KRISHNA THE MAN AND HIS PHILOSOPHY

We know ourselves only as waves; we forget that we are the ocean.



Osho discusses in this book almost everything under the sun in the backdrop of Krishna’s life and philosophy. He responds to a number of questions on various topics from seekers at a meditation camp at Manali in the Himalayas.

The book begins with Osho’s reply to a question on why he has chosen to speak on Krishna. Osho says that he has chosen to talk about Krisna because : Krishna accepts the world as it is and he accepts everything and denies nothing; he is all for celebration and he takes life as a great play , a mighty drama. To another question about Bhagavat Gita, Osho says that Gita is Krishna’s spontaneous discussions with Arjuna while the two of them were standing on the battlegrounds of Kurukshetra. They are meant for Arjuna alone, for his spiritual transformation. They are very intimate conversations meant exclusively for a close friend. He also observes that Krishna does not speak to Arjuna through words, he communicates with him at the psychic level. It is such a wordless, silent communication between two persons that a third person standing close by will never know it. No other people present at Kurukshetra could hear it; otherwise a crowd would have gathered round Arjuna’s chariot. Osho also responds to various questions on life, death, and renunciation; attachment and non-attachment; action, inaction and non-action

Osho. initiated his first group of sanyasins at the Manali camp in Sept 28,1970 and the book ends with a chapter on a special discourse on the significance of Neo-Sanyas.

Osho’s other observations like the following , found elsewhere in this book are unique in nature and have tremendous relevance for all time.:

Do not, even by mistake , follow any other, or become like another. To be oneself is the only virtue and to be like another the only sin.

If one does not seek anything, it means he does not lack it, he already has it.

We see in others only that which we want to see; in fact we see what we are. We do nothing but project ourselves on the world.

The elite will always dominate the society. Sometimes it dominates in the form of emperors and kings, sometimes as messiahs and saints, and then as pioneers and leaders.

A writer can never touch that depth which a speaker does. All that is of the highest in the world of wisdom has been spoken, not written.


It is impossible that an unhappy man can make another happy. .Remember, we can share with others only that which we have, not what we don’t have.

TTHE VOICE OF SILENCE - Discourses on Mabel Collins’ Light on the Path .

Nothing can be experienced without its opposite. If there were no words, how would you experience silence?



This book is the transcribed version of Osho’s commentary on Mabel Collins’ ‘Light on the Path’ . Osho considers this small booklet of Mabel Collins as one of the very few valuable books in the history of mankind .Mabel Collins says that she .has had a vision of this booklet and she has written it down exactly as she saw it in the vision . Osho says, ‘the lamp that Mabel Collins holds is a beacon’, which can lead you to endless steps to anywhere to infinity.

The words in the booklet are written not for everybody , but only for the disciples, i.e. only for those who are ready to learn. So the first thing a disciple should understand about himself is that he does not know anything.The second thing is that the life of every person is in a search for only one thing- how to get rid of suffering, how to attain happiness..So you have to drop your ambition first. It says:

“ Kill out ambition
Ambition is the first curse:
the great tempter of the man
who is rising above his fellows”

There are two kinds of ambitions normally, one is the ambition to be like someone else and the other is the ambition to get ahead of others. It is common that someone or other is always ahead of you in one way or another. So it has to be understood that there are a thousand ways to be ahead in life , and no one can ever be ahead of everyone in everything. It again says:

“ kill out desire of life.
Kill out desire of comfort.
Work as those work who are ambitious.
Respect life as those do who desire it.
Be happy as those who live for happiness.”


There is the music of life, the harmony of life as well, the book says. A man reciting Om in his old age, and he sitting beside his beloved in his adulthood and he chasing the butterfly in his childhood experiences happiness in the same way.These three fragments are not fragments, he has found a thread moving through them. That is the music, that is the harmony.With Mabel Collins’ lamp in hand Osho makes us hear the voice of silence, the music of life, the sound of one- hand clapping.Some of Osho’s observations in this book are worth noticing:


The deep things in life happen in utter silence. The seed is being cracked open underground and there is no sound, the plants are growing ...there is no sound. The stars are moving...there is no sound. The sun rises ...there is no uproar. In the very fine, subtle realms of existence, everything is silent. The silence has its own music, but to experience that our senses have to be refined.

There is a power which others can give you, and there is a power which can be found only through one’s own experience. The power that others give you will never give you peace, because fear is always a part of it. What is given to you by another can also be taken away from you by him.

When you are able to give , you are the master. Only the master can give - how can a slave give?

Don’t take your orders from the scriptures or the holy books, take them from your own witness. It will always lead you in the right direction - there is no possibility of it ever making a mistake.
Even wrong paths can reach to the right destination; what is needed is the right traveller. It all depends on the traveller. It is not the path that takes the traveller to the destination, it is the traveller who reaches.

