|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Eddy
USA
92 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 9:21:51 PM
|
i'm surprised to see that there hasn't been a post about him yet... hes one of my 3 favorite dead gurus.. the leading man has to be ramana, and then it's a tie between osho and nisargadatta..
what are your throughts on osho
what do you think are his best reads
thank you |
|
|
Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 08:48:45 AM
|
| Hi Eddy. Osho has posthumously worked his way into a few topics on the forum, although maybe not for a while. You can do a search on him, and also try Rajneesh. I haven't read too much of his works, but his book 'On Creativity' is really beautiful. When I read it, I didn't know who Osho was, and was shocked to realize later that he was Rajneesh. It's too bad that the guy got such a bad rap, as he has much to offer. I also read 'Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy' which I enjoyed, but less so. |
 |
|
|
david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 10:06:04 AM
|
It's too bad that the guy got such a bad rap, as he has much to offer.
Meg, I don't think it is a pity that Osho got a bad rap. As I see it, Osho/Rajneesh the person got a bad rap for good reasons, namely, the way he lived and behaved (and that is not really a subject for AYP forum). Much of his writings and spiritual teachings are still good though. The only pity is if people don't understand how to separate the good from the bad. Both the good and the bad of Osho should be recognized as far as I am concerned. That is the only thing which is mature and truthful. Neither a demonic nor a guru-mythologized image of Osho/Rajneesh holds the truth.
|
Edited by - david_obsidian on Apr 10 2007 10:08:21 AM |
|
|
|
emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 4:13:00 PM
|
Funny, On Creativity was also the first book I read of Osho, and in fact the first spiritual book I read when I crossed over the energy wall...  I got answers to exactly everything that happened to me in the beginning and got a deep respect for Osho. I also use Osho Zen Tarot cards and they are always astonishingly correct.
I have been wondering a lot about Oshos tantric teachings, his "free sex" approach and have tried to melt that together with what I have learned in my own experience and from other sources. I didn't get it to match. The explanation for that, I think today, is that Osho said one thing - his disciples heard something else, interpreted Osho's way of living from a non purified perspective and got it somewhat twisted. On top of that I think Osho fought his own ego pretty much and was not really stable in his enlightenment, probably causing non-consistent behavior leading to even more misconceptions among his followers.
During my interesting London visit during Easter, I met an Osho guy who had been into his teachings since the seventies and had been a lot on Osho's ashram in India, both then and now. He confirmed pretty much of my thoughts. It is a very different thing, what Osho said himself, and how that has been interpreted and lived out by his followers. |
|
|
|
Eddy
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Apr 11 2007 : 1:37:02 PM
|
| awesome!! i love the guy.. i see subtle faults but i know i'm still ignorant.. but the more i read about him, just as you say, even seeing his "faults is extremly benefiical.. maybe he wanted it that way... i think he was one of the 20th centuries greatest demystifyers... has anyone read his autobiography?? and i know this is off topic but does anyone know of any other great autobioographies of highly enlightened people?? i've read a little bit of autobigraphy of a yogi by yogananda |
|
|
|
IcedEarth
73 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2007 : 5:41:54 PM
|
| Hi Eddy. I haven't read any other spiritual biographies than Autobiography of a Yogi. I recommend reading the entire book. It is a phenomenal adventure as well as deeply inspiring. If you are looking for a good book about spirituality I would say try "God Without Religion" by Sankara Saranam. He is a disciple of the teachings of Yogananda. Good luck! |
|
|
|
meenarashid
76 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 06:43:59 AM
|
aum in response too
** Both the good and the bad of Osho should be recognized as far as I am concerned**
AAH yes arent we all everything and shouldnt we all be recognised as such &loved FOR the *crap* rather than in spite ofthe *crap*just as we love eachother for the *beauty* its all the same light and dark really
i share yoga classes and live a pretty consistant to my yoga practices lifestyle but ive lived the VERY dark side of life too
used to feel shame for it..
