Ultimate Alchemy

by Osho

Osho observes that this Upanishad is one of the most beautiful and also one of the most neglected. He also points out that commentators usually are either on the path of love or the path of knowledge. But the commentator on this particular Upanishad is unique in being neither. Osho is perhaps the first person to discuss these sutras in such a way that the reader can feel a sense of oneness beyond the apparent contradictions. He talks on philosophy as a bridge between science and religion, different dimensions of listening, the role of doubt, the way to know whether one has transcended sex, the difference between projections and authentic feelings, and much more. He also explains how his words are a response to, not a commentary on these sutras.

Genres: Spirituality, Philosophy

483 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain, 11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990) and latter rebranded as Osho was leader of the Rajneesh movement. During his lifetime he was viewed as a controversial new religious movement leader and mystic.

In the 1960s he traveled throughout India as a public speaker and was a vocal critic of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi, and Hindu religious orthodoxy.

Rajneesh emphasized the importance of meditation, mindfulness, love, celebration, courage, creativity and humor—qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialization.

In advocating a more open attitude to human sexuality he caused controversy in India during the late 1960s and became known as "the sex guru".

In 1970, Rajneesh spent time in Mumbai initiating followers known as "neo-sannyasins". During this period he expanded his spiritual teachings and commented extensively in discourses on the writings of religious traditions, mystics, and philosophers from around the world. In 1974 Rajneesh relocated to Pune, where an ashram was established and a variety of therapies, incorporating methods first developed by the Human Potential Movement, were offered to a growing Western following. By the late 1970s, the tension between the ruling Janata Party government of Morarji Desai and the movement led to a curbing of the ashram's development and a back taxes claim estimated at $5 million.

In 1981, the Rajneesh movement's efforts refocused on activities in the United States and Rajneesh relocated to a facility known as Rajneeshpuram in Wasco County, Oregon. Almost immediately the movement ran into conflict with county residents and the state government, and a succession of legal battles concerning the ashram's construction and continued development curtailed its success.

In 1985, in the wake of a series of serious crimes by his followers, including a mass food poisoning attack with Salmonella bacteria and an aborted assassination plot to murder U.S. Attorney Charles H. Turner, Rajneesh alleged that his personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela and her close supporters had been responsible. He was later deported from the United States in accordance with an Alford plea bargain.[

After his deportation, 21 countries denied him entry. He ultimately returned to India and a revived Pune ashram, where he died in 1990. Rajneesh's ashram, now known as OSHO International Meditation Resort and all associated intellectual property, is managed by the Zurich registered Osho International Foundation (formerly Rajneesh International Foundation). Rajneesh's teachings have had a notable impact on Western New Age thought, and their popularity has increased markedly since his death.

Reviews

[Ratnadip Acharya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Osho’s commentaries on the Atma Pooja Upnishad. I am no authority even to review it. One more time Osho’s words reached the deepest corner of my being and nudged my existence. The reason for writing these few lines is to let others know that such a treasure exists in this world. His insightful commentaries were peppered with profound jokes, chiefly on Mulla Nasiruddin. Reading this books (2 volumes) brings you to such a state that you do not feel like reading anything more but watch trees, listen to the music played by wind, get lost in the songs sung by birds. It is magical. If you have time and wish, please get lost in it. You will reinvent yourself. A more collected self who is more blissful without any tangible gain from the World.

[Akhil Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fav quotes (not a review):
-Page 51 |
"For example, if I am angry, then my body will show anger, but I can show anger in my body without being angry at all. An actor is doing that. He is expressing anger through his eyes, through his hands; he is expressing love – without feeling anything inside. He is showing fear, his whole body is trembling and shaking, but there is no fear inside."
-Page 83 |
"”ecstasy”. It means to stand outside; better to translate Samadhi as ”instasy” – to stand inside."
-Page 162
"your violence is not in the mind alone – it is deep in your teeth and in your nails."
-Page 167
"So the second thing: use unusual expressions. Don’t allow the routine. The more you allow it, the more powerful it goes on becoming."
-Page 192
"Live! So a totally free mind will not even be aware of freedom – first thing. It will be so free that it cannot be aware of freedom and it will not be aware of any bondage. It will be aware only of a life which is moving – moving moment-to-moment. And this movement is unmotivated – mm? – that is what is meant by freedom."
-Page 305
"Don’t even meditate – just be. Don’t do anything. Just be!"
-Page 378
"Mohammed was totally against music only because of this: on the path of will, music is a hindrance because you can forget yourself in it. So don’t forget yourself in anything, don’t lose yourself."
-Page 394
"Anger is there just like when a snake has come in the room – just be aware. Is the snake a god to be worshipped? No! Is the snake an enemy to be killed? No! Just be aware that the snake has come."

[Mridula Bhat · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is based on Atma Puja Upanishad and Osho uses various life examples of realised souls such as Buddha, Mahavir, Jesus, Hui Hui, Gurdjeiff,etc. there is something contradictory always in terms of our society, our thinking. it tells you that things which you would have never thought out.

But, you seem to lose interest in the last few chapters. It just goes bland in the end, there is no understanding or point to read if you can't know what's really written. In short, it's too complex and transcendental for a common man of the 21st century.

[Parm]

A very powerful and well-written book which provides deep insight into the Atma Pooja Upanishad.

[Sarka B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains Osho commentaries to Atma Pooja Upanishad and also replies to questions of Osho listeners. It is very interesting, profound and full of Osho wisdom. It is worth reading.

[Bhakta Kishor · Rating 2 out of 5]

In enquiring together into this matter one must go also into the question that the brain records every incident. It's a recording machine like a computer, so it is mechanical. And being mechanical, it is constantly repetitive. And our conditioning is to repeat a pleasure, either it be sexual or other forms of pleasure. Can the brain register what is absolutely necessary and not register any form of psychological events? Please, this is a very serious question, because all our conditioning, the content of our consciousness, is the mechanical process of the brain which records. And so one's life becomes mechanical. In that mechanical field, one may invent, but it's still born out of knowledge, and knowledge is incomplete, always - about anything. So thought is born of knowledge. And so thought is always incomplete. Knowledge always lives within the shadow of ignorance. So we're always functioning within the field of knowledge, which is our conditioning.

Don't just listen to all this as words, as ideas, but enquire with the speaker into the nature of one's repetitive mechanical mind, neither accepting nor denying it, but closely, attentively observing it, observing your own quality of mind... of brain, how terribly conditioned it is - as the British as the French and so on - and also conditioned by the religious concepts, conditioned by the climate and so on, by tradition. And when one is enquiring into a very deep subject like love, it behoves us not to come to it with our conditioning. So can we bring order in the confused, messy consciousness? Can there be order in this disorder of our whole way of life, our society, our culture, the language which we use, our reactions, so contradictory, and observe our consciousness with its content? Because when one observes it, there is such deep contradiction in it - wanting peace, to live a happy life, creative life, and yet doing everything opposite to that. So our consciousness is in perpetual conflict, and rather messy.

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