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Bird on a Wing
Published in India.
275 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Osho
4,382 books6,930 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 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 12, 2017
A dense, slow read, but peppered with rather thought-provoking quotes.
___
If you say "I am empty", the "I am" is there, and the "I" cannot be empty. So emptiness cannot be claimed, just like how no one can say "I am humble". Not only can you not say it, but you cannot feel that you are humble because the very feeling will give birth to the ego again.
Acceptance dissolves. Only acceptance. If you fight, you create another disturbance and this can go on ad infinitum. The action that comes out of fear cannot be anything other than fear.
Suffering is there. It is part of life and part of growth; nothing is bad in it. Suffering becomes evil only when it is simply destructive and not creative at all; it becomes bad only when you suffer and nothing is gained out of it. But I am telling you the divine can be gained through suffering; then it becomes creative.
"Young man, I am not young enough to know so much." With a knowing mind you are clever, not innocent. Innocence is the door.
Socrates: When I was young I knew too much. When I became ripened, experienced, I came to realise only one thing - that I am absolutely ignorant.
A real master teaches you unlearning; it is never learning.
When desire disappears the energy that was moving in desire remains; it cannot disappear. Desire is just another form of energy. That's why you can turn one desire into another. Anger can become sex, sex can become anger, can become greed. Whenever you find a very greedy person he will be less sexual.
Upon enlightenment the energy transforms into compassion.
It is difficult to find a businessman who is simple. He is always cunning, clever, otherwise he cannot be a businessman. A warrior is always simple, otherwise he cannot be a warrior. He knows only two things, life and death, and his life is always at stake, he is always gambling.
Businessman means a quality of the mind which is always bargaining, trying to give less and get more. If a businessman thinks of enlightenment, he thinks of it as a commodity among many other commodities, to be purchased.
Occupation is your drug; that is why when you are without any activity you feel uneasy.
Yet it is in the static state, when all activity ceases, that you become alert. Activity, occupation in the mind, is unconsciousness.
Whenever you act unconsciously, you are in hell, whenever you are conscious, whenever you act with full awareness, you are in heaven.
You dream only because you carry the burden, you dream only because the day is incomplete, because desires are unfulfilled.
If you are total in your anger, you will be total when the anger disappears. If you are false in your anger, you cannot be real in your silence.
Reality cannot be known through thinking, but it can be known through action. Thinking is just a dream phenomenon. The moment you act you become part of reality.
The ego plans, and whatever you plan will miss reality because reality can only be encountered spontaneously.
This is the difference between a man of knowledge and a man of wisdom. A man of knowledge has ready-made answers: you ask and the answer is already there. You are irrelevant, your question is irrelevant. Before the question, the answer exists; your question simply triggers the memory. But if you go to a man of wisdom, he has no answers for you. He has nothing ready-made.
Why are we not more spontaneous? It is because of fear. The fear is there that the answer may be wrong, so it is better to decide beforehand. Then you are certain. But certainty always belongs to death. Remember, life is always uncertain. Everything dead is certain; life is always changing, moving.
Your saints cannot be innocent because their goodness is too forced; their goodness is already ugly. Their goodness is managed, controlled, cultivated. It is not innocent.
Love cannot be jealous, it is impossible. It is always trusting, and if something happens that breaks your trust you have to accept it. Trust is not something to be maintained, it is there or it is not there.
Explanations are precious because the experience is lacking; theories are significant because there is no knowledge.
A religious man is in search of authentic experience, not borrowed words, nor experiences of others.
The ego never wants to be a disciple, it is always in search of being a master.
When you claim ownership, from whom are you claiming ownership? The whole belongs to the whole, the part cannot claim the whole. Every claim is aggression. Non-possessiveness doesn't mean that you should not live in a house. Live in a house, but be thankful to the whole, to the divine. Give it but don't possess it. If you can use things without any possession you have become a sannyasin.
Once you stop fighting the ego cannot exist. The ego exists through fighting, the ego is a relationship, it is not in you, it is always located between you and the other - somewhere in between where the fight is.
Meditation is not contemplation, it is action, action of the whole, of the total being.
A fool is not afraid of anybody else, he will speak, whatsoever the consequences. A fool is a man who will not think of the consequences.
