Look into a Deep Well

Look into a Deep Well

What the Method Is

The core instruction for this meditation method is: “At the edge of a deep well look steadily into its depths until – the wondrousness.”.

How It Is Done

To practice this meditation, the practitioner should follow these steps:

• Choose the Object: Position yourself at the edge of a deep well.
• Manner of Looking: Look steadily into its depths.
• Mental State: While observing the well, you must forget thinking completely; stop thinking completely. The instruction is to “just meditate,” to “meditate the depth, become one with it”. This means maintaining a pure, objectless awareness, free from mental commentary or verbalization.
• Persistence: Continue looking without interruption. The guidance states to “Go on looking, day after day, month after month” until the desired “wondrousness” or “mystery” is experienced.

Commentaries and Insights

• Reflection of Inner Depth: Osho explains that the act of looking into a deep well is not merely an external observation. When you look into its depth, the well becomes an outer symbol of the inner depth of your own mind. Our minds, like a well, possess hidden, unexamined depths. By focusing on the external depth, your mind begins to reflect this, and you may find yourself experiencing a similar vastness within.
• Cessation of Thought and the No-Mind State: The primary condition for this technique to work is the cessation of thinking. When you look steadily into the emptiness of the well without engaging your thoughts, your mind is deprived of objects to grasp. This process renders the senses futile in their outward direction, forcing consciousness inward and leading to a state where “thoughts will not be there”. This mental vacancy is often referred to as no-mind, which is essential for true realization.
• The “Wondrousness” and Emptiness (Shunya): If the practice is sustained, a “strange, very strange feeling” will arise: you will feel wonder-filled. This “wondrousness” or the descent of “mystery” occurs when the mind has ceased its activity. This profound inner emptiness, described as “bottomless,” is what Buddha called shunya, or nothingness. Upon realizing this state, one also becomes endless, transcending their limited self.
• Connection to Sufi Practice: Osho connects this method to a preparatory exercise used in Sufi traditions, where seekers would imagine with closed eyes that they are falling into a deep, dark, bottomless well. This imaginative practice helps them realize the beauty and silence that comes with moving deeper into the self, with the world fading away as silence and darkness grow. This prepares the practitioner for the actual experience of falling into the “abyss” between waking and sleeping, which is a real, bottomless void.
• Simplicity and Ego’s Resistance: Like many Tantric methods, “Look into a deep well” appears deceptively simple. The ego often resists such straightforward techniques because it seeks challenges and difficulties to feel a sense of accomplishment. However, Osho emphasizes that these simple methods are profoundly effective because they indirectly bring about a state of alertness and no-mind, which is where genuine spiritual breakthroughs occur. The true difficulty lies not in the method itself, but in the mind’s cunning ability to rationalize its avoidance of such direct engagement.
• Indirect Nature of Tantric Techniques: This method exemplifies the indirect approach characteristic of Tantra. Instead of directly striving for a result like “bliss” or “enlightenment,” the practitioner focuses totally on the technique. The “wondrousness” is a by-product that naturally arises from complete absorption in the act of looking and the cessation of mental activity, rather than being a goal to be pursued directly.
• Tantra as Science, Not Philosophy: Tantra is presented as a science of technique (“how” to attain truth) rather than a philosophy (“why” things are the way they are). It is an existential approach that demands direct experience and transformation, not mere intellectual understanding or belief. Shiva, the speaker of these sutras, consistently provides methods for direct experience rather than philosophical answers.
• Connection to Other “Looking” Techniques: This method belongs to a category of “looking techniques” that includes “Look into the limitless sky” and “Look upon some object, then slowly withdraw your sight from it”. All these techniques aim to turn consciousness inward. By focusing on an external object (or its absence) until the mind’s outward movement ceases, consciousness is forced to return to its own center.