Look into space, into the sky, without seeing, look with an empty eye. Looking, yet not looking for something: just an empty look. - Osho

As Osho explains in many discourses, he is talking about simply gazing at the sky.

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This article curates and organizes a selection of the discourse: Tantra: The Supreme Understanding - 02.

Although this format is quicker to consume, this editor’s recommendation is to listen to the original discourse and attempt the practice at your own risk.

Osho says:

The same sky is inside you: you are the vast blueness of the sky, and thoughts are just like clouds hovering around you, filling you. But the gaps exist; the sky exists.

The Method:

Gaze at the sky, then close your eyes and gaze at the inner sky.

The Result:

When you recognize that you are this boundless mind, that you still exist in the gap of silence, you remember pure awareness, you for the first time remember who you are, and you could not be anything else. This feels like perfection.

The Three Concepts for This Method:

1 - Mind doesn’t exist as an entity. Only thoughts exist.

2 - Thoughts exist separate from you, they are not one with your nature; they come and go. You remain; you persist. You are like the sky: never comes, never goes, it is always there.

3 Thoughts, are things, forces, and you have to handle them very carefully.

1 - No Sky - No Mind

Mind doesn’t exist as an entity. Only thoughts exist.

Talopa's song:

If one sees naught when staring into space, if with the mind one then observes the mind, one destroys distinctions and reaches buddhahood.

The clouds that wander through the sky have no roots, no home; nor do the distinctive thoughts floating through the mind. Once the self-mind is seen, discrimination stops.

In space shapes and colors form, but neither by black nor white is space tinged. From the self-mind all things emerge, the mind by virtues and by vices is not stained.

Summary:

Thoughts together, millions of thoughts, give you the illusion that mind exists. It is just like a crowd, millions of people standing in a crowd.

But they are standing together; their togetherness gives you the feeling that something like a crowd exists. Only individuals exist.

Watch, and you will find thoughts; you will never come across the mind.

2 - You

The second thing: the thoughts exist separate from you, they are not one with your nature; they come and go. You remain; you persist. You are like the sky: never comes, never goes, it is always there.

You abide – not as you because that too is a thought – as pure consciousness;

not your name because that too is a thought; not your form because that too is a thought; not your body because one day you will realize that too is a thought. Just pure consciousness, with no name, no form, just the purity, just the formlessness and namelessness, just the very phenomenon of being aware – only that abides.

This is the second insight to be attained, that you are the host and thoughts are guests.

3 - Participating in mind is creating suffering.

Thoughts, are things, forces, and you have to handle them very carefully.

That’s why those who have known the inner reality of man say that whatsoever happens on the earth, everybody is responsible, everybody.

Only one person cannot be held responsible, and that is the person who has no mind, otherwise everybody is responsible for everything that goes on. If the earth is a hell, you are a creator; you participate.

If you become more aware, a thought simply disappears, it melts because awareness is a greater energy than thought.

Result:

The more you get attuned to this vision, thoughts will drop by and by, they will come less and less, less and less. The gaps will become wider. For minutes together no thought coming, everything is so quiet and silent inside – you are for the first time together. Everything feels absolutely blissful, no disturbance.

This look is one of the most natural things; one just has to unfocus, decondition. …[with this] one destroys distinctions.

Key Concepts

Satori and Samadhi

To have a glimpse of the sky is satori, and to become the sky is samadhi. From satori to samadhi,

the whole process is a deep insight into the mind, nothing else.

The mind becomes the problem because you have taken thoughts so deeply inside you that you have completely forgotten the distance, that they are visitors, they come and go.

You Abide As Pure Consciousness

Gurdjieff used to say that only one thing is needed: not to be identified with that which comes and goes. The morning comes, the noon comes, the evening comes, and they go; the night comes and again the morning.

You abide – not as you because that too is a thought – as pure consciousness; not your name because that too is a thought; not your form because that too is a thought; not your body because one day you will realize that too is a thought. Just pure consciousness, with no name, no form, just the purity, just the formlessness and namelessness, just the very phenomenon of being aware – only that abides.

Concepts: On Thoughts

If you try to be good thoughts..

Sooner or later you will get identified with the good thought; the good thought will become the host. And any thought creates misery when it becomes the host because it is not the truth. The thought is a pretender and you get identified with it. Identification is the disease.

if you once attain to no-mind and your trend remains negative, you can become a dangerous force. Before no-mind is attained, one should become absolutely positive.

