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The Independent Mind: Learning to Live a Life of Freedom
Although the word 'psychology' does not come up in this book, this early work by Osho shows his deep understanding of the subject and his attempt to make the connection between meditation and a modern understanding of psychology that includes the importance that our minds play in determining and giving direction, on many levels, to our lives.
Osho has taught for many years that meditation is not a religious exercise but a scientific method to understand what the mind is, and how it works, and to learn how to create a healthy distance from what is, in many ways, a programmed and robot-like mechanism that seems to be dominating our lives and decisions and activities more and more – and not always in a positive way.
As Osho has said so often, beginning many decades ago - that humanity is afflicted by a deep and fundamental insanity, and that we initiate each new generation of children into that madness - is now becoming more and more obvious.
The children who refuse to be initiated into that madness will appear rebellious or mad to their elders, who persist with the best intentions to force them onto the same path, to participate in the same madness. "It is utterly dangerous to be sane in this world," Osho says. "A sane person has to pay a heavy price for his sanity."
Osho pleads in this book for what he calls an independent mind, independent thinking – and challenges us to question our belief that we are already great independent minds, a belief based on the lack of understanding that our thoughts mostly come from others, like a computer program full of malware downloaded into our brains.
"What I mean by the thinking state is that you should have eyes, what I mean is the ability to think on your own. But I don't mean a crowd of thoughts. We all have a crowd of thoughts within us, but we don't have thinking within us. So many thoughts go on moving within us, but the power of thinking has not been awakened."
In his early days of teaching Osho ran meditation camps in which he introduced people into meditation, and his morning and evening talks created the framework of understanding for this work. This book is a fascinating record of one of these camps – in a short period of three days Osho introduces his participants to an understanding that our minds are running on malware programs – and he introduces meditation as an antivirus to clean our minds of the conditionings and indoctrinations that are preventing us from realizing our full potential and to be happy.
“In the coming three days I will talk to you about the search for life…I must first say that life is not what we understand it to be. Until this is clear to us, and we recognize in our hearts that what we think of as life is not life at all, the search for the true life cannot begin.”
“When you have something authentically your own in your mind, you start moving toward the soul. Then you become worthy, then you are able to know the soul. Until you have an independent mind, it is simply impossible for individuality to be born.”
Osho has taught for many years that meditation is not a religious exercise but a scientific method to understand what the mind is, and how it works, and to learn how to create a healthy distance from what is, in many ways, a programmed and robot-like mechanism that seems to be dominating our lives and decisions and activities more and more – and not always in a positive way.
As Osho has said so often, beginning many decades ago - that humanity is afflicted by a deep and fundamental insanity, and that we initiate each new generation of children into that madness - is now becoming more and more obvious.
The children who refuse to be initiated into that madness will appear rebellious or mad to their elders, who persist with the best intentions to force them onto the same path, to participate in the same madness. "It is utterly dangerous to be sane in this world," Osho says. "A sane person has to pay a heavy price for his sanity."
Osho pleads in this book for what he calls an independent mind, independent thinking – and challenges us to question our belief that we are already great independent minds, a belief based on the lack of understanding that our thoughts mostly come from others, like a computer program full of malware downloaded into our brains.
"What I mean by the thinking state is that you should have eyes, what I mean is the ability to think on your own. But I don't mean a crowd of thoughts. We all have a crowd of thoughts within us, but we don't have thinking within us. So many thoughts go on moving within us, but the power of thinking has not been awakened."
In his early days of teaching Osho ran meditation camps in which he introduced people into meditation, and his morning and evening talks created the framework of understanding for this work. This book is a fascinating record of one of these camps – in a short period of three days Osho introduces his participants to an understanding that our minds are running on malware programs – and he introduces meditation as an antivirus to clean our minds of the conditionings and indoctrinations that are preventing us from realizing our full potential and to be happy.
“In the coming three days I will talk to you about the search for life…I must first say that life is not what we understand it to be. Until this is clear to us, and we recognize in our hearts that what we think of as life is not life at all, the search for the true life cannot begin.”
“When you have something authentically your own in your mind, you start moving toward the soul. Then you become worthy, then you are able to know the soul. Until you have an independent mind, it is simply impossible for individuality to be born.”
145 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
39 people are currently reading
497 people want to read
About the author
Osho
4,286 books6,793 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 19, 2020
Day in & day out, everyone’s mind is full of thoughts. But where do they come from? Are they independent thoughts or are they concepts and doctrines borrowed from other people? Have they been assimilated from parents or teachers? From religious or political leaders? In this series of talks given at a meditation camp, Osho describes what “thinking” really means: the freedom to live an independent life, consciously, and with trust in one’s own experience.