The world is so mad - the parents, the teachers, the moralists are so mad and insane that they teach children to love. Mothers say to their children "I am your mother, love me" as if the child can do something to love. Nothing can be done. Only one thing can be done, you can pretend. Once you learn how to pretend love, you have missed. Your whole life will go wrong. Then you will go on pretending that you love. Then everything is false. Once love becomes a duty it cannot be a celebration, you cannot laugh, you cannot enjoy. It is a burden to be carried.
Meditation cannot be a fragmented thing - it should be a continuous effort.
Meditation is de-automatization in the beginning. If meditation really happens, whatsoever the cause, compassion has to follow. Compassion is the flowering of meditation. This is compassion, when the other becomes more valuable than you. This is love: when you can sacrifice yourself for the other.
Alexander the Great asked for his body to be carried with his hands hanging out, to show that even one as accomplished as he died with empty hands. "My kingdom is great, but I am still poor.
___
If you say "I am empty", the "I am" is there, and the "I" cannot be empty. So emptiness cannot be claimed, just like how no one can say "I am humble". Not only can you not say it, but you cannot feel that you are humble because the very feeling will give birth to the ego again.
Acceptance dissolves. Only acceptance. If you fight, you create another disturbance and this can go on ad infinitum. The action that comes out of fear cannot be anything other than fear.
Suffering is there. It is part of life and part of growth; nothing is bad in it. Suffering becomes evil only when it is simply destructive and not creative at all; it becomes bad only when you suffer and nothing is gained out of it. But I am telling you the divine can be gained through suffering; then it becomes creative.
"Young man, I am not young enough to know so much." With a knowing mind you are clever, not innocent. Innocence is the door.
Socrates: When I was young I knew too much. When I became ripened, experienced, I came to realise only one thing - that I am absolutely ignorant.
A real master teaches you unlearning; it is never learning.
When desire disappears the energy that was moving in desire remains; it cannot disappear. Desire is just another form of energy. That's why you can turn one desire into another. Anger can become sex, sex can become anger, can become greed. Whenever you find a very greedy person he will be less sexual.
Upon enlightenment the energy transforms into compassion.
It is difficult to find a businessman who is simple. He is always cunning, clever, otherwise he cannot be a businessman. A warrior is always simple, otherwise he cannot be a warrior. He knows only two things, life and death, and his life is always at stake, he is always gambling.
Businessman means a quality of the mind which is always bargaining, trying to give less and get more. If a businessman thinks of enlightenment, he thinks of it as a commodity among many other commodities, to be purchased.
Occupation is your drug; that is why when you are without any activity you feel uneasy.
Yet it is in the static state, when all activity ceases, that you become alert. Activity, occupation in the mind, is unconsciousness.
Whenever you act unconsciously, you are in hell, whenever you are conscious, whenever you act with full awareness, you are in heaven.
You dream only because you carry the burden, you dream only because the day is incomplete, because desires are unfulfilled.
If you are total in your anger, you will be total when the anger disappears. If you are false in your anger, you cannot be real in your silence.
Reality cannot be known through thinking, but it can be known through action. Thinking is just a dream phenomenon. The moment you act you become part of reality.
The ego plans, and whatever you plan will miss reality because reality can only be encountered spontaneously.
This is the difference between a man of knowledge and a man of wisdom. A man of knowledge has ready-made answers: you ask and the answer is already there. You are irrelevant, your question is irrelevant. Before the question, the answer exists; your question simply triggers the memory. But if you go to a man of wisdom, he has no answers for you. He has nothing ready-made.
Why are we not more spontaneous? It is because of fear. The fear is there that the answer may be wrong, so it is better to decide beforehand. Then you are certain. But certainty always belongs to death. Remember, life is always uncertain. Everything dead is certain; life is always changing, moving.
Your saints cannot be innocent because their goodness is too forced; their goodness is already ugly. Their goodness is managed, controlled, cultivated. It is not innocent.
Love cannot be jealous, it is impossible. It is always trusting, and if something happens that breaks your trust you have to accept it. Trust is not something to be maintained, it is there or it is not there.
Explanations are precious because the experience is lacking; theories are significant because there is no knowledge.
