Osho Insights for a New Way of Living
13 total works
In Trust, the eleventh volume in the Insights for a New Way of Living series, Osho helps readers re-evaluate the idea of trust. We live in times where trust in old institutions and their relevance to our lives have evaporated. Religions, ideologies, political systems, morals, family, marriages - none of these traditional institutions are working anymore. Osho's insight is that the institutions of the past have used the false substitutes of "belief and "faith" as control mechanisms of society. Whereas authentic trust comes from within, belief systems are imposed from the outside by religious and social institutions. Osho encourages readers to rediscover and reclaim the innate trust that is born with each individual. No more demands to trust in an "other." No more faith and belief, with their demands that we drop all questioning and doubt, but rather a willingness to honor our questions and doubts so fully that they will lead us to our unique, authentic, and individual truth.
Awareness: Everyone has experienced moments of awakening when time seems to stop and you are suddenly aware of every movement, every sound, every thought. Awareness, says Osho, is the key to being self-directed, centred and free in every aspect of our lives. In this book, Osho teaches how to live life more attentively, mindfully and meditatively, with love, caring and consciousness.
INTIMACY: "Hit-and-run" relationships are common in a society that has grown more rootless, less tied to traditional family structures, and more accepting of casual sex. But at the same time, there arises an undercurrent of feeling that something is missing - a quality of intimacy. In this gentle and compassionate guide Osho takes the reader step-by-step through what makes people afraid of intimacy, how to encounter those fears and go beyond them, and what they can do to nourish themselves and their relationships to support more openess and trust.
INTUITION: All people have a natural capacity for intuition, but many times social conditioning and formal education works against it. People are taught to ignore their instincts rather than to understand and use them as a foundation for individual growth and development - and in the process they undermine the very roots of the innate wisdom that is meant to flower into intuition. This book provides many specific exercises and meditations designed to nourish and support each individual's natural intuitive gifts.
In "Freedom," Osho outlines three stages of freedom. The first is "freedom from," which is a freedom that comes from breaking out of what he calls the "psychological slavery" imposed by outside forces such as parents, society, or religion. The next stage is "freedom for," a positive freedom that comes from embracing and creating something---a fulfilling relationship, for example, or an artistic or humanitarian vision. And lastly there is "just freedom," the highest and ultimate freedom. This last freedom is more than being for or against something; it is the freedom of simply being oneself and responding truthfully to each moment.The Insights for a New Way of Living series aims to shine light on beliefs and attitudes that prevent individuals from being their true selves. The text is an artful mix of compassion and humor, and readers are encouraged to confront what they would most like to avoid, which in turn provides the key to true insight and power."Freedom "helps readers to identify the obstacles to their freedom, both circumstantial and self-imposed, to choose their battles wisely, and to find the courage to be true to themselves.
The Insights for a New Way of Living series aims to shine light on beliefs and attitudes that prevent individuals from being their true selves. With an artful mix of compassion and humour, Osho encourages his audience to confront what they would most like, to avoid, which in turns provides the key to true insight and power. In the seventh, book in this series, Osho posits that to be joyful is the basic nature of life. Joy is the spiritual dimension of happiness, in which one begins to understand one's intrinsic value and place in the universe. Accepting joy is a decision to "go with the flow": to be grateful to be alive and for all the challenges and opportunities in life, rather than setting conditions or demands for happiness. Joy is a wondrous investigation into the source and importance of joyfulness in our lives.
In "Intelligence," Osho challenges the common conception that the best way to promote intelligence is to train the intellect. Intellect is logical, he says; intelligence is paradoxical. Intellect takes things apart to see how they work; intelligence puts things together to see the functioning of the whole. Osho posits that when our education systems put too much emphasis on developing intellect, an imbalance is created and both the individual and the society suffer. It is only through intelligence that we can respond creatively to the challenges of a changing world.The Insights for a New Way of Living series aims to shine light on beliefs and attitudes that prevent individuals from being their true selves. The text is an artful mix of compassion and humor, and readers are encouraged to confront what they would most like to avoid, which in turn provides the key to true insight and power.By exploring the distinction between intellect and intelligence, "Intelligence "encourages readers to be more aware of how they approach problems---logical, emotional, and practical---and how they solve them.
In a culture infatuated with youth and determined to avoid old age at all costs, this book dares to raise a question that has been all but forgotten in the age of Viagra and cosmetic surgery. What benefits might lie in accepting the aging process as natural, rather than trying to hold on to youth and its pleasures all the way to the grave?Osho takes us back to the roots of what it means to grow up rather than just to grow old. Both in our relationships with others, and in the fulfillment of our own individual destinies, he reminds us of the pleasures that only true maturity can bring. He outlines the ten major growth cycles in human life, from the self-centered universe of the preschooler to the flowering of wisdom and compassion in old age.Osho's sly sense of humor runs like a red thread through the book, along with a profound compassion and understanding of how easy it is to be distracted from the deeper meaning and purpose of our lives-which is, ultimately, to flower into our own individual uniqueness and maturity with an attitude of celebration and joy.
Courage is not the absence of fear, says Osho - it is rather the total presence of fear with the courage to face it. Osho proposes that whenever we are faced with uncertainty and change in our lives, it is a cause for celebration, and instead of hanging on to the familiar, we should accept these opportunities for adventure.
As Osho points out in the foreward to this book, historically, the creative person has been all but forced to rebel against the society.But nowadays, the situation has dramatically changed. In today's world, the ability to respond creatively to new challenges is demanded of everybody, from corporate CEOs to "soccer moms." Those whose toolbox for dealing with life includes only what they have learned in the past from their parents and their teachers are at a distinct disadvantage both in their relationships and in their careers. Making a switch from imitative and rule-bound behavior to creative innovation and flexibility requires a profound change in our attitudes about ourselves and our capabilities."Creativity "is a handbook for those who understand the need to bring more creativity, playfulness, and flexibility to their lives. It's a manual for thinking "outside the box"-and learning to live there as well.
Compassion is a word that has been used to describe a range of human behaviours and attitudes, from sympathy and forgiveness to mercy and charity. In this tenth volume, Osho examines the nature of compassion from a radically different perspective. He points out that "passion" lies at the root of the word, and then proceeds to challenge assumptions about what compassion really is. Many so-called acts of compassion, he says, are tainted by a subtle sense of self-importance and desire for recognition. Others are based in the desire not really to help others, but to force them to change. Using stories from the life of Jesus, Buddha, and the world of Zen, Osho shows how the path to authentic compassion arises only from within, beginning with a deep acceptance and love of oneself.
