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Finger Pointing to the Moon: Discourses on the Adhyatma Upanishad
These seventeen talks were given at a meditation camp at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. In this beautiful series on the seeds of wisdom, the upanishads, Osho says, "This Upanishad is a direct encounter with spirituality. There are no doctrines in it; there are only experiences of the fulfilled ones. In it there is no discussion of that which is born out of curiosity or inquisitiveness, no. In it there are hints to those who are full of longing for liberation from those who have already attained liberation."
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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69 people want to read
About the author
Osho
4,294 books6,798 followersRajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain, 11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990) and latter rebranded as Osho was leader of the Rajneesh movement. During his lifetime he was viewed as a controversial new religious movement leader and mystic.
In the 1960s he traveled throughout India as a public speaker and was a vocal critic of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi, and Hindu religious orthodoxy.
Rajneesh emphasized the importance of meditation, mindfulness, love, celebration, courage, creativity and humor—qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialization.
In advocating a more open attitude to human sexuality he caused controversy in India during the late 1960s and became known as "the sex guru".
In 1970, Rajneesh spent time in Mumbai initiating followers known as "neo-sannyasins". During this period he expanded his spiritual teachings and commented extensively in discourses on the writings of religious traditions, mystics, and philosophers from around the world. In 1974 Rajneesh relocated to Pune, where an ashram was established and a variety of therapies, incorporating methods first developed by the Human Potential Movement, were offered to a growing Western following. By the late 1970s, the tension between the ruling Janata Party government of Morarji Desai and the movement led to a curbing of the ashram's development and a back taxes claim estimated at $5 million.
In 1981, the Rajneesh movement's efforts refocused on activities in the United States and Rajneesh relocated to a facility known as Rajneeshpuram in Wasco County, Oregon. Almost immediately the movement ran into conflict with county residents and the state government, and a succession of legal battles concerning the ashram's construction and continued development curtailed its success.
In 1985, in the wake of a series of serious crimes by his followers, including a mass food poisoning attack with Salmonella bacteria and an aborted assassination plot to murder U.S. Attorney Charles H. Turner, Rajneesh alleged that his personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela and her close supporters had been responsible. He was later deported from the United States in accordance with an Alford plea bargain.[
After his deportation, 21 countries denied him entry. He ultimately returned to India and a revived Pune ashram, where he died in 1990. Rajneesh's ashram, now known as OSHO International Meditation Resort and all associated intellectual property, is managed by the Zurich registered Osho International Foundation (formerly Rajneesh International Foundation). Rajneesh's teachings have had a notable impact on Western New Age thought, and their popularity has increased markedly since his death.
In the 1960s he traveled throughout India as a public speaker and was a vocal critic of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi, and Hindu religious orthodoxy.
Rajneesh emphasized the importance of meditation, mindfulness, love, celebration, courage, creativity and humor—qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialization.
In advocating a more open attitude to human sexuality he caused controversy in India during the late 1960s and became known as "the sex guru".
In 1970, Rajneesh spent time in Mumbai initiating followers known as "neo-sannyasins". During this period he expanded his spiritual teachings and commented extensively in discourses on the writings of religious traditions, mystics, and philosophers from around the world. In 1974 Rajneesh relocated to Pune, where an ashram was established and a variety of therapies, incorporating methods first developed by the Human Potential Movement, were offered to a growing Western following. By the late 1970s, the tension between the ruling Janata Party government of Morarji Desai and the movement led to a curbing of the ashram's development and a back taxes claim estimated at $5 million.
In 1981, the Rajneesh movement's efforts refocused on activities in the United States and Rajneesh relocated to a facility known as Rajneeshpuram in Wasco County, Oregon. Almost immediately the movement ran into conflict with county residents and the state government, and a succession of legal battles concerning the ashram's construction and continued development curtailed its success.
