The Nitrous Books (series)

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The three books in this series are without a doubt unique in the annals of spiritual literature. Anywhere. Period. They are also very different from each other but a common thread runs through them and sets them apart from others of their genre. And that is nitrous oxide, laughing gas, the well-known dental anaesthetic / sedative and recreational intoxicant. The books are dictated during dental sessions, with Osho under the influence. He is at his most non-serious and intimate and very obviously enjoying it tremendously, not least enjoying that some people will be scandalized by his enjoyment. Some myths about enlightenment are being (non-)seriously debunked.

Another unusual aspect of these books is that no one can be sure when exactly the talks happened. Even his dentist Sw Devageet has given different accounts of that and he was the official taker of notes, with no audio record kept. Two such accounts can be found in his introductions to the books and are reproduced in this wiki in the appropriate book pages. These accounts are also a wonderful peek into how a master works with his disciples at close quarters. Osho spares nothing to unhinge Devageet's lifelong dedication to precision and order but in such a light-hearted way one can only smile or laugh.

The books are, in the order they were apparently given:

  • Notes of a Madman : well, some books are just more unique than others, no description will suffice
  • Books I Have Loved : Osho shares about the books which most touched him and prepared him to meet and understand people from every culture
  • Glimpses of a Golden Childhood : the only book where Osho has talked at length about his (extra-)ordinary "formative" years

All were first published at the end of the Rajneeshpuram era, in 1985.

On each, the backside of the book has the text: "The very last words of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh before He went into silence for an indefinite period."


Later sessions

After the Ranch, back in the Poona commune, there also were 'dental sessions'.
Ma Deva Anando, Osho's secretary and caretaker at the time, writes in Osho: Intimate Glimpses, p.33:
The 'note' giving was happening in a series of dental sessions in the last years Osho was in the body. There were 115 sessions altogether that I was present for, from May 1988 through to September 1989. Each one lasted around an hour, sometimes longer.
... (Following many related anecdotes, Anando announced a book Notes Written on My Heart dedicated to these sessions.)