Be playful in activity

What the method is

The core instruction for this meditation is to approach and experience life as a drama, a juggling, or a picture show, rather than taking it with excessive seriousness. The essence is encapsulated in the sutra: “This so-called universe appears as a juggling, a picture show. To be happy, look upon it so”. This implies a deliberate shift in attitude towards all aspects of existence, moving away from rigid, goal-oriented seriousness towards an unburdened, detached, and joyful engagement.

How it is done

This method involves cultivating a specific attitude and applying it to daily activities:

  • Perceive the world as a drama: Consciously look upon the entire universe as a performance or a show, rather than a fixed, serious reality.
  • Act out roles with awareness: Engage in all your daily activities and interactions (e.g., with family, in work) as if you are playing a part in a drama. This means performing your actions efficiently but without deep identification or emotional disturbance.
  • Practice non-seriousness: Actively choose not to be serious about life’s events. Recognize that “Nothing is serious; this whole world is just a drama”. Osho advises to “just play” with meditation techniques, emphasizing a non-strenuous and disciplined approach to keep the mind open.
  • Embrace spontaneity and natural flow: Allow energies to flow without control or hurry, treating activities like walking or even sexual union as “play” with no ultimate goal. The emphasis is on deep feeling of what is happening, rather than thinking or intellectualizing.
  • Maintain detachment through awareness: By playing a part and maintaining awareness, you remain centered and observe the activity on the periphery as if it’s happening to “someone else”. This detachment allows you to experience events without becoming disturbed.
  • Self-remembering: While engaging in activities, remember your own being (“I am”) without verbalization or thought. This helps maintain the “actor” perspective and prevents full identification with the role.
Commentaries and Insights
  • Purpose: Happiness and Regaining Original Consciousness: The primary benefit of viewing the world as a drama is the attainment of happiness. Seriousness leads to trouble and unhappiness, whereas being grounded in the attitude of play allows happiness to emerge. This practice ultimately helps to regain one’s “original consciousness”.
  • Breaking Identification with Mind and Roles: This method is a powerful tool for transcending identification with the ego and the mind. Civilization trains us to be unreal by identifying with words, concepts, and roles, but Tantra seeks to reverse this process and reconnect us with reality. By acting a part consciously, one realizes they are not the role, thus breaking the illusion of being solely the body or mind.
  • Transformation through Acceptance: The playful attitude fosters total acceptance of inner and outer facts, without judgment or division. When one accepts their current state, even uncomfortable feelings like loneliness or detachment (which might arise from this method), those feelings can then transform and dissipate. This radical acceptance dissolves inner conflicts and allows transformation to happen spontaneously.
  • Effortless Being (Non-Doing): True spiritual transformation occurs when one stops “doing” and simply “is”. Playing in activity helps achieve this state of non-doing, where one is engaged but not effortfully striving for a result. This allows the truth to be received rather than created.
  • Characteristics of Enlightened Beings: Osho highlights that truly silent and enlightened individuals are often playful and non-serious, capable of laughing at themselves and the world. They embody a deep inner balance and centeredness, even amidst external activity. This playfulness is a natural outcome of their transformation, not a cultivated facade.
  • Transformation of Suppressed Energies: Energies like anger or sexuality, which are often suppressed and lead to neurosis or unhappiness, can be transformed through a playful, non-judgmental approach. By engaging in these energies with full awareness and a sense of “play,” without holding back or seeking relief, they can become a “jumping point” for deeper experiences and bliss.
  • Connection to Other Traditions: The concept of life as a drama (maya) is central to some Eastern philosophies, such as Shankara’s maya doctrine, though Tantra emphasizes it as a meditative practice rather than a philosophical theory. Gurdjieff’s system of “self-remembering” and “psychodrama” also directly relates to this method of conscious observation and non-identification with roles.
  • Avoiding Obstacles: The mind often resists simple techniques because it seeks difficulty to satisfy the ego. Approaching meditation with a playful attitude helps bypass this egoistic tendency, making powerful yet simple techniques effective.
  • No Fear of Non-Existence: A playful approach helps overcome the fear of the unknown or the “nothingness” that arises when the ego dissolves. By treating life as a play, one becomes less attached to the small self and more open to boundless existence.