Osho on Centering – The basic existential center is the navel

The basic thing to be understood about these centers is this: whenever you are centered within, the moment you are centered, whatsoever may be the center, you fall down to the navel. If you are centered at the heart, the heart is irrelevant – centering is meaningful. Or if you are centered at the third eye, the third eye is not basic; the basic point is that your consciousness is centered. So whatsoever may be the point of centering, once you are centered – anywhere – you will fall down to the navel.

The basic existential center is the navel, but your functional center may be anywhere. From that center you will fall down automatically. There is no need to think about it. And this is not so only with the heart center or the third eye center. If you are really centered in reason, in the head, you will also fall down to the navel center.

Centering is the thing, but it is very difficult to be centered in reason, in the head. There are problems. The heart center is based on love, faith, surrender. The head is based on doubt and negation. To be totally negative is really impossible; to be totally in doubt is impossible. But it has happened sometimes, because the impossible also happens. Sometimes, if your doubt comes to such an intensity that nothing remains which is believed, not even the doubting mind is believed, if the doubt turns upon itself and everything becomes doubt, then you will fall down to the navel center

immediately. But this is a very rare phenomenon.

Trust is easier. You can trust totally more easily than you can doubt totally. You can say yes totally more easily than you can say no. So even if you are centered at the head, the CENTERING is what is basic: you will fall down to your existential roots. So be centered anywhere. The spine will do; the heart will do; the head will do. Or you can also find other centers in the body.

Buddhists talk about nine CHAKRAS – nine dynamic centers in the body. Hindus talk about seven CHAKRAS – seven dynamic centers in the body. Tibetans talk about thirteen centers in the body. You can find your own also, there is no need to study about these. Any point in the body can be made an object of centering. For example, tantra uses the sex center for centering. Tantra works with bringing your consciousness to it totally. The sex center will do.

Taoists have used the big toe as the center. Move your consciousness down to the big toe; remain there, forget the whole body. Let your whole consciousness go to the toe. That will do, because really, on what you are centering is irrelevant. You are centering – that is what is basic. The thing happens because of centering, not because of the center – remember this. The center is not significant, CENTERING is significant.

Source – Osho Book “Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, Vol 1″