Osho himself repeatedly said that he didn’t want to leave any teaching after he was gone. And it was not left, since you cannot build anything coherent and logical out of the commentaries to various texts that were essentially his talks. And if you take into account the number of contradictory claims, and claims that outright negate one another, made by Osho in the years of his communication with people, you can calmly put paid to it. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t extract anything useful out of Osho’s books. There are, at a minimum, two topics which he explains consistently, clearly, and fairly fully. The first of them is the theme of awareness. Osho speaks about it a lot, but in various places, and in order to obtain detailed information on this topic, you have to read quite a few of his books. Now compilations of excerpts from various conversations of Osho are being released, organized by certain topics, but as a rule they are read easily and pleasantly, not leaving any “remains” in the mind. There is a compilation as well with the title Awareness but it is also rather superficial. From all appearance, the person who made these collections himself did not have a high level of understanding. Or perhaps he wanted to release Osho’s texts at the level of our pop culture.
If you read Osho, then you should read him exclusively by his whole books. Each cycle of conversations contains within it a certain mood, and has its energy and its message. Each new chapter is connected by context with the previous one, and therefore while it is possible to remove something from it, part of the meaning is simply lost then. However, in order to penetrate the topic of awareness in Osho’s presentation, you would have to read at least a dozen of his books. He speaks of it here and there, often repeating in essence and sometimes by form as well. And thanks to this, reading various books, you are sort of reading the same message, which is very well absorbed by your mind. Osho speaks a lot about suppression and work with it, about the main principle of observation – non-identification – and many other things directly related to the practice of self-awareness.
Far from everyone is capable of reading the same book over and over so that the mind can soak up its content. It becomes boring and it seems that you already understood everything, even if that is not quite the case. But it is far easier to read different books, where the author returns to the topic of the state of awareness one way or another, and that isn’t perceived as violence against your own mind. Thus, Osho’s approach has its pluses and minuses – just like any other approach, in fact.
Osho described numerous aspects of observation and the nuances of performing this practice. The height of awareness he considered to be awareness of the observer or awareness of awareness. It turned out that the growth of the state awareness, with constant direction of attention inside oneself must lead to the fact that all of its strength would turn to its source – to the individual Consciousness of a person. At that moment, a burst of energy would take place and enlightenment would come. That was how Osho described the chief mystery of enlightenment, although he also had the doctrine of the “non-mind,” to which I will return later. And then we will also return to the awareness of awareness and the possible reasons for enlightenment.
The second topic which Osho explained magnificently in his talks concerns interaction and the work of the Master and the student. He knew of this not by hearsay, therefore his judgements are precise and based on his own experience. For potential students, Osho’s books in that sense may be very useful. It’s another matter that now one cannot find so many Masters directly working with people. Now seminars, trainings and answers to questions from the stage are in fashion. Nevertheless, from Osho’s books, much can be learned about how a true Master differs from a false one, and to learn to distinguish them in life. This knowledge is quite useful for those who are seeking guidance on their path, but here, too, in order to collect the most full information, you must read not just one or two of his books.
Osho said that in our world there are only two endless things: the patience of the Master and the dullness of the student. It’s hard not to agree with him on that.