Books I Have Loved

Tears are the only words the unknown can speak, the language of silence





It is in between his dental treatment that Osho talks about the books which he has loved. According to Osho he has read more than 100000 books. He talks about as many as 168 books , of which Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘ Thus spake Zarathustra ‘ tops the list of his most loved books. The second is Brothers Karamazov by Dostovesky followed by The Book of Mirdad by Mikhail Namy, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, The Parables of Chuang Tzu, The Sermon on the Mount ( from The Bible ), Bhagavadgita ( The Divine Song Of Krishna ), Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore and the tenth is The One Thousand Songs of Milarepa.
Osho talks about the book , talks about the author, talks about why he likes or dislikes a particular book, why he included a particular book in the list etc.etc. His comments and observations on those books are interesting as well as thought provoking. For eg. Osho says while talking on Being and Nothingness by Jean Paul Sartre ‘If you can read ten pages of Being and Nothingness, either you will become sane or insane. But to read ten pages is a difficult task’. Yet he included the book in his love list saying that ‘it is one of the most monumental books ever written, with such skill, such logic.’
About Das Capital by Karl Marx , Osho says “ ‘Thousands of pages , and all rubbish, written neither logically nor rationally, but as if someone had gone insane. This is the worst-written book ever\. It is a calamity. But in a way it is a great book , because it dominates millions of people..but I still mention the book - not that you should read it , but so that you do not. Do not read it.’
Regarding Tolstoy’s Resurrection, Osho says that he was continuously carrying the book with him when he was young . The whole village knew about it that he was continuously carrying a certain book called Resurrection with him Osho says that The book was with him not only during the day , but during the night too it was with him by his bed... Osho says “ I loved it..the way Leo Tolstoy reflects the whole message of Jesus.”

Osho’s list of his loved books also includes books like Tolstoy’s War and Peace & Anna Karenina, Maxim Gorky’s Mother, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazanzakis, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, The outsider by Colin Wilson, etc etc.
This book is about books which Osho has loved. A very special book indeed.

Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic

Turn every possible opportunity to sharpen your intelligence and individuality.



This book portrays the very fascinating and interesting real life stories of Osho. It is the very real life sketches of his golden childhood days in Kuchwada, Madhyapradesh with his parents and later his student days at Gadarwada with his maternal grandparents. Osho was the eldest child of his parent’s eleven children.He was born in Kuchwada in 1931.As there was no school in Kuchwada , he remained uneducated till the age of 8. Osho was very much reluctant to go to his primary classes and in the initial days of his school days he used to ask his father to forcefully take his hands and pull him into his class room. His university days were from 1951 to 1956. He studied at Jabalpur and sagar universities and worked as a professor at Jabalpur university teaching Philosophy. In later life he was adorned with many adjectives like the Sex Guru,a Cult Leader, the Richman’s Guru, the Rolls Royce Guru and the Master ,which he never was.

There are three parts in this book, the 1st part , The Glimpses of a Golden childhood , the 2nd part, The Many Faces of a Man Who Never Was and the Legacy the 3rd part. The 1st part of this book is fascinating and fantastic whereas the 2nd and 3rd part evince less interest and a bit dragging. But a must read for an Osho lover.

THE BOOK OF SECRETS

It is because of the division of the mind that duality appears in the world.

The Book of Secrets is Osho’s commentary on Vigyan Bharava Tantra, ( The Book of Shiva) an ancient book on Tantra. Tantra means technique. There are 112 meditation techniques that Osho discusses in this book These techniques are intended for transforming the mind .Tantra says there is no duality in the world ,there is no such thing as good or bad, virtue or vice, beautiful or ugly. It is because of the division of the mind that we see duality in this world. On practicing any one of the techniques out of the 112 one can attain a non-dual, unified mind like the one that reminds of a child’s mind..

The book Vigyan Bhairav Tantra starts with Devi asking certain philosophical questions to Shiva like O Shiva, What is your reality? What is this wonder filled universe? What constitute seed? Who centers the universal wheel?- But Shiva is not giving any verbal or logical or philosophical answers to these questions. Instead he gives her a technique to practice. And if Devi practices this technique, she will know it for herself.This is the Tantric way of answering a question . If a blind man is asking what is light Tantra will not explain to him what is light , instead he will be given proper treatment to cure his blindness, so that he can see. Tantra will say how to attain insight, how to attain seeing, how to attain vision. Tantra will not give you the answer. Tantra will give you the technique to attain the answer.

