02
Jan
The Ultimate Alchemy – an Invitation
By: Deva Arani
Samir and I have recently been exploring The Ultimate Alchemy, talks on the Atma Pooja Upanishad, that were given by Osho in 1972. We have been deeply touched and also quite awestruck. No one knows who wrote The Atma Pooja Upanishads, they were written long ago, between 800 and 500 BCE. As ancient as these teaching are, since they speak of truth, they are as timeless as this very moment. They are comprised sutras, very short, very concise, with each word loaded with meaning. The Atma Pooja Upanishad is so concise that it can be written on a postcard.
In the Ultimate Alchemy, Osho illuminates each seed-like word as a loving gift to all of us, to existence — a beacon of light for each of us seeking our own Truth. Indeed:
“Every word is a seed with infinite possibilities, so you can echo it and re-echo it infinitely. And the more you ponder over it, the more you allow it to go in, the more new significance will be revealed. These seed like words show that they were found in deep silence.” —Osho
In our one-day Meditation Intensive, January 13, 2024 and Weekend Retreat, January 27 – 28, 2024, Samir and I are featuring this discourse #11 of the first volume, as well as active meditations that will allow movement and expression in a. safe space; centering meditation to help you remember, and special teachings from The Ultimate Alchemy on Light, Love and Life.
The Sutra:
SADAADEEPTIH APAAR AMRIT VRITTIH SNAANAM
TO BE CENTERED CONSTANTLY IN THE INNER ILLUMINATION AND IN THE INFINITE INNER NECTAR IS THE PREPARATORY BATH FOR THE WORSHIP.
We will hone in on just this one sutra: what does it mean to be centered, constantly centered, what is inner illumination, what is the infinite inner nectar, how does one develop these within, what is a preparatory bath, and what is worship and why is it relevant to the inner journey.
As I’m sure you can see this sutra is so nuanced and so rich as I read it and listened to Osho speaking about it in the Ultimate Alchemy, I was deeply moved, motivated, and inspired. Here is a brief excerpt to give you an idea of its beauty. In his introduction to the series Osho explains:
“If I am responding to this Upanishad, it is simply because I have fallen in love with it. This, one of the shortest Upanishads, Atma Pooja, is a rare phenomenon. So – something about this rare Upanishad, why I have chosen to talk about it.
Firstly, it is the shortest, it is just seed like – potent, pregnant with much in it. Every word is a seed with infinite possibilities, so you can echo it and re-echo it infinitely. And the more you ponder over it, the more you allow it to go in, the more significance will be revealed. These seed like words show that they were found in deep silence. Really, this looks strange, but this is a fact. If you have less to say, you will say more. If you really have something to say, you can say it in a very few lines, few words – even a single word may be enough. The less you have to say, the more words you will have to use. The more you have to say, the fewer words you can use.
And here is an excerpt from Discourse 11 that we will be working with during our One-Day Meditation Intensive January 13, 2024, and also our Weekend Residential Retreat January 27- 28, 2024.
“Whatsoever you have done, whatsoever you have been, whatsoever your past has been. it clings to you – just like dirt, just like dust, it clings to you. When you enter inner light, it disappears. Why? Because the moment you enter that inner light, everything takes the velocity of light and nothing can remain. The dirt, the dirt of karmas, dissolves – all that you have done in all your lives. When you enter that realm, everything becomes light, because with light, in that velocity, nothing can remain anything else. So it is not simply a bath. All the karmas, just disappear, they become light, and the consciousness is cleaned. It becomes fresh and young as it should be, as it is meant to be.
And when all the karmas disappear – by ”karmas” I mean the material dust that one accumulates through actions and desires and passions – when it disappears, the entity, the nucleus of ego disappears also, because ego exists only as a collectivity of all the dust, of all the dirtiness, of all the impurities. It exists as a center. When everything disappears, ego disappears. And when ego disappears, you are pure, clean, you are born anew. So to enter this inner light is to enter the inner fire.”
Our dear friend Sanghamitra has also been exploring hte Ultimate Alchemy discourse series and recently gave me a huge hug when I saw her at OMC, saying “thank you for turning me to the Ultimate Alchemy.” She says:
“Osho gave the discourses in “ The Ultimate Alchemy” in 1972. They have an intimate, esoteric flavor to them. He includes some Zen stories on Basho and Rinzai, but the sutras are from the Atmosphere Pooja Upanishad.
I am listening through the Osho World website, which I’ve heard has, just this year, started providing transcriptions of the discourses under each audio file. That is very special to me because sometimes I like to look up names or terms that I can’t quite catch because of Osho’s accent.
Osho speaks on the esoteric aspects of meditation techniques that are given in the Upanishad. The photo above captures the essence of the lovely quality of the discourses.”
If you are interested in listening to this discourse series you can download it here.
You can also find the book online or I am happy to send you a complimentary PDF if you email me here.
Hope to see you this January as we dive into this treasure from Osho.