Hypnosis and the coronavirus epidemic

Looking at the present situation all around I am reminded of a Sufi story told by Osho. A Sufi mystic used to live on the outskirts of a town. He possessed some supernatural powers which enabled him to see things not visible to the human eye. One day he saw a dark shadow hastily passing by towards the town. He stopped it and asked,” Hey! Who are you and where are you going in such haste?” The shadow responded, “I am death and within the next six months I have been asked to take a thousand lives in this town. A great pandemic is going to fall on the people.”

The mystic knew that what was destined to happen was going to happen. He let the shadow pass. The next six months were a complete catastrophe in the town with people dying like flies. At the end of the disaster, the shadow was going back, the mystic was waiting for it, he stopped it and accused,” I didn’t know that even the death lies! You said, one thousand people will die and thirty thousand have died.”

The death said, “I have only killed one thousand as per my promise, the rest of them have died of fear. It is not my fault.”

This parable sheds light on the human tendency of hypnotising themselves and believing it accordingly.

You can also hypnotise yourself that you are not going to catch the disease. Osho has worked a lot on self- hypnosis. He points out that when an epidemic spreads somewhere, people start getting infected and falling sick, but the doctors and the nurses who are taking care of them day and night don't catch the infection? If the disease is infectious, they should be the first ones to catch it. But the doctor knows that he is the doctor, and this hypnosis prevents him from catching the infection. He is so engrossed in serving others that this hypnosis about the disease does not work on him. Others, of course, on catching the infection. Psychologists say that the role of germs in this situation is secondary, the role of hypnosis is primary; that is what makes people sick or healthy.

For example, in a gathering where people are listening intently to a speaker, one person go coughs and suddenly, many others start coughing. You don't realise that this is just hypnosis. It is nothing but your own faculty for hypnotising yourself. Until now you were sitting quietly, there was no trace of any coughing, but one-man coughs and you are suddenly reminded of coughing. With that reminder, hypnosis catches hold of you and your throat begins to itch. Now you are bound to cough, you cannot avoid it. This was a suggestion, it functioned like a spell, and now you will follow it. Life is very mysterious. If you start implanting the idea in your unconscious mind, it will materialise.

Amrit Sadhana is editor of Osho Times International. She facilitates meditation workshops based on Osho insights around the country and abroad.