Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Osho Life Essentials

Fame, Fortune, and Ambition: What Is the Real Meaning of Success?

Rate this book
“I want you to be rich in every possible way – material, psychological, spiritual. I want you to live the richest life that has ever been lived on the earth.”--Osho

The Osho Life Essentials series focuses on the most important questions in the life of the individual. Each volume contains timeless and always-contemporary investigations and discussions into questions vital to our personal search for meaning and purpose, focusing on questions specific to our inner life and quality of existence.

Fame, Fortune, and Ambition examines the symptoms and psychology of preoccupations with money and celebrity. Where does greed come from? Do values like competitiveness and ambition have a place in bringing innovation and positive change? Why do celebrities and the wealthy seem to have so much influence in the world? Is it true that money can’t buy happiness? These questions are tackled with a perspective that is thought-provoking, surprising--and particularly relevant to our troubled economic times.

Fame, Fortune, and Ambition includes an original talk by Osho on DVD. This visual component enables the reader to experience the direct wisdom and humor of Osho straight from the source.

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

79 people are currently reading
639 people want to read

About the author

Osho

4,354 books6,784 followers
Rajneesh (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.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
240 (51%)
4 stars
136 (29%)
3 stars
67 (14%)
2 stars
16 (3%)
1 star
9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Bea Postelnicu.
33 reviews4 followers
June 6, 2022
“Banii nu pot cumpara fericirea - dar fac nefericirea mai confortabila.”
Profile Image for Zeinahuballah.
13 reviews4 followers
April 5, 2018
In This Book;You'll Find Answers To All Questions That You Ask Yourself Before You Fall Asleep. I Totally Recommendd Itt!
And Youre Gonna Realize That The Whole Function Of Our Mind Is Only To Create Unhappiness.
& Think About This: Life Is Journey To Nowhere,From Nowhere To Nowhere. Could You Know Whats Between Nowhere?
One Of My Fav Books So Far!
Profile Image for rahul.
107 reviews274 followers
June 4, 2015
become choice less...
Profile Image for Shikha Rawal.
77 reviews48 followers
September 13, 2016
With Osho books you can't begin you give your reviews... It's almost always beyond words, incapable of capturing it in just some words.

However, if one word that resonates with this book is "Powerful".

One mantra "Become choiceless. Whatever you have or are going to be given, is given irrespective by the Universe. Don't go for x over y. Be so open and accepting then other possibilities, other 24 paths will open up for you."
Profile Image for Shridhar Kulkarni.
45 reviews2 followers
May 23, 2023
1. Success is a subjective thing.
2. To be choiceless is to be free of hell.
3. How can I drop my greed and expectation and just be?
- When you are not looking for it, honey is everywhere. The moment you start looking for it, you become concentrated, you become closed and narrow and it disappears.
4. Enlightenment happens; you cannot desire it.
5. Greed is the fear of inner emptiness
6. If you are intelligent, you will start living rather than preparing to live.
7. If your happiness has a condition to it, you will remain unhappy.
8. See the mechanism of the mind: If everything is available as you want it, suddenly you will feel bored.
9. All your desires are going to be wrong however logical they appear. (don't confuse desires with needs)
10. Precisely because it is purposeless it is significant.
11. I am talking about being, not becoming.
12. I you have money, use it for something that money cannot purchase, but for which money can create space.
13. In fact, to avoid alertness and consciousness you want security and safety.
14. Desires are dreams, they are not realities. You cannot fulfill them, and you cannot suppress them- to fulfill a certain thing, it needs to be real; to suppress a certain thing it should be real. Needs can be fulfilled/can be suppressed. Desires can neither be fulfilled nor suppressed.
15. Kill a need and a part of you will die, kill a desire and you will start living even freely.
16. The ego is just a useful fiction. Use it, don't be deceived by it.
17. A fiction needs great maintenance. Truth needs no maintenance, that is the beauty of truth.
18. Relaxation is not a concequence of some action, it is the glow of understanding.
19. Ego can exist only in goal oriented vision.
Profile Image for marquie.
21 reviews21 followers
December 16, 2012
To simply chalk up Osho as a spiritual leader would be an understatement. If anything, he enlightens. He rebels. But most importantly, he preaches. But not as most priests do. When it comes to inner peace, and happiness - Osho preaches realism. He doesn't goad you to aim for the stars. If anything, he encourages you to peer into your roots, and embrace it. For it is only then, when you know your essence - who you really are, that you can be happy. It is only then, that the ego disappears and you can just simply be. And if that in itself, isn't the best blessing that one can endow upon oneself, then pray tell me - what is?
Profile Image for Michael Graber.
Author 4 books11 followers
March 4, 2012
Osho, in his daily discourses which have been turned into books, had the uncanny ability to sift through layers of cultural superstitions, defaults, and outmoded paradigms and bring to light a very pragmatic and profound style for being total alive. This book, as well as all the Essentials, make essential reading for people serious about having deep fun in living.
Profile Image for Abhinay Kumar.
103 reviews1 follower
November 15, 2019
After many recommendations and with no knowledge about Osho I've started this book.
I'm no where near to validate this powerful piece of work, I'm just re quoting the wonderful lines which changed my perception.