There are 112 meditation techniques that Osho discusses in the Book of secrets starting from breathing techniques to stop techniques and ending with the philosophy of emptiness. It also discusses the techniques of attentiveness and awareness, looking techniques , sound and silence techniques etc. etc..All activities as well as non-activities of everyday life are considered in this book as meditation techniques to transform the mind. ..There are 80 chapters altogether in this book spreading over 1302 pages. . Each chapter , describing the meditation techniques and carrying the lines of Shiva - Devi dialogues translated into English from Vigyan Bhairava Tantra , is followed by a chapter of Osho’s responses on questions from seekers .

A good book to read and assimilate. An Osho reader will definitely love this book.

THE BOOK OF NOTHING - HSIN HSIN MING

Arrival is departure, Love is Hate , Happiness is unhappiness.



This book is the transcribed version of Osho's talks on Sosan's verses ' Hsin Hsin Ming'. Sosan about whom nothing much is known was a wandering zen monk , a zen mystic .He was an enlightened one but lived the life of a beggar . These verses of Sosan are called in Chinese 'The Book of True Faith'. Osho comments on these verses and unlocks what is hidden within it. Sosan through 'Hsin Hsin Ming' tells us of the zen way of understanding , the zen way of no- mind and no-thinking. According to Sosan the duality in life occurs due to the disease of the mind. Life and death , good and evil, right and wrong, day and night, God and Devil appear as opposites because of the divided mind. Life is one. God, and Devil are one. Ram and Ravan are one . Even this one has no significance , if there exists no two . "Although all dualities come from the one, / do not be attached even to this one." Hence go beyond mind and be in a state of no-mind. In Osho's words " No- thinking is the door. No - word is the gate. No - mind is the way."

Sosan is saying in another sutra that a wheel moves on an unmoving centre. We see only the moving part and the stationary part is hidden. Just like that whenever you love, the stationary part , hate ,is hidden somewhere there.. "Consider movement stationary / and the stationary in motion / and both the state of movement and the state of rest disappear."/ In Osho's words : " You cannot find anything more absurd than life, than existence. You meet to depart. You like a person only to dislike. You are happy only to sow the seeds for unhappiness. Love a person and hate will come. Make a friend and an enemy is born. Be happy and somewhere, from the backdoor unhappiness is entering. Enjoy the moment and immediately you will weep and cry. Laugh and just behind the laughter are tears, waiting to pop up."

Mystics have always said that "Only the present is." but Sosan goes a step ahead and he says : "no yesterday/ no tomorrow / no today "/ Not even the present is. If there is no past and no future , then how can the present exist? Because the present exists only between the past and future.It is a bridge between past and future. And if both the banks are not, how can the bridge exist? Sosan says : neither past , nor future, nor present. He is saying there is no time. And the whole language depends on time, past, future,present. Language is a creation of the mind , time is also a creation of the mind. When you drop language, time disappears. When you drop thinking , there is no past, no present, no future . You go beyond time, there is no time. The whole message of Hsin Hsin Ming is how to drop out of mind, language and time

Osho's commentary on Sosan's verses is unique. Simple jokes, parables and small stories including that of Mulla's included in this book are interesting as well as thought provoking. An innocent joke:-
A man visited a great museum. A guide was guiding him. The man looked at one head and asked "whose is this?" The guide really didn't know , so he said " it is the head of Napoleon". Then a small head, and again the man asked and the guide got messed up inside and he said "this is also Napoleon's head." So he said "what do you mean? Two heads?" Then the guide was in difficulty, and some answer he had to be given . So he said " Yes, this is the childhood head and that is his old-age head."

There are altogether 10 chapters in this book spreading over 275 pages . Each chapter adorns a few lines of the English translation of Sosan's Verses 'Hsin Hsin Ming' and its commentaries by Osho.: A fascinating and interesting book to read. In Osho's words " If I were to save only two books from the whole world of the mystics, one would be Sosan's 'Hsin Hsin Ming' and the other would be Hakim Sanai's ' Hadiqua' . "

THE INNER JOURNEY - The right man is both a living sword and a lamp of peace.

Osho ,in this book, tells us of the importance of body in a seeker's life . He says that only through the veena of body, the music of life can arise. So there should be right diet, right work and right sleep. The centre of man' life energy according to Osho is navel and man's soul, according to him, is connected neither to the mind nor to the heart but it is connected to his navel. The centre of life energy is the navel; whereas the centre of thinking is the mind and the centre of feeling is the heart.

