Source Text
Never think of going somewhere. Think in terms of transforming yourself here. “There” is a cunning strategy of the mind to deceive you. The mind always makes you interested in things far away, there, so that you can be led away from here.
Man is not born to be a machine, but man lives like a machine and dies like a machine. Man has the seed of a great flowering of consciousness, man has the possibility to become God. But that doesn’t happen. It does not happen because man has been hypnotized – by the society, by the state, by the organized church, by the vested interests. The society needs slaves, and man can remain a slave only if he is not allowed to grow into his uttermost flowering. The society needs your flesh and your skins and naturally nobody likes it. Hence the whole process of socialization, of civilization, is nothing but a deep hypnosis.
man of soul is always dangerous because a man of soul is a free man, he cannot be reduced to slavery. A man who has an immortal soul in him has a deeper commitment to existence itself, to God himself. He does not care a bit about the man-made structures of society, civilization and culture; these are prison cells for him. He does not exist as a Christian or a Hindu or a Mohammedan. He cannot be part of a crowd. He exists as an individual. The body is part of a crowd, your soul is not. Your soul is deeply individual. Its flavor is that of freedom.
You start diving deep within your own being. And there is the source of immortality. The society prevents you from going inwards. And the best way is to give you a false idea that you are going inwards. The magician told the sheep that they are lions, suggested to them that they are immortals, hypnotized them into believing that they are not only men but they are great magicians.
The Secret of the Golden Flower is one of the most esoteric treatises in the world. It will show you the way to become more than the body. It will show you the way to go beyond death. It will show you the way to bloom – how not to remain a seed but to become a golden flower – what in India we have called the one-thousand-petaled lotus, in China they call the golden flower. It is a symbol.
half-truths because half-truths are more dangerous than lies, because they are powerful.
Half of you belongs to the earth and half of you belongs to the sky. Now you are nowhere. Now you are nobody. This can create madness. So for centuries The Secret of the Golden Flower was only conveyed orally.
The seed has to die, only then can it grow; the seed has to disappear, only then can the tree happen.
Past is just your memory and future is just your imagination. But you have been hypnotized to live in the past and you have been hypnotized to live in the future: Choose, either past or future. But no society allows you to live in the present.
Why are you so hard on me? I am dying and you are talking such great philosophy – ‘You never lived.’ Is this the time to say such things?” I listened silently. I just became absolutely silent. Then the rage disappeared and he started crying, and great tears came to his eyes. He held my hand with great love and then he said, “Maybe you are right. I never lived. Maybe you are not rude, you are just being true. And I know nobody else would have said this to me.” And then great gratitude, and for a moment he became so conscious that one could have seen the light on the face – it was there, he was all aura. And he thanked me. That night he died. I remained with him to the last moment. And he said, “If you had not been here I would have missed my death too, as I have missed my life. But I am dying consciously. At least one thing I am happy about – I am not dying unconsciously.” And his death was beautiful. He died without any regret, he died in a relaxed way. He died almost with a welcoming heart. He died full of gratitude. He died prayerfully. His next life is bound to have a different quality.
AI Summary
The Secret of Secrets by Osho presents key insights from the Christian Mysticism tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.