The Osho International Meditation Resort is a place where there is a constant influx of all kinds of people from all over the world. They come to meditate and get energised by its lively atmosphere. Recently, I facilitated the meditations of a big group of people. After each meditation session, we encourage the participants to ask questions if any. I did the same for this group. A youngster, barely out of his teens, approached me shyly and said, “I want to ask a question. My dog is dying, I love him too much, what meditation should I do?” After saying this, he started crying. I could feel his pain. I asked him softly, “If you love him so much why have you come here? You should be with him.” He said his family had sent him away because he was making too much noise over the dog’s impending death. They thought he would be at peace if he meditates here with everybody.
I was dumbfounded. A meditation for a dying dog? No one had asked this question before, but wasn’t it a genuine query? We apply meditation in all kinds of situations in life, this was one of them and a very basic one: death of a loved one. A pet can be closer to somebody than his own kith and kin. It is unfortunate that these days humans are devoid of love and cannot reciprocate the feelings of another human being. They hesitate to do so, out of fear of being misunderstood or ridiculed. As pets are innocent and non-judgmental, they reciprocate our love unconditionally. This equation with pets can be very nourishing and therapeutic.
I told the teenager that the only way he could help his dog die peacefully was not to grieve over his death. In fact, this was the best time to meditate over his own attachment, his dependence on the love of the dog. He should not suppress his sorrow, but express it in Osho Dynamic Meditation. This meditation provides a wonderful outlet to bottled up emotions. Layers of pain or anger or fear are washed out in a few minutes. It gives one a clear insight into one’s own muddle of mind. Who knows, the dog was supplementing something which he did not get from human beings. Once he emptied his heart by crying or screaming he will find a silent space within him which could be filled with peace and understanding. His energies would be centered and he could take a quantum leap into a new direction of the inner growth. After three days, I spotted the boy dancing in the bamboo grove with the sunshine lighting his inner joy. He had made it!
Amrit Sadhana is editor of Osho Times International. She facilitates meditation workshops based on Osho insights around the country and abroad.
