Foundations of a New Humanity
2 total works
In the second book in Osho's Foundation of a New Humanity series, he explores the integral role of women in our society. The realm of spirituality, he poses, has remained male-dominated - not only male-dominated but male-chauvinistic. There were reasons why all religions and spiritual traditions, in their nascent forms, diminished women. They were against women because they were fear-driving. They were against any joy, any love, any celebration. The simple way to drive fear was to condemn women, and separate her from man as much as possible. In The Book of Women, Osho strives to separate spirituality from its ascetic past and celebrate women. He looks to the female spirit as a way of nurturing the soul and cultivating a healthy relationship with spirituality.
Children have a natural authenticity and freedom, a joyfulness and a playfulness and a natural creativity. By the time they grow up, most of those children have been sacrificed to the gods of "productivity" and good behaviour to the extent that only nostalgia for childhood remains. As Osho says in this book, "It is the child's experience that haunts intelligent people their whole life. They want it again-the same innocence, the same wonder, the same beauty. It is now a faraway echo; it seems as if you have seen it in a dream." And while each generation may vow, with the best of intentions, not to repeat the mistakes of the past, they inevitably find themselves imposing their own inherited limitations on the new generation to come. This book calls for a "children's liberation movement" to break through the patterns and create the opportunity for an entirely new way of relating as human beings. It is a guide for grown-ups in becoming aware of the limitations of their own conditioning as they relate to the children in their lives.And, with that awareness, to be able to know when to nurture and protect and when to get out of the way, so that children can flower into their highest potential and greatest capacity for joy.