Osho also talks about the needs of the body and how to create a healthy mind and how to become free of the entangling net of the mind. What a meditator has to do is to reduce the tension in the strings of thought and tighten the loose strings of the heart so that the music of life can be created. Love is the way to tune the strings of the heart . Osho says :"Love is an inner flowering and love itself is the music of the heart. Love is the door to divine and ego is the door to ignorance. Love is the door to light and ego is the door to darkness." Osho's other observations in this book are :

" Life is all about using the sword as well as lighting the lamp. The right man is both a living sword and a lamp of peace."
" A good person and a bad person are not different, they are two sides of the same coin. But a sage is a third kind of person - inside him there is neither goodness nor badness."
"The accumulation of facts and other peoples' opinions is not a sign of knowledge. It is a sign of ignorance."


This book is the transcribed version of Osho's talks to disciples and friends at a meditation camp in Ajol, Gujarat. The book comprises of 8 chapters spreading over 267 pages. Osho's directions to its participant camp members are also figure in this book at the end of each chapter. The book tells us the way to tune the body, mind and heart in order to live a life of love and meditation. A good and interesting book to read.

THE FISH IN THE SEA IS NOT THIRSTY

Man is unaware of the vastness of the ocean of existence where he lives and dies



The fish is not aware of the vast ocean where it lives and dies .Just like that man is also unaware of the vastness of the ocean of existence where he lives and dies. This book is the transcribed version of Osho's talks on kabir, the Sufi poet and mystic .According to Osho ,Kabir is one of the greatest revolutionaries who has ever walked on earth. Kabir was an illiterate. He has not done any schooling.But when he became enlightened, he exploded in great poetry. Kabir's path is that of 'yes' and not that of Buddha's 'neti, neti'.. To Kabir all is godliness, even the dust is divine.What Kabir is trying to say through his poetry is that though man is satisfied with the superficial and material things of the mundane world ,from deep down he is discontent, i.e; a deep discontent remains in the very core of his soul.

Kabir says that A real prayer is not that desiring something loudly to God, but to listening silently.

"He hears the delicate anklets that ring on the feet of an insect as it walks."
So there is no need to shout.
Kabir also says that he doesn't go to the temple because he finds it present all around him wherever he sits. He again says: "I don't go with special food to offer to God / When I eat that is my offering to godliness'"



Commenting on Kabir and his poems, Osho goes through everything from life to death . Osho places godliness above God and religiousness above religion. The whole magic of life, according to Osho , is godliness. It has not to be worshiped , it has to be lived, it is one's consciousness."Godliness is in the air and in the sun and in the flowers and in the song of the birds. Godliness is the world. It has become the rocks, it has become the river, it has become you and me. There is no other God except existence . Godliness is the dancer and the world is the dance - and you are part of the dancing gestures. "
Osho says a number of Zen stories, Mulla jokes, parables and anecdotes during the course of his talks , that make the book more wonderful and interesting. He also laughs at people who try to answer foolish questions like ,Who created the world? and Who is first - the egg or the hen? Osho asks that if everybody is standing in a queue or in a line, then somebody is first or second or last, but if people are standing in a circle, then who is the first? and who is the last?.Osho says that the world move in circles.The stars, the earth, the seasons move in a circle. Life moves in a circle, - everything moves in a circular way. Everything is part of circle. The straight line is man's creation. So the question -the egg or the hen ? itself is wrong.

The poems figured in this book are the English translation of five of Kabir's poems .Osho's commentaries on each of the poem form a chapter each in this book There are altogether 15 chapters in this book spreading over 342 pages of which 10 chapters are set apart for Osho's responses on seekers' queries.Osho's insights, visions and thoughts spread over on all the342 pages of this book transport the reader to an exciting world of religiousness, godliness and bliss. To read this book is a divine nourishment .

UNIO MYSTICA Vol 2 - God is not a person but a presence

This is the second book of the two Volume series transcribed from Osho's talks on the 12th century Persian court poet and Sufi mystic Hakim Sanai , who was transformed and enlightened by Lai-Khur, the great Sufi mystic . Sanai left the service of the king on enlightenment and went for a pilgrimage to Mecca. On his way back from Mecca , he wrote 'Hadiqua - The Walled Garden of Truth '. 'Hadiqua' pictures the Sufi way of living, loving and thinking. It says " You love a person and you hate the same person, you believe and you disbelieve." Again it says " If you know your own worth , what need you care about the acceptance or rejection of others" Sufism is the path of grace. There is neither sin nor virtue and there are neither sinners nor saints -.just simple human beings. In Hadiqua Sanai says" From him forgiveness comes so fast, it reaches us before repentance has even taken shape on our lips". According to Sanai " God's own language is silence, In his presence silence is the gift of tongues". "He knows the touch of an ant's foot moving in darkness over a rock" Hadiqua also tells us that God is a presence and not a person and in order to feel His presence one needs to drop his ego, masks and phoniness and one needs to learn the God's way of knowing ,i.e. innocence. One also needs to be silent because that is His only language. Sanai says: "Don't ask for anything. He knows before you ever know what your need is". "Unself yourself" is the key word that Sanai uses in his last stanza of Hadiqua and Osho while concluding his commaentaries on Hadiqua says:"The whole philosophy of Sufism is condensed into these two words. You cannot enter God as a self. You can enter God only as a no-self"

Osho also responds to seekers' questions on various subjects like , religion, awareness, asceticism, celibacy, sanyas ,society, love, sex, patience and politics with clarity, sharpness, authority and humour. He uses timely jokes, parables and anecdotes to enthuse the audience as well as to emphasize his views.

