Enlightenment, the only revolution - Osho

Discourses on Asthavakra

Man has many scriptures but none are comparable to the Gita of Asthavakra.
These statements are so pure, so transcendental, beyond time and space.
Osho's enlightening comments do the rest.

"Ashtavakra is saying don't do anything. The whole is the only doer.
What is happening is happening - just become one with it. Don't even ask: "How to get free of this 'I' If this 'I' is happening, let it happen.
Who are you to try to get free of it? You can also accept it: good, if this is happening, then this is what is happening. You didn't create it.
Do you remember having created it? You didn't give shape to it. You didn't bring it. How will you drop what you didn't bring? How will you destroy what you didn't create? You ask, "What can we do?" You have two eyes and a nose; you also have an ego. You have received all of these. Nothing is in your hands.

Whatever exists is good. If 'I' exists, that too is good. Don't complain even a little about it. In this attitude of no complaint, in this total acceptance, you will suddenly find the 'I' is gone ... because the 'I' is created from doing. When you do something the 'I' is created.

Now you are asking- something new: "How can I destroy this 'I'? The one who destroys will become the 'I'. You will not be able to escape. "
Publisher: Rebel Press. ISBN 81.7261.0170.x. 410 pages

 Vedanta Seven steps to Samadhi - Osho

Samadhi. Enlightenment. That mystical magical word that signifies the ultimate ecstasy all spiritual seekers strive to attain. But how does one attain enlightenment? Can such a spiritual path be taught?

Osho has repeatedly said that enlightenment cannot be taught, that it is an individual event that happens without warning and in an instant. How is it possible then that Osho gives us seven steps to reach it? It could be divided into seven steps or fourteen or however many you like - it is only a device to comprehend the whole. It is utilitarian rather than existential.

Basing this series of discourses on the Akshyupanishad, Osho shares his own experience, as well as that of other enlightened mystics, of how to attain samadhi. The seven steps are a sort of "Seeker's Guide to Enlightenment," complete with all of Osho's usual jokes and anecdotes. He explains the Upanishadic wisdom of the mystical East in the context of the modern West, and appeals to seekers of every persuasion.

These Vedanta discourses were given during a nine day meditation camp in central India in the early seventies, where hundreds of seekers gathered to hear 0sho's words as well as experiment with his new meditation techniques. Each morning during the camp Osho comments on the Upanishad's Seven steps to samadhi, in the evening discourse the seekers ask all those questions all of us ask at one time or another. You can feel the energy and excitement of the moment, you can identify with the yearning to know more, to understand, to feel the truth of the words He speaks.

Osho's discourses, His words and wisdom, float over and through you and leave you savoring them for days to come. He weaves everyday concerns such as marriage, religion, boredom, and work into his talks and you can always find something to identify with, some message that is particularly relevant to your life. It seems as if He is speaking to each of us individually - His truth reaches each person differently - yet He speaks one message, one truth, relevant to all.

All spiritual seekers yearn to understand how to attain enlightenment, however much effort that may entail. Yet Osho tells us that effort is only required at the beginning of the search. The first three steps of the path involve the conscious will, the ego, the 'I' that we know ourselves as. Dropping the ego, not being a 'doer', becoming nonattached, a witness, all require effort - they will not happen on their own.

As you absorb the meaning of His words, you realize just how much of an effort He is speaking about. Drop your ego? Do things without identifying yourself as the doer? Become nonattached to your everyday activities, emotions and possessions? Is all this possible, even with your total effort? Osho assures us that it is indeed possible, though it will require a lot of work. Many seekers never progress beyond these first three steps, though they spend many lifetimes at it.

However, once the seeker has mastered these first three steps, the rest will happen spontaneously, you have only to allow it to happen. The last four steps flow from the first three as naturally as night follows day, with no effort whatsoever. Osho cautions us though, that if you are not receptive they will not happen. Any "doing" on your behalf will be a hindrance; you have only to let go and be receptive and the rest will follow. As Osho says, "One thing you have to do.- don't create hindrances after the third [step] ... you have just to flow and not do anything."

The final step, samadhi, will simply occur of its own accord, spontaneously, in any ordinary situation at any time. Osho relates the stories of previous enlightened masters and the circumstances under which they reached enlightenment. Their situations were so ordinary as to be almost laughable, yet they highlight the message that it is not your outer reality that helps you reach enlightenment but rather your inner readiness to do so, regardless of where you are or what you are doing.

