Close your senses, become stone-like

What the Method Is

This meditation method, titled “Close your senses, become stone-like” in the table of contents, is directly articulated by Osho with the core instruction: “Stop the doors of the senses when feeling the creeping of an ant. Then.”.

How It Is Done

To practice this method, follow these steps:

  • Choose an object or sensation: While the sutra uses the example of “the creeping of an ant,” Osho clarifies that any experience, pain, or sensation will serve as the object for this meditation. This includes having a thorn in your foot, a headache, or any pain in the body.
  • Stop all sensory input: The primary action is to “stop all the doors of the senses”. This means consciously closing them off:
    • Close your eyes and imagine or believe that you are blind and cannot see.
    • Close your ears and imagine that you cannot hear.
    • Apply this principle to all five senses, effectively shutting them off from external input.
  • Induce a state of stillness: A practical way to achieve this immediate closing of senses is to stop breathing for a single moment; Osho explains that all your senses will automatically close.
  • Adopt a “dead” or “stone-like” posture/feeling: Imagine that you are dead, a stone, or a statue. In this state, you cannot move your body, your eyes, cry, or scream; you are simply dead.
  • Maintain non-cooperation with the body: Do not deceive yourself by subtly cooperating with the body, such as making slight movements or adjustments for comfort. If a mosquito bites, treat the body as if it is dead and do not react.
  • Accept any arising emotions: Should fear, anger, frustration, sadness, or anguish arise in the mind during this “dead” state, “stay so”. As the body is “dead,” you cannot act upon these emotions; simply remain with them.
  • Do not “practice” it mechanically: This is not a technique for gradual practice but a “sudden method” that requires a “sudden jerk” of consciousness. Try it spontaneously whenever possible, suddenly closing all sensory openings for a few moments or seconds.
  • Persist through discomfort (with caution): If suffocation arises from holding your breath, continue “unless it becomes absolutely unbearable.” Osho reassures that the inner force will naturally open the passages when necessary, ensuring safety. The moment of feeling on the “verge of death” is crucial for transformative insight.
Commentaries and Insights
  • Purpose of the Technique: This method aims to lead the practitioner into a state of deep relaxation and ease, effectively throwing one back upon oneself by disconnecting from external distractions.
  • Mechanism of Disconnection: By stopping breathing and closing the senses, one is “removed – far away” from the immediate sensation or external world. Being “closed to the world” inherently means being closed to your own body, as the body is fundamentally part of the external world. This creates a state akin to a “Leibnizian monad,” a unit closed off from external influence.
  • Achieving Centeredness: When external movement ceases and sensory doors are closed, the consciousness, which usually flows outwards, is stopped and remains inward. This forces attention back to the inner center. This sudden cessation of activity creates a “gap,” separating the “stopper” (the inner center) from the “stopped” (the body and its impulses).
  • Transformation of Experience: As a result of this technique:
    • Physical sensations like pain will disappear because a “stone body” cannot experience pain.
    • The external environment—bed, room, or even the whole world—may “disappear” from perception.
    • The experience leads to “realize”. If persisted in at the verge of death, everything can become “illumined,” and an expansive “inner space” will be felt, encompassing the whole existence.
    • This deep inactivity allows one to encounter their subtle presence and realize that they are “not the body”. This realization is revolutionary and fundamentally changes one’s life.
    • It helps to overcome the fear of death, as one directly experiences that their true self does not die with the body.
  • Connection to Other Concepts: This method is a detailed application of the broader “Stop!” techniques, which Gurdjieff popularized. It highlights the principle of “suddenness”: the act of stopping must be instantaneous, without mental planning or adjustment, to create the necessary inner jolt. If performed with alertness and without mental interference, it leads to a “thoughtless consciousness,” which is Osho’s definition of meditation.
  • Cautions: Osho stresses that this is a “sudden method” rather than a gradual practice. If mechanically practiced, it risks becoming a mere habit, losing its transformative power. While beneficial, it can be arduous and evoke fear. However, Osho assures that “at least up until now not a single person has died using this method”. It’s crucial to understand that the technique is designed to push you to the “verge of death” for a glimpse of inner reality, not to actually cause harm.