Please advise me as to whether this style of meditation is safe. I have recently done an Osho AUM Meditation and had very severe physical and mental problems afterwards. Not least of these was a splitting headache.
The AUM (Humaniversity) leaders have to date refused to correspond or to advise me; yet at the session they stated that they were professional psychotherapists and properly trained in leading AUM. At the start I was a little alarmed a being asked to sign a medical disclaimer and to give details of an emergency contact. Thank you.
It also appears that this style of meditation is widespread, even 'safe' organisations like www.london-meditation.co.uk promotes versions.
*** At a typical web site it states:
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www.london-meditation.co.uk]
Third Stage - 10 minutes:
With raised arms, jump up and down shouting the mantra, "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" as deeply as possible. Each time you land, on the flats of your feet, let the sound hammer deep into the sex center. Give all you have; exhaust yourself totally.
Fourth Stage - 15 minutes:
Stop! Freeze wherever you are, in whatever position you find yourself.
Don't arrange the body in any way. A cough, a movement - anything will dissipate the energy flow and the effort will be lost. Be a witness to everything that is happening to you.
*** However I have found a warning thus:
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home.att.net]
Cathartic Dancing Meditation
Cathartic Dancing Meditation is a cosmic powerhouse that can be practiced by students in good health with a normal cardiovascular system. As it is a physically strenuous exercise, one should get a complete physical examination by a competent physician before experimenting with this technique. Explain the method to your doctor, and ask if it would be physically dangerous for you to do. He probably won't understand your motives for wanting to do it, but he can tell you if he thinks your heart can safely handle it. As with jogging or mountain climbing, you must practice this method at your own risk.
*** Also there is the warning at:
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home.att.net]
*Dynamic Meditation: (warning) This spectacular meditation method was Rajneesh's trademark, and it remains a tremendously effective tool for naturally expanding consciousness. Rajneesh never did the technique himself because he didn't need to. He developed the method simply by observing his disciples, who would occasionally go into spontaneous body movements during his early meditation camps. When his judgment started to decline, he unfortunately changed the third and fourth stages of the method into a pointless torture test. The correct and most effective version of this meditation technique has four stages, each lasting ten minutes.
Stage #1) Start by standing with your eyes closed and breathe deep and fast through your nose for ten minutes. Allow your body to move freely. Jump, sway back and forth, or use any physical motion that helps you pump more oxygen into your lungs.
Stage #2) The second ten minute stage is one of catharsis. Let go totally and be spontaneous. You may dance or roll on the ground. Screaming is allowed and encouraged. You must act out any anger you feel in a safe way, such as beating the earth with your hands. All the suppressed emotions from your subconscious mind are to be released.
Stage #3) In the third stage you jump up and down yelling Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! continuously for ten minutes. This sounds silly, but the loud vibration of your voice travels down to your centers of stored energy and pushes that energy upward. When doing this stage it is important to keep your arms loose and in a natural position. Do not hold your arms over your head as that position can be medically dangerous.
Stage #4) The fourth ten minute stage is complete relaxation and quiet. Flop down on your back, get comfortable, and just let go. Be as a dead man totally surrendered to the cosmos. Enjoy the tremendous energy you have unleashed in the first three stages and become a silent witness to the ocean as it flows into the drop. Become the ocean.
Rajneesh unwisely changed the third stage of the method to rigidly holding your arms over your head while shouting Hoo! Even worse, he changed the fourth stage to freezing in place like a statue with your arms still held awkwardly over your head. This method is not only uncomfortable to the point of torture, it can also be medically dangerous for those with an underlying heart condition. When you stand with arms elevated over your head, you increase your level of orthostatic stress.
This means that your heart must work harder to pump blood that has traveled down to your legs back up to your heart and on up to your brain.
You could easily pass out in this position, or induce a heart attack in individuals with coronary artery disease.
Freezing in place makes deep relaxation impossible as it keeps your mind's controlling functions fully operational. This holds your consciousness on the surface, defeating the purpose of the exercise. The point of the technique was to have three stages of intense action followed by a fourth stage of deep relaxation and complete let go. Rajneesh could never have practiced the freeze method himself, not even in his youth.
Asking his disciples to do it simply showed that he had lost touch with reality. Rajneesh was a fallible human being, not a perfect God.
I advise students to only use the enjoyable early version of Dynamic Meditation. This wonderful technique was intended to grow with the student and change as the student changes. After a few years of practicing the method vigorously, the first three stages of the meditation should drop away spontaneously. You then go into the meditation hall, take a few deep breaths, and immediately go deep into the ecstasy of the fourth stage. Rajneesh intended the method to be fluid, health giving, and fun. Those new students who wish to experiment with Rajneesh Dynamic Meditation should read the section on Cathartic Dancing Meditation in Meditation Handbook for further warnings and details before experimenting with this powerful technique.
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