1. Become choice less
2. Sooner or later, you are going to see the futility of the very idea of "more", because the "more" brings nothing but more misery
3. Positive thinking is simply the philosophy of hypocrisy (To all those who have read "Think and Grow rich", and thought that is one of the best gift mankind should heed by Napoleon Hill)

Like the above statements there are many. I'm glad that i've read some of teh books that are mentioned in this one. The zolt of wisdom and the slap of awareness both hit you at the same time once you complete this book.
46 reviews
Read
November 1, 2022
Dacă nu aveți abilitățile, este și mai ușor: nu veți pierde timpul căutând un anumit loc de muncă. Prin urmare, vă sfătuiesc să pariați pe sport. Principalul lucru aici este să găsești o casă de pariuri de încredere. Încercați site-ul https://mightytips.ro/case-de-pariuri... personal, am găsit aici o casă de pariuri de încredere. Vă sfătuiesc să încercați.
62 reviews1 follower
September 26, 2017
A Must Read!!!!!!
from the book ..."Listen to your heart, because it is finally the heart that is going to decide the caliber of your being, the very growth of your consciousness, and finally the transcendence, that leads you and your awareness beyond death. Anything else is simply mundane."
Profile Image for Dawit.
15 reviews2 followers
September 26, 2021
One has to understand that this tremendous urge to power is arising from an emptiness within
Osho
Know I see why they don't like him
He would've changed our generation from being a materialistic ,workaholic.....
Profile Image for Yasmeyri Calderon.
15 reviews
February 18, 2022
Te da una nueva perspectiva de vida y te libera del <> del <> y el <>. Simplemente, vive el hoy y el ahora. Aquí mismo, el futuro solo te hara querer ir de prisa y acelerar hasta alcanzarlo, pero no te das cuenta de que sigues aqui, en el presente, y es todo lo que tienes.
Profile Image for Sun.
108 reviews
November 12, 2025
Success = I am enough.
Ví dụ:
Một người muốn chứng minh bản thân sẽ kiệt sức.
Một người muốn bày tỏ bản thân — sẽ nở rộ. 🌸

I'll show them I'm enough vs I want to share what's inside me with the world.
Profile Image for Andrija Aki.
2 reviews
February 20, 2018
Awesome book. Osho never ceases to amaze me with the wonderful insights he has.
Profile Image for Jay.
1 review
April 24, 2021
One of the best book that I’ve read so far.
I would recommend everyone to read it one time!
Profile Image for Gurhan.
137 reviews2 followers
June 28, 2023
Anlaması zor bir kitap kolay gibi ama değil derin değişik fikirleri var ilkkez osho okudum hoşuma gitti devam :)
Profile Image for Karin Marines.
17 reviews
January 1, 2026
Desde una espiritualidad distinta, interesante reflexión sobre lo que aqueja nuestra existencia y la búsqueda del éxito de manera desmedida. Un libro que te ayuda a poner los pies sobre la tierra.
Profile Image for Bhakta Kishor.
286 reviews47 followers
July 26, 2020
Man is made in such a way that unless the whole sky is his boundary he will be miserable. Less than that won’t do. One needs to expand, and one has to become the expansion. Then there is enthusiasm and there is zest and there is juice, mm? because each moment is a new victory; you expand. Each moment there is a new challenge. You accept and you go on the unknown journey. Each moment God knocks on your door and calls you in such a way that he has never called you; in such a language he has never used before; onto such paths which you have not even dreamed about, and beckons you to come and follow him. That’s what I call a religious life: to always be ready to go into the unknown, the unchartered, with no maps, with no past experiences. Of course there cannot be any past experiences of it. Such a being grows and such a being has a movement.
Profile Image for Nguyen Nhung.
63 reviews6 followers
February 28, 2021
An amazing book & a great source of inspiration. Osho's wisdom is always beyond space & time.
Profile Image for Jay Stark.
16 reviews
July 12, 2024
"Oamenii se gândesc întotdeauna că iarba trebuie să fie mai verde de partea cealaltă a gardului."

"Natura n-are idee de bani; altfel dolarii ar fi crescut în copaci."

"Oamenii amână mereu tot ce este semnificativ. Vor râde mâine; astăzi trebuie să adune."

"Succesul nu te poate hrăni; el nu are nutrienți - succesul nu este decât un aer fierbinte."

"Cuvântul 'obișnuit' e extraordinar de semnificativ. Dacă înțelegi... copacii sunt obișnuiți. Păsările sunt obișnuite. Norii sunt obișnuiți. Stelele sunt obișnuite."

"Atunci când n-o cauți, mierea e pretutindeni. Când începi să o cauți, brusc dispare."

"Prezentul e singura realitate, singura existență, singurul dans care există."

"Dacă nu ești suficient de nebun încât să fii fericit fără niciun motiv, atunci n-ai să fii fericit niciodată."

"Mintea este un mecanism de creare a nefericirii. Întreaga ei funcție este aceea de a crea nefericire."

"Oricine e pe deplin conștient nu are nimic de cerut. Acel om are tot ceea ce ar putea cineva să ceară."