Your mind is a chatterbox. You are broadcasting things unnecessarily. You are destroying people around you; you are destroying yourself.

You are a dangerous thing, and continuously broadcasting. Many things are happening because of you. And it is a great network. Every day the whole world goes on becoming more and more miserable because more and more people are on the earth and they are broadcasting more and more thoughts.

What is a prayer? Prayer is sending blessings to all. Prayer is sending your compassion to all. Prayer is creating an antidote of negative thoughts; it is positivity.

Each single thought is creating something for you and for others. Be alert!

The Dissolution of Thoughts

The clouds that wander through the sky have no roots, no home; nor do the distinctive thoughts floating through the mind. Once the self-mind is seen, discrimination stops.

The clouds that wander through the sky have no roots and no home… And the same is true for your thoughts, and the same is true for your inner sky. Your thoughts have no roots; they have no home, just like clouds they wander. So you need not fight them, you need not be against them, you need not even try to stop thought.

This should become a deep understanding in you because whenever a person becomes interested in meditation, he starts trying to stop thinking.

And if you try to stop thoughts they will never be stopped because the very effort to stop is a thought, the very effort to meditate is a thought, the very effort to attain buddhahood is a thought. And how can you stop a thought by another thought? How can you stop mind by creating another mind? Then you will be clinging to the other. And this will go on and on, ad nauseam; then there is no end to it.

Don’t fight – because who will fight?

Who are you? Just a thought, so don’t make yourself a battleground of one thought fighting another. Rather, be a witness, just watching thoughts floating. They stop, but not by your stopping. They stop by your becoming more aware, not by any effort on your part to stop them. No, they never stop, they resist.

Try and you will find out; try to stop a thought and the thought will persist. Thoughts are very stubborn, adamant; they are hatha yogis, they persist. You throw them out and they will come back a million and one times.

You will get tired, but they will not get tired.

Remember this, otherwise you will be in the same plight. The poor man who was obsessed became obsessed with monkeys because he wanted to stop them. There is no need to stop the mind.

Thoughts are rootless, homeless vagabonds; you need not be worried about them. Simply watch, watch without looking at them, simply look.

If they come, good, don’t feel bad because even a slight feeling that it is not good and you have started fighting. It’s okay, it is natural: as leaves come on the trees, thoughts come to the mind. It’s okay; it is perfectly as it should be. If they don’t come, it is beautiful. Simply remain an impartial watcher, neither for nor against, neither appreciating nor condemning, without any valuation. Simply sit inside yourself and look, looking without looking at.

And it happens that the more you look, the less you find; the deeper you look, the thoughts disappear, disperse. Once you know this then the key is in your hand.

And this key unlocks the most secret phenomenon: the phenomenon of buddhahood.

Dissolution of Thoughts: Result

The clouds that wander through the sky have no roots, no home; nor do the distinctive thoughts floating through the mind. Once the self-mind is seen, discrimination stops. 

And once you can see that thoughts are floating – you are not the thoughts but the space in which thoughts are floating – you have attained to your self-mind, you have understood the phenomenon of your consciousness. Then discrimination stops; then nothing is good, nothing is bad, then all desire simply disappears because if there is nothing good, nothing bad, there is nothing to be desired, nothing to be avoided.

You accept; you become loose and natural. You simply start floating with existence, not going anywhere because there is no goal; not moving to any target because there is no target. Then you start enjoying every moment, whatsoever it brings – whatsoever, remember. And you can enjoy it because now you have no desires and no expectations. You don’t ask for anything, so whatsoever is given, you feel grateful. Just sitting and breathing is so beautiful, just being here is so wonderful that every moment of life becomes a magical thing, a miracle in itself.

In space shapes and colors form, but neither by black nor white is space tinged. From the self-mind all things emerge, the mind
by virtues and by vices is not stained.
And then, then you know that: In space shapes and colors form… Clouds take many types of shapes: you can see elephants and lions, and whatsoever you like. In space, forms, colors, come and go: …but neither by black nor white is space tinged. But whatsoever happens, the sky remains untouched, untinged. In the morning it is like a fire, a red fire coming from the sun, the whole sky becomes red; but in the night where has that redness gone? The whole sky is dark, black. In the morning, where has that blackness gone? The sky remains untinged, untouched.

