Osho – Man ordinarily exists in a state of sleep. He is not alert, he is not aware of what he is doing; he is not even aware of who he is. He is not conscious of from where he has come and to where he is going. He is an utterly deep, deep slumber.
Meditation is just the opposite of this somnambulistic state. It is bringing in consciousness. It is becoming alert of three things: first, the body and its activities — because that is the grossest thing and it is easier to become aware of it — second, the mind — the thoughts, the desires, the memories — and third, feelings — the sentiments, the emotions… which are the subtlest.
If one becomes aware of these three layers then suddenly the fourth happens of its own accord. You do these three and the fourth simply happens; you have earned it, you deserve the fourth. The fourth means awareness of awareness, it means awareness of your being. And that is the greatest experience in life.
And this is the gracious gift of god — the fourth state of awareness. George Gurdjieff used to call his way the fourth way. His disciple, P.D. Ouspensky, has written a beautiful treatise; he gave it the name THE FOURTH WAY. But it has been a known secret for thousands of years in the East. We call the ultimate state of meditation, turiya. Turiya means the fourth, simply the fourth. We don’t give it a name but a number.
Begin with the body, go to the mind, then to the heart and suddenly you have come to your centre, to your very being. And in coming to your very being you transcend all misery, all darkness, all death. You transcend both time and space. This is the experience of god. The fourth is nothing but pure godliness.
Source – Osho Book “Just the Tip”