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February 8, 2021
Em Uma Mente Independente, Osho tenta insinar-nos a viver, para ele há uma forma de viver e essa é consciente as restantes são apenas formas de morrer. Para que consigamos atingir esse estado de consciência que nos permita efetivamente viver o autor explica os vários estados (mentais) e como os identificar para que não nos percamos no processo. É um livro bastante rico. Foi um daqueles livros em que lia algumas páginas por dia para poder refletir sobre o conteúdo e o processar.
November 5, 2020
it can make mind from dependent to independent, the hard truth is that our minds are social product but we are not aware of it, although we call my mind it actually not ours. Here in this book osho will help to open our eyes and to build authentic independent mind
March 12, 2025
5.8/10
Understanding is different from knowing. Accumulate an understanding for life and not knowing things in life. Some truly powerful messages and puts our lives in a really cool perspective
Understanding is different from knowing. Accumulate an understanding for life and not knowing things in life. Some truly powerful messages and puts our lives in a really cool perspective
June 18, 2021
Body depends on nature. Mind depends on body, but it could become independent. Soul is independent. So, to get an independent mind, we must stop doing copy-paste with thoughts from others. Build up your own independent mind. Experience life yourself and don't believe others. Stop having faith in what society tells us. Doubt anything and have the courage to challenge everything. Don't be lazy. Don't accept the views of others if you haven't experienced yourself that part of life. Put your reason at work. Then your soul would reveal to your independent mind. Etc.
March 19, 2022
"The Independent Mind" by Osho presents steps to take and stages achieved in meditation leading finally to the turia state (i.e., the state of liberation, realization, or self-actualization; extremely difficult to achieve!!). Briefly, you have to bring your physical body to a state of total calm (not very difficult), followed by bringing your breathing to a state of relaxation (not difficult either), and finally, to bring the mind to a state of no-mind (extremely difficult). Once this third state is achieved and maintained by the meditator, within a few seconds or a few minutes, the feeling of eternal energy flowing through you, called turia, follows. To aid achievement of this state, after achieving the state of no-mind, one may focus entirely on the sahastraar, or the crown chakra (note, a hundred percent focus or attention to the sahastraar chakra is required; any less, and the feeling of eternal energy doesn't arise!). The energy first appears to flow and enter through the crown chakra, expanding at the back of the body along the spine, and spreading downwards to the entire body.
It is noted by great sages that this state is achieved only by one in tens of millions! For some, it may even take decades to actually achieve the no-mind state! Some philosophize that the no-mind state is possible only after you are absolved of all your past karma (of current and previous lives); perhaps, that is why it takes even decades to reach this state (or multiple lives). However, many physical body benefits are felt soon after starting the meditation and having improved the achievement of the desired states.
As always, Osho does a great job of explaining things in his simplistic yet powerful messages! This book is a must to read and practice for any Osho collector or fan, as well as, any serious meditation practitioner.
It is noted by great sages that this state is achieved only by one in tens of millions! For some, it may even take decades to actually achieve the no-mind state! Some philosophize that the no-mind state is possible only after you are absolved of all your past karma (of current and previous lives); perhaps, that is why it takes even decades to reach this state (or multiple lives). However, many physical body benefits are felt soon after starting the meditation and having improved the achievement of the desired states.
As always, Osho does a great job of explaining things in his simplistic yet powerful messages! This book is a must to read and practice for any Osho collector or fan, as well as, any serious meditation practitioner.
March 2, 2021
There are things that can't just be communicated by words. Words can't possibly do justice in transferring them from one to another. They just will get lost in misunderstandings and limitations of language. The way I am feeling right now is one of those things. Although I can't verbalize it, I can totally look at my life and the turns it has started taking ever since you you stepped into my life.
Anyways, thanks again for reminding me there is no independence from outside world on the level of my body but I get to liberate myself on the level of mind by dropping all borrowed thoughts. To live and to experience life not based on scriptures or other people's ideas but to build my own truth out of my own experience. To answer life's problems out of my consciousness and not solely based on my memory and other people's experiences. Thanks for reminding me to use the memory (as it is intended for) for mundane things in life and for deeper searches rely on my own consciousness.
Anyways, thanks again for reminding me there is no independence from outside world on the level of my body but I get to liberate myself on the level of mind by dropping all borrowed thoughts. To live and to experience life not based on scriptures or other people's ideas but to build my own truth out of my own experience. To answer life's problems out of my consciousness and not solely based on my memory and other people's experiences. Thanks for reminding me to use the memory (as it is intended for) for mundane things in life and for deeper searches rely on my own consciousness.
January 6, 2025
Osho’s The Independent Mind is more than a book, it’s a challenge to awaken. With sharp, unflinching wisdom, it questions societal norms and invites readers to embrace individuality. Its insights can feel like a mirror, reflecting the ways we conform without realizing.
Reading it left me questioning my own patterns of thought and behavior. Are we truly independent, or are we simply echoing the voices of others?
Reading it left me questioning my own patterns of thought and behavior. Are we truly independent, or are we simply echoing the voices of others?
