Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic
- Ten years have passed since, in the words of his attending physician, Osho prepared for his departure from the body that had served him for 59 years "as calmly as though he were packing for a weekend in the country." This volume is a recognition that the time has come to provide a historical and biographical context for understanding Osho and his work. Who was this man, known as the sex guru, the "self-appointed Bhagwan" (Rajneesh), the Rolls Royce Guru, the Rich Man’s Guru and simply the Master?
- Drawn from nearly 5000 hours of Osho’s recorded talks, we hear the story of his youth and education, his life as a professor of philosophy and years of travel teaching the importance of meditation, and the true legacy he sought to leave behind: a religiousness religion centered on the act of meditation and the teaching of "Zorba the Buddha", a celebration of the whole human being.
- notes
- The book has a list of References for the extracts and quotes.
- According to those references, the book has 3 quotes that have not been published elsewhere, 2 Hindi, 1 English. See below.
- time period of Osho's original talks/writings
- (unknown)
- number of discourses/chapters
- a preface and 19 chapters in 3 parts (all excerpts from Osho's discourses),
- plus an 9 chapter appendix and an epilogue (written by editors, with small quotes from Osho)
- (see table of contents)
editions
Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic
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Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic
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table of contents
- (*3) The book incorrectly states "Tao: The Three Treasures, Vol. 2, #14".
Quotes from unpublished texts
(*1) "unpublished translation from the Hindi"
Henceforth, we will call this event Unpublished translation Mount Abu 1972 ~ 01.
From Part 3, 1972: Meditation Camp, Mt. Abu, Rajasthan, India:
- The morning meditation is in four stages. For the first ten minutes you are to do fast breathing. You are to enter into existence through breathing, you are to give vigor and energy to breathing. You are to put your very life into breathing--so much so that when the breath goes out, your very soul goes out with it, and when the breath comes in, the whole existence comes in with it. You have to breathe so intensely that you forget everything else, only the breathing remains--as if you yourself have become the breathing.
- Ihis intense breathing for ten minutes will awaken all the energies that are asleep within you. It will arouse and activate all those energies that you have never even touched. But miserliness won't do. Don't think along the lines, “I will breathe slowly. After all, if not much at least some energy will awaken.” No, not at all--because the process of awakening begins only after a certain limit has been reached. It is the same as when you heat water; it heats up to one hundred degrees and then turns into steam. Don't think that at thirty degrees it will turn into steam “to some extent” or “some of it will turn into steam.” No, mathematics won't work here. It turns into steam at one hundred degrees. Don't think that at fifty, at least half of it will turn into steam, no--none of it will turn into steam. It will begin to turn into steam only at one hundred degrees.
- And what is that one hundred degrees? For water, it is the same anywhere. You heat water anywhere, in any corner of the world, and it turns into steam at one hundred degrees. Whether it is water from a pond, a river, or a tap, or rainwater from the sky--no matter from where--the water does not insist that “I am from a well” or from a river, it just turns into steam at one hundred degrees.
- With man, there is a difficulty because he has a personality, an individuality. Each individual turns into steam at individual temperatures--or, in other words, the one hundred degrees of every person is different. Man also turns into steam only at one hundred degrees, but every man's one hundred degrees is different. So it is difficult to tell you at what point you will turn into steam. One thing is certain: You can judge your own hundred-degree point. The criterion is that if you did not withhold yourself at all, then you are at one hundred degrees--if you stake yourself totally in your effort, if you are absolutely certain that you are not withholding yourself at all. And the other person has nothing to do with it--it is your own thing. Hence, others may or may not know about it, that is not the point. Only you have to know that you are not withholding yourself and that you are putting yourself totally into it. If you are putting yourself totally into it, you are at one hundred degrees. Then there is nothing to worry about.
- This too is possible--your neighbor may be making more effort than you and yet may not reach his one hundred degrees. He may still be withholding something of himself. And it is also possible that someone else may be making less effort than you are and may be at one hundred degrees--he has put himself completely on tile line. Hence, you are not to be concerned about others; you be clear within yourself whether you are putting yourself at stake comepletely or not.
- Meditation is a gamble. In all other gambling we put some thing at stake and in meditation we put ourselves at stake. It certainly is an act for a gamble and not for a businessman, because a businessman's concern is that there be the least risk, even if the gains are small. A gambler's concern is that the gains be great even if there is a risk of losing everything. This is the difference between a gambler and a businessman.
- Meditation is not at all an undertaking for a businessman. Meditation is absolutely for a gambler. He puts himself totally at stake, no matter what.
- There is one difference: In outside gambling, perhaps, a gain rarely happens. I say “perhaps” because the illusion continues that it will happen although it doesn't happen. It never happens. In outside gambling, even if there is a win, it is only the beginning of some bigger defeat. Even if there is a win, it is only a temptation for some bigger loss. Hence, a gambler never wins, no matter how may times he wins, he still isn't a winner because finally he only loses.
- The inner gambling is just the opposite: Even a defeat is only a beginning for some win that is to come. A meditator never loses ultimately--he lose many times, but finally he wins. Don't think that a Mahavira or a Buddha wins the very first day, that a Mohammed or a Christ wins the very first day. No, nobody wins the first day. They lose badly! But finally, they win.
