Customer Reviews

Emotions: Freedom from Anger, Jealousy & Fear

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm not a Buddhist, but a Christian. I started reading, just to see what it was about and read the whole thing. The beginning is a very relaxing read and had some highlightable/clipable quotes. I do have different religious beliefs, this book offered some areas for further prayer and contemplation but I did not find these areas offensive so much as a beneficial exposure to a different perspective. Overall, I'm glad that I had a chance to read this book and learn a little about who OSHA is. Thanks to Amazon.com for having this book in Kindle format so I could start reading it in 60 seconds.

This collection of Osho's wisdom, recorded from extemporaneous speeches rather than written all at once, offered many insights into the nature of negative and positive emotions. I definitely highlighted quite a few pearls like:
"Many people think that sentimentality is spirituality. But emotions are as mental as thoughts, and what you call your heart is as much in your head as your head. You can become emotional very easily. You can cry and weep with tears falling down, big pearl-like tears - but it is nothing spiritual."
"Sadness is passive anger and anger is active sadness."
"When you see anger in others, go and dig within yourself and you will find it there; when you see too much ego in others, just go inside and you will find ego sitting there. The inside functions like a projector; others become screens and you start seeing films on others which are really your own tapes."
"There is one and only one way to understand that to be angry is to be stupid: watch anger in all its phases, be alert to it so it does not catch you unawares; remain watchful, seeing every step of the anger. And you will be surprised: that as awareness about the ways of anger grows, the anger starts evaporating. And when the anger disappears, then there is a peace. Peace is not a positive achievement. When the hatred disappears, there is love. Love is not a positive achievement. When jealousy disappears, there is a deep friendliness towards all."

For me, the only thing that keeps this from being a five star book is the section at the end with "practical" suggestions on exercises for meditation, which are often pseudoscientific and almost all...well, weird.

The format wasn't perfect on the Kindle but the content was great.

This book is excellent. You are not simply TOLD what to do about dealing with negative emotions, you are shown HOW and WHY! This is NOT just another self help book. This is a book I wish I had read ages ago. We are indeed all taught to suppress rather than channel our negative emotions. This book will show you how to get RID of them by acknowledging them and working through positive solutions.. rather than say grab a drug and addict yourself to trying to escape them (and you never will this way)..

Although I don't share the religious beliefs with the author, I did find this book mainly beneficial with some useful thoughts and insights about emotions. I read at least 75% of the book but then it started getting a little strange so I dropped off. If you can maintain an open mind about applying the concepts to whatever religion you practice, I think it can be a useful read for you.

This is a wonderful small book - sharing deep and very helpful insights into the source of emotions and how to deal with them in a more mature and enjoyable way. The book consists of very small text excerpts, easy to read and to understand. At the end of the book you will find some very useful exercises and meditations which help to bring more awareness to your emotions. Just a wonderful book to share.

You can see the author speaking on different subjects on the OSHO YouTube Channel: [...]

I downloaded this book with only a passing knowledge of Osho: some revere him as a great guru, others revile him as a dangerous cult leader. Knowing full well that great thinkers often get bad press, I approached this book with an open mind. It is now closed.

I found this book offensive, hollow New Age drivel riddled with subtle brainwashing. I strongly discourage reading it, especially if you are emotionally unstable... which, let's be frank, is not an unreasonable assumption if you are attracted to a book promising "freedom from anger, jealousy, and fear".

Much of the book looks innocent enough, from vain platitudes on love to profound(?) insights like "live each emotion that you feel". Knowing the type of book I was reading, I found it easy to look past the pseudoscience ("the unconscious is nine times bigger than the conscious") and to make apologies for its sexism ("a woman knows that if she cries, she is the winner"). After defending the guru from the ignorant critic - myself - for page after page, it was then that I had my moment of enlightenment: this is dangerous nonsense!

Imagine if you will a young woman in distress looking for answers, looking for meaning. How will she respond when reading "if your husband never becomes angry, report him to the police... a husband who never becomes angry will one day suddenly jump and suffocate you"? Is it unrealistic to think she might believe this? Do you think that following this advice will improve her life?

I could go on for paragraphs about how seemingly benign injunctions against jealousy could be twisted into justifications for free love and communal marriage by a manipulative cult leader but I think I've already made my point. To the blind zealots sure to vote me down, may I offer these words of Osho as a parting message: "there is nothing spiritual in it. But people go on mistaking things".

OSHO - isn't that the free love cult led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh that poisoned people with salmonella, murdered Charles Turner and have been slowly taking over towns like Sedona, Arizona and Antelope, Oregon with the intent to force their cultist beliefs on others? Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh fled to India to avoid being prosecuted for his crimes right?