Some of Osho's observations found in this book are :

"An intelligent person will always remain a problem wherever he is. So the society tries in every way to destroy your intelligence."

"There is no need to go to any church or temple. Trees are beautiful temples, and mountains and people- the whole existence is His temple. He is embodied in this existence."

"Only stupid people are consistent people. The more intelligent you are, the more inconsistent you will be."

Osho gives us the key to enter into 'Hadiqua The Walled Garden of Truth' by way of his beautiful and unique commentaries . In Osho's words. : " If I were to save only two books from the whole world of the mystics, one would be Sosan's 'Hsin Hsin Ming' and the other would be Hakim Sanai's ' Hadiqua' . "

UNIO MYSTICA Vol 1 - No evil ever comes from God

Unio Mystica means the mystic unity- the mystic unity of the soul and the whole .This book is the first of a two volume series transcribed from the spoken words of Osho on Hakim Sanai's Hadiqua, The Walled Garden of Truth. Hakim Sanai was a 12th century persian poet who served in the court of Bahramshah, the sultan of Ghazna. Once the Sultan and his army was on an expedition to conquer India and Sanai was accompanying them. On the way while passing a walled garden they encountered Lai-Khur, a great sufi mystic, but known to the masses only as a drunkard and madman. Lai-Khur called the sultan blind for embarking on such a foolish journey and asked the king to go back and give up the foolish idea of conquering Nations. Finding it futile to talk to the sultan Lai-Khur turned to Hakim Sanai addressing him as even more blind than the sultan and told him to stop moving with the king and to give up trivial and meaningless things like writing eulogies to foolish kings. Sanai listened and he became enlightened. Lai-Khur had succeeded in awakening him. Sanai left the Sultan and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. On the way back from Mecca , he wrote Hadiqua and presented it to Lai-Khur. According to Osho this book was not written but born " like a bud opens early in the morning and becomes a flower and the fragrance is spread to the winds."


Hakim Sanai through 'Hadiqua ' tells us of the sufi way of the path of love , of bhakti. He says that there are three paths, Gynana Yoga, the path of knowledge, Karma yoga, the path of action, and Bhakti yoga, the path of love. He says "the path consists in neither words nor deeds".Again he says : The pure man unites two in one / the lover unites three in one "The pure man is the man of meditation. He knows the unity of two, the observer and the observed, the soul and the whole, whereas the lover knows the unity of three: of love, the lover and of the beloved. The inner being of a meditator is like a desert and that of a lover is like a garden. Hence Sanai calls his path 'the path of the Garden' and his poems the Hadiqua, the Garden. Some of the visions of Hakim Sanai scattered elsewhere in this book are:

"Once one is one, no more,no less
Error begins with duality, unity knows no error"

"Honey without wax is a noble thing
Wax without honey is only fit for burning".

"It is better to be silent than to talk nonsense".

Osho responds to a number of questions from his disciples on various subjects like sanyas , silence, Sufism, duality, cowardice ,hypocrisy , sex , love and life. His views are unique, thought provoking and inspiring. He often uses parables, anecdotes and jokes to emphasize his views .Some of his observations found in this book are :
'There is no actual difference between the learned and the ignorant, except that the learned believes he knows and the ignorant knows that he does not know."

"It is not by repetition of the Koran or Bible or Vedas that you will become a knower - no - you will only become knowledgeable"

"There is nothing to be serious about. Laugh a little, live a little and be playful, and you will know what life is. It comes in laughter, not in seriousness."

I love reading this beautiful book containing the beautiful poems of Hakim Sanai and Osho's unique commentaries on Sanai's verses.

THE BOOK OF WOMAN - Woman is man with a womb - Wo - Man

The Book Of Woman is a collection of Osho's discourses on woman appeared elsewhere in print in various other Osho Titles. There are 14 chapters in this book spread over in 223 pages.

Woman ,according to Osho , is man with a womb - Wo - Man.

Following are some other observations of Osho on woman appeared in this book.