These discourses are like delving into a mystery novel, in this case the mystery of samadhi, the central mystery of the Upanishad. Samadhi means the death of the ego, but not of your conscious being. It means liberation from the endless cycle of birth and death and rebirth by attaining the seventh and final step of the path: being fully alert, fully conscious, fully aware. This is samadhi.

Vedanta: Seven Steps to Samadhi is a timeless feast, a royal banquet for seekers to consume. Once you taste this series of Osho discourses, you want to devour it all at one sitting, though you know you will relish each morsel as you dine. Savor it, roll it around on the tongue of your consciousness, digest it into your very being - and then go back for second helpings. 'Vedanta' is gourmet dining at its best, by the finest Master chef there is: Osho. Bon Appetit!

Ma Deva Bhumika

Publisher: Rebel Press. ISBN 8172610122. 430 pages

In Each Moment - Paul Lowe

  Neal Filmer

Toen ik voor het eerst Paul Lowe ontmoette vroeg hij: 'hoe
vrij voelen we ons echt'. Ik denk dat dat typisch Paul Lowe is;
 een grote nadruk op vrijheid in ons leven en relaties en dus
ook ons "Maximum Potential".

Zijn boek ' In Each Moment', staat vol met praktische aanwijzingen met betrekking tot die vrijheid. Voor mij een belangrijke gids die me herinnert aan belangrijke uitgangspunten die me vrij maken van sociale conditioneringen.
Woorden als 'there is no such thing as a victim,' of 'you have to follow life yourself rather than according to what others have told you' zijn provocerend en typisch Paul Lowe.
Twee keer per jaar ga ik naar zijn bijeenkomsten in Duitsland en iedere keer maak ik een enorme sprong in mijn ontwikkeling voor wat betreft mijn "Maximum Potential". Dit boek is een echte aanrader en aanvulling op zijn levenslessen hij is te bestellen via zijn website (zie links). Tot besluit: 'above all: don't take it too seriously'.

Quote from 'In Each Moment'.You are continuously being invited to become more conscious and to live on this planet without the fear that normally rules you. One area that offers infinite opportunities for expansion of consciousness is in our intimate relationships.

Generally we attribute our discomfort in relationships to the other person. We believe we feel uncomfortable because our partner did or did not do something. That is not so; if you do not feel comfortable it is because you are not being responsible. You have probably been trying to make somebody else responsible for making your life work. That is not possible, yet it is what most people are doing. We are motivated to come together because we feel incomplete; we feel empty because we are not being ourselves, so we look for someone else to fill the gap. Then we cling to each other. But we have no control over the other person; they could leave at any time, and then we will be back with ourselves as we really are.

It will never work to look to someone else for your own happiness. No one else's life is going to make your life work. Like everyone, you are totally alone and you always will be. In that aloneness it is possible to dance joyfully with someone else, but most likely, you do not even know who you are, let alone someone else. You do not know how to connect with your own essence, so how can you dance freely with another's?

A brief anthology of Katie's words

You are welcome to copy, and quote this booklet. That is the friendly welcome of a small book filled with quotes from Byron Katie. Pearls of wisdom to bring you back home.

'Self meeting itself - that's the deal. If I wait for God to enlighten me, it's not so easy. It can be a long wait-years, decades maybe.
When I'm on my knees praying to God in all sincerity, I am the one listening.
Can I do what I've begged God to do? Can I hear myself? Who else is listening? I'm a lover of reality.
Can I just listen to myself? And when I hear myself, there's no separation.
If I want God to do it, I turn it iround. And in the peace of that, I come to know the truth.'

' Live in the Now? Even the thought "Now" is a concept. Before the thought completes itself, it's gone, with no proof that it ever existed. Even thought doesn't exist. That's why everyone already has the quiet mind that they are seeking.'

ISBN 1-890246-14-X. Booklet, 42 pages. By 'The work of Byron Katie Foundation.'

Anne Courtney - Resting in the cave of the heart.

This book is a delight to read. It gives a personal and intimate account of an awakening.
After that Anne Courtney had met Gangaji there was no other way than to become her disciple, in spite of all her ideas she had about guru's.
The book gives a clear insight into the way Gangaji is working with people and her teachings. Reading it might make you relive the experiences Anne had during the years she followed Gangaji. Anne by now is ging her own satsangs in California.
Reading about other people's experincing waking up is definitely a help to do so yourself!

