Drop pain & pleasure
People seek pleasure thinking that it is they who enjoy the pleasure. So they crave it; they want to get it at any cost. But it is the trigger-happy pleasure centres in the brain that push them to repeat an act. It is interesting that the pleasure centres are among the oldest areas of the brain. This means they were the first to evolve.
The brain is wired to repeat something that gives pleasure. It could be anything, for instance, exercises like jogging, or gym training or a health diet can become addictive. It means the body or the mind start craving it, and there are withdrawal symptoms if you don’t get it.
Brain scans suggest that everything from sugar to meditation lights up the brain’s pleasure circuitry. These all can have neurological consequences that correspond to what we think of as addiction.
Does that mean that man doesn’t have a free will? Is he destined to become a slave of the brain? Not so if he is aware that the brain is just a machine; it uses the mind as an apparatus to function in the world. And there is consciousness behind this operation, which makes the brain and the mind come alive.
According to Osho, all our compulsive habits are addictions. Whether it be an addiction or learning or misery, or psychoanalysis or spiritual experiences.
Relationships comprise major part of our addictions. It is useful to watch closely whether you are addicted to your girlfriend or boyfriend, or you really love them.
What is needed is creating a distance between the brain and our being. This distance can be created by being watchful and conscious in our actions. The more we become conscious the more we become free of the mind. It makes one self-sufficient. The constant need of the other and the outer is finished.
An unconscious mind keeps clinging to things outside instead of finding the innate source of strength inside. To an average human being, it seems to be the natural tendency to cling to anything it experiences. With meditation one can be a master of oneself, and not be a slave of one’s habits. Try to observe, when you become dependent on something: that is the point to drop it. When the conscious act is turning into an unconscious habit –– wake up! You will feel a surge of energy.
As meditation deepens, it grows roots, you are centred within and you get a wider view of the dance of pleasure and pain. They come together because it’s a package. Any intelligent person would drop both and be blissful.
Amrit Sadhana is in the management team of Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune. She facilitates meditation workshops
around the country and abroad.
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