"Nu trebuie să devenim ceva - deja suntem. Acesta este întregul mesaj al tuturor celor treziți: nu trebuie să dobândești nimic, ți-a fost deja dat. E un dar din partea existenței. Ești deja unde trebuie să fii, nu ai cum să fii nicăieri altundeva. Nu ai de mers nicăieri, nu ai nimic de dobândit, poți celebra. Atunci nu mai e nicio grabă, nicio grijă, nicio angoasă, niciun chin, nicio teamă de a nu fi un ratat."

"Pentru ca ambiția să existe, trebuie să existe viitor. Fără ambiție, egoul nu poate lua ființă."

"Trăiești în viitor doar ca să fugi de prezent și devii atât de obsedat, în plan psihologic, de viitor, încât treci mereu pe lângă ceea ce este, cu gândul la ceea ce nu e."

"Eu numesc toată această abordare 'sannyas': a renunța la obiective, la țeluri, la viitor - a deveni parte din existență chiar în acest moment, a nu mai amâna. Și atunci, chiar în acest moment, o mare explozie e posibilă în tine: ego-ul dispare, tu nu mai ești, dar divinul este. Iar aceea e fericire și acela e adevăr."

"Rețineți un lucru: viața voastră va rămâne goală dacă nu cunoașteți decât lucruri care pot fi cumpărate, dacă nu cunoașteți decât lucruri care pot fi vândute."

"Dorințele sunt vise, ele nu sunt realități. Nu le poți împlini și nu le poți reprima."

"Reține: tu ești problema lumii. Tu ești problema și dacă nu îți găsești ție rezolvare, tot ceea ce faci va complica și mai mult lucrurile."

"Individul trebuie să se schimbe, fiindcă lumea nu e altceva decât o protecție a fenomenului sufletului individual."

"Este nevoie de curaj și de o imensă iubire din partea unor părinți, ca să le spună copiilor: ,Trebuie să fiți liberi de noi. Nu ne ascultați pe noi, baza-ți-vă pe propria voastră inteligență."'

"Eu înțeleg frica voastră, ca părinți, ca nu cumva s-o ia copiii într-o direcție în care nu vă place, însă asta e problema voastră. Copiii nu se nasc ca să vă facă vouă pe plac sau nu."

"Întreaga societate e formată din oameni mediocri, pentru simplul motiv că nimeni nu este ceea ce a fost el destinat să fie, ci e altcineva."

"Nu trebuie să imiți pe nimeni. Fii tu însuți - doar așa îți vei găsi paradisul."

"Ascultă-ți inima, căci [...] orice altceva e pur lumesc."

"Viața nu este o chestiune de 'cum'."

"Viața e lipsită de scop. Acest lucru este greu de acceptat, deoarece fără un scop, egoul nu poate exista."

"Singurul mod de a trăi, de a iubi, de a te bucura este să uiți de viitor. El nu există."

"Viața e un pelerinaj către nicăieri, de nicăieri spre nicăieri, iar între cele două nicăieri-uri se află 'aici-acum'."

"Dacă pătrunzi în ceea ce e aproape de tine, vei găsi acolo toate stelele îndepărtate pe care le căutai."

"Nu posezi stelele, cu toate acestea te poți bucura de ele."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
2 reviews
March 7, 2017
O carte foarte bună. Subliniază importanța prezentului. Învățăturile lui Osho sunt utile pentru un proces de conștientizare de sine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Prabhat Sharma.
2 reviews
July 17, 2011
It covers some of the very Basic & Essential Questions the we deal in our Daily Life.

Osho, very Simply, yet with gr7 Depths; conveys the Message & the Meaning of - what R called as 'In Thing' words like - Fame, Fortune, Ambition, Success, Competition, Race, Performance, Duty, Responsibility... and the list is quiet a long...!

Truly an eye-opener & must read, esp. for the younger generation; who have recently or are yet to venture into the world of CAREERS & CONDITIONINGS, that's gonna come their way.
Profile Image for Caroline Donahue.
211 reviews84 followers
May 7, 2011
As usual, Osho provides an alternative perspective that is helpful and enjoyable to read. I would recommend this to workaholics, anyone job hunting, or if you just feel a bit crazy from work taking over your life. For all of you, this will feel like a huge relief to read.
Profile Image for Carleen.
209 reviews
February 23, 2012
"When the gods wnat to punish us, they answer our prayers." - Oscar Wilde

"Sooner or later, you are going to see the futility of the very idea of "more", because the "more" brings nothing but more misery." - OSHO

"Positive thinking is simply the philosophy of hypocrisy." - OSHO
4 reviews
January 17, 2016
Incredible

This book was like having a drink with osho and having a deep 8 hour conversation. It was one of those books that rocked my core. All he said. All he saw. All he commented on was the truth. If you are ready you should read this book.
Profile Image for Lud Oliveira.
467 reviews8 followers
February 5, 2016
O livro é bom. Em alguns momentos ele vai em alguns extremos que eu acho exagerado, não acho bom. Mas no geral, as ideias dele são muito sensatas, concordo com a maioria.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.