Mahavir Vani Lecture 08 Tap Urja Ka Disha Parivartan

This text, "Mahavir Vani Lecture 08: Tap Urja ka Disha Parivartan" by Osho Rajnish, delves into a profound reinterpretation of tapas (austerity or penance) within the Jain tradition, arguing that it has often been misunderstood and misapplied. The core argument is that true tapas is not about self-punishment or inflicting suffering, but about a redirection of inner energy.

Here's a breakdown of the key themes:

1. Misconceptions about Tapas:

• Tapas as Opposite of Indulgence (Bhog): The most prevalent misconception is that tapas is simply the opposite of indulgence. Because indulgence (seeking pleasure) often leads to suffering, people mistakenly believe that seeking suffering will lead to pleasure. This is a flawed mathematical approach to life.
• Tapas as Body-Centric: Tapas is often perceived as an outward, physical discipline. This leads to an overemphasis on bodily mortification, which, according to Osho, can be easily misunderstood and misdirected.
• Tapas as Self-Punishment: The text argues that many practices labeled as tapas are actually forms of self-torture, leading to psychological illness rather than spiritual growth.

2. The Nature of Desire and Suffering:

• Desire is for Happiness: At its core, all desire is for happiness. Even when someone seeks suffering, it's ultimately with the underlying hope of achieving happiness. It's impossible to truly desire suffering itself.
• Suffering with Associated Pleasure: The text highlights how suffering can become associated with pleasure through conditioning. The examples of Pavlov's experiments with dogs and the flagellants (Christian ascetics who whipped themselves) illustrate how the act of suffering can, through association, become pleasurable in itself. This is a distortion of true tapas.

3. The Body and Desire:

• The Body as a Medium: Both the indulgent person (bhogi) and the ascetic (tapasvi) are deeply connected to the body. The indulgent person uses it for pleasure, while the ascetic uses it as a tool for their practices. Neither truly transcends the body's centrality in their current approach.
• The Illusion of Opposition: The text argues that many forms of asceticism are merely the opposite side of the same coin as indulgence. For instance, someone obsessed with beautifying their body might be replaced by someone who deliberately disfigures their body, but both are still focused on the body as an object of attention.

4. The True Nature of Tapas: Energy Redirection (Urja ka Disha Parivartan):

• Transcendence, Not Resistance: True tapas is not about fighting against desires or instincts (resistance, nirodh, sangharsh). Instead, it is about transcending them (adhikraman, transcendence). The analogy used is climbing a mountain peak to escape the valley's darkness rather than fighting the darkness itself.
• Focus on the Self, Not the Desire: The correct approach is to focus on lifting oneself above desires, rather than focusing on eradicating the desires themselves.
• Attention is Energy: The text posits that attention is the fuel for any desire or instinct. Where you place your attention, you empower that aspect of yourself.
• Creating New Centers for Attention: True tapas involves shifting your attention and energy from lower centers (like sexual energy, tied to desire and the body) to higher centers (like the Sahasrara chakra, connecting to divine energy). This is presented as a natural upward movement of inner fire (agni).
• Nature, Perversion, and Culture: The text differentiates between:
  • Nature: What is given to us.
  • Perversion (Vikruti): Fighting against nature.
  • Culture (Sanskruti): Rising above nature through conscious redirection.
• The Power of Acceptance: Instead of fighting habits or desires, the key is acceptance. By accepting a habit, you stop giving it attention, and it begins to wither.
• Positive Austerity (Vidhayak Tap): The true path is not to reduce energy, but to redirect the energy generated by positive practices (like eating well) to higher centers. It's about generating energy and consciously channeling it.

5. The True Ascetic:

• Not Weakened, But Strengthened: A true ascetic is not weakened by their practices but becomes powerful. False ascetics become weak and delusional about overcoming desires.
• Inner Fire (Agni): Tapas is equated with inner fire. The ascetic's role is to direct this fire upward towards the divine, while the indulgent person directs it downward, leading to decline.
• The Role of Habits vs. Nature: True tapas involves discovering one's true nature, not just forming new habits to suppress old ones. Habits, even ascetic ones, can become a form of resistance that keeps one bound.

In essence, Osho redefines tapas from a path of physical suffering and resistance to a sophisticated psychological and energetic process of redirection. It's about consciously choosing where to focus one's attention and energy, leading to inner transformation and spiritual growth, rather than simply opposing worldly pleasures.