Meditation: The First and Last Freedom [Paperback]

Osho (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 18, 2004

The first upgrade to meditation since Buddha's time

In this essential meditation handbook for the 21st century, Osho turns the traditional notion of meditation practice on its head. Meditation: The First and Last Freedom shows that meditation is not a spiritual discipline separate from everyday life in the real world. In essence, it is simply the art of being aware of what is going on inside and around us. As we acquire the knack, meditation can be our companion wherever we are-at work, at play, at rest.

Meditation contains practical, step-by-step guides to a wide variety of meditation techniques selected by and/or created by Osho, including the unique OSHO Active Meditations which deal with the special tensions of contemporary life. Recognizing that it's almost impossible for most people these days just to stop and sit silently, these meditations - including the Osho Dynamic Meditation and Osho Kundalini Meditation - begin with one or more stages of vigorous physical activity. This brings our physical and mental energies to a peak, so that the following silence is easy -- leaving us alert, refreshed, and newly energized.

Newly revised and resized into a handy portable format, Meditation is the perfect text to begin or continue exploring the joys of meditation.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Better known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Osho was a controversial guru from India who attracted a large Western following in the mid-Seventies and Eighties. Although Osho rejects intellectual understanding as a valid approach to meditation, he considers one of the main benefits of meditation to be "intelligence: the ability to respond." Scorning religion and society as barriers to enlightenment, Osho fails to give credit to the traditional concepts he borrows from Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Sufi mysticism, and tantrum tradition. He presents smoking, shaking, laughing, crying, and sexual activity as meditative exercises that can lead students of meditation to inner freedom. Readers will find little of substance in this collection of discourses based on sloppy thinking, off-color humor, and gender stereotyping. Not recommended.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

"In Buddha's time, dynamic methods of meditation were not needed. People were more simple, more authentic. Now, people are living a very repressed life, a very unreal life. Just sitting directly in silence won't help." - Osho

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312336632
• ISBN-13: 978-0312336639
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.8 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,837 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Few book titles so accurately reflect the contents. February 4, 1998

By [e-mail]

Format:Paperback

This book is perhaps the best introduction to meditation on the market. It takes meditation out the area of religion and all the doo doo associated with it, and puts it right at the center of a science of the inner, exactly where it belongs. For the intelligent individual who doesn't want to be lumbered with yet another belief system, this is their book.

51 of 56 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars More of a money maker than anything else August 14, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book is not really a book by Osho, but more of an extraction of the practical excercies from "The Book of Secrets" by Osho.

If you don't have "The Book of Secrets" get it - its amazing; if you do have it already then this book will be of no use to you, unless you want a summary of "The Book of Secrets" without the good parts.

This book is just a money making racket I think - extracting bits and pieces of Osho's works and putting a fancy title on them. They've already got my cash, hopefully they won't get yours also.

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for every human being August 15, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Its hard to utter words about the significance of this book. It is a diamond in an ocean of mud. It is the key to life, if this was a high scool requirenment, the world would be a paradise.No doubt Osho knows what he is talking about, and if it is meditation one in seeking, then this is the book!