The Value of Solipsism
Awhile back I mentioned I was undertaking a solipsist approach to meditation and daily thought. It was mentioned that this was a dangerous point of view to take. Tonight I am reading an outstanding book by Osho, The Book of Secrets. It drew me in and caused me to shell out nearly $40 today - I was in an altered state of consciousness after reading 1 page...
One of the 112 Tantras (techniques) for enlightenment is to approach life as though it is a dream - to remember in every waking moment that you are interacting in a dream - that you and everyone are merely actors and the world is the stage and props. Here is a very nicely summed up paragraph by Osho about the method:
To give you the feeling that you are playing a role, to give you the feeling that this is only a predetermined pattern that you are fulfilling, to give you this feeling so that you can transcend it, this is the device. It is very difficult because we are so much accustomed to thinking of fate as a theory - not only as a theory, but as a law. We cannot understand this attitude of taking these laws and theories as devices.
And here's is the explanation of the mechanism for this device:
Remember this: do not do anything to change it, just remember it constantly. Try to remember for three weeks continuously that whatsoever you are doing it is just a dream. In the beginning it is very difficult. You will fall again and again into the old pattern of the mind, you will start thinking that this is a reality. You will have to constantly awaken yourself to remind yourself that "This is a dream." If for three weeks continuously you can maintain this attitude, then in the fourth or fifth week, any night while dreaming you will suddenly remember that "This is a dream."I highly recommend this book - I feel I've found my tantra by complete luck without having to search through the other 111. Here's the book:
This is one way to penetrate dreams with consciousness, with awareness. If you can remember in the night while dreaming that this is a dream, then in the day you will not need any effort to remember that this is also a dream. You will know it then.
In the beginning, while you are practicing this, it will be just a make-believe. You start just in faith... "This is a dream." But when you can remember in dreaming that this is a dream, it will become a reality. Then in the day, when you get up you will not feel that you are getting up from sleep, you will feel you are simply getting up from one dreaming into another. Then it will become a reality. And if the whole twenty-four hours becomes dreaming, and you can feel and remember it, you will be standing at your center. Then your consciousness will have become double-arrowed.