Whenever a child is born, not only the child born - that is one part of it - the mother is also born.
Women begin by resisting a man's advances and end by blocking his retreat.
If you want to change a woman's mind , agree with her.
If you want to know what a woman really means, look at her - don't listen to her.
Osho always uses small stories, anecdotes, jokes and limericks to give a much more clarity to his points. One such anecdote:
A man was saying to his woman, "why has God made you women so beautiful?" The woman said, " So that you men can fall in love with us".
The man then said, "Then why did he make you so stupid?" And the woman said, "So that we can also fall in love with you."
An interesting book to read.

THE MUSTARD SEED ( The revolutionary teachings of Jesus ) Commentaries of the Gnostic gospel of Thomas

T

God is this universe, this whole existence


The only way to understand Christ is to become a Christ. Never be a Christian - be a Christ. Never be a Buddhist - be a Buddha. Never be a Hindu - be a Krishna - .that is the message Osho gives while commenting on the revolutionary teachings of Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas. This particular Gospel credited to Thomas ,which was part of a sensational discovery of a collection of scriptures in northern Egypt in 1945 , has not been included in the New Testament and does not form part of the official Bible. Unlike the other four Gospels , the gospel of Thomas has not undergone any editing and hence the teachings contained in this Gospel are considered as the original teachings of Jesus. The influences of Hindu Vedanta, Buddhist philosophy and Egyptian secret societies made Jesus a stranger to the Jews. The base of the Jewish thought is that " God is the creator and the universe is the created, and the created can never become the creator" just like a a painting cannot become a painter or just like a poem cannot become a poet. But Vedanta says, " God is the creation, there is no distinction between God and the creation. He has not created the universe like a poet creates a poem, the relationship is just like a dancer and the dance, they remain one". Jesus' sayings can find many parallels in the Upanishads, in the Gita and in Buddhist scriptures, but not a single parallel in the Old Testament according to Osho . The saying of Jesus reproduced as fifteenth in this book from The Gospel of Thomas has the potential of an Upanishadic Sutra. "Jesus said : I am the light that is above all, I am the all, and the all came from me and the all attained to me. Cleave a piece of wood and I am there ; lift up the stone and you will find me there ."


The Mustard Seed is the transcribed version of a series of talks delivered by Osho on the Gospel credited to Thomas . Each of Jesus sayings is the "seed" for a chapter in this book and there are 21 chapters altogether.

Jesus said to his disciples " If those who lead you say to you , the kingdom is in heaven, don't listen to them," otherwise you will miss the kingdom forever and forever. "But the kingdom is within you - it is not anywhere else - and it is without you."

This book gives us a profound understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus .Osho's views on various aspects of life - birth, death, love ,anger , fear , religion , science , philosophy, man , woman ( Woman is man with a womb according to Osho - Wo - Man) are spread over in all the 370 pages of this book. Osho's signature is well stamped in this book. A good book to read and assimilate.

Zarathustra The Laughing Prophet - There is godliness everywhere, but there is no single God as a person.

This is the second book of the two volume series transcribed from the spoken words of Osho on Freidich Nietzch’s ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra. Zarathustra is speaking of the famous Philosophers, of Scholars and of Poets. He is speaking of Manly Prudence, of the Three evil Things ,of the Spirit of Gravity and of Old and New law Tables. He is speaking of the Meeting with a Higher Man , of Laughter and Dance etc. etc. The commentaries by Osho on those speeches give us a deep understanding of what Zarathustra had said twenty five centuries ago.

Zarathustra’s basic teaching is ; live dangerously.He believes not in God , but in evolution. He is waiting for the arrival of the superman. . He is also saying that on the path of creativity you have to be destructive too, and if you want higher values, you will have to destroy lower values. If you want to create your houses, you will have to destroy the old ones. The real creator is almost always a destroyer. The superman will arise in man’s consciousness. It is to go beyond man’s mind, it is transcending man and man’s mind. Zarathustra’s sole concern is the birth of the superman.

Nietzsche is saying through Zarathustra that ,the day man forgets to laugh, the day man forgets to be playful, the day man forgets to dance, he is no more man, he has fallen into a sub-human species. Playfulness makes him light, love makes him light, laughter gives him wings. Dancing with joy, he can touch the farthest stars, he can know the very secrets of life.

It was Nietzsche who brought Zarathustra back to the modern world, who again gave him birth, a resurrection. The Parsis of Mumbai who almost all now live just in and around Mumbai, are the only very few followers of Zarathustra (Zoroaster).

‘Zarathustra, the laughing prophet’ contains 23 selected chapters from Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’ and its commentary by Osho. The commentary is unique as well as beautiful. It gives us a deep understanding and an insight into what Zarathustra had said a few centuries ago.

