Unconscious Mind

Considering the example of sensual instinct, kindly explain what are the practical ways to encounter the unconscious mind, and how can one know that one has become free from it?

This is how concentration works. So through concentration you can never encounter the unconscious. You can encounter the unconscious only with meditation -- and this is the difference between concentration and meditation. Meditation means your mind working not as a torch but like a flame: everything is enlightened around it -- everything. It is not narrowed down, the light is diffused. It is not moving in one direction -- it is moving in all directions simultaneously so the whole is enlightened. How to do it? I said Sufis use dance as an active meditation and then they can encounter the unconscious. Zen monks in Japan use absurd problems to encounter it. You face some problem which cannot be solved -- which cannot be solved at all! Howsoever you try, the problem is such that it cannot be solved. They call such problems "koans" -- absurd problems. For example, they will…

Beloved Osho, what exactly is this unconscious mind which is also called the dark night of the soul? Is it something belonging to the physical monkey brain? Or is it something of the universal mind, which I am assuming is my own higher mind? Also, if it is not of the physical brain, then is this why it is a waste of time to attempt to end your suffering by putting a bullet through your brain?

"I said `by mistake' because the doors were open and everybody knows that there is nothing in that hut but me and my blanket. And I offered my blanket to him. He was a guest. He tried not to take it, I had almost to force him. And he is so mannerly that he said to me, `Thank you, sir' and he closed the door. This man is a very nice man, you should not harass him." Because that monk said, "You should not harass him," the thief was released. He could not believe it! Neither did he understand that night, nor could he understand the saint's statements in court in his favor. He followed the saint. The monk said, "Are you coming now?" He said, "Yes, I am coming now." He said, "You unnecessarily wasted two years. I was telling you to get into a partnership from the very…

Osho, we feel that to penetrate and transform the deeper layers of the unconscious only through awareness is difficult and not enough. What else should one do other than the practice of awareness? Please explain more about the practical dimensions on this matter.

Silence is energy. Brahmacharya is energy. Not to be angry is energy. But this is not suppression. If you suppress anger, you have used energy again. Don't suppress -- observe and follow. don't fight -- just move backwards with the anger. This is the purest method of awareness. But certain other things can be used. For beginners certain devices are possible. So I will talk about three devices. One type of device is based on body awareness. Forget anger, forget sex -- they are difficult problems. And when you are in them, you become so mad that you cannot meditate. When you are angry you cannot meditate; you cannot even think about meditation. You are just mad. So forget it; it is difficult. Then use your own body as a device for awareness. Buddha has said that when you walk, walk consciously. When you breathe, breathe consciously. The Buddhist method…

Question: OSHO, HOW DOES ONE EXPLORE THE HIGHER STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS? If you start looking... just whenever you have time, just sit silently and look at what is passing in your mind. There is no need to judge, because if you judge, the mind immediately changes its scenes according to you. The mind is very sensitive, touchy. If it feels that you are judging, then it starts showing things that are good. Then it won't show you the naked washerwoman of Bombay, that picture will be missed out. So don't judge, then that picture is bound to come. Don't judge, don't make any condemnation, don't make any appreciation. Be indifferent. You just sit silently looking at things, whatsoever is happening. And absurd things will be happening: a horse becomes a man.... Now you need not ask why, there is no need to ask, you simply see it.