Mind and Matter

8216;Before I got into this,8221; Priti Premnath explains, waving her expressive and elegantly manicured hands, 8220;I always had some st...

8216;Before I got into this,8221; Priti Premnath explains, waving her expressive and elegantly manicured hands, 8220;I always had some stomach problem or the other. But now I am calm and cool and just fine.8221; She radiates serenity and so do a hundred or more stylishly-dressed women around her.

The chandeliers shimmer and in this large carpeted hall, the women come and go talking of Osho. I8217;m not at some kitty party, but at a three-day workshop on 8216;Blissful Living8217;. And here8217;s the interesting part: This search for bliss, harmony and health is sweeping into the drawing rooms of gilded and supposedly superficial Mumbai. This, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg.

8220;Blissful Living8221;, Osho Shailendra8217;s structured three-day program, includes inputs from the most recent psychological and ontological studies by scholars like Stephen R Covey and Abraham Maslow, and is also influenced by the eight-fold path of Lord Buddha and the wisdom of the ancient mystics. It8217;s a forum style interactive session that teaches its participants to live in a stress-free manner.

Tools in the form of meditational techniques and certain exercises are also provided. But ultimately, it8217;s all about returning to the source. And that8217;s what Patanjali, the Zen and other masters believe in, too. Bliss lies within us. And it8217;s here that the mind-body connection steps in. 8220;There is an organic unity,8221; explains Osho Shailendra. The mind and body are one. 8220;Once you stop looking

for bliss in the outside world, in wealth, power, love, knowledge etc and start looking within,8221; he explains, 8220;you will find bliss.8221;

I am sure all us could do with bliss even a little bit of it!. But right now it is its medical benefits that hold my attention. What I would like to know is that if my mind and soul are blissed out, will my body also follow? 8220;The World Health Organisation WHO defines health as a state of mental, spiritual, physical and social well-being,8221; reiterates Osho Shailendra, 8220;and not just as an absence of disease.8221; He points out that meditation can bring about healing where modern medicine has failed. It has been scientifically established that the mind affects the body. All diseases originate in the mind, the emotion of fear causes acidity and ulcers. Highly driven, ambitious personality types are likely to have high blood pressure. Neurosis, anxiety, schizophrenia can be taken care of by meditating regularly. And all this, Osho Shailendra points out, doesn8217;t mean that you become unfit to live in the outside world. In fact, the more you go within, the better will be the quality of your life. Meditation is not mere concentration and morality is not its basis. Neither is religion or spirituality. It is not possible to encapsulate the three-day workshop details here or to outline Osho Shailendra8217;s meditation methods. However, the bottomline is that once you practice it regularly you will rise above the physicalwhich gives pleasure/pain, psychological happiness/unhappiness, and emotional levels joy/sorrow and home in on the consciousness bliss. 8220;It really works,8221; points out Priti Premnath. 8220;I don8217;t just meditate regularly, but live my life meditatively.8221; Way to go!

Contact the Indian Institute of Yoga and Management, B4/4 Meera Nagar Park, Koregaon Park, Pune. Phone: 020-6139356 or 9822019330. http://www.oshodhara.com