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This river of consciousness
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as it was spoken,
from the beginning…

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Introduction

Over a thirty-five year period hundreds of thousands of people from every walk of life were drawn to Osho. They asked questions, he answered. They read sutras to him, and he talked about them. The talks were recorded, and later filmed on video, transcribed into hundreds of books and translated into dozens of languages.

In the process, every tradition in the history of consciousness has been revisited for contemporary people. As each is teased apart and explained in the modern context, we can find the essential thread running through our history down to each one of us today. From the meaning of life and death to the struggles of power and politics, from the challenges of love and creativity to the significance of science and education. What is this mystery called existence? Where did meditation come from? Can we learn anything from Taoism? What is happiness? Why am I discontented? Where did my guilt come from? What is hope? Who am I? 

Is there life after death? Asks one. Better you ask if there is life after birth, comes the reply. Here you will find the spiritually incorrect mystic at work, demolishing our sacred cows, one by one, in exquisite detail. With compassion and humor our insanities are laid out before us, leaving us with that uniquely human option of growing up rather than simply growing old. 

Each talk is given "off-the cuff," extemporaneously without notes. And each has its own context. And when answering questions, the primary purpose is always to answer the questioner rather than the question. It is the individual and his or her transformation that is important, not just the words. 

And finally a note of caution from the author: 

"Always remember, whatsoever I say to you, you can take it in two ways. You can simply take it on my authority, ’Because I say so, it must be true’ -- then you will suffer, then you will not grow. Whatsoever I say, listen to it, try to understand it, implement it in your life, see how it works, and then come to your own conclusions. They may be the same, they may not be. They can never be exactly the same because you have a different personality, a unique being. Whatsoever I am saying is my own. It is bound to be in deep ways rooted in me. You may come to similar conclusions, but they cannot be exactly the same. So my conclusions should not be made your conclusions. You should try to understand me, you should try to learn, but you should not collect knowledge from me, you should not collect conclusions from me. Then your mind-body will grow. 

"My message is not a doctrine, not a philosophy. My message is a certain alchemy, a science of transformation."