Invite someone for meditation and mark how they start looking at their watch. “Who has time?” is the usual response. Because the common feeling among non-meditators is that the time spent in meditation is time wasted. People are continually calculating the economic value of their time. And all the research shows that when people are equating time with money, they are not enjoying their lives. Meditation cannot be encashed at monetary gain. Such a kind of people don’t enjoy music, or sunsets or playing with their kids. We live in a time where everything is expected to be done quickly; we praise the fastest race cars, the fastest airplanes, the fastest swimmer, the fastest sprinter… There are countless TV shows and advertisements that try to tap into the human obsession with speed. Where is this speed mania is taking us? Into tension and anxiety.
Nevertheless, there is a positive side to this state of affairs. The fact that people cannot wait even for a moment means they value each moment tremendously. This focus on each moment can be used to introduce them to meditation, for meditation means living in the moment. The meditator also values each moment, but the difference is: he goes deeper into each moment whereas the speedy man lives the moment superficially. He is jumping from one moment to another like crazy. Not knowing that each moment can be a door to the timeless.
Osho has used this situation creatively and has designed short meditation techniques that can give instant results like instant coffee. Here are some techniques:
Whereever you are, simply watch your breath coming in and going out. Do not try to change it, just watching will make the breathing slow down. With the breath slowing down, your mind will relax and you will be at peace.
Whenever you remember, bring your attention here and now: to this moment. Sometimes you will forget, but it doesn’t matter, when you remember again, start being here and now. That reduces tons of tension. As if suddenly you are at the clearing of a forest.
While standing, keep to the middle: never to the left, never to the right. Start swaying your body like a bamboo, playfully, and slowly come to the middle point. Feel the balance and the bliss.
For one day, talk telegraphically. Use only the essential words, maybe ten words at the most. When you start speaking this way you will find most words you utter are unnecessary. There is no need to talk so much. You will be surprised how much energy is saved by this.
This is a 60-second meditation. Take a clock in your hands and intently watch the movement of the second hand without allowing a single thought in the mind. It means you have to be intensely aware of each second. You will find that you cannot be thoughtless even for a few seconds. Slowly, increase the period of thoughtless moments and rejoice.
