Remain detached

What the method is

The meditation method “Remain detached” implicitly instructs the practitioner to cultivate a state of non-identification with both internal and external phenomena, perceiving oneself as a distinct observer or witness. The core of this method is to observe without involvement, fostering a separation between the experiencing self and the experiences. This leads to the realization of an unchanging inner center amidst a constantly changing periphery.

How it is done

To practice remaining detached, various approaches can be used:

  • Self-Remembering: Continuously be aware of your own “being” or “you-areness” while engaging in daily activities such as singing, seeing, or tasting. This means feeling “I am” without verbalizing or intellectualizing it. This is not a thought process but a direct sensation.
  • Observing Past Happenings Detachedly: When remembering past events, such as childhood memories or love affairs, view them as if they are someone else’s life. Maintain an aloof and detached stance, without getting emotionally involved. This practice is particularly effective when done by going backward through the day’s memories before sleep, serving as an “unwinding of the mind”. The aim is to see your past “form” as separate from your present consciousness.
  • Witnessing Moods and Desires without Projection: When emotions like hate, love, or any strong mood arise, do not project them onto the person or object in question. Instead, shift your attention inward to the source from where the emotion is arising within you. This involves neither expressing nor suppressing the emotion, but rather using it as a path to go deep within and connect with the original energy source.
  • Psychodrama and Re-enactment: To facilitate detachment from intense emotions, one can re-enact past experiences of anger or desire in a controlled, solitary setting, becoming a witness to the emotional drama without real-world consequences. This allows the “pent-up energy” to be released without external expression or internal suppression, leading to an inner calm.
  • Staying in the Middle Between Polarities: Consciously place your attention neither on pleasure nor on pain, but exactly between these two extremes. This involves observing both poles as a witness, recognizing that the mind tends to swing between them.
  • Cultivating the “Unsame Same”: Act differently on the periphery towards friends or strangers, in honor or dishonor, while maintaining the same, unchanging inner attitude or center. This involves focusing on the constant core of your being amidst external variations.
  • Recognizing Impermanence: Observe that everything, including your body, mind, and personality, is constantly changing and in flux. By witnessing this continuous change, you become aware of a changeless point within yourself.
Commentaries and Insights
  • Purpose and Outcome: The ultimate purpose of detachment is to achieve self-actualization and liberation by transcending the limited, identified ego. It leads to a profound inner peace and serenity. When detached, one realizes a cosmic, oceanic oneness with existence, becoming “omnipresent” and free from suffering. This process brings about an inner rebirth.
  • Philosophical Context:
    • Tantra’s “Yes” to Life: Unlike traditions that advocate struggle or negation, Tantra emphasizes total acceptance of life as it is, including all its aspects like anger, sex, and desire. Detachment in Tantra is not suppression, but a transformation through understanding and witnessing.
    • Identification as “Sin”: Osho, drawing on Gurdjieff, states that unconscious identification is the only sin. Detachment is the process of breaking this unconscious identification, allowing the true self to emerge.
    • Being vs. Doing: The focus shifts from “what to do” to “how to be”. Meditation is about cultivating your presence rather than external actions. Your true “being” precedes all actions and possessions.
    • Reality is Unproblematic: Problems and miseries are creations of the mind, not inherent in reality itself. By remaining with facts and not judging, one can transcend these mental constructs.
    • Amorality of Tantra: Tantra is amoral; it does not concern itself with conventional notions of morality or immorality. Its only concern is with awareness and alertness, irrespective of one’s actions or perceived “sinner” or “saint” status.
  • Potential Experiences and Challenges:
    • Emergence of the Witness: A key experience is becoming the “witness” or “observer,” realizing a part of oneself that is separate from the body, mind, and emotions. This can lead to the feeling of being “out of the body” or “standing out” (ecstasy).
    • Initial Disturbance: When a technique genuinely “fits,” it often leads to an initial period of disturbance or even a feeling of “madness” as hidden inner chaos comes to light. This is a necessary phase for authentic transformation, not merely adjustment.
    • Feeling “At Ease”: A balanced and centered person will experience an unconditional “at-easeness” even amidst challenging situations, including death.
    • Beyond Dualities: As one practices detachment, the experience moves beyond polar opposites like pleasure/pain, love/hate, virtue/vice. The “real” is the absence of these opposites, not their counter-cultivation.
    • Resistance of the Mind: The mind often resists simple methods, preferring complex ones that feed the ego’s desire for accomplishment. It will also create excuses and postpone genuine effort.
    • The Role of Imagination and Reality: While initial steps might involve imagination (e.g., visualizing oneself as light), Osho states that this is rooted in reality, as deep concentration can manifest phenomena.
  • Guidance and Warnings:
    • Master’s Guidance: For powerful techniques, guidance from a master is beneficial, as they can tailor methods to the individual and provide support through challenging experiences.
    • Authenticity is Key: Do not imitate others or force beliefs; be authentic to your own nature and experience.
    • Patience, Not Hurry: Spiritual growth is not a hurried process. Persistence is needed, but the focus should be on the doing of the technique rather than anxiously chasing results.
    • No Suppression: True detachment is not suppression. Suppression creates psychological burdens and perverted energy. The aim is to allow energies to return to their source, not to trap them.
    • Danger of Misinterpretation: Simple methods can be easily misunderstood or used mechanically without proper awareness, leading to superficial results or even harm.