Osho – "Awareness is not Concentration"

Osho Discourse on “Awareness is not Concentration”

Osho :: Buddha says, “I am a physician.” And once somebody asked, “You again and again say you are a physician, but I don’t see any medicines around you. What medicines do you give?”

He said, “My medicine is only one: it is awareness. I prescribe awareness.” And it has not to be brought from the chemist; you have to change your inner chemistry to bring it. You have to change your inner chemistry. Right now your inner chemistry functions in such a way that it produces unawareness, unconsciousness. It can be changed, it can be deautomatized. How to do it you will find in the sutras that are to follow.

But remember, one method is enough to correct all wrong. That method is awareness. And how will you know that you have attained it? Awareness is something inner, it is so deep that nobody can see it. Still, if you become aware, everybody who has a little intelligence, who has eyes to see, will become aware of it — because as awareness happens at the inner core, compassion starts radiating, love starts radiating.

Buddha says: Light the candle of awareness in your heart, and your whole being will radiate compassion. Compassion is the proof. Unless compassion happens, remember, you must be deceiving yourself; you must be doing something else than being aware.

For example, you can try concentration. Concentration is not awareness, and the person of concentration will never show compassion. Compassion is not a consequence of concentration. Concentration means the focusing of the mind, the narrowing of the mind on only one point. The concentrated mind becomes a very powerful mind — but remember it is mind, and very powerful, hence more dangerous than ever. Concentration is the method of science.

Awareness is totally different; it is not focusing, it is unfocused alertness. For example, right now you are listening to me. You can hear in a concentrated way, you can be focused on me; then you will miss the birds and their songs, then you will miss this noise on the road. Then you are not aware, then your mind has become very narrow. Awareness is not the narrowing of the mind but the disappearance of the mind.

Source :: from Osho Book “The Book of Wisdom”