07-08-2014, 06:15 AM
Osho was a prolific individual, and I used to pass by his section in the metaphysical bookshop that I used to visit a lot in the early 2000's/late 1900's. He had his own shelf basically.
I never did read any of his books though. I flipped through a few, but never gave it a serious attention.
Until now that is. One of my favourite anarchist friends recommended the "Book of Secrets' by Osho recently, and I enjoyed looking at the amazon reviews before plunging in.
The book is basically a commentary on a particular Sutra, and if the Sutra was compiled in one place, it would look like a poem that might cover 5 pages. However. with the detailed commentary and analysis, Osho's book expands to 800+ pages. The man does have a lot to say indeed.
The primary focus of the Sutra in question is 112 different methods of working with the breath and awareness so that a deeper level of self may be realised. This begins with the more classic techniques of breath meditation, of which the more common variants will be familiar to those who have even had a passing interest in stilling the mind; namely, observing the breath at different stages as it comes into, bottoms out, and then exits the lungs/nostrils.
The book continues on with various critiques of other philosophies; including well known figures in both the West and the East. Krishnamurti gets a mention, as does Bertrand Russell, Rousseau, and many others. The author (Osho) definitely had a broad and comprehensive intellectual grasp, and offers a comprehensible deconstruction of other thought systems and processes; pointing out various flaws and possible misunderstandings in those other systems.
Overall, Osho comes across as very convincing in this book (which was a collection of various talks he had given). For people who have 'been' to, and experienced various altered states of consciousness, Osho's descriptions of those mental regions will ring true and familiar.
I never did read any of his books though. I flipped through a few, but never gave it a serious attention.
Until now that is. One of my favourite anarchist friends recommended the "Book of Secrets' by Osho recently, and I enjoyed looking at the amazon reviews before plunging in.
The book is basically a commentary on a particular Sutra, and if the Sutra was compiled in one place, it would look like a poem that might cover 5 pages. However. with the detailed commentary and analysis, Osho's book expands to 800+ pages. The man does have a lot to say indeed.
The primary focus of the Sutra in question is 112 different methods of working with the breath and awareness so that a deeper level of self may be realised. This begins with the more classic techniques of breath meditation, of which the more common variants will be familiar to those who have even had a passing interest in stilling the mind; namely, observing the breath at different stages as it comes into, bottoms out, and then exits the lungs/nostrils.
The book continues on with various critiques of other philosophies; including well known figures in both the West and the East. Krishnamurti gets a mention, as does Bertrand Russell, Rousseau, and many others. The author (Osho) definitely had a broad and comprehensive intellectual grasp, and offers a comprehensible deconstruction of other thought systems and processes; pointing out various flaws and possible misunderstandings in those other systems.
Overall, Osho comes across as very convincing in this book (which was a collection of various talks he had given). For people who have 'been' to, and experienced various altered states of consciousness, Osho's descriptions of those mental regions will ring true and familiar.