ZARATHUSTRA A GOD THAT CAN DANCE - There is no God other than life itself

'Zarathustra a God that can Dance' is Osho's commentary on Friedrich Nietzsche's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra', a philosophical novel chronicling Zarathustra's fictitious journey into the mountains at the age of thirty and his down coming to share his blissfulness , wisdom, peace and joy to humanity after remaining ten years in the mountains in deep solitude , peace and prayerfulness . Zarathustra , also known as Zorastrer who lived about twenty five centuries ago in Iran is the founder father of Zorastrianism , perhaps the smallest religion in the world , the Parsis of bombay. Nietzsche was so interested in Zarathustra that he wrote the book , Thus Spake Zarathustra. Nietzsche was against Jesus Christ and he was against Gautam Budha for the simple reason that they were against life, they were against enjoyment, and the were against playfulness and humour. But he was for Zarathustra because amongst all the religious founders Zarathustra is the only one who is life affirmative, who is not against the pleasures of life and who is not in favour of renouncing the world.

In this book Osho sheds light on zarathustra's prologues and also goes deep into Zarathustra's speeches on metamorphosis , on despisers of the body , on joys and passions, on life,love, war and warriors, on flies of the market place , on voluntary death , on justice ,virtue.etc.

Zarathustra teaches the Superman in his prologue part 3 saying man is something to be overcome. Go beyond man so that there will be the birth of a new man the Superman, just like what apes had gone beyond themselves and gave birth to man. Every creature has produced something beyond itself. The apes have created man. But coming to man, the whole evolution has stopped. Man simply gives birth to another man. Osho says that the man who is going to succeed man will be superior. It can humiliate man and perhaps that is the reason why the superman has not arrived. Man will be a laughing stock at the hands of superman just like the apes are being made a laughing stock at the hands of humans.

Zarathustra , in his speeches on metamorphosis ,compares the three stages of human consciousness to thre animals from camel to lion to child. Zarathustra divides human consciousness into these three symbols , the lowest of which is the camel which is a beast of burden, ready to be enslaved, never rebellious. According to Osho " He cannot ever say no. He is a believer, a follower, a faithful slave. He needs all the religions , all the priests and all the holy scriptures because he cannot trust himself. He has no courage and no soul and no longing for freedom. He is obedient. He needs a leader " The lion is the next higher form of consciousness. The lion is revolution. The lion is not in need of any leader. He cannot be enslaved. He is enough unto himself. . The highest peak is when the lion also goes through a metamorphoses and becomes a child. The child is innocence. It is neither obedience nor disobedience, it is neither belief nor disbelief- it is pure trust - it is the highest peak of purity and sincerity, the highest peak of consciousness . Zarathustra is in favour of a strong spirit.

Nietzsche is saying through Zarathustra in his prologue that ' God is dead '. Osho agrees with Zarathustra and with Friedrich Nietzsche , but expresses it differently saying that God has never been alive , there has never been any God..

Nietzsche writes in a very condensed form and according to Osho these are almost like the sutras of the Upanishad. Each single sutra, and each single maxim, contains so much, has so many implications. Nietzche's ideas and concepts are unique . Osho's commentary on those made it rather awesome .


Some of Osho's interesting observations about God , godliness and religion found in this book are :

There is no belief which is not blind. A man with eyes does not believe in light , he knows it - there is no need to believe. Only the blind man believes in light because he does not know it. Belief exists in ignorance , and all the religions are all for belief.

God is the creation of the unwise, not of the wise. It is the creation of the slaves, not of those who love freedom.


I am all for godliness because godliness is a quality you can learn, you can grow. God is just a dead idea. The sooner it is dropped, the better, because it unnecessarily wastes your time.

The scriptures are man made, the statues of God are man -made , the temples and churches are man - made, but thousands of years of conditioning has given them a certain sacredness, holiness. And there is nothing sacred in them, nothing holy in them.


The visions of Nietzsche and of Osho are mingled together in this book. A great book indeed. I love to read this book.

