Osho on Self- Remembering and Witnessing Technique

Question: Beloved Master, The Technique, of Self- Remembering seems easier for me
than witnessing. o the! both lead to the same "oal#
Osho: The! both lead to the same goal, but the technique of self-remembering is harder,
longer and dangerous. $nl! ver! few %eo%le in the whole histor! of man&ind have
attained to enlightenment through the technique of self-remembering. Man! have tried,
but utterl! failed ' it loo&s eas!. The reason is that !our self-remembering is not going to
be !our self remembering, it will be !our ego remembering( that)s wh! it loo&s eas!. *ou
don)t &now the distinction between the self and the false self.
The false self is our ego, and the ego is ver! subtle, ver! cunning, and tries in ever! wa!
to %retend to be the real self. That)s wh! in the beginning it will loo& easier than
witnessing, because in witnessing there is no %lace for the ego. +rom the ver! beginning
the ego is avoided. ,n witnessing, the ego cannot enter. But in self-remembering, there is
ever! %ossibilit! of the ego %retending to be !our self. Then the more !ou will %ractice,
the more !our ego will become stronger.
,f somebod! wants to travel on the %ath of self-remembering, he absolutel! needs a
master. -e cannot move alone, because he cannot ma&e a clear-cut distinction of what is
false and what is true. -e &nows onl! the false, he is not acquainted with his true being.
.nless he is under a ver! rigorous master it will be ver! difficult to create a se%aration
between the ego and the self.
, will e/%lain it to !ou b! an ancient 0hinese stor!....
1 great master had a big monaster! ' five hundred mon&s ' and the! were all %racticing
the %ath of self-remembering. Self-remembering is one of the %aths Buddha has
recommended. $ne man entered into the monaster! ' he wanted to become a disci%le.
The master acce%ted him, but he was a ver! sim%le man from a village, almost
uneducated. The master told him, 2*our 3ob is cleaning the rice in the &itchen.2
,t was a big &itchen ' five hundred mon&s. The %oor man was cleaning the rice before
sunrise and late into the night. -e had no time to go to the sermons, to go to the
%ra!ers( he had no time to read the scri%tures or listen to the wise tal&s. Those five
hundred mon&s were great scholars, and the monaster! was &nown all over the countr!.
Twent! !ears %assed and the man continued 3ust cleaning the rice and doing nothing. -e
forgot even to count the !ears ' what was the %oint# -e forgot the da!s, the dates, and
finall! he became sus%icious about his own name.
+or twent! !ears nobod! had used it, nobod! had called him b! his name ' %erha%s it
was his name, %erha%s it was not. +or twent! !ears continuousl! he was doing one small
thing: cleaning the rice, from the moment he wo&e u% until he went bac& to bed again.
The master declared that his time to de%art from the bod! had come. -e wanted to
choose his successor, and the wa! he did it was this: 21n!bod! who thin&s he has
succeeded in self- remembering should write on the wall of m! hut some insight which
shows that he has seen the truth.2
$ne %erson, who was thought to be the greatest scholar in the commune, tried. But he
was so afraid to write that sentence there, because it was not his insight. -e &new ' how
could he not &now it ' he &new it was not his insight, it was 3ust borrowed from
scri%tures. ,t was not his e/%erience ' and it was difficult to deceive the old man. ,n the
morning the old man came out, as&ed the servant to erase what had been written, and
said, 2+ind out who this idiot is who has s%oiled m! wall.2 ,t is said that the great scholar
had not even signed, out of fear that he would be caught.
,f the master a%%reciated that this was reall! a great insight, then he would come out
and sa!, 2, have written it.2 $therwise he would remain silent... who &nows# $ut of five
hundred %eo%le an!bod! could have done it4
1lmost one do5en great scholars tried, but none of them had the courage to sign his
name. 1nd the master behaved in the same wa!( he erased the line and said, 26one of
!ou has come to the %oint of self-remembering. *ou have all been feeding the ego in the
name of self. , reminded !ou again and again, but having a big ego is such a 3o!. 1nd a
s%iritual ego, the otherworldl! ego, the divine ego, becomes even more delicious.
6ow , will have to find the %erson m!self.2 ,n the middle of the night the master went to
the man who had come twent! !ears ago. +or twent! !ears the master had not seen
him, he had sim%l! been cleaning rice. -e wo&e the man u%. The man as&ed the master,
27ho are !ou#2 Because twent! !ears... he had 3ust seen him once for a few seconds
when he was initiated ' 21nd what is the idea of disturbing m! slee%#2
The master said, 2, am !our master. *ou have forgotten...# o !ou remember !our
name#2 The man said, 2That is the difficult!. The wor& !ou have given me is such that it
needs no name, no fame, no scholarshi%, no austerities. ,t is so sim%le that , have
forgotten ever!thing. , cannot be certain that this is m! name. 1 few names come to m!
mind and , cannot decide which one is mine, but , am grateful to !ou.2 -e touched the
feet of the master. 28lease don)t change m! 3ob. , have forgotten ever!thing, but , have
also achieved ever!thing.
, &now a %eace that , had never dreamed of, a silence that no word can e/%ress. , have
&nown such moments of ecstas! that even if , had died there would not have been an!
com%laint that life has not been fair to me. ,t has given me more than , was worth! of.
9ust $6)T change m! 3ob. , am doing it %erfectl! well. -as somebod! com%lained about
m! wor&#2
The master said, 26o, nobod! has com%lained, but !our 3ob has to be changed because ,
am choosing !ou as m! successor.2 The man said, 2, am onl! a rice cleaner. , don)t &now
an!thing about being a master or a disci%le. , &now nothing. 8lease forgive me, , don)t
want to be !our successor because , cannot handle such a big 3ob, , can onl! handle this
rice cleaning.2
The master still insisted, 2*ou have achieved that which others have been tr!ing to
achieve but have failed. *ou have achieved it because !ou were not tr!ing. *ou were
sim%l! doing !our small wor&.
Slowl!, slowl! there was no need for thin&ing, no need for emotions, no need for anger,
no fight, no com%arison, no ambition ' !our ego died. 1nd with the ego died !our name.
*ou are not born with a name. ,t is the ego that is given a name ' that is the beginning
of the ego. 7ith the death of the ego, !ou even forgot !our own master, because it was
the ego that brought !ou to me. 2.% to that moment !ou were on a s%irituall! ambitious
tri%. *ou are absolutel! the right %erson, so ta&e m! robe, m! hat, m! sword, which have
alwa!s been given b! the master to the successor.
But remember one thing: ta&e them and esca%e from this monaster! as far awa! as !ou
can, because !our life will be in danger. 1ll these five hundred egoists will &ill !ou. *ou
are so sim%le and !ou have become so innocent that if the! as& !ou for the robe, the
sword, the ca%, !ou will give them.
*ou sim%l! ta&e them and go as far awa! as !ou can into the mountains. 2Soon %eo%le
will start arriving to !ou 3ust as bees start finding their wa! towards the flowers when the
flowers blossom. *ou have blossomed. *ou need not bother about the disci%les, !ou
sim%l! remain silentl! in a farawa! %lace. 8eo%le will come to !ou( !ou sim%l! teach
them whatever !ou have been doing.2
2But,2 he said, 2, have received no teaching and , don)t &now what to teach them.2 The
master said, 29ust teach them to do small things, silentl!, %eacefull!, without an!
ambition, without an! motivation to gain something in this world or in the other world, so
that !ou can become innocent li&e a child. That innocence is real religiousness.
6ot being -indu, not being Mohammedan, but being utterl! innocent ' 3ust a tabula rasa,
a clean sheet on which nothing is written. 6o Bhagavadgita, no :oran, no Bible...2 ,t is
%ossible... a few %eo%le have attained through self-remembering. $ne of the great
masters of this age, "eorge "urd3ieff, used the method self-remembering, but !ou have
to be aware that not a single %erson of his disci%les became enlightened ' and he was
one of the most %erfect masters. But the %roblem is that the ego and the self are so close
and so similar that whatever !ou thin& is !our self is most %robabl!, in ninet!-nine
%ercent of cases, 3ust !our ego.
The master)s function is absolutel! necessar! for this method, because he has to destro!
!our ego. 1nd he has to be hard, harsh. .nless he destro!s !our ego, self-remembering
is going to lead !ou, not to enlightenment, but to dar&er s%aces of being. ,t will
strengthen !our ego more ' !ou will become a ver! strong ego, ver! assertive. ,n an!
ordinar! field of life !ou will be ver! successful. *ou can become an 1dolf -itler, !ou can
become a 9ose%h Stalin... Stalin was not his real name, it was given to him because he
was such a strong man. ;Stalin) means man of steel. But these %eo%le are not a
benediction to humanit!, the! are a curse. ,f the! had not been there man would have
been in a far better s%ace, in a far better consciousness.
So if !ou feel that it is easier for !ou, then be ver! careful. , will still suggest that though
witnessing ma! be difficult in the beginning, it is the most safe method without an!
dangers. ,t cannot lead !ou an!where other than towards enlightenment. So it can even
be %racticed without a master. , would li&e to give !ou something in which !ou are not to
be de%endent on somebod! else. -ow long have !ou lived, how man! lives# ,n all these
lives !ou ma! have come across man! saints, man! masters, but where have !ou
reached#
*our dar&ness is the same, !our unconsciousness is the same. 8erha%s the! all gave !ou
methods, but the methods were such that the! needed constant su%ervision. Those
methods are called school methods. *ou have to enter into a monaster!, live in a
monaster!, function under a strict disci%line ' then %erha%s !ou ma! be able to achieve
something from a school method.
1nd there are such monasteries. ,n <uro%e, there is a monaster! in Mount 1thos( it is
one thousand !ears old. There are almost three thousand mon&s inside the monaster!,
and an!bod! who wants to become a mon& in that monaster! can decide to enter, but
onl! his dead bod! will go out. ,f there is such a commitment, onl! then is a %erson
acce%ted. $nce a %erson enters Mount 1thos, !ou will never see him till he is dead. This
is a school for absolute self-remembering, but !ou cannot %ut the whole world in
monasteries.
7ho will ta&e care of these monasteries# -ence m! %reference is to use a method which
&ee%s !ou free from an! commitment, from an! de%endence ' which &ee%s !ou in the
world and !et not of the world. 7itnessing is the most sim%le and the most infallible
method( it is the essence of all meditations. <ven self-remembering, finall!, is witnessing
' but at a later stage, when !ou have dro%%ed the ego. 1nd if !ou start loo&ing inside
!ourself, !ou can understand what , am sa!ing. 0an !ou see !our ego and self
se%aratel!# *ou sim%l! &now one thing: that is ,. *ou don)t &now two things: that , is the
ego, and that the ego is ca%able of nursing itself through an!thing.
, have heard...
1 small child was %assing b! the side of a %alace. -e had failed his e/amination and was
feeling ver! angr! with the teachers. -e was read! to do something, and suddenl!, he
found a %ile of stones b! the side of the road. -e too& one big stone from the %ile and
threw it at the %alace. 6ow the %alace had nothing to do with his failing, nor had the
stone an!thing to do with it, but he was in such anger he wanted to do something( the
energ! was there, and it needed to be released. The bo! went on his wa!, but what
ha%%ened to the stone#
1s the stone started rising u% he loo&ed down ' his brothers and sisters and cousins
were all there. 1nd the stone said to them, 2, am going on a %ilgrimage. , have been
thin&ing about it for a long time. "od willing, , will succeed in m! adventures and come
bac& to !ou to relate all that , e/%erience on the wa!.2 1ll the other stones loo&ed at this
stone with their mouths o%en: 27hat is ha%%ening# -e has no wings.2 -e was 3ust a
stone li&e themselves. The! also wanted to fl!, but the! &new that the! could not. 2But
he is fl!ing, !ou cannot den! it...2
So the! all said, 2$&a!, 3ust remember us( don)t forget us. *ou are a hero. ,n the
centuries of time sometimes one stone gets wings the wa! !ou have, and we are %roud
that !ou belong to us, to our famil!.2 The! were even feeling great %ride because one of
the stones was fl!ing towards the %alace. The stone hit against a glass window, and
naturall!, when a stone hits glass it is the glass that is bro&en, not the stone ' it is 3ust
the nature of things. But the stone said to the %ieces of glass, 2*ou idiots. , have alwa!s
said, ;6ever come in m! wa!. 7hoever comes in m! wa! will be shattered to death.)
6ow loo& what ha%%ened to !ou. =et this be a lesson to ever!one who is listening.2 1t
that ver! moment the guard on the gate heard the noise of the stone falling on the floor,
the glass being bro&en... he rushed in. -e too& the stone in his hands, and the stone said
' although the guard could not understand his language, because he tal&ed in
6e%alese...4 -e said, 2Than& !ou m! lord, !ou are the owner of this %alace ' , can see
from !our beautiful dress. , will never forget this honor that !ou have given to me '
ta&en me in !our own hands.2
The situation was totall! different, but the ego goes on turning ever! situation in its
favor. The guard was afraid that if the &ing came to &now then he would be caught:
27hat are !ou doing# 7ho has thrown the stone#2 -e threw the stone bac& out of the
window. 1nd these are the wa!s of the ego: the stone said, 2Than& !ou4 *ou are not onl!
a great host, !ou understand the hurts of other %eo%le too. *ou &now , am longing to
meet m! friends. , want to tell them the whole stor! of m! visiting the %alace of the &ing
' the meeting with the &ing, the conversation with the &ing, the destruction of the
enemies who came in m! wa!.2
1nd as he was falling bac& into the %ile of the stones, he said to them, 2Brothers and
sisters, , am bac&. *ou should all be %roud. M! name should go down in histor!, and with
me, m! famil!)s name. This %ile of stones is no ordinar! %ile, it is something historical.2
The ego has its wa!s of fulfilling itself even in situations where it should be shattered. So
beware of it.
Self-remembering can be done onl! in a school where !ou are devoting !ourself to the
disci%line twent!-four hours a da!, because it is the moment !ou remember !ourself...
7hile wal&ing !ou remember, 2, am wal&ing2 ' then wal&ing is no longer natural. ,t
becomes divided: !ou are se%arate, and the wal&ing is se%arate. 7al&ing is a sim%le
%rocess, but in life !ou are doing a thousand and one things which are ver! com%le/. ,f
!ou are going to remember !ourself while using a machine, while driving a car... it could
be ver! dangerous because !our whole focus is in remembering !ourself. *ou could cause
an accident which could be dangerous to !ou, which could be dangerous to others.
=ife has its own wisdom. The bod! has its own wisdom. +or e/am%le, tr! one thing and
!ou will understand what , mean: !ou have been eating ever! da! !our whole life but
!ou have never thought about what ha%%ens to the food when it goes down !our throat '
!ou forget about it. on)t forget about it. 9ust for three da!s tr! to remember that the
food has gone in. Remember that the food is being digested, that 3uices, chemicals and
other things are coming in from different directions, that the food is being mi/ed with
them and the food is being transformed into different things. ,t is becoming blood, it is
becoming !our flesh, it is becoming !our bones.
,n three da!s) time !ou will have such a disturbed stomach, !ou cannot imagine. ,t will
ta&e at least three months to get it bac& to its normal state. *ou are not needed to
remember it. ,t &nows its function, and it does its function %erfectl! well without !our
remembering. That)s wh! when !ou are sic& it is better to rest, because the bod! needs
!ou to slee% so it can wor& better without an! disturbance from !ou.
*ou must have heard the famous stor! about a centi%ede....
1 centi%ede has one hundred legs ' that)s wh! it is called centi%ede. 1nd for centuries,
centi%edes have been in the world, wal&ing %erfectl! well ' no %roblem. But one da! a
rabbit became curious. -e saw the centi%ede, he tried to count his legs and said, 2M!
"od4 $ne hundred legs4 -ow does he manage to remember which one to %ut first, which
one to %ut second# 2,f , had one hundred legs,2 the rabbit thought, 2, would get
entangled and , would fall immediatel!( , could not wal& at all. This centi%ede is
%erforming a miracle.2
-e said, 2.ncle, uncle, wait, wait4 , have a question if !ou don)t mind...2
The centi%ede said, 2There is no hurr!. , was 3ust going for a morning wal&. *ou can as&
!our question.2
-e said, 2M! question is sim%le: !ou have one hundred legs...#2
The centi%ede said, 2$ne hundred# ,n fact, , have never counted. ,t would be too difficult
for me to count them, but if !ou sa! so then %erha%s , must have.2
The rabbit said, 2M! curiosit! is: how do !ou manage to wal& with such a trail of one
hundred legs#
-ow do !ou manage which one comes first, then second, then third, then fourth...#2
The centi%ede said, 2, have never thought about it. , will tr!. 9ust now ' , will tr! here.2
1nd then and there he fell on the ground. -e called the rabbit and said, 2*ou idiot4 6ever
as& another centi%ede such a question, otherwise centi%edes will die. 7e cannot live with
this curiosit!. , have been doing %erfectl! well u% to now, and 3ust as , started becoming
alert about what leg is going when... as , started remembering one hundred legs, m!
mind got ver! much %u55led.2
Self-remembering is a school method. 1nd school method means !ou are in a safe
monaster!, not doing wor& that could be dangerous. $therwise !our remembering...
wor&ing in a factor!, wor&ing in a car%entr! sho% and tr!ing to remember, !ou are bound
to get into the same %osition as the
centi%ede.
, don)t want an!bod! to get into an! trouble in the name of s%iritualit!, hence m!
suggestion again is 3ust %ure witnessing ' no question of ,. 1nd that too, ver! %la!full!,
not seriousl!, with a sense of humor. ,f !ou forget, there is no harm. 7henever !ou
remember, again !ou start. *ou will forget man! times, !ou will remember man! times.
There is no question of guilt( it is human. >er! slowl!, bigger and bigger ga%s of
witnessing will arise in !ou, and as the ga%s of witnessing become bigger, !our thoughts
will become smaller, less. The moment !our witnessing comes to a %ea& ' at certain
times with a cr!stal clarit! ' the thoughts will sim%l! disa%%ear. *ou will be in an
absolute silence. 7hatever !ou are doing will not be disturbed b! !our silence, but on the
contrar!, !our wor&manshi%, !our creative effort will be enhanced.
,f !ou are ma&ing statues, or %ainting, or %la!ing music... with such a mad mind, with all
&inds of thoughts running around, and !ou can still manage to create beautiful music '
3ust thin& of a silent mind, how much dee%er and higher music !ou could create. The
same a%%lies to ever! area of life.
, ma&e it a %oint to be remembered that if !our meditation is right, ever!thing in !our
life will start falling into better sha%e. That is the onl! criterion. 6o need to as& an!bod!
else( !ou can see !ourself. <ver!thing in !our life will become better with !our
meditation. 7hen !our meditation is at its highest %ea&, all !our efforts will have a
beaut! and a grace and a creativeness that !ou cannot imagine. That)s wh! , sa!, don)t
divide s%iritual life from the ordinar! life. on)t create an! division at all.
=et this life remain one single whole. So if !our consciousness changes, then ever!thing
that surrounds !ou also changes. , cannot imagine a man of meditation renouncing his
wife. 6o, a man of meditativeness will love his wife more. 8erha%s his love will become
more and more %urified, less and less se/ual, more and more %ra!erful.
But he cannot renounce her, that is ugl!. =eaving a %oor woman and esca%ing ' that is
not the wor& of a brave man. ,t fits to a coward, but not to a man who is meditating. ,n
m! village , loved to sit in an old man)s small sho%. -e used to sell sweets. , was
attracted, not b! his sweets, but b! the sweetness of the man. -e would sa!, 2The cost
%rice of this man! sweets is one ru%ee, and if !ou are willing, 3ust for m! labors and for
m! famil!, !ou can give me one anna more ' that is m! %rofit.2
+irst he would tell the cost %rice, and then he would tell his %rofit. 1nd that too he would
leave u% to !ou: 2,f !ou don)t want to give it to me, !ou can ta&e it at the cost %rice ' of
course, , am a %oor man, , cannot give it to !ou below the cost %rice. , can give !ou m!
labor, , can give !ou m! %rofit, but , cannot go below the cost %rice.2 1nd , inquired '
because it was a sweet mar&et and there were man! sho%s, , inquired in other sho%s
about what he was sa!ing cost one ru%ee. 1nd others were selling for two ru%ees, two
and a half ru%ees ' the same quantit!, but not the same qualit!, not the same love.
7hile he was %re%aring his sweets, , used to sit. -e even as&ed me, 2*ou are the onl!
one. 7h! do !ou come and sit here#2
, said, 2, sim%l! li&e it ' to see !ou wor&. *ou wor& so lovingl!, as if !ou were %re%aring
these sweets for !our beloved who is coming after man! !ears ' and !ou don)t &now who
the customer will be.2 1nd he laughed. -e said, 21s far as , &now it is the same customer
who alwa!s comes ' different faces, but the customer is the same. That)s wh! , cannot
deceive. , cannot cheat, , cannot e/%loit because it is the same customer with different
faces. , have recogni5ed him.2
-is whole life , would describe as the life of a great saint, although nobod! in the world
would recogni5e him as a saint because we have this idea so dee%l! rooted in our minds
that a saint should renounce life, get awa! from life. That anti-life attitude has %roved so
%oisonous that it has destro!ed the whole beaut! of human e/istence. ,t has ta&en awa!
the whole dignit! of man.
-ence , still insist ' even if !ou feel self-remembering is easier ' that !ou tr! witnessing.
<ven though it is difficult in the beginning, it becomes ver! eas! as !ou go ahead.
"autam Buddha has said, 2M! teaching is bitter in the beginning but sweet in the end.2
Source: ?The Sword and the =otus ? - $sho