The Book of Secrets: Keys to Love and Meditation (Hardcover)

Osho is the greatest spiritual teacher of our time. Tantra is the greatest wisdom of all of time. I had, before I read this book, a great split in the philosophy I was attracted to. On one hand I was entranced by things such as Buddhism and Taoism, things that are, to a degree ascetic, denying... they were clear, concise, purely rational systems of thought, I could not say no to something I knew to be steeped in both rational truth and experiental truth (insight& knowledge from my own experience). At the same time though I was blown away by Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, western philosophers grouped as existentialists who seemed to advocate a life filled with passion. These two opposing systems, I realized, came from the same sort of outlook on the world, but were, in their practices, very very different. I could not reconcile the two.

I mention this split in my thinking because many of my friends have it as well, perhaps not with the same philosophers, but they have this split too. You too may have it. It is the split between this world and a transcendental realm. Between having Nirvana and having a nice t-shirt. Between having bliss and having a family. It seems, hitherto, one has been unable to have both.

Osho lets you have both. He says you already have this world. But instead of denying this world Osho teaches you to use this world as a sort of catapult, a ladder, to get to higher states of awareness. Here is an example: When you get angry, he says, do not supress your anger because it created more anger; instead, he says become fully angry and then become aware of your anger, and then anger will have no power over you. He says the same of all emotions. He has meditative techniques for all sorts of personalities. This is how he says "yes" to life. Osho teaches that ALL situations, ALL emotions, everything, really, can be used as a tool to teach you, to help you increase awareness.

Lastly, Osho does not discriminate between religious traditions. Our world is one of splits between different religions, not one of love, it is a world where in areas like the middle-east people are killed for believing in this god or not believing in that one; where at places like my workplace a manager of mine told me I was going to Hell for practicing tantra & meditation and not following christ as the one & only savior; a world where a certain president elected in they year 2000 discriminately gives money to faith-based organizations... in this world the splits between religious faiths becomes hazardous. Osho speaks from his own knowledge and wisdom and love but uses at the same time, like any great teacher, ALL faiths, ALL beliefs, and ALL religious figures as examples, as illustrations, as ways to elaborate his point. Unifying divergent beliefs is really a great feat, and osho does it magnificently.

Really, after coming this far you ought to buy the book. Osho teaches how to say "yes" to life and enjoy it to its fullest. If you don't buy it Osho and I will come to your house and beat you up. That was a joke. I forgot to mention Osho has an awesome sense of humor. He tells you to laugh.