In 1985, in the wake of a series of serious crimes by his followers, including a mass food poisoning attack with Salmonella bacteria and an aborted assassination plot to murder U.S. Attorney Charles H. Turner, Rajneesh alleged that his personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela and her close supporters had been responsible. He was later deported from the United States in accordance with an Alford plea bargain.[
After his deportation, 21 countries denied him entry. He ultimately returned to India and a revived Pune ashram, where he died in 1990. Rajneesh's ashram, now known as OSHO International Meditation Resort and all associated intellectual property, is managed by the Zurich registered Osho International Foundation (formerly Rajneesh International Foundation). Rajneesh's teachings have had a notable impact on Western New Age thought, and their popularity has increased markedly since his death.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 14, 2023
My fav quotes (not a review):
If you become anxiety free, your desires will become very weak. If you become completely anxiety free, your mind will not even move towards desires.
Mir Sahib told Vidyasagar, ”That is alright, but what can I do now after the house is on fire? Why should I spoil my walk also? And I have this one opportunity – if I can carry on my walk unhindered by the fact of my house being on fire, I shall have a taste of indifference. One who has come to know has no source of tension anymore
There is no qualitative difference between thinking and worrying. All thinking is a form of worrying. A restlessness is hidden behind it, a tension, because there is an inner struggle, a conflict, a battle.
Contemplation begins with sympathy, thinking begins with opposition. If the condition of listening is fulfilled sympathy is aroused.
And if a flower can blossom amidst so many thorns, that person would see the point that if he sought deeper, perhaps these thorns might also prove to be nothing but flowers.
Buddha died of some poisonous food, his blood became full of poison. Mahavira died of a deadly dysentery – he suffered unbearable abdominal pain for six months, which could not be cured. Ramakrishna and Ramana both should have cancer – such a sinister disease.
If somebody calls you names and you tell him that you will come back and reply to him in twenty-four hours’ time you will never be able to reply at all. Twenty-four hours is quite a long time – even if you wait for twenty-four moments in silent consideration perhaps you will not have any desire to become angry. Perhaps you may laugh; perhaps you may see the foolishness of that person; or perhaps you may even see that the names he was calling you were right.
Gurdjieff also used to say, ”Stop!” but it meant that whatever was the position, the situation of your body, it had to stay as it was. If your neck was bent one way, or your body was twisted, it had to remain in that position, no changes or adjustments of the body were to be made at all.
When science wins, doubt wins. This is why science could not be born in India. It could not have been. Where trust is deep, there just cannot be any journey in science.
What are they really saying? – as if an answer can be given to you whether God is or not. As if there is no necessity for any preparation to receive an answer to this question. As if this is some routine question about some day-to-day dealing, like asking a shopkeeper, ”Have you got a packet of cigarettes?” Is there a God? To ask this, years of awaiting are necessary; to ask this a sort of fitness and worthiness are necessary.
The work of Brahma is just to develop the dream world – just spreading the dreams. This is why we did not make many temples of Brahma; there is only one temple in India. They should have numbered more than any other, because the one who created this world should be installed in more temples for worship than any other deity. But there is only one temple. Why? – because we came to understand this world is a dream, and the one who created this dream does not deserve many temples.
A buddha, in getting bored with one woman, is bored with all women.
If you become anxiety free, your desires will become very weak. If you become completely anxiety free, your mind will not even move towards desires.
Mir Sahib told Vidyasagar, ”That is alright, but what can I do now after the house is on fire? Why should I spoil my walk also? And I have this one opportunity – if I can carry on my walk unhindered by the fact of my house being on fire, I shall have a taste of indifference. One who has come to know has no source of tension anymore
There is no qualitative difference between thinking and worrying. All thinking is a form of worrying. A restlessness is hidden behind it, a tension, because there is an inner struggle, a conflict, a battle.
Contemplation begins with sympathy, thinking begins with opposition. If the condition of listening is fulfilled sympathy is aroused.
And if a flower can blossom amidst so many thorns, that person would see the point that if he sought deeper, perhaps these thorns might also prove to be nothing but flowers.
Buddha died of some poisonous food, his blood became full of poison. Mahavira died of a deadly dysentery – he suffered unbearable abdominal pain for six months, which could not be cured. Ramakrishna and Ramana both should have cancer – such a sinister disease.
If somebody calls you names and you tell him that you will come back and reply to him in twenty-four hours’ time you will never be able to reply at all. Twenty-four hours is quite a long time – even if you wait for twenty-four moments in silent consideration perhaps you will not have any desire to become angry. Perhaps you may laugh; perhaps you may see the foolishness of that person; or perhaps you may even see that the names he was calling you were right.
