Everybody is afraid of intimacy. It is another thing whether you are aware of it or not. Intimacy means exposing yourself before a stranger. We are all strangers - nobody knows anybody. We are even strangers to ourselves, because we don't know who we are.

The Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters is a succinct summary doctrine by which Buddhism was introduced to China. Each of the 42 sutras begins with "the Buddha said" This particular sutra deals with The 20 Difficult Things to Accomplish in this World and Osho takes us through each verse, and dissects it line by line, never omitting to explain - in clear modern terms - the real meaning of the verses.

Patanjali the founder of ancient yoga has laid out a fascinating understanding of body and mind. Osho brings this ancient system into a contemporary understanding, creating a holistic approach to health and meditation.

In Osho’s understanding Zen is the approach to religion that has not put fetters on mankind. These four talks pay homage to Zen’s reverence for life and its celebration of the everyday. He sees in Zen a seed, pregnant with infinite potential. Interspersed with his comments on anecdotes about the Zen masters Rinzai and Fuketsu, Osho addresses current issues. With characteristic forthrightness he shows how society diverges from what it preaches and how it lives. This beautifully designed volume of talks also features commentaries on haikus, and a great selection of jokes!

Osho speaks about George Gurdjieff, one of the most significant masters of this age. He used to say, "You are in prison." If you wish to get out of prison - the first thing you must do is realize that you are in prison...or you are the prison. Osho emphasizes this as something to be always remembered as one of the first principles for any seeker of truth.

Osho responds to questions on "Relaxing and Waking Up" and "The Difference Between Instinct and Intuition". "In meditation you are not going anywhere. You are simply being here, relaxed, utterly centered in yourself. Everything stops. For this, no 'how' is needed."

Everybody wants change, everybody wants "the situation" to change, because now even the most stupid person can see that something is going off track on our planet and with humanity; whether people personally want to change is a different question. In this series, The Rebellious Spirit, Osho provides a blueprint for a revolution, but a different one than we have known from history. Osho is the first to connect and combine a personal spiritual revolution with a social, global and political revolution. This series intends to trigger "the rebellious spirit" in all of us.

In Tao, Osho takes listeners on an adventure into the world of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu, Ko Hsuan - the world of Taoism, one of the four major traditions of China. The 3000-year-old Taoist message of self-realization becomes alive as Osho recounts the stories of these Chinese mystics. Contrary to the laissez-faire going-with-the-flow perception of Taoism, Osho describes Tao in terms of freedom, anarchy, and chaos.

Only once in the history of human consciousness, says Osho, has a thing like Zen come into being. In Zen: Its History and Teachings, the noted mystic explains that Zen has no rituals, no chanting, no mantras, no scriptures - only short, evocative parables and teachings that make it ideal for the modern man. Using his characteristic humorous, encouraging style, Osho guides through the origins and development of this seminal spiritual tradition that is neither religion nor dogma nor creed.

Responses to a question on how to explore the higher states of consciousness. According to Osho there are not many ways to explore higher levels of consciousness, there is but one: the way of awareness. "Man is almost unconscious. I say “almost” - there are moments, situations where he becomes conscious, but they are momentary."

On finding the “original man” within yourself, says Osho, you will find everything worth discovering. In these talks, Osho traces Zen from its early days with Bodhidharma in China through a succession of masters and poets. He tells anecdotes about the Zen masters, showing how their seemingly absurd statements and actions are actually devices to jolt people out of their spiritual sleep. And he asks you not to take his word for it, but to experience it for yourself - these talks are not about Zen, they are Zen.

In this provocative talk, Osho starts with our assumption that we are interested, maybe even passionately interested, in knowing the truth - and he tears it to shreds. He goes back in history with razor sharp clarity to illustrate our long-time avoidance of the truth, and our need to hide out in illusion.

Looking around, following the world news, what do you see? Austerity, unemployment, asylum seekers, refugee camps, police brutality.... Everywhere there is misery and suffering. Why? Osho offers his insight and his solution.

“To be a buddha is not a difficult job. It is not some achievement for which you need a Nobel Prize”. Commenting on anecdotes and haikus by the Zen masters, Osho explains that being a buddha is the easiest thing in the world - it has already happened without you knowing. The empty heart, a place beyond thoughts and feelings, is within everyone. Meditation, and becoming truly thoughtless, is the key. Osho presents Zen as potent, alive, and relevant to the modern world.

Here Osho deals with the difference between the intellectual, logical mind and the more encompassing realm of spirit or intuition. Mind knows reality through logic while intuition is how the spirit experiences reality. Osho describes the three different levels of the ladder of consciousness: the lowest and the first is instinct; the second, the middle, is intellect; and the third, the highest and most subtle, intuition.