Remember that everything changes

What the Method Is

The core instruction or sutra for this method is: “Here is the sphere of change, change, change. Through change consume change”. This acknowledges that everything known, apart from the knowing consciousness itself, is in a continuous state of transformation.

How It Is Done

To practice “Remember that everything changes”, the following guidance is provided:

  • Cultivate Continuous Remembrance of Change: Begin by recognising and continuously remembering that everything around you, including your body and mind, is in a constant state of change. Even seemingly static objects, like walls, are in a rapid, undetectable flux at an atomic level.
  • Avoid Clinging or Escaping: The Tantric approach dictates that one should neither cling to changing phenomena nor attempt to escape from them. Both clinging and escaping are considered futile responses, as change is an omnipresent aspect of existence.
  • Live the Change, Be the Change: Instead of struggle, allow yourself to live the change and embody it. Do not create any resistance or conflict with the changing nature of reality.
  • Relax and Float: Adopt an attitude of relaxation and let go, allowing the “river of life” to carry you without personal direction or resistance. This involves a state of “non-doing”.
  • Be a Witness: As change occurs on the periphery of your being, remain silently present, witnessing all phenomena without making any effort to alter them. This means observing internal states like misery, anger, or attachment without interference.
  • Consume Change Through Change: This paradoxical instruction is central to the method. It means to fully experience emotions or situations such as anger, sex, greed, misery, or attachment, without fighting them. By completely witnessing and accepting these experiences, their energy is consumed or transformed, rather than suppressed or dissipated.
  • Practice Non-Doing: The core secret lies in remaining silently without doing anything to change the experience. This is about being present to what is, rather than acting upon it.
  • Start with Simpler Experiences: Begin practicing awareness with simpler, less intense phenomena, such as walking, bathing, or feeling hungry or thirsty. Gradually move towards more complex emotions or situations as your capacity for awareness deepens.
Commentaries and Insights

Osho’s commentaries provide a rich context and deeper understanding of this profound meditation method:

  • Universal Flux as Foundation: The method is founded on the inherent truth that everything in existence is in a continuous state of change. From the rising of the Himalayas to the atomic movements within seemingly solid objects, all is flux. Your body and mind are also constantly changing, making it impossible to remain the same even for a moment.
  • Distinction from Buddha’s Approach:
    • Buddha’s philosophy also acknowledges universal change (“change, change, change”) and uses this understanding to foster detachment, aiming to eliminate engagement with the changing world to find the unchanging. His symbol, the wheel, represents movement on an unmoving centre.
    • Tantra’s distinctive approach, however, is to “consume change through change”. Instead of fighting or escaping, Tantra encourages moving into and living out the change fully. This applies to all aspects of life, including difficult emotions like anger, or fundamental drives like sex and greed. The instruction is to consume these experiences “through themselves”.
  • Purpose of Consuming Change: By allowing and experiencing change fully and consciously, the practitioner paradoxically becomes aware of an unchanging centre within. The continuously changing external and internal world then serves as a dynamic background or contrast, making it possible to perceive the subtle, non-moving core of one’s being. This leads to a natural, unforced detachment from the periphery; the individual remains unmoved even amidst external turmoil or internal shifts. Misery, like all other phenomena, is understood as changing, leading to its natural dissolution and a feeling of being unburdened without any deliberate effort to change it.
  • Beyond Duality and Suffering: Tantra’s core philosophy is one of total acceptance and non-fighting. It asserts that there is no need to change the world or oneself. This radical acceptance allows one to float in change without anxiety, leading to a state where misery, being a creation of the mind, naturally dissolves. Suffering is understood to arise from the futile attempt to cling to change or force it to be static. When an individual ceases to ‘cause’ anything through non-identification, they are liberated, existing in a state beyond both misery and bliss.
  • The Unchanging Knower/Witness: Despite the ceaseless changes in the body and mind, there is an inherent, constant knower or witness within. This unchanging consciousness provides the basis for identity and perspective across different life stages and experiences.
  • Impact of Relaxation and Non-Doing: When the mind is relaxed and allows itself to float with change, the internal unmoving center becomes discernible. This “non-doing” is a hidden secret to profound transformation, as all effort typically creates tension and obscures the deeper reality.
  • Transformation of Emotions: When emotions such as anger, hate, or love arise, the technique involves turning attention to their source within oneself, rather than projecting them onto others. By remaining centered at this source, the energy is “consumed” or transformed, allowing it to return to its original state rather than being suppressed or expressed outwardly.
  • Simplicity vs. Arduousness: While the instruction might seem deceptively simple, Osho stresses that its execution is profoundly difficult and arduous. The mind often resists simple methods because it seeks difficulty to satisfy the ego’s desire for challenge and conquest. True application requires continuous, persistent effort and perfect, unwavering awareness.
  • Connection to “Unsame Same” Principle: This method is directly complemented by the principle of “Be the unsame same to friend as to stranger, in honor and dishonor”. This means that while outward behaviour (‘unsame’) will naturally adapt to external circumstances, the innermost attitude or centre (‘same’) remains constant. This allows for a spontaneous, natural detachment from external events and internal reactions.