Zen is not a theology, it is a unique phenomenon. Not easy to understand for a Western mind. Most religions exist around the concept of God. For Zen, the individual human is the goal - an end unto himself. So there is no concept of God in Zen. Certainly those who have been brought up as Christians, Muslims, Hindus, or Jews, cannot conceive of what sort of religion Zen is. If there is no God, then it becomes atheism. It is not; it is theism to the very core - but without God. This is the first fundamental to be understood. Let it sink deep within you, then things will become clear.

Zen says that if you want to find truth, you have to seek. Zen also says don’t seek, because then you won’t find. This is why Zen is called “the path of paradox.” Zen: The Path of Paradox explores this paradoxical world, this distinctive approach to life. Through his commentaries, Osho illustrates how the Zen anecdotes are not just ancient stories, but that their message is intensely relevant to our own concerns: corruption in politics, truth and lies, mindfulness, dying gracefully without fear.

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.

The organized religions have exploited humanity’s insecurity in the face of life’s mysteries by providing readymade sets of beliefs. But in an increasingly sophisticated, globalized society, the consolation of belief has been losing its appeal. And a purely materialistic science that denies consciousness, or that makes it merely a byproduct of matter, has nothing to offer as an alternative.

Wisdom, says Buddha, arises from within, and is the only true knowledge. In The Dhammapada Osho speaks on wisdom, which he calls knowing, and on the difference between knowing and knowledge. Knowing, he says, is spontaneous response: it comes from inner silence, it is our own truth, an existential experience. Knowledge is dependent on the past, it is mechanical, it is second-hand, it comes from another, and hides the truth from ourselves. Knowing gives us inner direction; knowledge only outer direction. And the key to the intuitive faculty of knowing is meditation.

People are usually very happy, if their prejudices are met with agreement and their expections fulfilled. When you find Osho, a different approach to life is uncovered, as he speaks on something we have always been looking for—a way to be alive. His vision of becoming alive is expressed in this series THE REBELLIOUS SPIRIT. This series continues with these next ten talks in Part 2. Osho lays out his vision of a balance between the primary need for personal transformation, as the foundation and at the same time, not ignoring contemporary political and social issues.

“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.

Osho illuminates the Chinese Zen master Hyakujo’s concept of sudden enlightenment, showing that everyone is already a buddha. No master, he says, can give you anything; he can only take your false beliefs away.

Born with a Question Mark in Your Heart continues the Authentic Living series by Osho with talks by the contemporary mystic during his stay in the United States. Osho says: "It is fortunate that man is born with a question mark, otherwise he would be just another species of animal."

Osho introduces the wild, dancing, sane-crazy world of the Bauls, the mystics of Bengal. With understanding, love, humor, and a touching clarity, he guides us through the songs of the Baul mystics, explaining their view of sex, their concept of the body as a temple, and their secret of surrender to the existential beloved.

Sufism, also called “Islamic Mysticism” is a belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. Osho has spoken in a number of series on this beautiful tradition - which he compares with other spiritual and religious traditions - elaborating the underlying essence to an international audience. Osho brings the listener in contact with Sufism through his experiential sharing.

In this very special series of questions and answers, Osho talks on the death and enlightenment of his own father, which occurred at this time. He also shines his unique light on subjects as diverse as science and meditation, personality and essence, homosexuality, witnessing, and silence.

These talks are answers to personal questions from seekers that touch on a wide variety of fundamental life issues. This is an enlightened being's profound, loving and, at times, humorous response to them. Amongst the many subjects covered, Osho speaks on parents and children, trust and surrender, love and jealousy, sex and pornography; play and creativity, desirelessness, enlightenment and the belief in God.

Commenting on the haunting songs of Kabir, Osho takes the listener to the very core of the human dilemma, to the simple cause of man's misery - that he thinks that he is separate from existence: his inability to comprehend why the fish in the sea is not thirsty. Osho also answers questions, speaking on emotions and being detached from them, aloneness and love, imitation, children and religion, rebellion, living in a balanced way, sex, the generation gap, and much more.

There is a famous Zen story about a disciple, Riko, who once asked his master, Nansen, to explain to him the old Zen koan of the goose in the bottle. Namely, if a man puts a gosling into a bottle and feeds the gosling through the bottle's neck until it grows and becomes a goose - and then there is simply no more room inside the bottle - how can the man get it out without killing the goose or breaking the bottle? In response, Nansen shouts, "Riko!" and gives a great clap with his hands.