Knowledge is a thorn, so is ignorance. And when both knowledge and ignorance are absent, then supreme wisdom is attained.

The ‘Voice of Silence’ has 17 chapters , each chapter carrying the verses of ‘the light on the path’ followed by its commentaries by Osho. Unlike in other Osho’s books ,stories, jokes and anecdotes are seldom found in this book. Osho’s mastery over everything he utters is rather awesome. A wonderful book of course. It can carry a transforming message to the reader.

I AM THAT - Talks On The Isha Upanishad

Everywhere God is present, all that is needed is the eyes to see.

There are 108 Upanishads and Isha is the smallest of them all - it can be written on a post card - yet Isha is said to be one of the greatest creations of those who have meditated’. The word Isha means divine.The divinity of this Upanishad lies in its contents. It doesn’t believe in any devil, any satan ,or in any hell, because all is divine. The Upanishad is not saying to renounce the world as the world itself is the manifestation of God. But it says: don’t possess, don’t become owners of persons or things: just use them as a gift of the universe.Go on enjoying wherever you are. Also be fully aware that nothing belongs to us. Idam Na Mama: This is not Mine - we come empty handed in the world we go empty-handed. The world is a gift, so enjoy while it is there. In Osho’s words “ When you have something, enjoy it, when you don’t have it , enjoy not having it-- It is the enjoyment that makes the difference. If you have a palace to live in , enjoy. If you don’t have , then enjoy a hut and the hut becomes a palace. Then live under a tree and enjoy it. Don’t miss the tree and the flowers and the freedom and the birds and the air and the sun. And when you are in a palace don’t miss it - enjoy the marble and the chandeliers.”
The Upanishadic teachings are life -affirmative. The Isha says: If you have to choose between action and meditation , you will fall into blinding darkness if you choose action alone ; and the darkness will be even greater if you choose meditation alone. So Isha Upanishad is trying to make it clear that never choose, remain choicelessly aware and accept life as it is . Don’t impose any choice of your own.

Into A Blinding Darkness Go They Who Worship Action Alone.
Into An Even Greater Darkness Go They Who Worship Meditation.

Action is External, physical and Worldly; and Meditation is Internal, Spiritual and Godly.If you choose either of the two , you will fall into darkness or greater darkness. So Osho says to choose both and live a life of fullness , wholeness and totality that is, a full material existence with a full spiritual life. In Osho’s words:”be a spiritual materialist or a material spiritualist”.

I Am That is the ultimate statement of the Upanishads. I Am That. “I “does not mean the ego; it simply means pure existence, without any ego in it. One simply is. That is The Whole, The Absolute, The Godly.

For I Myself Am That.
Let My Breath Merge With The Cosmic Breath....

And the Shanti Mantra (Seed Mantra) of Isha Upanishad is:

That Is The Whole/ This Is The Whole./ From Wholeness Emerges Wholeness./ Wholeness Coming From Wholeness./ Wholeness Still Remains.

The book consists of sixteen chapters of which the commentary of the Upanishad extends to only four chapters and the remaining twelve chapters are .set apart for responding to seekers’ questions on various topics ranging from Sincerity, Love and Parenting to Socialism, Religion and God..

Some of Osho’s observations in this book are:

God is presence, not a person. Hence all worshipping is sheer stupidity. Prayerfulness is needed not prayer.

A child always thinks good days are to come, the old man always thinks good days, golden days are past. The child is future oriented, the old man is past oriented and the young man, if he is really young lives in the present.

Nostalgia is the longing to go back to the good old days when you were neither good nor old.

If you are forced to live in heaven , it is hell, and if you choose hell it is heaven, because it is your own choice.

Parables, anecdotes and simple jokes are aplenty in this book. One sample joke:

The army recruit from the country was being given his physical examination. “ Well, that’s everything but the urine test”, said the doctor. “ I want a specimen of yours in one of those bottles on that shelf down at the other end of the room.
“What did you say, Doc?” asked the young man.
“ Just urinate in one of those little bottles down there,” repeated the doctor.
The recruit still looked doubtful. “Do you mean all the way from here?” he asked

One more joke:
A rambling man thought up a new scheme for winning sympathy. He rang the doorbell, then got down on his knees and started nibbling on the grass. “ What are you doing there ?” asked the lady when she opened the door.
The tramp rose weakly to his feet , clutched his stomach in mock pain and moaned, “Ma’m, I am so hungry, I just had to take to eating grass.”
“Why , you poor man, stop eating that dry old grass!” cried the woman sympathetically. “ Go around in the back where the grass is greener and longer!”