Dream Books Publ. ISBN 0-9749875-0-6 Paperback, 125 pages $ 16.-.

Gina Lake   -  Radical Happiness
A guide to awakening

'Happines does not come from getting what we want but from wanting what already is. It comes from realizing that who we think we are is not who we really are'

Gina lake, the author has been a therapist for over 20 years and her approach to awakening is clearly from the psychological angle.

Clearly written teh book can be a great help for people on the path.

iUniverse Books. ISBN: 978-0-6151-5394-0. 182 pages $14.95

Nirmala    -  Nothing personal
Seeing beyond the illusion of the person al self

The good news is that many people are waking up nowadays, dawn is on the horizon and several people woke up early.
Let's hope many will follow their trail.
Quite a few people who woke up share teir experiences thru giving satsang and writing about it. Nirmala's book is definitely one of those.

Every time someone is waking up is a unique experience, and every book about it contributes by approaching it from a different angle as not two people are the same.

It is a joy to read what people who made the whole journey have to tell!

Endless Satsang Press. Second Edition (expanded) ISBN: 978-0-6151-8767-9 274 pages $16.95

Beyond Duality

Biographical sketches of saints and enlightened spiritual teachers of the 20th century.

Teachers from Nisargadatta Maharaj to the Dalai Lama, Sai Baba and Byron Katie.
Strangely enough Osho is missing in the book!

 Publisher: Norman Williams. 400 pages.

 Available through www.beyondduality.com

Madhukar Thompson - The odyssey of Enlightenment

The story of Madhukars quest for enlightenment.

He does not rest when his teacher Poonjaji declares that he has come home but still visits many teachers after that before he finally started giving stasng himself.

A beautiful and inspiring story to read!

 Publisher: Manjul Publishing House, 340 pages.
 Price in india 250 rupees

Conversations with Florian Tathagata

BEING is a book about non-duality and non-doing, about you and me and the truth that we are not two.
Edited from recordings made during a 10-Day Silent Retreat in southern India in January 2005 and completed with new text passages, the conversations in this book speak of the heart of truth in the life of everyone.

In reading it, people have reported that they effortlessly connected with the special energy of the Silent Retreat and with the tender and clear Beingness that can be experienced when Tathagata and those who love truth meet.

BEING is a book to be read again and again, for it will again and again give of its subtle delicacy.
The invitation while reading it is to enquire in deepening gentleness into how it is for you, and what works in life and what does not.
In this way the true value of this book can be revealed in your daily life.

see also innerview with Tathagata

A quote from Tathagata's book 'Being':

Are you enlightened?
Who is enlightened?  Who wakes up? There is no-one who wakes up; there is simply a shift of attention that brings about a recognition that as long as the focus of attention is turned towards objects there is a sense of me, and in that shift of attention to awareness itself that sense of me disappears.
That sense of me is a little movement of not wanting to experience what is being experienced now or of commenting on or interpreting the experience that is being experienced now.
This sense of me has no real existence. There is awareness and in this the present moment appears. Separation between awareness and the moment has no reality and when the movement of separation comes home, it is seen that there is nobody there. All there is is awareness in which life happens.
It is becoming someone having an experience that creates the false separation between awareness and the experience. The trap is to believe that enlightenment is an experience; all that happens is the disappearance of the false experiencer between experience and awareness. Never claim anything. Awareness is completely impersonal.

This second book from Tathagata has a clear title: Given

Life is given to us and life does not belong to us but we belong to life.

Another 104 pages of clarity that help you to see through the illusion that the mind, that thinking, reates that we are separate from existence.

'All is given yet nothing is for us
Not even our true nature - awareness is for us.
The truth is that we are for awereness.

When we take anything for ourselves
we are not fully available for life.

The light of pure awereness
Shines in an empty heart'

220 publishing. ISBN 9781905479030. 104 pages, paperback 10 euro

Space is the title of the third book from Tathagata

iI is not a book about having space, but about being the space that includes all, the space of awereness that you are.
Can we be the space for the totality of life? In this recurring question is freedom

ISBN 9781905479047 Paperback 104 pages, 220 publishing