but now its almost as if i realise wow its all important and perfect even the *stuff that gives us bad reps*
my husband very recently keeps bringing this point up he says ya know as i think about you: i realise you are everything in one sweet, angry, intense,dark, light,beautiful,wrathful,compassionate etc '
of course so is he but its easier sometimes to see this truth in others
ps disclaimer:i fully recognise that what i say could always be completely wrong/off
much love M |
|
|
|
Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 08:31:39 AM
|
Meenarashid - what a great post - what a great husband! :) Your post reminded me of something:
Mother Teresa often worked in prisons with people who were considered to be very dangerous. She was once asked how she could find it in her heart to have compassion for these men/women who had shown so little compassion for their victims. She answered by pulling out a piece of white paper, and making a black dot in the middle of it. What do you see? she asked. The black dot, the interviewer replied. Mother Teresa then said that what she saw was all the white around the dot. Even though there may be an abundance of 'good' in a person, we tend to see the black dot first. Btw, I'm not suggesting that it should or could be different, but it's interesting to note that it's generally the habit to focus on what's wrong rather than what's right.
|
|
|
|
Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 11:05:59 AM
|
The problem with these crazy wisdom guys is that they can act as tarot cards... can be seen as advocating just about anything you need to have them seem advocating.
Osho did some clear, "traditional" teaching, but, ever the creative maverick, kept shifting everything. I respect him for it, but strongly resist trying to feel like I have any sort of handle on what he's saying.
And, of course, that's the point. He was trying to shake off our handles. When you think you have a handle on spiritual stuff, that's when you know you're misunderstanding. As the Zen guys say, all calculation is miscalculation. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Apr 18 2007 11:06:22 AM |
|
|
|
Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 11:25:22 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Jim and His Karma
And, of course, that's the point. He was trying to shake off our handles. When you think you have a handle on spiritual stuff, that's when you know you're misunderstanding. As the Zen guys say, all calculation is miscalculation.
That's exactly right. Osho was trying to exhaust his students' ego desires and let them act out their passions, which were often culturally taboo. So, if a student was particularly obsessed with sex, she/he was told to have sex repeatedly, as often and with whomever was available, in order to exhume/exhaust the desire.
I don't know if it worked or not. Some claim that it did. Seems like it would breed a bunch of brats, but it was all an experiment. When Osho was forced into exile he left muttering that Americans weren't spiritually mature enought for his teachings. :) |
|
|
|
meenarashid
76 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 12:30:36 PM
|
** Americans weren't spiritually mature enought for his teachings** LOL
hey he may have been right about that not necessarily americans but humans a lot of times::: maturity, open ness,readiness even
sometimes the best teachings is with the mouth closed anyway
lol it also seems as if as with so much in life his teaching there was taken out of context to fit the persons ego its all in perception though; to me that teaching would actually point to the absolute rediculousness of sexual obsession not to actually following it
aum
Meg: loved that story about mother theresa
its like the dark is there no reason to deny it or even over dramatize it sometimes in re tellling is where we get hung up we all love our *stories*
aummm
laughing much love |
|
|
|
meenarashid
76 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 12:44:32 PM
|
**Osho did some clear, "traditional" teaching, but, ever the creative maverick, kept shifting everything.**
seems like that may be to smack people on their tushes
when we realise we really dont know anything
its kinda like yea ok this is a place beyond where rules dont apply so why would a teacher need to be consistant
we find it in ourselves anyway ::that intangible he CANT be consistant really! every layer of life would seem to show yet another demension of the intangible anyway so is ever changing ~ever flowing ~just like all of it~ so its like~~ lalala
the guru; catalyst is important of course too
but then ::
oshos all like, hey, get away from me let yourself go crazy loose your mind
yeaaaaa
laughing much love M
(osho did not really say that, that i know of i just made it up snort laugh :):) |
Edited by - meenarashid on Apr 18 2007 12:50:26 PM |
|
|
|
Eddy
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 03:52:23 AM
|
| osho is the maayyyyan |
|
|
|
anaitkes
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Sep 28 2009 : 9:55:18 PM
|
Osho certainly had style and grace. Both in appearance and speech.