THE FINGURE POINTING TO THE MOON - Stupid people prefer to look at the finger when it is pointed to the moon

Don't cling on to the finger. Moon is the goal. The scriptures, Gita , Bible , Qoran ,Upanishads and all the likes are fingers pointing to the moon. This book is the transcribed version of Osho's seventeen talks delivered at Mount Abu, Rajasthan on Adhyatma Upanishad , an ancient Upanishad. Whatever the seer of this Upanishad is saying , he is saying after having known it. Osho also says that he will only say what he has known and hence there cannot be any difference between his saying and that of the Upanishad, because whatever the seer of the upanishad has said , Osho has also known it. This Upanishad is only a hiding place , a shelter for Osho so that he can share his spiritual experiences directly to t those who are longing for liberation.Though there is no reason for bringing the Upanishad in, Osho uses it as an excuse , as a shelter. He tells directly whatever the seer has seen, hiding behind this Upanishad. Osho's reflections on almost everything under the Sun , God, religion. Witnessing, liberation , man , mind, soul , illusion etc. are unique and thought provoking. He even thinks of thinking and thought. No thought, according to him is ever original and all thoughts are borrowed; some thoughts have come from tradition, some from the scriptures, some from hearing someone, some from reading - they have come from one external source or the other. Osho also asks his disciples to drop worrying about others, stop thinking about the opinions of others, start reducing your craving for others' attentions as the ego gets nourished by it.

Osho tells of the dishonest people who have invented stories like the one of Ajamila Moksha. The story is like this : A person was dying, he had a son named Narayana, one of the names of God, and he shouted aloud 'Narayana' 'Narayana' to call him. Hearing this, the god Narayana, who is in heaven thought that he was being remembered. The dying man was actually calling his son, . But due to the god Narayana's misunderstanding the dying man went to heaven. He himself was surprised as to how he arrived there. But his utterance of the name of Narayana at the time of his death had managed this miracle. And Osho says that a Narayana who can be so easily deceived will be a bogus Narayana.

Osho has a unique way of presenting everything. Whatever he says in this book is thought provoking and fascinating. It can even change one's attitude towards life. I like this book very much. It is a fascinatingly interesting book to read.

PHILOSOPHIA PERENNIS Vol 2 - The Perennial Philosophy - the timeless laws of Existence

What would happen if the fundamental laws of Nature , the timeless laws of existence change every day?. What would happen if one day water evaporates at 100 degrees and another day at 500 degrees ? There will be utter confusion and chaos all around. But existence functions in a consistent way and in the Universe there exists no chaos and only cosmos, the word introduced by Pythagoras which means order , rhythm, harmony.It is believed that Pythagoras has learnt about Prakrithi and Purush from the Indian sages and his Law of Necessity and Law of Power are rooted in Indian teachings. Our body is Prakrithi, which follows the law of necessity i.e for the body there is childhood , youth , old age and decay stages. Even the body of a buddha has no exception to the law of necessity. After youth he will become old and after old age he will die.Nature is not going to be different ,it is a very rigid law. . That is the timeless law of Existence , the perennial philosophy, Philosophia Perennis.

In this book Osho brings insight into the ancient and little known teachings of Pythagoras by giving commentaries on the remaining part of' The Golden Verses Of Pythagoras.' The Verses called as Sutras by osho are divided into three parts, they are known as the three Ps of Pythagoras: Preparation, Purification and Perfection. Preparation is the introductory part, to create a great thirst in you. The second part is purification, which means to drop all conditionings and all ideologies.Perfection is the third part which starts happening of its own accord when the first two parts are over. The purification and perfection parts are dealt with in this volume.

Vegetarianism functions as a purification. Pythagoras introduced vegetarianism for the first time to the west. All life forms are interrelated and interdependent. To destroy other animals is inhuman and ugly. Man has to learn how to live in friendship with nature and with animals and creatures. Live totally and you are finished with it. That is the perfection part. If you live only half the unlived part goes on hankering to be lived.
Osho also responds to a number of questions on various subjects including religion , education , awareness , greed, psychoanalysis and politics. Parables , anecdotes, limericks and simple jokes are often used by him for making his talks understandable to the audience. He often mocks at the very nature of the human character. A limerick included in the book is like this:

There was an old man from Darjeeling
Who was traveling from Hyde Park to Ealing
A sign on th door
Said "Don't spit on the floor"
So he carefully spat on the ceiling.

Time and again Osho cracks jokes at the expense of politicians. One such joke:

A politician asked a psychiatrist: "Tell me, how do you know when a person is insane?"
Psychiatrist: "Well, firstly I ask them questions that an average person can answer easily. For example 'if Captain Cook made five trips around the world and was killed on one of them, which one was it?'"
Politician: Ah...Well... Couldn't you ask me a question on another subject? I'am not good at history."

There is no need to mention the poetic beauty and simplicity of Osho 's style and presentation. The ideas presented in this book can influence the very thought process of the reader. I like this book very much - an interesting book to read .

PHILOSOPHIA PERENNIS Vol 1 - Pythagoras the mystic, the poet and the philosopher is revealed .

