This is worth considering. It is significant. The first thing to understand is that except for man, no animal is capable of laughter. So laughter shows a very high peak in the evolution of life. If you go out on the street and see a buffalo laughing, you will be scared to death. And if you report it, then nobody will believe that it can happen. It is impossible. Why don’t animals laugh? Why can’t trees laugh?

Talks on Zen, Talks given from 10/06/74 am to 20/06/74 am, English Discourse series, 9 Chapters, Year published : June 1976 Using traditional Zen stories and responding to seekers’ questions, Osho shows how man must first be grounded in himself before he can fly into the sky of consciousness. Osho takes the reader from subjects as diverse as food, jealousy, businessmen and enlightenment, to how to know if one needs a master, the barriers we create through fear, and gratitude. Good as a

Letters written from 1962 to 1971, Miscellaneous, 350 Chapters, Year Published : May 1983 I received your letter. How lovingly you insist on my writing something, and here am I, drowned in a deep silence! I speak, I work, but I am steeped in emptiness within. There, there is no movement. Thus I seem to be living two lives at one time. What a drama! But perh’ all of life is a drama and becoming aware of this opens the door to a unique freedom…

[A sannyasin leaving for the West says: I feel deep gratitude for all that has happened to me since I’ve been here.] I know…. Much will be happening, much more, and gratitude prepares the way. Feel as grateful to existence as possible — for small things, not only for great things… just for sheer breathing. We don’t have any claim on existence, so whatsoever is given is a gift. If it is not given we don’t have any court for appeal…

Talks on Zen Stories, Talks given from 11/08/76 am to 20/08/76 am, English Discourse series, 10 Chapters, Year published : 1977 Osho says that laughter is “the very essence of Zen.” And though the theme of this series is meditation—watching, remaining alert and aware—as the only way to truth, Osho encourages us to, “be happy and meditation will follow.” There is a wonderful chapter on laughter, Hotei the Laughing Buddha and enlightenment: “This is the whole effort of all the masters: t

[A sannyasin says: I’m changing all the time… Since the group, I don’t know… I don’t like talking, I don’t like laughing… I feel like crying… ] Whatsoever happens, accept and enjoy, and don’t force anything. If you feel like talking, talk. If you feel like being silent, be silent — just move with the feeling. Don’t force in any way, not even for a single moment, because once you force anything you are divided in two — and that creates the problem, then your whole life becomes split…

Talks on Zen Stories, Talks given from 03/01/80 am to 10/01/80 am, English Discourse series, 8 Chapters, Year published : 1982 Through delightfully zany anecdotes, Osho captures and conveys the spirit of Zen’s enigmatic understanding of life. “Try to understand Zen through laughter, not through prayer,” he suggests. “Zen is not a doctrine, not a dogma. It is growing into an insight. It is a vision — very lighthearted, not serious at all.” OSHO uses some of the best known Zen stories to

Talks on Zen Stories, Talks given from 21/02/76 am to 29/02/76 am, English Discourse series, 9 Chapters, Year published : 1977 Of the ultimate realization of Zen, Osho says, “Suddenly you become aware of a music that has always surrounded you… Your heart throbs in the same rhythm as the heart of the whole.” This essential Zen reader is also about a number of other themes — cowardice, boredom and restlessness, recognition and rejection, maturity and moving from the non-essential to the

We become free from that which we have known. We also triumph over that which we have known. Our failure and defeat are only because of our ignorance. Defeat is because of darkness; when there is light, defeat is impossible — light itself will bring triumph…

Talks on Zen, Talks given from 31/10/74 am to 10/11/74 am, English Discourse series, 11 Chapters, Year published : 1974 A beautiful and simple introduction for those new to Zen. Commenting on eleven Zen anecdotes, Osho explores the spiritual search, speaking on emptiness and no-mind, knowledge and being; belief and trust, repression and truth; philosophy and religion, love and divinity; death and disease, happiness and living in the here-and-now. “Osho continues publishing very good sp

[A sannyasin asks about his work in the West and his relationship:… it’s crazy that I should ask you these things… I’ve got my own mind.] No, you ask… that is a way of making up your mind, mm? Now you are part of me and I am as much involved in you as you are — even more. So don’t think that you are crazy. Just tell me. Even telling me will be of much help. I cannot decide for you, but I can help you to decide. These two things… something else? There must be a third thing also…

Responses to Disciples Questions, Talks given from 01/09/79 am to 10/09/79 am, English Discourse series, 10 Chapters, Year published : 1981 In this volume Osho comments on stories compiled by the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. Osho helps the reader to face the reality of his own death without fear, and thereby living life to the optimum. Originating in Poland around 1750, Hasidim sought a direct, spontaneous religious experience of life, and created a great tradition of laughing sa

Just raise your hands, close your eyes, and feel utterly open. These hands are the gestures of openness. Feel receptive, because sannyas has to be received; you cannot take it, you can only receive it. It is a gift: you can allow it to happen. There is no need to grab it. The only need is to give way, to let it happen. Feel great energy showering on you, as if you are standing under a waterfall. Energy is splashing on you and the body starts swaying, the body starts feeling drunk. Go i

[A sannyasin mother says she is having problems in her relationship: I find myself being very bitchy and nagging sometimes. I feel I’m just asking for a fight all the time.] Mm mm, love always brings trouble — and it has to be faced. Love cannot be always smooth, and it is good that it is not always smooth, otherwise you would not grow. Whenever there is a change, any sort of change, things will come into focus more clearly. When change disturbs you, all your inner disturbances are sti

Talks given from 13/4/70 to 17/4/70, Original in Hindi, 5 Chapters, Year Published : 1978 I would like to begin my talk today with an anecdote. In a great city, one day, the streets were crowded with tens of thousands of people. They were waiting with great expectation for the arrival of the king. A little later the royal procession came, and everybody in that huge crowd started talking admiringly about the king’s celestial garments. But strangely enough, the king was completely naked;

Talks given from 03/10/86 pm to 04/11/86 pm, English Discourse series, 32 Chapters, Year published : 1980 What makes Osho different from Gautam Buddha and other enlightened masters and mystics throughout history? The answer is here, in his own provocative words: “To go beyond enlightenment is to go beyond individuality and become universal.” Osho responds to questions on topics ranging from the intimate to the universal, from religion to philosophy, from present-day politics to his own