Awareness is like Fire to Thought

Awareness is like fire to thought. When the light burns in the house, the darkness cannot enter. Thoughts are like darkness: they enter only if there is no light within.

Awareness is fire: you become more aware – fewer and fewer thoughts enter.

If you become really integrated in your awareness, thoughts don’t enter you; you have become an impenetrable citadel, nothing can penetrate you.

Not that you are closed, remember; you are absolutely open, but just the very energy of awareness becomes your citadel. And when no thoughts can enter you, they will come and they will bypass you. You will see them coming, and simply, by the time they reach near you they turn. Then you can move anywhere, then you go to the very hell, nothing can affect you. This is what we mean by enlightenment.

Teaching: Looking

You simply watch, you simply remain conscious, but you don’t think. And if some thought enters – it will enter because thoughts are not yours; they are just floating in the air.

All around there is a noosphere, a thought sphere, all around: just as there is air, there is thought all around you, and it goes on entering on its own accord.
It stops only when you become more and more aware.

There is something in it: if you become more aware, a thought simply disappears, it melts because awareness is a greater energy than thought.

If you become perfectly aware, then miles of gaps will be revealed to you.
And in those gaps, satoris happen. In those gaps the truth knocks at your door. In those gaps, the guest comes. In those gaps godliness is realized, or whatsoever way you like to express it.

And when awareness is absolute, then there is only a vast gap of nothingness.

Let pure clarity be in the eyes, in the ears; all your senses should be clear, pure perception, only then can existence be revealed to you.

And when you know existence, then you know that you are a buddha, a god, because in existence everything is divine.

Results:

Buddhahood means the highest awakening. When there are no distinctions, all divisions are lost; unity is attained and only one remains. You cannot even call it one because that too is part of duality. One remains, but you cannot call it one because how can you call it one without deep down saying two. No, you don’t say that one remains, simply that two has disappeared; the many have disappeared.

Now it is a vast oneness, there are no boundaries to anything.

Merging

One tree merging into another tree, earth merging into the trees, trees merging into the sky, the sky merging into the beyond; you merging into me, I merging into you, everything merging, distinctions lost, melting and merging like waves into other waves. A vast oneness vibrating, alive, without boundaries, without definitions, without distinctions – the sage merging into the sinner, the sinner merging into the sage, good becoming bad, bad becoming good, night turning into the day, the day turning into the night, life melting into death, death molding again into life – then everything has become one.

Distinction is not there.

Only at this moment is buddhahood attained: when there is nothing good, nothing bad, no sin, no virtue, no darkness, no night – nothing, no distinctions.

Distinctions are there because of your trained eyes. Distinction is a learned thing. Distinction is not there in existence; distinction is projected by you. Distinction is given by you to the world; it is not there. It is your eyes’ trick, your eyes playing a trick on you.

The Technique Result:

When Buddha attained to the ultimate, the utterly ultimate enlightenment, he was asked, “What have you attained?” And he laughed and said, “Nothing, because whatsoever I have attained was already there inside me. It is not something new that I have achieved. It has always been there from eternity, it is my very nature. But I was not mindful about it, I was not aware of it. The treasure was always there, but I had forgotten about it.”

You have forgotten, that’s all;

that’s your ignorance. Between a buddha and you there is no distinction as far as your nature is concerned, but only one distinction,

and the distinction is that you don’t remember who you are, and he remembers. You are the same, but he remembers and you don’t remember. He is awake, you are fast asleep, but your nature is the same.

when your perception becomes clear, suddenly, in a moment,

in fact no time happens: suddenly, without time, you are fully awake. You are a buddha, you become the enlightened, the awakened one.

What does a buddha gain out of it? He gains nothing. Rather, on the contrary, he loses many things: the misery, the pain, the anguish, the anxiety, the ambition, the jealousy, the hatred, the possessiveness, the violence – he loses all. As far as what he attains – nothing. He attains that which was already there; he remembers.

Conclusion

If this becomes your experience, if it becomes a fact of your own knowing, then suddenly many things start changing. Because you have understood such a deep thing about the mind, many things can follow.

Always remember that which abides: that is your nature, your Tao.

Always be attentive to that which never comes and never goes, just like the sky.

The Method:

Gaze at the sky, then close your eyes and gaze at the inner sky.

Suddenly a moment comes when you are attuned to this look of “not looking” – clouds disappear for you, only the vast sky remains.