Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance (Insights for a New Way of Living) [Paperback]

Osho (Author), Sarito Carol Neiman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2001

Underlying all meditation techniques, including martial arts-and in fact underlying all great athletic performances-is a quality of being awake and present to the moment, a quality that Osho calls awareness. Once we can identify and understand what this quality of awareness is, we have the key to self-mastery in virtually every area of our lives.

According to great masters like Lao Tzu or Buddha, most of us move through our lives like sleepwalkers. Never really present in what we are doing, never fully alert to our environment, and not even aware of what motivates us to do and say the things we do.

At the same time, all of us have experienced moments of awareness-or awakening, to use another-in extraordinary circumstances. On the road, in a sudden and unexpected accident, time seems to stop and one is suddenly aware of every movement, every sound, every thought. Or in moments that touch us deeply-welcoming a new baby into the world for the first time, or being with someone at the moment of death.

Awareness, says Osho, is the key to being self-directed, centered, and free in every aspect of our lives. In this book, Osho teaches how to live life more attentively, mindfully, and meditatively, with love, caring and consciousness.

OSHO challenges readers to examine and break free of the conditioned belief systems and prejudices that limit their capacity to life in all its richness. He has been described by the Sunday Times of London as one of the "1000 Makers of the 20th Century" and by Sunday Mid-Day (India) as one of the ten people-along with Gandhi, Nehru, and Buddha-who have changed the destiny of India. More than a decade after his death in 1990, the influence of his teachings continues to expand, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every country of the world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Osho is one of the most provocative and inspiring spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. Known for his revolutionary contribution to the science of inner transformation, the influence of his teachings continues to grow, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every country of the world. He is the author of many books, including Love, Freedom, Aloneness; The Book of Secrets; and Innocence, Knowledge, and Wonder.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (December 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312275633
• ISBN-13: 978-0312275631
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Osho, known for his revolutionary contribution to the science of inner transformation, continues to inspire millions of people worldwide in their search to define a new approach to individual spirituality that is self-directed and responsive to the everyday challenges of contemporary life. The Sunday Times of London named him one of the '1,000 Makers of the Twentieth Century,' and novelist Tom Robbins called him 'the most dangerous man since Jesus Christ.' For more information about Osho and his work, please visit osho.com.


Osho's teachings defy categorization, covering everything from the individual quest for meaning to the most urgent social and political issues facing individuals and society today.

His unique "Osho Active Meditations" are designed to first release the accumulated stresses of body and mind, so that it is easier to experience the thought-free and relaxed state of meditation. (Meditation -The First and Last Freedom, by Osho)

About his own work Osho has said that he is helping to create the conditions for the birth of a new kind of human being. He has often characterized this new human being as "Zorba the Buddha" -- capable both of enjoying the earthy pleasures of a Zorba the Greek and the silent serenity of a Gautam Buddha.

Running like a thread through all aspects of Osho's work is a vision that encompasses both the timeless wisdom of the East and the highest potential of Western science and technology.

Osho has been described by the Sunday Times in London as one of the "1000 Makers of the 20th Century" and by American author Tom Robbins as "the most dangerous man since Jesus Christ."

Biographical:
Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic, ST. MARTIN'S Press, New York, available in multiple languages.


Websites for more information:
http://www.OSHO.com
http://OSHO.com/resort
http://OSHO.com/magazine
http://OSHO.com/shop
http://www.youtube.com/OSHO
http://www.oshobytes.blogspot.com
http://www.Twitter.com/OSHOtimes
http://www.facebook.com/pages/OSHO.International

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Osho knows what he is talking about, April 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance (Insights for a New Way of Living) (Paperback)

The subject of awareness is the most trascendental, complex and profound in the field of spirituality. Awareness is the real direction of life evolutionary process on this planet. Today,only very few persons in the world can speak with authority about this subject. Osho is one of them. I do not know of others, except Krisnamurti and Gurdjieff in the past. I found Osho the most elocuent, clear and compassionate of all. Thanks to St. Martin Press for giving us this rare gem of practical insight.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awareness To Transcend A Mundane Life, April 21, 2004

By 

Barbara Rose (BornToInspire.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance (Insights for a New Way of Living) (Paperback)

Osho writes with astounding accuracy and illumination where you will be brought awareness to wake up from a life filled with mundane existence, and move into the present moment in order to re-create the life you deserve.

He uses many wonderful examples from Buddhist teachings, and puts them all into plain English, in modern 20th century language. He quotes psychologists, and Enlightened Masters alike. This book is more for a person who is trying to figure out what their life is all about, and who feels trapped in a life that feels almost empty or meaningless.

Osho's writings about people in America, being "asleep" and un-awakened may offend some readers in the USA. My suggestion is to take the great wisdom Osho brings in this book that applies to you in your life so that you can move forward in a positive way, and to simply let the more opinionated views of people in the West roll off your back. This book does have some great wisdom that many could use, and at the same time, some people may feel slighted from his judgmental tone.

His book is worth reading; just don't let your ego get in the way so you can take in the worthwhile wisdom he genuinely gives.

86 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes helpful, sometimes false and annoying, November 12, 2003

By 

Stephanie Hairston (Bristol, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance (Insights for a New Way of Living) (Paperback)

Osho has a very good logical sensibility and makes many wonderful and helpful points about developing awareness. Some of his points are simply those that have been repeated in many books on meditation and mindfulness, but others are helpful in their unique insight. I found his points on "Centering" and "Tension and Relaxation" to be very helpful, and enjoyed many of the thoughts scattered throughout the book, such as a beautiful passage on "rising in love" as opposed to "falling in love."

However, one of Osho's biggest character flaws was his sense of superiority, and the book's all-knowing and magnanimous tone can be grating, especially when Osho says things that are inaccurate and just plain false. Osho's knowledge about politics was fatally flawed; later in his life he expressed admiration for authoritarianism, even praising Hitler. A passage on how Russia and India would make more responsible decisions about nuclear weapons than America in this book is particularly absurd and calls to mind the man's very flawed political views.

Osho's constant harping about the East's superiority to the West is irritating as well, particularly because it adds no extra insight and really is not a necessary part of the text. Further, it contradicts Osho's encouragement for readers to learn to overcome the mind's need to evaluate and compare. Osho devalues the analytical and logical accomplishments of the West even as he utilizes such approaches throughout his book. "Witnessing" is not the cure to everything, as Osho's life so aptly demonstrated. Some of his authoritative pronouncements could be harmful to those who would not challenge Osho's stance on something like therapy, the process of which could actually help a person with problems of repression of past trauma move more toward a state of awareness.

Osho's knowledge of science is almost nonexistent, and yet he speaks of science with the same authoritative tone he uses in speaking of everything else. His inaccuracies on all of these topics would only be a minor irritation if he did not use inaccurate statements as the basis for many of his arguments about awareness. This book would have been much better if the editors had left out some of Osho's wildly false observations and edited out some of the parts where he repeats himself endlessly for pages. Osho was a flawed human being, but also had a deep knowledge of inner development. This book reflects that dichotomy.

I would not argue against reading or buying it, but would encourage readers to be aware as they read the book so that they can separate the wheat of Osho's insights about becoming more aware from the chaff of his flawed egotistical pronouncements, divisive statements, and inaccurate claims.