life of Moses it is said: he went up the mountain and saw a divine fire—a bush aflame, fire all around, yet flowers blooming and leaves green within. Seeking God, Moses rushed forward, and a voice cried from the bush, “Fool, leave your shoes beyond the boundary!” There was no boundary—open wilderness. He looked, “Where is the boundary?” He experienced: “Here it is—up to where Moses is Moses; a step further, and something changes.” He left his shoes and sought forgiveness: “Pardon me; I entered holy ground with shoes.” That is the magnetic field. The temple has a circle—an enchanted domain—with a very living use for the village. And it bore fruit. For thousands of years, the innocence and purity of Indian village life owed less to the villagers than to the charged temple. The poorest village was wretched without a temple. However poor, a temple it must…

Osho, caves were used for the practice of samadhi. But there the oxygen is scarce!

In truth, many factors underlie samadhi—many factors. And those who use caves for samadhi, if the other requirements are not in place, will not enter samadhi at all; they will fall into a swoon. What they will take to be samadhi will be only deep drowsiness, a state of fainting. A cave can be rightly used only by one who, through much pranayama, has oxygenated himself to such an extent that the cave’s thin air becomes inconsequential for him. If a man has done very deep pranayama, and every particle of his blood, every pore, every fiber has become oxygenated, then even if he is buried underground for eight days he will not die. That is the only reason. The body needs a certain quota of oxygen, and he carries an extra reserve. We carry no extra reserve. So if, without understanding pranayama, you go and sleep beside such a…