Gurdjieff also used to say, ”Stop!” but it meant that whatever was the position, the situation of your body, it had to stay as it was. If your neck was bent one way, or your body was twisted, it had to remain in that position, no changes or adjustments of the body were to be made at all.
When science wins, doubt wins. This is why science could not be born in India. It could not have been. Where trust is deep, there just cannot be any journey in science.
What are they really saying? – as if an answer can be given to you whether God is or not. As if there is no necessity for any preparation to receive an answer to this question. As if this is some routine question about some day-to-day dealing, like asking a shopkeeper, ”Have you got a packet of cigarettes?” Is there a God? To ask this, years of awaiting are necessary; to ask this a sort of fitness and worthiness are necessary.
The work of Brahma is just to develop the dream world – just spreading the dreams. This is why we did not make many temples of Brahma; there is only one temple in India. They should have numbered more than any other, because the one who created this world should be installed in more temples for worship than any other deity. But there is only one temple. Why? – because we came to understand this world is a dream, and the one who created this dream does not deserve many temples.
A buddha, in getting bored with one woman, is bored with all women.
September 2, 2023
What an amazing book!! Simply mind-blowing - yes it will blow your mind literally atleast give the directions how to do it. Osho is a genius when it comes to story telling and teaching such profound wisdom in layman terms. The book is more addictive than any mystery or thriller I have read. The more I read, the more I was awed by the seers of the Upanishads. I yearn to be in those times of truth, the times of purity. I yearn to be the disciple of those seers and of Buddha. Also how the characteristics of our mind is explained in such details is praise worthy. The different anecdotes from the lives of several enlightened people are wonderful and make the read even more interesting. I also got a feeling of failure when we realise we don't know ourselves enough and most of our life we have spent in futility. Taking notes while reading the book is a must and bringing them to practice is even more important. The book will change your perspective and shake your beliefs. Still I think this book might not be liked by everyone. You should go for it if you are an active seeker or has some interest in spirituality.
October 12, 2023
I am about to finish this book. but couldnt wait to review this.
To any reader, who is struggling to get hold of reading habit, start with this one. this is like binge watching great show!
Till now i would lose interest in many books halfway or within 100 pages. but this, i couldnt drop it till the last word. some of the sections are worth reading again and again and it just blows your mind every single time.
the way he deciphers the human minds fallacies with simples examples will take your consciousness level in a roller coaster ride and you will be left with great realisatoin
some of the things are not worth paying attention but rarely you come across it.
dont discard it if you find something is very obscure or too into your face. stay with it till the end and you wont regret it.
To any reader, who is struggling to get hold of reading habit, start with this one. this is like binge watching great show!
Till now i would lose interest in many books halfway or within 100 pages. but this, i couldnt drop it till the last word. some of the sections are worth reading again and again and it just blows your mind every single time.
the way he deciphers the human minds fallacies with simples examples will take your consciousness level in a roller coaster ride and you will be left with great realisatoin
some of the things are not worth paying attention but rarely you come across it.
dont discard it if you find something is very obscure or too into your face. stay with it till the end and you wont regret it.
May 27, 2021
Mere Priya Atman,
this is commentary of lectures on Adhyatma Upanishads. this is incredible knowledge. just like shallow lakes sometimes knowledge creates a whole ecosystem of itself. this discourse is like that.
for me Hindi lectures were more impactful than english discourse or book. this discourse is essence of Osho’s brilliance. He described these ancient concepts for the modern mind. cant imagine my spiritual progress without this holy man. Please do not go by mainstream interpretation of Him. He is probably one of the most authentic man in at least more than 10,000 years. I pray that more of us grow spiritually! :)
this is commentary of lectures on Adhyatma Upanishads. this is incredible knowledge. just like shallow lakes sometimes knowledge creates a whole ecosystem of itself. this discourse is like that.
for me Hindi lectures were more impactful than english discourse or book. this discourse is essence of Osho’s brilliance. He described these ancient concepts for the modern mind. cant imagine my spiritual progress without this holy man. Please do not go by mainstream interpretation of Him. He is probably one of the most authentic man in at least more than 10,000 years. I pray that more of us grow spiritually! :)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews