Devote Yourself

What the Method Is

The core instruction for this meditation method is encapsulated in the sutra: “Devotion frees”. This brief instruction suggests that the state or act of devotion is a direct path to liberation or freedom.

How It Is Done

This method does not involve a step-by-step physical procedure like some other techniques. Instead, it emphasizes a fundamental shift in attitude and being, making it particularly suitable for certain personality types:

  • Identify Your Type: This technique is primarily for heart-oriented, emotion-oriented, or poetically inclined individuals. Osho clarifies that no type is superior; they are simply different ways of being.
  • Embrace Trust and Non-Intellect: The essence of this method is trust, which fundamentally differs from intellectual criticism or the need for proof. If proofs are present, trust becomes unnecessary. It requires an attitude of surrender, where you do not depend on your own will, but rather on a deeper acceptance.
  • Prioritize the Other: In devotion, the object of your devotion (which can be a master, a concept, or even life itself) becomes more important than yourself.
  • Treat the Body as Sacred: Adopt an attitude that views your body as a holy temple or the abode of the divine. This involves recognizing the divine moving within you in all activities, such as breathing, eating, or walking.
  • Cultivate Total Acceptance: Embrace a philosophy of total acceptance of yourself and all your energies, including instincts and desires, as they are. This means moving with every energy (like sex, anger) with deep sensitivity, awareness, love, and understanding, rather than fighting or suppressing them.
  • Become Receptive and Passive: This method calls for a feminine attitude of receptivity, becoming like a valley or a womb, open to receive. Passivity is crucial here, as truth is received, not actively created. Do not interfere with what is, simply “be”.
  • Practice Self-Abandonment: In moments of deep love or connection, forget yourself completely to the point where “I am no more. Only love exists”. This signifies the dissolution of the ego.
Commentaries and Insights
  • Mechanism of Freedom: “Devotion frees” implies that true freedom arises not from fighting or controlling, but from a profound state of acceptance and trust. When you surrender, your will (which Osho considers the source of anguish) ceases to be a problem. This state of deep acceptance dissolves inner divisions, leading to a sense of wholeness.
  • The Path of Tantra vs. Yoga: Osho highlights the fundamental difference between Tantra and Yoga. While both are methodologies leading to the same goal, their paths are contrary. Yoga is the path of the warrior, emphasizing struggle, suppression, and the dissolution of the natural self (body, instincts, desires). Tantra, conversely, is the path of total acceptance and indulgence with awareness, seeing no opposition between the self and reality. It views self-destruction as “deep suicide” and advocates for transcendence through using one’s nature. Tantra is an affirmation of life, while Yoga is often a negation.
  • The Role of Surrender: Surrender is not a “method” in the traditional sense, but rather a state that happens when all other methods become futile and one experiences total helplessness. It is described as the most difficult thing in the world because it requires the complete dissolution of the ego – “When you are not, surrender is there”. It’s a “deep transfer of energy from the master to the disciple,” a process where the disciple becomes receptive like a valley, allowing energy to flow from the peak (the master).
  • Love as a Natural Method: Osho states that if one can truly love, no other meditation method is needed. True love, for Osho, is a state of being, not an action. Its characteristics are absolute contentment, timelessness (living fully in the present), and the cessation of the ego. This kind of love is seen as the “natural method” to achieve the same results as formal meditation techniques: creating contentment, fostering presence, and destroying the ego. It’s a “higher plane of breathing,” essential for the spirit’s birth. This deep love transforms into devotion, becoming an overflowing state of self-actualization.
  • Passivity and Receptivity: Devotion and surrender are deeply tied to passivity and receptivity, which Osho associates with the feminine mind. This contrasts with the active, aggressive, and forcing nature of the male mind often employed in worldly pursuits or scientific inquiry. In the spiritual realm, doing too much can be a hindrance; instead, one must simply “be” and allow truth to be received.
  • Body Acceptance and Transformation: Tantra’s emphasis on the body is crucial, starting from the factual reality of being in the body (“you are your body”). It has no condemnation against the body or sex, viewing them as holy and pure, and as vehicles for transcendence. By accepting and moving deeply into one’s sexual energy with awareness, it can be transformed and absorbed into higher centers, ultimately leading to a different quality of purity and innocence, a “real brahmacharya”.
  • Simplicity and Ego Resistance: Like many Tantric methods, this technique appears simple but is profoundly deep. The ego often resists simple methods because it seeks arduous challenges to feel accomplished. Osho warns that what appeals to the ego generally does not aid spiritual growth. True transformation happens not through seeking difficulty, but through understanding and allowing.