What do you think?
Rate this book
Don't Just Do Something, Sit There
345 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
40 people want to read
About the author
Osho
4,302 books6,750 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 30, 2022
My fav quotes (not a review):
-Page 40 |"One can go on postponing. And life is very short; it is really short – seventy, eighty years. Out of seventy years one third is lost in sleep. Another one third is spent in just putting body and soul together – work, bread and butter. Another one third is spent in small trivia – driving from the house to the office, from the office to the house, saving, cleaning, taking a bath, eating...."
-Page 50 |"Fear is a good policy but very bad for growth. Anger is not a very good policy but is very good for growth."
-Page 50 |"Anger is not the end, but it is better than fear because something moves out. You have so much anger hidden in the stomach that it is enough to kill many people. Fear is a kind of spiritual paralysis, but remember, society will appreciate you very much; you are a good man, a nice man. All afraid people are nice. They are always polite; they always follow the etiquette."
-Page 70 |"If you are feeling two oppositions simultaneously – for example, in a moment you are feeling that one part wants to dance, another part doesn’t want to dance – then just stand between the two and watch."
-Page 119 "There is a famous chinese saying – that wherever you find one slave there will always be two. And that has great wisdom in it... because a slave cannot be alone. The person to whom he has become a slave has also become a slave to him; it is a mutual understanding. The master, the so-called master, also becomes a slave of his own slave."
-Page 126 "Prayer is far easier for women than meditation. Meditation is more male. Prayer is more female. It is just unnatural to a woman’s being to think that something without love can be fulfilling. Love has to be there as an essential part of anything that can be fulfilling. Even meditation has to have some love in it. Meditation plus love is prayer"
-Page 198 "Stress is natural when you are looking for some result,"
-Page 40 |"One can go on postponing. And life is very short; it is really short – seventy, eighty years. Out of seventy years one third is lost in sleep. Another one third is spent in just putting body and soul together – work, bread and butter. Another one third is spent in small trivia – driving from the house to the office, from the office to the house, saving, cleaning, taking a bath, eating...."
-Page 50 |"Fear is a good policy but very bad for growth. Anger is not a very good policy but is very good for growth."
-Page 50 |"Anger is not the end, but it is better than fear because something moves out. You have so much anger hidden in the stomach that it is enough to kill many people. Fear is a kind of spiritual paralysis, but remember, society will appreciate you very much; you are a good man, a nice man. All afraid people are nice. They are always polite; they always follow the etiquette."
-Page 70 |"If you are feeling two oppositions simultaneously – for example, in a moment you are feeling that one part wants to dance, another part doesn’t want to dance – then just stand between the two and watch."
-Page 119 "There is a famous chinese saying – that wherever you find one slave there will always be two. And that has great wisdom in it... because a slave cannot be alone. The person to whom he has become a slave has also become a slave to him; it is a mutual understanding. The master, the so-called master, also becomes a slave of his own slave."
-Page 126 "Prayer is far easier for women than meditation. Meditation is more male. Prayer is more female. It is just unnatural to a woman’s being to think that something without love can be fulfilling. Love has to be there as an essential part of anything that can be fulfilling. Even meditation has to have some love in it. Meditation plus love is prayer"
-Page 198 "Stress is natural when you are looking for some result,"
Displaying 1 of 1 review