A religious man is in search of authentic experience, not borrowed words, nor experiences of others.
The ego never wants to be a disciple, it is always in search of being a master.
When you claim ownership, from whom are you claiming ownership? The whole belongs to the whole, the part cannot claim the whole. Every claim is aggression. Non-possessiveness doesn't mean that you should not live in a house. Live in a house, but be thankful to the whole, to the divine. Give it but don't possess it. If you can use things without any possession you have become a sannyasin.
Once you stop fighting the ego cannot exist. The ego exists through fighting, the ego is a relationship, it is not in you, it is always located between you and the other - somewhere in between where the fight is.
Meditation is not contemplation, it is action, action of the whole, of the total being.
A fool is not afraid of anybody else, he will speak, whatsoever the consequences. A fool is a man who will not think of the consequences.
The world is so mad - the parents, the teachers, the moralists are so mad and insane that they teach children to love. Mothers say to their children "I am your mother, love me" as if the child can do something to love. Nothing can be done. Only one thing can be done, you can pretend. Once you learn how to pretend love, you have missed. Your whole life will go wrong. Then you will go on pretending that you love. Then everything is false. Once love becomes a duty it cannot be a celebration, you cannot laugh, you cannot enjoy. It is a burden to be carried.
Meditation cannot be a fragmented thing - it should be a continuous effort.
Meditation is de-automatization in the beginning. If meditation really happens, whatsoever the cause, compassion has to follow. Compassion is the flowering of meditation. This is compassion, when the other becomes more valuable than you. This is love: when you can sacrifice yourself for the other.
Alexander the Great asked for his body to be carried with his hands hanging out, to show that even one as accomplished as he died with empty hands. "My kingdom is great, but I am still poor.
January 19, 2019
Lots of good insights. But some things in the book gave a bad taste in the mouth - like when he said killing a cat doesn't matter because they are a pure soul and won't be reincarnated or something dark like that. And I hated the chapters about the zen masters beatings, I skipped over them.
August 7, 2021
Birds on wing is a beautifull book with 11 Zen talks as chapters by Osho. Each talk as a new chapter starts with a beautiful and short mystic parable story of a Zen master from Nan- in, Doko, Joshu, hyakujo & hakuin to Ekido and to buddha, bankei, nansen and zuigan, each titled aptly from 'empty your cup', 'have a cup of tea' to the last one on 'sober up'. Each story as a chapter focuses on different aspects as to creating awareness, consciousness, be an emptiness to ordinary, all of them leading to just one purpose, to get rooted in earth or this world through meditation and get a wings in the sky or heaven with compassion. When the mediation and compassion meets, a buddha is born. Osho explains that 'this' the body, physical, visible is not different but connected with 'that' the Brahma, moksha, invisible. All chapters I loved to read in this book, still chapters like 'severe teacher' and 'save the cat' are like a balm to the soul. Osho says, that an enlightened person knows that nobody is ever killed. The inner is eternal. It goes in and on. It may change the body, the dresses, the vehicle but the traveller goes on. It's eternal. He specified that awareness never carries the burden of memory. When memories are carried as burden, life can't be a celebration. One has to live in here and now which is the only moment. Drop the mind, drop the past and future. Live in the moment. This book is special and re read material. 05 stars🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
August 27, 2021
ƯỚC MƠ TỰ DO SẢI CÁNH BAY NHƯ CHIM NGANG TRỜI
"Hãy cắm rễ trong cơ thể để bạn có cảnh trong linh hồn. Hãy cắm rễ trong đất để bạn có thể trải ra tới bầu trời. Hãy cắm rễ trong cái hữu hình để bạn có thể vươn tới cái vô hình. Đừng tạo ra nhị nguyên, đừng tạo ra sự đối lập. Nếu có chống lại điều gì, tôi chỉ chống lại sự đối lập mà thôi. Tôi chống lại việc chống lại bất cứ cái gì. Tôi ủng hộ cái toàn thế, ủng hộ vòng tròn vẹn toàn." - OSHO
Xuyên suốt NHƯ CHIM SẢI CÁNH, ông nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của việc vừa tôn vinh “gốc rễ” trong những niềm vui giản đơn của cuộc sống thường ngày, vừa nuôi dưỡng “đôi cánh" cho ta trải nghiệm sự gắn kết với cái phổ quát, siêu việt và vĩnh hằng.
