"Osho's techniques are uncompromisingly radical, and they invite you to free
yourself from negative conditioning. The only commitment is to be open
and honest, to enjoy life, love oneself."
- Sunday Times

OSHO DYNAMIC - Music by Deuter

The Osho Dynamic Meditation was designed for those of us who enjoy a good physical workout. It is perfect for our hyped up lives, having little to do with the stereotypical idea of bald-shaven monks sitting for hours on cold stone floors contemplating holy matters. Its message is simple: release your mental, emotional and physical stress so that you can become physically engaged with enjoying your life NOW. It is the most vigorous technique in this section and extremely powerful in cutting through any blocks in the body/mind to bring you to your essential self.

This technique was created by Osho. A special soundtrack Osho Dynamic was created for it. I particularly recommend this one because the drumming and music urge you on past the temptation to quit. If you can't get ahold of the CD, you can do just fine by setting a timer for the different stages. I do not recommend substituting any other music.

The words Dynamic and Meditation used together present us with an interesting contradiction. The word 'dynamic' suggests effort, tremendous effort, while the word 'meditation' implies silence, no effort. Yet it is in this very contradiction that we have a possibility to bring ourselves into balance.

This meditation has five stages. The first three -- breathing, catharsis and the Sufi mantra "Hoo!" - are designed to get us in touch with our vital energy source, our aliveness, our vibrancy. They allow for complete release and expression and should be done with vigor, so that no energy is left static in you. The idea is to exhaust your outgoing energy. When the mind has no more energy for creating thoughts, dreams and imaginings, when it is absolutely spent, you will find that you are in.

The fourth stage involves silent witnessing. Coming on the heels of the first three stages, this silence is vital, alive, bubbling with life energy. It is a live silence that cannot be achieved by ordinary, rational effort. In the Zen tradition this is called effortless effort. The use of a contradictory term suggests that the process is dialectical, not linear. The energy of the earlier stages is not denied but absorbed, it is used .

The fifth stage is celebration and dance.

This meditation is best done on an empty stomach in the early morning. Again, I would recommend wearing a blindfold to help you stay in your body without distraction. I try to blow my nose before starting this meditation to free up the passage of air through the nostrils. You'll need about 60 minutes for this one.

Stage One: Breathing (10 minutes)
If you have the CD, put it on and, standing with neck and shoulders relaxed, begin breathing rapidly through the nose, letting your breath be intense and chaotic. (If you don't have the CD, I recommend that you do this without music.) Breathe as fast as you can while keeping the breaths deep. This is not shallow breathing. You should feel the breath deep in the lungs. Do this as totally as you possibly can. Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed.

Keep up this chaotic breathing. (It mustn't take on a rhythm because then you might go on automatic pilot. Keeping it chaotic helps to keep you in the present moment.) You can use your arms like a kind of bellows to help pump more energy through your chest and lungs until you literally become the breathing. Once your energy is moving, your body will begin to move as well. Let it happen. Use the movement to help you build up even more energy. Let your arms and body move naturally. This will help build the energy. Until the 10 minutes are up, don't let up and don't slow down.

Stage Two: Catharsis (10 minutes)
Let it all out. Just totally cut loose. Jump, laugh, scream, cry, shake, kick, punch, whatever your body feels like doing. Don't hold back, just keep your whole body moving and the sounds coming. Let it all hang out. Don't let your mind interfere; just stay totally in your body. Go mad.

Stage Three: HOO! (10 minutes)

With shoulders and neck relaxed, raise both arms as high as you can without locking the elbows. With raised arms, jump up and down shouting the mantra HOO!....HOO!....HOO! as deeply as possible, coming from the depths of your belly. Each time you land on the flats of your feet (making sure heels touch the ground), let the sound hammer deep into your center. Give it all you've got. Exhaust yourself completely.

Stage Four: Silent Witnessing (15 minutes)
FREEZE! Stop wherever you are and in whatever position you find yourself. Don't arrange the body in any way. A cough, a movement, anything will dissipate the energy flow and the effort will be lost. Be a witness to everything that is happening to you.

Stage Five: Dance (15 minutes)
Spend 15 minutes celebrating your aliveness. Dance, expressing whatever is there. Bring this energy with you into your day.

With this technique, you want to open yourself as wide as possible for the Breath of Life; take in as much of it as you can possibly take. You want to stop philosophizing, stop dreaming of the day when you'll really start living. Do it now! LIVE!

Whenever I do the Osho Dynamic Meditation , an exhilaration fills me. The deep fast breathing dissolves the cemented patterns in my psyche, making everything move and tingle, and charges my body with oxygen and life energy. Ah yes - this is great!

When I notice my half-heartedness I change to a higher gear. Within minutes I have reached a speed that leaves my thoughts panting behind. That is one of the purposes of the exercise: the mind is blown away - fear not, it will come back! All I hear now is a staccato of massive outbreaths. I realize that even more is possible (more is always possible), and breathe even more deeply. I think nothing, there is only breathing - deeper, faster, madder. It's totally far out. From a certain speed limit, a certain intensity on, I am simply in it, and it is fun to go for the maximum.

When the catharsis section starts, what a relief to express all my pent up emotions, unburden my mind and allow my body to release the built up tensions. Urging myself on, I discover deeply buried layers of myself, opened up by the first stage, that need expression. Long forgotten anger, hurts, disappointments can surface and be thrown out. All kinds of old emotional 'baggage' can be catharted out and released from my body/mind. By the third stage, I feel cleaned out and ready to fully shout the mantra Hoo! the sound arising loud and strong from deep within my belly. As the sound resonates through my whole body, I feel it continuing the work of the first two stages, shedding even more layers of tensions. My body/mind starts to feel like a hollow bamboo, preparing through this exercise to receive the silence of the fourth stage.

Suddenly I hear a voice shout "STOP" (if you don't have the CD, set a timer to ring to start the fourth stage) I freeze and listen to the silence. Fourth stage. I sink into a profound depth of stillness. After all the noise and effort I stand stock still, just breathing, being, enjoying, witnessing. This is it! The moment I have been waiting for. Such joy to discover this vibrant silence pervading my whole body and to simply watch.

For the celebration dance of the fifth stage, I have plenty to celebrate. For one thing, one more Dynamic Meditation accomplished. I celebrate myself, that I have been willing to put such effort into my journey of self-discovery, releasing my tensions and getting in touch with my creativity and enjoyment of life. I feel full of infinite possibilities, like an open sky.

Osho Dynamic Meditation is a method for anyone who feels stressed out, neurotic, confused. It is an inner and outer workout that hews a new path through the jungle of our overly speedy minds. Many people like to learn to teach it and then introduce it as an early morning class in their local gym or at their work. As you well know, the more effort you put into something, the greater the payoff. Try this technique for at least 21 days. You will be richly rewarded.

Excerpted from Chapter One It's Easier Than You Think: Relaxing Lunchtime Enlightenment: Meditations to Transform Your Life NOW - at Work, at Home, at Play