self-remembering and vipassana

[satsujin]

I am somewhat confused by the concepts of self-remembering and vipassana(mindfulness) meditation. One says be aware of the sense of "am-ness"(without verbalizing it) whatever you are doing. The other says give full attention to whatever you are doing without letting your thoughts distract you. However, according to Osho, they are the same. But one seems to send attention inward while the other is outward. I cannot do both at the same time so they must be different. Am I misunderstanding something ?

Edited January 6, 2015 by satsujin

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I think in this case, Osho doesn't know what he's talking about. Those are completely different things.

 

Vipassana is about observing all the little events occurring in experience, noticing their impermanence, how they are just processes (not a self or owned by a self), cause and effect between them, and stuff like that. If you're interested in that, I would recommend Buddhist sources as that's where the practice comes from.

 

Daniel Ingram's MCTB is a decent guide IMHO, then you could move on to Ven. Analayo's Satipatthana - the direct path to awakening for more detail on what it is, how it works, and the wider context.

 

If you're more interested in self-remembering sort of stuff, I'm not familiar with it, but people like Ramana Maharshi or Nisagadatta are probably the ones you want.

[Spotless]

I am somewhat confused by the concepts of self-remembering and vipassana(mindfulness) meditation. One says be aware of the sense of "am-ness"(without verbalizing it) whatever you are doing. The other says give full attention to whatever you are doing without letting your thoughts distract you. However, according to Osho, they are the same. But one seems to send attention inward while the other is outward. I cannot do both at the same time so they must be different. Am I misunderstanding something ?

 

Osho is quite right in the higher sense - the origins of mindfulness have been turned upside down - the objective within ones awareness is the same.

[Bearded Dragon]

Being aware and giving something awareness are two different things. The former being more refined and the latter merely a practice towards the former.

 

You don't want to tell yourself not to do something, and you don't want to tell yourself to do something. You just want to be. This is the essence of both the things you mentioned. Rather than compare methods I would be looking at that essence and figuring out how best to apply it.

[Jetsun]

Osho mixed up a lot of teachings which only make real sense on their own, for example Osho was into the Fourth Way teachings of Gurdjieff who talk about "self remembering", but if you bring the terminology and perspective of one tradition into another then things start to get confused even if you are dealing with things in the same general area. In my experience you are better off looking at traditions from their own basis, there is no need to mix them up. Vipassana have their own legitimate teachings with their own way of looking at things.