- So, intense breathing for ten minutes, with your whole totality involved in it.
- Then, after ten minutes of intense breathing, when the energy is awakened, it is to be thrown out--from whatever route it wants to go out. Your body may jump, leap, dance, weep, shout, make sounds, may appear to have gone completely insane; you are not to stop it. You are to give it a completely free rein and support it. If your body wants to go completely mad, let it.
- Why? Because there are endless numbers of madnesses accumulated within us. You are to let it go mad completely. Completely mad means you don't carry any fear “What am I doing? Me shouting? I'm a professor in the college and what is this I'm doing?” Or “I'm a doctor and I'm doing this jumping and hopping! What am I doing? What if some patient of mine sees me!”
- A doctor remains in fear of his patient, a teacher remains in fear of his student, and a shopkeeper remains in fear of his customer. No matter who you are afraid of, to go mad means you drop each of those fears--no matter with whom the fear is concerned. The husband is in fear of the wife and the wife of the husband. The father is in fear of the son and the son of the father--whatever fears you may have, to go mad means, “Now I drop all fears.” Fearlessly, you will have to let whatsoever wants to happen, happen.
- We accumulate madnesses day by day. It is as if there is rubbish in the house and you go on hiding and piling it in a corner. This will make the whole house dirty! One day the house will start stinking. One day the situation will be such that except rubbish, there will be nothing else in the house. As we are now, this is what we do with ourselves. Whatsoever rubbish is in the mind, we go on accumulating it. Whether it is anger, whether it is dishonesty, or whether it is hatred--we go on piling up anything.
- Slowly, slowly this accumulation becomes so big that our lives pass only in somehow managing it, lest it come out, lest it fall out, is exposed--lest someone sees it. We then become so afraid o f it that we stop looking within ourselves completely. Because the fear has gotten so big, and there is so much rubbish. We fear it will be exposed.
- Only those can enter meditation who are ready to throw out all this rubbish. As it is thrown out, everything becomes light in you. The second stage is that of catharsis, of throwing everything out so that a cleanliness descends within. Until you gather courage, you won't be able to throw the rubbish out. But once you are able to do that, you will be a totally different man. The second stage is that of completely going mad.
- The third stage is that of making the sound “Hoo.” One has to make this sound “Hoo” while continuously jumping up and down for ten minutes. The sound of “Hoo” is like a hammer--you have to hammer with it. In your body, there is energy that resides right near your sex center and which yoga calls kundalini--or one can give it any other name one wants to; scientists now call it bioelectricity. It is hidden there, and if a deep and strong sound of “Hoo” is made, that dormant energy, that sleeping energy gets activated. The analogy that the ancient sages have used for it is that of a snake sitting coiled up--and when the snake is hit upon, it rises with an open hood and its coil disappears. If a snake is sufficiently aroused, it stands almost on its tail. Exactly like that, this energy is lying dormant within us. If it is hit, it starts rising up.
- But this hitting should be done only when you have had the opportunity to throw out your madness from within. Otherwise, if it rises in the middle of all your madness, you can actually go mad. Hence, many times seekers go mad. The reason for it is that they start arousing their kundalini without any deep cleaning. The reason for that madness is that they do not have a scientific attitude. It is necessary to do this cleansing first.
- So the first two stages are for cleansing you deeply. The first stage is for arousing all the energies in you, the second stage is for throwing out all that stuff that is in conflict with the aroused energies. Then the third stage is for arousing the kundalini lying dormant below.
- So, for ten minutes you have to use the sound “Hoo” with the utmost intensity. And then in the fourth stage you are to lie down like a corpse, as if you are not there at all--absolutely quiet. You are to leave your body completely relaxed, just as if you are dead. With closed eyes, you are to be in a waiting, quietly within. Much will happen. In that inner awaiting, much will happen.
(*2) "unpublished translation from the Hindi"
Henceforth, we will call this event Unpublished translation from Hindi ~ 01.
From Appendix, 1957-1970: Professor and Public Speaker:
- With the help of meditation temples or centers, I would like to, in a scientific way, introduce the modern man to meditation--not only in an intellectial way but to introduce him to meditation in an experiential way. There are certain things that we can know of only by doing them.
- The meditation centers are scientific places where a modern man can understand meditation through modern language and symbols. Not only that, he can actually meditate and get introduced to it. There are one hundred and twelve such methods in the world. I would like to give a detailed scientilic basis for these methods in the meditation centers. So that not only can you understand, but also do them.
(*4) "dictated response..."
- "dictated response to a question submitted by an Italian journalist, November 1989"
Henceforth, we will call this event Dictated response 1989 ~ 01.
From Epilogue: 1990-Present:
- My trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth in what I am saying, it will survive. The people who remain interested in my work will be simply carrying the torch but not imposing anything on anyone.
- I will remain a source of inspiration to my people. And that's what most sannyasins will feel. I want them to grow on their own--qualities like love, around which no church can be created, like awareness, which is nobody's monopoly; like celebration, rejoicing, and maintaining fresh, childlike eyes...
- I want my people to know themselves, not to be according to someone else.
- And the way is in.