Osho is the man

"Courage" is a difficult book to pin down. The subtitles sound like those of self-help books. Strictly speaking, however, "Courage" is not a self-help book. The courage Osho talks about is spiritual. This is not a book for athletes, explorers or business executives. Rather, it's a book for seekers.

Osho's main message is: Break out of the crowd! Forget about religious dogmas! Life is a mystery, start living it! The book sounds very "hippie". It contains constant attacks on the hypocrisy of established religions, the utter boredom of science, and the lack of love and joy in the world. Osho calls on the reader to sing, dance and live spontaneously by letting go of the self. Every human should become a "Zorba the Buddha". Indeed, his message is a kind of hedonistic, individualist form of Buddhism. He even talks about the need for sexual pleasure!

This is about as far as you can get from "The Secret" and other such books. Osho (who died in 1990) wasn't against money or possessions. Indeed, on several Youtube clips he spouts very expensive wrist watches. However, "Courage" doesn't contain any particular insights on how to get rich. Rather, it's a book about breaking free. I don't think Osho and Rhonda Byrne could have been featured on the same TV show...

My main problem with Osho, apart from his message sounding a bit utopian, is that he didn't always live as he learned. Under the name Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Osho founded a religious commune in Oregon, which quickly developed into a cult. When his secretary Sheela absconded with the money, Osho turned her in to the authorities, revealing other compromising things as well. He then blamed Sheela for creating the cult, and returned home to India. I'm not entirely sure if I buy that explanation...

Still, if you are interested in New Religious Movements, it's difficult to pass by Osho. To many people, Osho is still "the man".