The Book of Secrets: 112 Keys to the Mystery Within [Hardcover]

Osho (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1998

In this comprehensive and practical guide, the secrets of the ancient science of Tantra become available to a contemporary audience for the first time. Confined to small, hidden mystery schools for centuries, and often misunderstood and misinterpreted today. Tantra is not just a collection of techniques to enhance sexual experience. As Osho shows in these pages, it is a complete science of self-realizatoin, based on the cumulative wisdom of centuries of exploration into the meaning of life and consciousness. Tantra-the very word means "technique"-is a set of powerful, transformative tools that can be used to bring new meaning andjoy to every aspect of our daily lives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"These techniques will not mention any religious ritual. No temple is needed, you are quite enough of a temple yourself. You are the lab; the whole experiment is to go on within you. This is not religion, this is science. No belief is needed. Only a daringness to experiment is enough; courage to experiment is enough.

These 112 methods are for the whole of humanity-for all the ages that have passed, and for all the ages that have yet to come. I will go on describing each method from as many angles as possible. If you feel any affinity with it, play with it for three days. If you feel that it fits, that something clicks in you, continue it for three months.

Life is a miracle. If you have not known its mystery, that only shows that you do not know the technique for how to approach it." --Osho

About the Author

Osho, the philosopher and spiritual leader who rose to prominence in the sixties and seventies, continued teaching and guiding devoted followers up until his death in 1990. Many of Osho's techniques have been preserved by the Osho Foundation, which continues to practice and spread Osho's teachings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1152 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312180586
• ISBN-13: 978-0312180584
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,755 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

272 of 284 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Osho says "Yes" to life, August 12, 2001

By 

"loskairos" (tallahassee, Fl United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Secrets: 112 Keys to the Mystery Within (Hardcover)

I cannot say enough about this book. After reading merely 1/10th of it and practcing the techniques it is more than enough feel how amazing this book really is. Really, if you have come far enough to read a review, or even to look up this book, you should buy it. YOu must buy it unless you want to miss out. It is the next step.

Osho is the greatest spiritual teacher of our time. Tantra is the greatest wisdom of all of time. I had, before I read this book, a great split in the philosophy I was attracted to. On one hand I was entranced by things such as Buddhism and Taoism, things that are, to a degree ascetic, denying... they were clear, concise, purely rational systems of thought, I could not say no to something I knew to be steeped in both rational truth and experiental truth (insight& knowledge from my own experience). At the same time though I was blown away by Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, western philosophers grouped as existentialists who seemed to advocate a life filled with passion. These two opposing systems, I realized, came from the same sort of outlook on the world, but were, in their practices, very very different. I could not reconcile the two.

I mention this split in my thinking because many of my friends have it as well, perhaps not with the same philosophers, but they have this split too. You too may have it. It is the split between this world and a transcendental realm. Between having Nirvana and having a nice t-shirt. Between having bliss and having a family. It seems, hitherto, one has been unable to have both.

Osho lets you have both. He says you already have this world. But instead of denying this world Osho teaches you to use this world as a sort of catapult, a ladder, to get to higher states of awareness. Here is an example: When you get angry, he says, do not supress your anger because it created more anger; instead, he says become fully angry and then become aware of your anger, and then anger will have no power over you. He says the same of all emotions. He has meditative techniques for all sorts of personalities. This is how he says "yes" to life. Osho teaches that ALL situations, ALL emotions, everything, really, can be used as a tool to teach you, to help you increase awareness.

Lastly, Osho does not discriminate between religious traditions. Our world is one of splits between different religions, not one of love, it is a world where in areas like the middle-east people are killed for believing in this god or not believing in that one; where at places like my workplace a manager of mine told me I was going to Hell for practicing tantra & meditation and not following christ as the one & only savior; a world where a certain president elected in they year 2000 discriminately gives money to faith-based organizations... in this world the splits between religious faiths becomes hazardous. Osho speaks from his own knowledge and wisdom and love but uses at the same time, like any great teacher, ALL faiths, ALL beliefs, and ALL religious figures as examples, as illustrations, as ways to elaborate his point. Unifying divergent beliefs is really a great feat, and osho does it magnificently.

Really, after coming this far you ought to buy the book. Osho teaches how to say "yes" to life and enjoy it to its fullest. If you don't buy it Osho and I will come to your house and beat you up. That was a joke. I forgot to mention Osho has an awesome sense of humor. He tells you to laugh.

328 of 355 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars food for thought, November 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of Secrets: 112 Keys to the Mystery Within (Hardcover)

This is a great book covering many areas of spirituality. I liked his treatment of sex. This book and An Encounter With A Prophet removed my guilt about sex and helped me get closer to God at the same time.

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows how to transform sex-consc.into super-consciousness., April 30, 1998

By 

Dr. Vasant Joshi([e-mail] (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Secrets: 112 Keys to the Mystery Within (Hardcover)

The book, one of the ancient texts on Tantra, contains a masterful commentary on 112 techniques of meditation by the enlightened mystic, Osho. He brings into focus the central point that, such as the physical science shows techniques to transform matter, Tantra shows techniques to transform the spirit. Tantra, as Osho explains, does not condemn sex, nor does it ask to indulge into it. Tantra merely shows ways to raise sex energy for experiencing the higher states of consciousness.

The book is perhaps the first in acknowledging a woman's status as an independent inquirer. Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva, asks him some of the most quintessential questions for unraveling the secrets of how meditation can bring about a complete mutation in human consciousness. Sex being the strongest desire there is, Shiva explains how the way of Tantra helps in understanding this desire and transcending it. Osho's insight is: "Tantra says, be aware of the desire; do not create any fight. Move into desire with full consciousness, and when you move into desire with full consciousness you transcend it."

Osho has provided an in-depth understanding of the differences between sex and Tantra, Tantra and Yoga, the views about sex in the East and the West, male and female polarity and how both can become mutually nourishing.

The core message of this incredible text on meditation is that, sex is essentially a mystery, it is a creative energy manifested in the entire universe. Tantra is helpful in the understanding of this energy and showing how to live a healthy and natural life with love and awareness. Osho's observation is: "...the days of tantra are coming. Sooner or later tantra will explode for the first time in the masses, because for the first time the time is ripe -- ripe to take sex naturally. It is possible that the explosion may come from the West, because Freud, Jung, Reich they have prepared the background. They did not know anything about tantra, but they have made the basic !ground for tantra to evolve."