Exhaust Yourself and Drop to the Ground

What the Method Is

The core instruction for this meditation method is: “Roam about until exhausted and then, dropping to the ground, in this dropping be whole”. This sutra describes a process of intense physical exertion leading to complete exhaustion, followed by an unforced dropping of the body, aiming to reveal one’s inner wholeness and access deeper energy reserves. It is presented as one of the “stop techniques”.

How It Is Done

To practice this method, you should:

  • Engage in Vigorous Physical Activity: Begin by roaming about, running in a circle, jumping, or dancing until you are completely exhausted. The aim is to reach a point where you genuinely feel that you cannot take another step.
  • Disregard Mental Cues of Tiredness: Your mind may tell you that you are exhausted earlier than your body truly is. Do not pay any attention to the mind’s declaration of exhaustion; continue the activity until you feel the physical inability to continue.
  • Allow the Body to Drop Naturally: When you are on the verge of dropping, and the body feels heavy and tired, simply drop to the ground. This dropping must happen of itself.
  • “Be Whole in this Dropping”: The crucial part is not to consciously plan or arrange your fall, nor try to sit or lie down. Drop as a whole, as if your entire body is a single unit falling, without any internal division between “you” and “your body”. Do not be the one dropping the body; let the dropping be a complete, unarranged collapse. “Fall down dead”.
  • Remain Aware as an Onlooker: As the body falls, become aware and simply look at the body falling down. Do not fall with the body; instead, be the observer of the phenomenon.
Commentaries and Insights
  • Mechanism of Wholeness and Centering: This technique is designed to help you become “whole, unitary, one”. The intense physical exertion and sudden, unarranged dropping create a momentary cessation of the mind and its divisions, allowing your undivided being to appear for the first time. It is a method of centering by gathering your energy at one point, which can then lead to an explosion into cosmic consciousness.
  • Accessing Energy Layers: Osho explains that the human body has three layers of energy:
    1. First Layer: For day-to-day affairs, easily exhausted in routine work.
    2. Second Layer (Emergency): A deeper layer, accessed when the first is depleted. In group meditations, the collective energy can provide the impetus to push beyond the first layer.
    3. Third Layer (Cosmic/Infinite): This ultimate, infinite energy is contacted only when the first two layers are completely exhausted. The exertion of this technique pushes you through the superficial layers to connect with this cosmic source.
  • Overcoming Fear at the Threshold: As the second energy layer exhausts, a crucial moment arrives where you might feel “If I do anything now, I will be dead”. This intense fear is a sign that you are nearing the cosmic layer. At this point, a little courage is needed to penetrate the deepest, infinite layer. This fear is a common barrier in meditation, signaling that chaos is being brought to the surface.
  • Transformation vs. Suppression: This method is not about suppression or control of energy; it’s about a transformation where the energy, instead of being dissipated or suspended, returns to its original source. Total engagement with the desire/energy leads to its natural cessation or dissolution, rather than creating perversion or psychological diseases.
  • Experience of “Ecstasy” and Disidentification: By becoming an observer of the body’s fall, you may experience “ecstasy,” which literally means “to stand out”. This allows you to realize that you are separate from the body. Once this disidentification occurs, the mind, which acts as a bridge between you and the body, can momentarily disappear, leading to transcendence.
  • Suddenness and Alertness: The core principle, similar to other “stop techniques,” is that the dropping must be sudden and unprepared. If there is conscious planning or adjustment, the technique will be ineffective. The goal is to cultivate alertness. Even a brief, sudden stop can miraculously transform you by throwing you to your center.
  • Role of the Master: While the technique can be practiced individually, a master can be highly beneficial, especially in a group setting. A master can provide the sudden “stop!” commands at unpredictable moments, forcing authentic engagement and preventing the mind from planning or deceiving itself, thus ensuring the technique works effectively. George Gurdjieff utilized these “stop exercises” in the West, drawing from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra.
  • Simplicity and Depth: The method may appear simple, but its execution is arduous. The mind often dismisses simple techniques because the ego seeks difficult challenges, believing that only arduous practices can lead to profound results. However, these “simple” methods are powerful because they touch fundamental realities directly.