Liquid Dynamic (Cathartic) Meditation

Whenever we hold repressed anger, hate, resentment, or disenfranchisement, we are not able to feel (give or receive) love, peace or gratitude. We are not able to find forgiveness through understanding – first for ourselves, and then for others – because the mind is just too clouded to see anything clearly. Basically, life is no fun whenever we have these unwanted obstacles in our way.
The good news is we have natural ways – Dynamic (active) Meditation – to heal this, without expensive, addictive medications or prolonged therapy.
As much as we like to believe we can fool people, and ourselves, by denying or withholding feelings – self repression – energy does not lie. If you are full of anger, resentments, jealousies or judgments, everything you say and do shows it – no matter how great an actor you may be. If not obvious, then at the very core of it the other person senses it, intuitively, and even without understanding it or naming it as violent or angry, the other moves away, because being in an angry or hostile environment is not attractive or healthy for any of us – especially not healthy for the one holding the anger.

“Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Look within, be still. Free from fear and
attachment, know the sweet joy of the way.”
-Buddha

No doubt, there isn’t a healthy minded person amongst us who would not love to be able to live up to this ideal, blissful state Buddha prescribes. Unfortunately, getting there is easier said than done for many of us. And for all of us, during some of life’s most challenging moments.
People feeling suicidal, or going through separation, incarcerated or on parole, financial hardship, the many challenges of illness, abuse, injustice, recovery, or veterans returning from the atrocities of war, need a more ‘cathartic’ vehicle – than just therapeutic words or trying to sit in silent meditation to get them to that peaceful let-go state – of witnessing and then dropping all those destructive, self-sabotaging thoughts. The let -go we call meditation.
Some of us need physical movement and emotional expression to move the energy. And so we have two types of meditation catagories available to us for just this purpose – active meditations and inactive meditations. Hence, Dynamic Meditation enters the scene, because it beautifully employs them both.
Liquid Dynamic (Cathartic) Meditation is based on Osho’s brilliant dry Dynamic Meditation. While Liquid Dynamic is physically pain-free, Osho’s dry Dynamic Meditation is not. Both, however, are high mental impact meditations that can get you to that blissful, no-mind state we call meditation. That peaceful, loving state Buddha describes.
Osho devised his six step, one hour practice to allow us to physically and mentally discharge the negativity first – steps 1-3 – which then allows us to have the undistracted presence of no-mind needed to experience the peaceful bliss that comes after, during Dynamic’s last three steps. All done to music.
As one who had used marijuana to both periodically stimulate and calm myself down, I found it amazing that some wild practice could do so much more for me in just one hour – and without the negative, next day after-affects of coming down from chemically-induced, temproary escapes. What goes up must come down.

“Don’t just get high, be high.”
-Ram Dass

Liquid Dynamic is an in-water meditation for individuals or groups. Ideally, this meditation is best done in large groups of people, but is also effective when done alone, where there are no observers around who might inhibit your ability to totally let go.
From my own experience with doing Osho’s Dynamic Meditation – almost daily for many weeks during 1980-81 – I found that the physical and psychological release of all my pent up anger and frustration was just what I needed at that time. My calves and ankles hurt, and I sometimes lost my voice for awhile, but it was worth it.
I got to experience this meditation in groups of 3 to 500 – in soundproof rooms, and in the middle of a 64,000 acre commune, respectively. Everyone wore a blindfold and minimal clothing, while the music blasted – which allowed us all to anonymously let go, discharge our negative energy, without concern for who might hear our individual cathartic cries. It allowed us to safely discharge our negativity without abusing others, as we – especially women – had never been allowed to safely do else-where before. Hearing (while not seeing) the hearty discharges coming from others is both motivating and contagious, just like laughter is contagious, which is why I prescribe that Dynamic Meditation is best done in groups.
Listening to 500 courageous, screaming people also made me laugh, because it sounded like we were in some kind of mental institution, which is why it is so important that this practice be done in the right place, so no one becomes inhibited due to inadequate facilities. Such inhibitions will totally negate Dynamic’s purpose and deny all participants the full release they came for.
One hour after we had all begun the practice, every one of us was as calm and relaxed and loving as if we had all been tranquilized with drugs. It was truly amazing and did wonders, especially for those of us who had grown up repressed. Where else could we possibly scream out our primal screams1 without judgment or abusing others? Where else could we release our frustrations, or bottled-up hurts converted to anger, without being penalized?
Many thousands of people worldwide have gained so much peace and clarity through the practice of Osho‘s (dry) Dynamic Meditation for over forty years now – as physically painful as it may be.
That is why I felt to create a pain-free version, Liquid Dynamic, so we elders – and everyone else – could experience the joy of Dynamic Meditations’ release while not having to subject the body to any unwanted physical pain. And to add something to sweeten the practice, what could possibly be more refreshing than doing rigorous – sweat-free – exercise in a comfortably heated pool of water?
Last, I must tell you one more thing.

Perfection is divine
Seeking it is neurotic

I learned that one does not break a lifetime of bad habits over night. Some type of daily practice is needed to keep us from reenacting all those unwanted hurt-child behavioral patterns over and over again – even as elders. Liquid Dynamic is a good way to start, followed by other active and inactive meditation practices – both wet and dry – that could then be practiced anywhere at any time, without the need for Liquid Dynamic’s special facilities. (Read Meditations in Water for many forms of meditation designed to creatively solicit your spirit while healing your mind and heart.)

“It’s never too late to have a
Happy Childhood”
-Wavy Gravy

REQUIREMENTS

***CAUTION***

Though Liquid Dynamic is not as hard on the body as dry Dynamic, it does require a considerable amount of rigorous activity. Therefore, if 30 minutes of heavy activity, followed by an additional 30 minutes of mellow activity, is too difficult or dangerous for you to do, then do not undertake the full practice as described for those not physically limited. For those who are physically limited, we can adjust the exercise to accommodate, while still getting the benefits that only a good release or discharge of negative energy can yield.

“Under certain circumstances, urgent circumstances,
desperate circumstances, profanity provides
a relief denied even to prayer.”
-Mark Twain

“When you're drowning, you don't say, ‘I would be
incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight
to notice me drowning and come and help me,’
– you just scream.”
-John Ono Lennon

“The Buddha called suffering a Holy Truth,
because our suffering has the capacity of showing us
the path to liberation. Embrace your suffering, and
let it reveal to you the way to peace.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh

“Be not afraid of growing slowly,
be afraid only of standing still.”
Chinese Proverb

1 Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness and resolved through re-experiencing the incident and fully expressing the resulting pain during therapy. Primal therapy was developed as a means of eliciting the repressed pain...

©2015, Ashi Arts Unlimited, Santa Rosa, CA