Atisha's method

TRAIN IN JOINING, SENDING AND TAKING TOGETHER.DO THIS BY RIDING THE BREATH.

Now emptiness has been experienced -- this is what he had learned. Up to this sutra he had been with the
first master, Dharmakirti. With this sutra, the second master, Dharmarakshita.

TRAIN IN JOINING, SENDING AND TAKING TOGETHER.DO THIS BY RIDING THE BREATH.

Now he says: Start being compassionate. And the method is, when you breathe in -- listen carefully, it is
one of the greatest methods -- when you breathe in, think that you are breathing in all the miseries of all
the people in the world. All the darkness, all the negativity, all the hell that exists anywhere, you are
breathing it in. And let it be absorbed in your heart.

You may have read or heard about the so-called positive thinkers of the West. They say just the opposite --
they don't know what they are saying. They say, "When you breathe out, throw out all your misery and
negativity; and when you breathe in, breathe in joy, positivity, happiness, cheerfulness."

Atisha's method is just the opposite: when you breathe in, breathe in all the misery and suffering of all the
beings of the world -- past, present and future. And when you breathe out, breathe out all the joy that you
have, all the blissfulness that you have, all the benediction that you have. Breathe out, pour yourself into
existence. This is the method of compassion: drink in all the suffering and pour out all the blessings.

And you will be surprised if you do it. The moment you take all the sufferings of the world inside you, they
are no longer sufferings. The heart immediately transforms the energy. The heart is a transforming force:
drink in misery, and it is transformed into blissfulness... then pour it out.

Once you have learned that your heart can do this magic, this miracle, you would like to do it again and
again. Try it. It is one of the most practical methods -- simple, and it brings immediate results. Do it today,
and see.

That is one of the approaches of Buddha and all his disciples. Atisha is one of his disciples, in the same
tradition, in the same line. Buddha says again and again to his disciples, "IHI PASSIKO: come and see!" They
are very scientific people. Buddhism is the most scientific religion on the earth; hence, Buddhism is gaining
more and more ground in the world every day. As the world becomes more intelligent, Buddha will become
more and more important. It is bound to be so. As more and more people come to know about science,
Buddha will have great appeal, because he will convince the scientific mind -- because he says,
"Whatsoever I am saying can be practiced." And I don't say to you, "Believe it," I say, "Experiment with it,
experience it, and only then if you feel it yourself, trust it. Otherwise there is no need to believe."

Try this beautiful method of compassion: take in all the misery and pour out all the joy.

TRAIN IN JOINING, SENDING AND TAKING TOGETHER. DO THIS BY RIDING THE BREATH. THREE OBJECTS,
THREE POISONS, THREE BASES OF VIRTUE.

There are three objects which can either function as three poisons or can become three bases of infinite
virtue. Atisha is talking of the inner alchemy. The poison can become the nectar, the baser metal can be
transformed into gold.

What are these three objects? The first is aversion, the second is attachment, and the third is indifference.
This is how the mind functions. You feel aversion to whatsoever you dislike, you feel attachment to
whatsoever you like, and you feel indifferent to things which you neither dislike nor like. These are the
three objects. Between these three, the mind exists. These are the three legs of the tripod called the mind:
aversion, attachment and indifference. And if you live in these three as they are, you are living in poison.
This is how we have created a hell out of life. Aversion, dislike, hatred, repulsion -- that creates one-third of
your hell. Attachment, liking, clinging, possessiveness -- that creates the second one-third of your hell. And
indifference to all that you are neither attracted to nor repulsed by -- that creates the third part, the third
one-third of your hell.

Just watch your mind, this is how your mind functions. It is always saying, "I like this, I don't like that, and I
am indifferent to the third." These are the three ways the mind goes on moving. This is the rut, the routine.

Atisha says: These are the three poisons, but they can become the three bases of virtue. How can they
become three bases of great virtue? If you bring in the quality of compassion, if you learn the art of
absorbing suffering, as if all the suffering of the world is coming riding on the breath, then how can you be
repulsed? How can you dislike anything and how can you be indifferent to anything? And how can you be
attached to anything? If you are unconditionally taking in all the suffering in the world, drinking it,
absorbing it in your heart, and then instead of it pouring blessings onto the whole of existence
unconditionally -- not to somebody in particular, remember; not only to man but to all: to all beings, trees
and rocks and birds and animals, to the whole existence, material, immaterial -- when you are pouring out
blessings unconditionally, how can you be attached?

Attachment, aversion, indifference: all disappear with this small technique. And with their disappearance
the poison is transformed into nectar, and the bondage becomes freedom, and the hell is no more a hell, it
is heaven.

In these moments you come to know: This very body the buddha, this very earth the lotus paradise.

OSHO

The Book of Wisdom Chapter #1 Chapter title: Atisha the Thrice Great

11 February 1979 am in Buddha Hall