It appears that Osho is the first man to have commented on Pythagoras, the mystic who may be known for his theorem in geometry but not for his spirituality and mysticism. Pythagoras was a pilgrim, a seeker his whole life. From Greece he went to Egypt, in search of the lost Atlantis and its secrets. He lived in Alexandria for years where he studied and was initiated into the mystery schools.Then he came to India where he lived for years and then travel]ed to Tibet and to China. That was the whole known world then. By the time Pythagoras returned to Greece he was a very old man. The seekers gathered around him and he founded a great mistery school there. But he was not allowed to teach people. Many attempts were made on his life. The day Pythagoras died the whole school was burnt and thousands of his disciples were massacred. Only one disciple survived and his name was Lysis who wrote the Golden Verses of Pythagoras.


Osho teaches the teachings of Pythagoras in the form of commentaries as well as in the form of responses to seekers’ questions. The first few verses of the ‘Golden Verses of Pythagoras’have been commented on in this 1st vol. Altogether it spreads over 10 chapters, of which 2 chapters deal with the 22 lines of the Golden verses and its teachings and commentaries by Osho and in the rest of the chapters osho responds to seekers’ questions with authority , clarity, sharpness and humor.Osho also brings his insight into various topics like religion , life , death, god , happiness ,bliss and love. Excess is illness. Avoid all extremes and remain in the middle. That is Pythagora’s meesage to the human community. Always remain in the middle., never move to the extreme , and you will remain sane and healthy and whole.


Osho often uses parables, anecdotes , simple jokes and small stories to expand his ideas. One such story included in this book goes like this: A very rich man wanted to become happy. He tried everything but failed. Then somebody suggested to go to Mulla Nazaruddin. The man went to Mulla with a bag full of diamonds , and he showed the bag to Mulla who was sitting underneath a tree outside the town. He said 'I am a very meserable man, I want happiness. I am ready to give anything for it, but I have not tasted even once what happiness is. Can you help me? How can I be happy? I have all kinds of things that the world can give to me, yet I am unhappy. Why?"


Mulla looked at the man and it happened so fast that the rich man could not understand what was happening. He just jumped on the man, took away the bag and ran. The rich man followed crying , shouting "I have been cheated , robbed"

Mulla knew all the streets of the town, so he was going zigzag this way and that. And the rich man had never run in his life and he was crying and tears were flowing down his face and he said, "I have been robbed absolutely, that was my whole life's earnings.Save me people ! Help me!".

A crowed followed .At last Mulla came back to the place where the rich man had found him. The rich man was crying , breathing hard. Mulla gave the bag back to him.
The rich man thanked God with such tears of joy, happiness and peace.

Mulla said " Look, I have made you happy. Now you know what happiness is. This bag has been with you for years and you were unhappy. It had to be taken away from you to make you happy."

What makes this book eminently readable is the poetic beauty of its language and the way of its presentation. It leaves no scope for any ambiguity whatever. The reader hardly feels the heaviness of the subject.

THE MESSAGE BEYOND WORDS - Yama's revelation to Nachikethas - Kathopanishad made so simple and beautiful

The Message beyond words is Osho's talks on Kathopanishad, which tells the story of a young boy Nachiketha to whom Yama the lord of death imparts the secret of life after death , the secret of soul as well as the illusion of death and the reality of living f0rms . The story goes like this :Nachiketha , the son of Udhalaka felt ashamed on seeing his father's selfish and cheating act of donating old and useless cows to brahmins and asked his father about this and Udhalaka responded angrily to his son saying that he would be given to death. As the story goes, Nachiketha went and knocked at the door of the lord of death yama and found that Yama was not at home. Nachiketha sat at the abode of Yama for three days without eating or drinking. At the end of the third day , Yama appeared before Nachiketha and Yama was ready to grant him three wishes as a gift for his three days fasting and waiting. Nachiketha's first wish was for his father, that his father be peaceful and his anger be disappeared and and on returning he be accepted as his loving son. His second wish was related to the science of inner fire and how to attain immortality.Though both the wishes were granted , Yama was reluctant to grant his third wish . His third wish was to know whether the soul lives on after death or that it does not and he wanted to finally understand this through Yama's teaching. He wated to know the secret of death and the science of soul , which Yama passed on to him and he became enlightened. The translation of the upanishadic verses into English is exceptionally good and the language is simple and beautiful. The Upanishad says: " If a murderer believes that he can kill, and if the one to be killed believes that he can be killed , both are deluded. Neither can the soul kill nor can it be killed. The reader does not feel any heaviness of the subject. The book is eminently readble . It comprises of 17 chapters spread over about 530 pages. The language is so powerful , poetic ,simple and beautiful. The book 'The Message beyond Words' is Kathopanishad made so simple , poetic and beautiful. In my opinion it is a must read book