In his early days he looked fairly ordinary, although his wild hair and beard gave him an edge. But he still dressed in an ordinary way. It was only when he moved to America that he began dressing like everyone's dream buddha. That's how I see it - he played the role he was expected to play. There's such a vast difference between the Osho of the 80s and the Osho of the 60s and 70s and presumably in his youth.
I think he both used people, misled people, and guided them aright in different contexts. He was a sort of cosmic player in reality. There's a tremendous wisdom to be found in his talks, however, if you surrender to the flow of his speech. I've had many otherworldly uplifting experiences walking through the woods and listening to him speak on the various texts of old. One of my favorites is his discourse on the Dhammapada - absolutely beautiful, meaningful and touching.
I don't feel too good about his drug use though. In the beginning of his career as guru he was more or less against drugs and for meditation. He said drugs were chemical ways of dreaming and should not be mistaken with meditation and samadhi. But later on he experimented with LSD, ecstasy, used valium for pain but became addicted to it, and used nitrous oxide enough to dictate three small, drifting books on it. Some say that Osho planted the seeds of his own destruction so that his legacy would be purposely tarnished, as some sort of Gurdjieffian anti teaching. I think he just enjoyed the drugs and they destroyed him. He did at 59, right? He told everyone that the U.S government poisoned him ... maybe ... but it seems more like his daily supply of drugs were ruining his body and his heart had had enough.
However the drug thing is something of a theory still, although there's no doubt that he experimented with LSD and ecstasy and probably other drugs while in America. Based on early photos of him, I am inclined to believe that he spent his youth avoiding drugs. Neither his teaching nor his face betrays any signs of being a drug user. It is only in his later years that the shift in his behavior gives a hint to his private use of drugs.
All that said, I love Osho and consider him a huge inspiration. When I feel down about my spiritual life, or become too wrapped up in complx philosophical lines of thinking that leave me feeling not intelligent enough, I look to Osho and his way of living - he truly embodied the way of meditation, no-mind as he called it lovingly, where life was not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to enjoy. Not to think about life until one is caught up in a web of one's own making, but to see with receptive eyes the world around and the inner world and to love it all. That's a beautiful, powerful message.
Also, the pictures of his dead body are really beautiful and inspiring also. Who knows if he really died in such a dignified way or not but his corpse looks exactly how you would want and expect an enlightened man's dead body to look. |
|
|
|
christiane
Lebanon
319 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2009 : 03:15:15 AM
|
Thank you anaitkes for sharing your feelings about Osho.
I'm not a guru addict. I'm addicted to meeting and melting with truth/love/god in every 'corner' I can, through every being including mine.
And Osho to me is not a man, a taboo, a Rollex, a manipulator, a saint, a devil, a drug addict, and I dono what else..
Osho is the Truth that echoes in my heart. It's not about believing, thinking, liking/disliking his teachings... it's about actually living them, drinking them, breathing in their fragrance, the fragrance between the words...beyond any mind.
I never read Osho to 'understand' anything. Whenever I read Him, I only go with the flow of his rivering words. And usually, reading a few lines to a few pages are enough. I always get answers. But not for the mind. It's more a revelation of what is already in me. It's like a peeling, an instant process through simply reading.
Osho is only a name. If we can feel this love and fragrance in anything we live, in any being, it is osho...
And the same goes for any other realized being.. gathering information about what we perceive as their 'mistakes', or 'abuses' is futile.. isn't it more useful to surrender to the heart and welcome whatever the heart feels good? Just being open to receive the divine that flows through the realized beings..
It is not a need or dependence. The same divine nature is in each one of us.. but having the opportunity to experience the Divine directly from the presence of a master can be deeply transforming for whoever is ready to trust unconditionally, open and receive.
No blind trust here.. there are many fake gurus around.
The only criterion is the heart. The heart will tell you if you can trust or not, surrender totally or not...