Đọc Osho như thiền, như bay, như hơi thở.
Chẳng truy cầu nhớ ý gì...
Chỉ là buông, tan chảy và hòa nhịp vào trái tim mình khi đọc Osho.
HN, ngày 27/8/2021
"Hãy cắm rễ trong cơ thể để bạn có cảnh trong linh hồn. Hãy cắm rễ trong đất để bạn có thể trải ra tới bầu trời. Hãy cắm rễ trong cái hữu hình để bạn có thể vươn tới cái vô hình. Đừng tạo ra nhị nguyên, đừng tạo ra sự đối lập. Nếu có chống lại điều gì, tôi chỉ chống lại sự đối lập mà thôi. Tôi chống lại việc chống lại bất cứ cái gì. Tôi ủng hộ cái toàn thế, ủng hộ vòng tròn vẹn toàn." - OSHO
Xuyên suốt NHƯ CHIM SẢI CÁNH, ông nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của việc vừa tôn vinh “gốc rễ” trong những niềm vui giản đơn của cuộc sống thường ngày, vừa nuôi dưỡng “đôi cánh" cho ta trải nghiệm sự gắn kết với cái phổ quát, siêu việt và vĩnh hằng.
Đọc Osho như thiền, như bay, như hơi thở.
Chẳng truy cầu nhớ ý gì...
Chỉ là buông, tan chảy và hòa nhịp vào trái tim mình khi đọc Osho.
HN, ngày 27/8/2021
November 3, 2024
Un libro que te invita a reflexionar sobre la vida, las situaciones y lo que puedes aprender de ellas. Me pareció muy interesante las preguntas que le hacían y cómo te va derivando a temas interesantes de distintos ámbitos de la vida.
June 4, 2018
Թռչնի թևով ապրելու համար համարձակություն է պետք Ինչպես Թագորն էր ասում ,,Ապրելը շարունակական հրաշք է,, ու թող այդ հրաշքը գիտակցվի կյանքի ամեն պահի
April 30, 2025
Communed in 1974, these meditation camp discourse series are around the beginning of Osho's talks on Zen, Zen masters, and Zen stories.
April 10, 2016
This book may not necessarily be read the way you normally read any other book.
Having read "The Mustard Seed" by Osho, I couldn't resist reading another one of his extemporaneous discussions put on book. This may not be Osho's best book in the eyes of many, but its wisdom is equal with his other works, as wisdom is only one because the answers lead to only one Truth. I enjoyed The Mustard Seed very much (this enjoyment is a different kind), but I still really find this book phenomenal its own glory. Having never known anything about Zen my whole life, this book opened me to another spiritual path. I do feel that they are all the same, all right paths leads to one, but it is beautiful to be introduced to Zen. It's like being introduced to a different world, a world that can never be understood with words, more synonymous with the Truth itself.
Upon reading the first page of chapter 1, I will have to be honest, it was very difficult for me to read it (I refer difficult in quite a different way). The first anecdote was a very strong dose for me. I was stunned after reading it. Upon realizing this, I tried to read on. Although not completely sober yet from the stun, I forced myself to read but line after line stops me. It was internally arduous, forcing myself to read even just to get to the last word of this "page". I did get there for I don't know how long that took me and in my arrival, I put the book away.
My God, I thought, if page 1 does this to me, how can I possibly go on with the many more pages? Of course, I didn't know the answer. I found out that I can never know anything and what freedom there is in that! The next day I read it again, finally being able to get through more smoothly this time.
There are 11 zen anecdotes here, and a mention of Osho's new meditations that will take place in Osho International Meditation Resort, but do not bother about that. It will only be a mention here. If you'll try to "interpret" the zen anecdotes on your own, please do not. It will very likely be a mistranslation anyway. It was impossible for me, so I gave it up. Only enlightened beings can give an accurate translation to the fables and anecdotes spoken of by other enlightened masters and Osho does that very well, which may be the reason he is branded as a contemporary mystic. He can get the message to you, although please do not be fooled by your own self. It is not the entire message also. He will give you an understanding, but you cannot stop there. Everything is much much deeper than how you interpret it, and I can only speak of my own experience. You could be very lucky and get the message in its totality right then and there! :-) Or... I could be totally wrong with everything I have just said. :D
I enjoyed this book very much, but I still cannot get to the bottom of it. I only hit the markers, I still missed the bulls eye. But the application of zen with Osho's suggestions, may lead me to hitting the target. And maybe there is no target, because I am the target itself, only missing something like a razor's edge in that regard. Thank you, Osho, for sharing your wisdom.
