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Joy: The Happiness That Comes from Within

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This is the first Osho book I read. Before this I had avoided his books entirely, because the media had widely publicised that this Guru had 93 Rolls-Royces in his collection and portrayed him as nothing more than a charlatan in disguise. But a close friend had praised the insights gained from his books and I felt that I had to give his teachings a fair hearing.

As a Guru, he was far from being a cave-dweller; instead this former Professor of Philosophy (University of Jabalpur,1958-66) was more of a modern rebel, and this may understandably disappoint some folks on their expectations of what a Guru should be. But his answer on the 93 Rolls-Royces and other fineries he had, was that he simply used what was available. He was a practical man indeed!

In reading this book, I was amazed to find page after page of 'bang on-target' penetrating insights, peppered with sharp observations of human nature and ocassionally punctuated with entertaining parables told with wry humour. Read this book if you want to know the difference between pleasure, happiness, joy and bliss.

Some brief excerpts from the book:-

'..asking for more is what our mind is - a constant asking for more. It makes no difference how much you have, the mind will go on asking for more.'

'..mind is a daydreaming faculty. Unless you go beyond the mind, you will continue to daydream. The mind cannot exist in the present. To be in the present is to be without mind.'

'..mind is a mechanism to create unhappiness. If you drop the mind, suddenly you become happy - for no reason at all.'

'..madmen and mystics have something similar..both are out of the mind. The madman has fallen below it, the mystic has gone beyond it.'

'..unless you start living in the present, you will not be able to forget and forgive the past. Awareness cannot be in the past and cannot be in the future. Awareness knows only the present.'

'..as you feel the bliss of being in the present, you will stop doing this stupid thing that everybody goes on doing. You will stop going into the past. You will not have to forget and forgive, it will simply disappear of its own accord.'

This book is filled with similar gems of wisdom and I strongly recommend this book if you wish to comprehend the elusive nature of happiness/joy. Notwithstanding that he was a controversial Guru when he was alive (1931-1990), the contents of this book will still take your understanding way beyond what the current crop of pop psychology books can offer on this subject.

And then, when you are ready for the next level of mental/spiritual evolution, these 2 books are must-haves:-

'Talks With Ramana Maharshi' by Robert Powell (ISBN: 1878019007)

'I Am That' by Nisargadatta Maharaj (ISBN: 0893860220)

In "Joy--The Happiness that Comes From Within" Osho proves himself once again to fit squarely in the tradition of cultural physicians past and present (Nietzsche, Colin Wilson, Erich Fromm, Laing) and clearly states that society as it exists is little more than a mass neurosis of fear, culturally glorified narcissism, and above all, fear of openness. Perhaps the only problem with his work is that it is being marketed in a culture directly inimical to it's message--as a Westerner, I have trouble inculcating his on-the-mark attacks simply because I am a Westerner. Osho has written the same book countless times, and his message never becomes less relevant for the repetition. He is a poet, philosopher and sage all at the same time, and his constant exhortation to 'drop the ego' could be characterized as the central message in his work. The only thing I take issue with in his work is his persistent dismissal of culture's irrevocable (and sometimes irreversible) influence on the individual. If one could simply 'drop out' of this mass neurosis a lot more intelligent people would have done it by now. Nonetheless, his work is invaluable and I am certain that one day Osho's name will be up there with the greats of both literature, eastern thought and creativity.

He gives wisdom (not advice) to questions like "is this all there is? life seems meaningless" and "why do i feel so much pain in letting go of the things that are causing me misery?"

well! osho is the first to give me a peace of mind on these matters. if you just don't see the point to anything, maybe this book is for you.

Osho is a goofball - and I say that with love! You can't read this book without smiling, even when he's kicking you around for acting the fool. Osho talks a lot about why people choose to be miserable. That's a good place to begin if you're looking for joy. Of course every minute you're looking for joy, Osho is yelling at you to STOP LOOKING!

Osho has no trouble taking on the Constitution on one page and Jesus on the next - ie there are no keep-off-the-grass issues here! The writing challenges us to drop our stuff - to get out of the box - to claim the joy that is our birthright. And he does it in a playful way!

Do not give this book to that person in your life who you think needs a little joy. Save it for someone who will really appreciate it - someone who doesn't take themself too seriously!

Going through a really challenging and stressful time in my life, I've searched high and low for all sorts of books on meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, mysticism, etc and I find myself so incredibly turned off by the deep intellectual Buddhist philosophy. I need something to give me ease, to help me release the tension, and most Buddhist texts, at least right now, are too heavy for me and essentially useless. Perhaps I've needed that foundation of ease/joy before I can delve into the deeper contemplations.

Osho speaks in such clarity and ease that during my own inner stress/struggle, his book alone was the only one that I found myself glued to, underlining, feeling like the knots in my life and perception were unraveling all at once, immediately.

Joy is not something you can pursue. The more I pursued meditation, Buddhism, etc the harder I tried, the worse I felt. Joy and ease aren't things you can pursue directly. Perhaps what I have been looking for are the tools for letting go. It's something that everyone should have access to, right now, without years of training, rituals, practice, etc that is not practical for most people. Joy is what happens when you let go of the past and forget the future, and just bask in the pleasure of right here and now. When you learn to just take things easy, you let yourself feel love inside yourself and that love can build up into an ambition and clarity/focus to tackle even the most stressful situations in life.

Joy shouldn't take years of mind training, meditation, philosophical insight, years of mystical preliminaries and extensive mystical rituals. Kudos to those who have that time, but I have a family, a job, a home business, a big move, and lots of life changes going on right now, so I need instant relief. Maybe someday I'll have the time to focus on that, but now, as so much is up in the air, I need something simple, something relaxing, to give me that ease and joy. This book does that.

We live in a negative world of make believe, of artificiality with everyone chasing the next high because they are anything but happy. This book illustrates this so well, it makes you think, it makes you ask yourself - are you really happy and what really does make you happy. We tend to seek such transient means of happiness that it is so short lived. Osho shows us how to be truely happy and as a result attain some moments of joy. Doesn't the world need that?
Dr Gunta Krumins-Caldwell author of On Silver Wings

In my humble opinion every book of Osho is a treasure and give you very important arguments for your personal growing.

Tiziano

This is an outstanding guidance for people who want to liberate themselves from the complication of their daily living and make a change towards obtaining a real joy and happiness in life. This book opens new insight about life. It uncovers the illusions of the world that have been created by the society. Under the influence of the society, we consider materials as the value for reaching our joy or happiness goal. Because we used to look outside, we always feel that others create our misery - or the misery is from outside. Osho, in contrast, shows the fact that the misery, the joy and the happiness is not come from the materials or from others - but from within oneself. To eridicate misery and to gain joy and happiness, one needs to build one's conciousnesss, which can be obtained through the practice of meditation.

Certainly after reading this book, one realizes the greatness of this man. More importantly this book gives one the stepping stones to realizing the greatness in oneself. Not the superficial greatness often people confuse. A powerful book. Truly if the whole world read it and got it, an ecstatic and truly free world we would live in.

This is why this book is dangerous to all corrupt structures, governments, religions, etc which is also why you will enjoy reading this book.

Hi,

This book was the book that I read after I got divorce. The reason why I chose this book is because I felt ok about it and never felt guilty or even sad. I had a strange feeling that I couldn't even explain. I am saying strange because it was positive. Honestly, I thought that there was something wrong with me. However, the book explains to me what I was exactly feeling, and that was Joy. The book answered all my questions that I was thinking of. It also helped me to know the main reason behind my divorce that I fought for. The following is a book trailer I created after finishing the book. It consists of several questions that the book answers.
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Enjoy