Meditation is a knack

Meditation is such a mystery that it can be called a science, an art, a knack,
without any contradiction. From one point of view it is a science because there is a clear-cut technique that has to be done. There are no exceptions to it, it is almost like a scientific law. But from a different point of view it can also be said to be an art. Science is an extension of the mind—it is mathematics, it is logic, it is rational. Meditation belongs to the heart, not to the mind—it is not logic, it is closer to love. It is not like other scientific activities, but more like music, poetry,painting, dancing; hence, it can be called an art. But meditation is such a great mystery that calling it ‘science’ and ‘art’ does not exhaust it. It is a knack—either you get it or you don’t get it. A knack is not a science, it cannot be taught. A knack is not an art. A knack is the most mysterious thing in human understanding.§ In my childhood I was sent to a master, a master swimmer. He was the best swimmer in the town, and I have never come across a man who has been so tremendously in love with water. Water was god to him, he worshipped it, and the river was his home. Early—at three o’clock in the morning—you would find him on the river. In the evening you would find him on the river and at night you would find him sitting, meditating by the side of the river. His whole life consisted of being close to the river. When I was brought to him—I wanted to learn swimming—he looked at me, he felt something. He said, “But there is no way to learn swimming; I can just throw you in the water and then swimming comes of its own accord. There is no way to learn it, it cannot be taught. It is a knack, not knowledge.” And that’s what he did—he threw me in the water and he was standing on the bank. For two, three times I went down and I felt I was almost drowning. He was just standing there, he would not even try to help me! Of course, when your life is at stake, you do whatsoever you can. So I started throwing my hands about—they were haphazard, hectic, but the knack came. When life is at stake, you do whatsoever you can do…and whenever you do whatsoever you can do totally, things happen! I could swim! I was thrilled! “Next time”, I said, “you need not throw me into it—I will jump myself. Now I know that there is a natural buoyancy of thebody. It is not a question of swimming, it is only a question of getting in tune with the water element. Once you are in tune with the water element it protects you.” And since then I have been throwing many people into the river of life! And I just stand there…. Almost nobody ever fails if he takes the jump. One is bound to learn. § It may take a few days for you to get the knack. It is a knack! It is not an art! If meditation were an art, it would have been very simple to teach. Because it is a knack, you have to try; slowly you get it. One of the Japanese professors of psychology is trying to teach small children, six months old, to swim, and he has succeeded. Then he tried with children three months old—and he has succeeded. Now he is trying with the newly born, and I hope that he succeeds. There is every possibility—because it is a knack. It does not need any other kind of experience: age, education…it is simply a knack. And if a six-month or three- month-old baby can swim, that means we are naturally endowed with the idea of ‘how’to swim…it is just that we have to discover it. Just a little bit of effort and you will be able to discover it. The same is true about meditation—more true than about swimming. You just have to make a little effort.