Having read "The Mustard Seed" by Osho, I couldn't resist reading another one of his extemporaneous discussions put on book. This may not be Osho's best book in the eyes of many, but its wisdom is equal with his other works, as wisdom is only one because the answers lead to only one Truth. I enjoyed The Mustard Seed very much (this enjoyment is a different kind), but I still really find this book phenomenal its own glory. Having never known anything about Zen my whole life, this book opened me to another spiritual path. I do feel that they are all the same, all right paths leads to one, but it is beautiful to be introduced to Zen. It's like being introduced to a different world, a world that can never be understood with words, more synonymous with the Truth itself.
Upon reading the first page of chapter 1, I will have to be honest, it was very difficult for me to read it (I refer difficult in quite a different way). The first anecdote was a very strong dose for me. I was stunned after reading it. Upon realizing this, I tried to read on. Although not completely sober yet from the stun, I forced myself to read but line after line stops me. It was internally arduous, forcing myself to read even just to get to the last word of this "page". I did get there for I don't know how long that took me and in my arrival, I put the book away.
My God, I thought, if page 1 does this to me, how can I possibly go on with the many more pages? Of course, I didn't know the answer. I found out that I can never know anything and what freedom there is in that! The next day I read it again, finally being able to get through more smoothly this time.
There are 11 zen anecdotes here, and a mention of Osho's new meditations that will take place in Osho International Meditation Resort, but do not bother about that. It will only be a mention here. If you'll try to "interpret" the zen anecdotes on your own, please do not. It will very likely be a mistranslation anyway. It was impossible for me, so I gave it up. Only enlightened beings can give an accurate translation to the fables and anecdotes spoken of by other enlightened masters and Osho does that very well, which may be the reason he is branded as a contemporary mystic. He can get the message to you, although please do not be fooled by your own self. It is not the entire message also. He will give you an understanding, but you cannot stop there. Everything is much much deeper than how you interpret it, and I can only speak of my own experience. You could be very lucky and get the message in its totality right then and there! :-) Or... I could be totally wrong with everything I have just said. :D
I enjoyed this book very much, but I still cannot get to the bottom of it. I only hit the markers, I still missed the bulls eye. But the application of zen with Osho's suggestions, may lead me to hitting the target. And maybe there is no target, because I am the target itself, only missing something like a razor's edge in that regard. Thank you, Osho, for sharing your wisdom.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2019
Zen is a very rare flowering – it is one of the strangest things that has happened in the history of consciousness – it is the meeting of Buddha’s experience and Lao Tzu’s experience. Buddha, after all, was part of the Indian heritage: he spoke the language of philosophy; he is perfectly clear, you can understand him. In fact, he avoided all metaphysical questions; he was very simple, clear, logical. But his experience was not of the mind. He was trying to destroy your philosophy by providing you with a negative philosophy. Just as you can take out a thorn from your foot with another thorn, Buddha’s effort was to take out the philosophy from your mind with another philosophy. Once the first thorn has been taken out, both thorns can be thrown away and you will be beyond mind.
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February 3, 2019
un libro lleno de reflexiones y lecciones que nos hacen conocer tecnicas de desaprender para aprender ...
este libro nos da la gana de meditar y refuerza la voluntad para vivir con coraje y sabiduria
( me disculpo por la carencia de los tildes etc...)
este libro nos da la gana de meditar y refuerza la voluntad para vivir con coraje y sabiduria
( me disculpo por la carencia de los tildes etc...)
December 18, 2014
Zen masters way of life explained by the master. this book is full of compassion....
August 15, 2016
Must read book. Have this as reference for life and a life guide!!
October 4, 2016
amazing..
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews