Osho is a globally renowned meditation instructor whose revolutionary approach stems from an understanding of the modern mind: It is stressed and overstimulated and needs to quiet down before any real “samadhi” can be achieved through stillness.
There are various meditations created by Osho, all based on this principle. “Kundalini Meditation” is a mellow variation on Osho’s Dynamic Meditation, which is more movement-oriented. There is still movement in the kundalini, which involves a series of four stages of approximately 15 minutes each that are meant to relax you from the stress of the day (ideally this is done in the late afternoon or after work).
Practitioners begin by standing and letting their bodies shake out tension, then dancing, then sitting, then lying down. The music to accompany this process is important, and who could be more qualified than healing-music pioneer Deuter, who implicitly understands the dynamics behind each stage?
“First Stage” is a warm-up of clattering percussion that gradually laps into an otherworldly synthesizer melody-this taps into the unconscious, inviting movement of an almost involuntary nature. “Second Stage” starts out with a steadily strummed acoustic guitar and is gradually joined by simple elements of percussion, keyboard, flutes, and maracas, then simple human vowel singing and electric guitar as the energy builds.
There’s a great clap-along-or-join-in-the-clatter here, leading to the switch to stillness-gently singing Tibetan bowls and bells, calling the conscious mind away to let one’s inner self stretch out unhindered for the sitting portion of the meditation. “Fourth Stage”-for the lying down and relaxing portion-is 15 minutes of complete silence. Yes, silence.
It leads to a final toll of the bells, ending the meditation. If you are one of those who wishes their meditation CD would sometimes just stop for 10 minutes and then chime so you know to come out of your trance, this is the one for you.
While one goes along with this seemingly mad approach, there is the feeling that Deuter knows best-and Osho, too, of course. Each track builds and shifts in such a way that if you find yourself drifting back to worry and daydreaming, you can follow Deuter as he weaves his magical web, which catches your rascally ego like a fly in a bejeweled web. Running an exact 59.9 minutes, this album is designed to accompany the specific.