Amen.
|
Edited by - christiane on Sep 29 2009 03:35:48 AM |
|
|
|
omarkaya
Spain
146 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2010 : 08:45:08 AM
|
| Hello,my idea about Ossho is that Ossho,was a phenomenon,a charismatic sharp and clever guru,he knew many techniques from different cultures to reach pratayara.i think that he saw the real nature of most of westerners,digging on sex more than on tantra,he read the sexual fustration of an hypocrite sexually tormented christian culture,and took advantage of it.however,the impact of his success was far beyond his personal control,and as all empires after the welfare ,decay happens.anyway there are still many unclear facts about why did Osho died,or if like how many other relevant dangerous personalities, for the system ,died or made them die, by who knows which modern C.I.A way.Osho thought that by fully experiencing sexuality someone could pass or transcend the issue and focus to higher spiritual search.my guru use to say that trying to appease sexuality with sex is like putting kerosen in to fire,however its well known that most of humans mental pathologies are linked one way or another to sexual repression or fustration,for me,Osho was not only a genious but a honest heroe,searching in a controversial and ethicaly risky path of wild sexual shakti nature. |
|
|
|
christiane
Lebanon
319 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2010 : 12:57:16 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by omarkaya
my guru use to say that trying to appease sexuality with sex is like putting kerosen in to fire,
Hello omarkaya,
The whole Osho approach is to free Man from all repressions, sexual and others, to cleanse the ground through as many different therapeutic techniques as possible, so that the flower of meditation can blossom.
He has always been, and is still, criticized as teaching "indulgence" and "non ethical spirituality"..
However if we read carefully his discourses, nowhere can we find that Osho gives us any ultimate answer, or direction.
He teaches neither repression nor indulgence. He only teaches us that awareness, watchfulness are the key to go beyond any duality.
Yes, he says "move into sex" and be total in the act.
But he also says, do it with full awareness.
It is difficult at the beginning, coz our sexuality has always been blind, compulsive, unconscious, animalistic.
But by and by, through bringing attention to each sensation, breath, awareness in the sex act becomes possible, and with awareness, sex looses its primitive quality and becomes a totally opposite experience.. it becomes meditative.
And only then is there a possibilitiy for it to drop.. because when we find the jewel, we forget about the pebble, it happens naturally, not through will power/repression nor indulgence.
In From Sex to Superconsciousness, Osho explains the whole process in a beautiful way.
Also it's important to differenciate between "sex" and "tantric sex".
In The Book of Secrets, Osho answers questions that show clearly there is a misunderstanding concerning the word "sex" as Osho talks about it. And misunderstanding concerning the "orgasm" he refers to. There is misunderstanding because our minds has been conditionned for so many lifetimes, and the root cause is religions and the guilt we have in our unconscious mind concerning sexual matters.. the original sin.
It has gone into our bones..even if we pretend not to be sexually repressed on the surface. Only through meditation can we transform the whole experience of sex into a spiritual experience, that becomes Love and then Prayer.
From the outside, you will see a couple 'having sex'..
not different from any other couple.
But the difference is from inside. It is not visible. It is the way we are experiencing the sex act, which is not sex, as we used to know it, anymore.
If we look around, everything in nature is sex. From the flower to the birds to the stars. Evrything vibrates with Life energy, which is Sexual energy, the energy of Creation.
Love
|
|
|
|
omarkaya
Spain
146 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2010 : 09:34:24 AM
|
| hello christiane,i absolutely agree with you,and i would even go further and tell you that not only sexuality is non sense hypocritly critizaced but even often criminalized. understanding+care=LOVE |
|
|
|
chinna
United Kingdom
241 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2010 : 5:08:33 PM
|
I read a few of Rajneesh's earlier books some time before it all went 'wrong' for his community. I found them to be eloquent, lucid, contemporary handbooks of the yogas and tantras, by a man who clearly KNEW and was not just replicating what he had received from others. The same kind of contemporary, and liberating lucidity, firmly rooted in the traditions, as early Da Free John.
I am always puzzled when people follow a tantric teacher who makes no secret of his/her complete freedom and are surprised and shocked when they get exactly what they desire. Rajneesh once said he wasn't teaching about God, what he was doing was a kind of psychotherapy. The psychotherapy client often rejects the revelation of the content of their own psyche, and the therapist who has shown it to them.
chinna |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
osho