April 13, 2025
“Só alguém que descarta todas as crenças atinge sabedoria. As pessoa que até agora atingiram a sabedoria só atingiriam depois de descartarem todas as crenças.”
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Osho sendo um dos que me levam cada a dia mais perto do despertar da consciência e também a refletir sobre minha essência e quem eu sou de verdade. Foi uma leitura incrível, se for preciso, irei reler no futuro e me maravilhar e relembrar novamente coisas tão necessárias para o desenvolvimento pessoal e autoconhecimento.
—
Osho sendo um dos que me levam cada a dia mais perto do despertar da consciência e também a refletir sobre minha essência e quem eu sou de verdade. Foi uma leitura incrível, se for preciso, irei reler no futuro e me maravilhar e relembrar novamente coisas tão necessárias para o desenvolvimento pessoal e autoconhecimento.
April 12, 2021
"Мы боимся, что если наш ум будет оставаться пустым, мало - помалу мы станем никем, что мы - вообще ничто. Мы все хотим быть кем-то отсюда и страх стать никем.
Это гонка, в которой мы питаемся стать кем-то, заставляет нас копить все подряд, и в том числе мысли."
Это гонка, в которой мы питаемся стать кем-то, заставляет нас копить все подряд, и в том числе мысли."
January 10, 2022
"the blind need a stick to find their way, but you are not blind so you may as well leave it aside".
Great book on religious trauma and rules, thorough explanation on how religions force people to stay distant from themselves. wish I read it earlier in life
Great book on religious trauma and rules, thorough explanation on how religions force people to stay distant from themselves. wish I read it earlier in life
January 9, 2018
Qualquer livro de Osho é bom, nesta obra Osho explica o que é a mente face ao corpo, a diferença, e os estados de não-reflexão, reflexão e ausência de reflexão. Sempre recomendados os seus livros.
August 5, 2022
Asks you to wonder how to use your brain , using your brain…
November 10, 2022
Repeating the same idea that we understood from the first 2 chapters
December 31, 2022
Awesome read. Enjoyable anecdotes. Learned quite a lot while it wasn’t a burden to read. Shouldn’t be a dichotomy but whatever
September 14, 2025
Παρα πολύ ενδιαφέρον. με έβαλε σε κάποιες σκέψεις αν και δεν θα το ήθελε αυτό ο Osho 😂 κρατάω το ότι όσοι κάνουν πολλές σκέψεις δεν ξέρουν να σκέφτονται και πορευόμαι με αυτό στη ζωή μου 😓
September 8, 2019
Okay, wo fange ich an.. Das Buch hat viele Sichtweisen von mir verändert. Die Art und Weise, wie wir Menschen mit dem Tod umgehen - und unser Leben lang versuchen vor ihm wegzulaufen - währenddessen wir ihm eigentlich in die Arme laufen, hat mir gezeigt, dass man den Tod als stetigen Begleiter seines Lebens sehen sollte. Nichts im Leben ist sicherer als der Tod, es ist das einzige handfeste, was wir vom Leben haben.
Kein einziger Gedanke den wir haben, ist ein eigener Gedanke. Jeder Gedanke in unserem Kopf ist geborgt von jemand anderem.
Menschen und ihre Scheinreligiösität - die Unvereinbarkeit von Verhalten und Gedanke, das Beobachten von Wut, das wahre Ich zum Vorschein kommen lassen, damit man an seinen Fehlern arbeiten kann. Die Meditation als wahrster Moment unserer Istigkeit ansehen.
Sich nicht abhängig von Gedanken machen, nicht zu Identifizieren.
Die Kraft von Gedanken - der Professor der plötzlich krank wurde.
Die Hypnose von Gedanken, Opium erfüllendes Gefühl durch Fasten oder wiederholen eines bestimmten Wortes (bedeutungslos)
Der Geist ist bedeutungslos ohne Verstand.
Die Menschheit ist wahnsinnig
Kein einziger Gedanke den wir haben, ist ein eigener Gedanke. Jeder Gedanke in unserem Kopf ist geborgt von jemand anderem.
Menschen und ihre Scheinreligiösität - die Unvereinbarkeit von Verhalten und Gedanke, das Beobachten von Wut, das wahre Ich zum Vorschein kommen lassen, damit man an seinen Fehlern arbeiten kann. Die Meditation als wahrster Moment unserer Istigkeit ansehen.
Sich nicht abhängig von Gedanken machen, nicht zu Identifizieren.
Die Kraft von Gedanken - der Professor der plötzlich krank wurde.
Die Hypnose von Gedanken, Opium erfüllendes Gefühl durch Fasten oder wiederholen eines bestimmten Wortes (bedeutungslos)
Der Geist ist bedeutungslos ohne Verstand.
Die Menschheit ist wahnsinnig
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews