I had my own personal experience of [imbalance] when I was working as a lawyer and publisher of business magazines. It was only when I realized that I was waking up every morning anxious, that I decided I needed to change something in my life. For sure my left brain was well developed, to the point where I was very successful in my career, but in the process I realized that I had lost all real ‘personal’ connection with my colleagues. In fact, as I started to explore myself in more depth, through meditation, I discovered that my ingrained habit of reacting to people was first of all to see them as potential enemies, rather than as potential friends. That was the wake-up call to start putting some attention into developing my heart/right brain, and it was the beginning of changing my life totally. Now, not only do I enjoy taking the time to genuinely connect with people, (and learn a lot more about myself and life in general in the process), but I find that paradoxically, I also get more work done. I am more relaxed, and more able to delegate to others and trust them to do things their own way. And the end result is of a much richer dimension, instead of just being ‘my’ way.
Research has shown that people with high EQ (Emotional Quota) i.e. people who are more in touch with their feelings and intuition, have more empathy for others and more self-awareness and good impulse control, are much more likely to succeed in life than people who just have a higher IQ. The qualities of EQ are the qualities of the right brain.
So the techniques that allow us to shift the energy to the right brain, when needed, increase our EQ, open up new dimensions of intuition, creativity, and spontaneity, and allow for better communication with, and understanding of, others. By the way, this does NOT diminish the left brain. On the contrary, because it gets some rest when you are using the right brain, the left brain becomes even more clear and sharp.
So even if you are not remotely interested in exploring dimensions of your being which are beyond your mind, don’t for one minute think meditation has no place in your life.
There is also the health aspect… It is scientifically proven that practicing meditation techniques helps clear the mind, calm the nerves, reduces incidences of ill-health, and brings a sense of balance and harmony. Medical research shows that while practicing meditation techniques, the brain produces relaxing alpha waves, the heart rate goes down, blood pressure lowers, and muscles relax.
So, what are these techniques? There have been literally hundreds of them created over the ages, all reclaimed from dusty tomes and explained for the modern man by the mystic Osho. And Osho has also created his own powerful meditation techniques specifically to help people of today’s lifestyles, with busy minds and tense bodies, find a fast route to inner stillness and silence. Many of those techniques are available from New Earth Records. [editor's note: please see New Earth's Osho section if you are interested.]
In The Book of Secrets, Osho describes techniques for every kind of person – whether you are visually oriented, or a feeling person, a hearing person, or even a person who relates primarily through the sense of smell. Whether you are a man or a woman, and whatever your personality type, there will be techniques that are just right for you.
Experiment. The idea is not to take it as a serious business, but to experiment playfully. Seriousness is part of the whole disease of the mind. Sincerity and totality in participation are certainly keys, but the whole atmosphere should be one of joy and celebration that is always associated with Osho.
So why not take a break from your regular routine, and try something different. Something that has the potential to change your life, for the better.
Tags: meditation
