Osho
Il Libro del Risveglio

THE REVIEW

Controversial character but with an irresistible charm, just approach any written work by Osho (all his books are from live conferences!) to be enchanted and bewildered by the depth and sharpness of thought of this man above any ordinary mortal being (not to say "enlightened").
This "The Book of Awakening" (Edizioni del Cigno) is no exception. Written in a question and answer format (almost every book has the same structure), the Master shares with us his Existential Vision, contradictory but in some ways linear and compelling, against any rule and convention.

Osho talks to us about Life, Death, Existence, Survival, God, Sexuality, Eternity, Beauty, and Love.
In short: he talks to us about Life and that's it.
Life in itself has no meaning.
We are born amidst a thousand sufferings, we live as best we can and we die, hoping to God not to suffer the torments of hell in a wheelchair or worse.
Life thus takes on meaning only if you manage to find some harmony with the Sacred, only if you can infuse a bit of divine fragrance into the things you do and live daily. If you can spiritually merge with the Whole and the Part. Macrocosm and Microcosm interpenetrated together.
Only then do you have a remote possibility of becoming eternal and giving meaning to our earthly passage.
If you can become Pure Love, if you can make your existence more beautiful, colorful, and lively transforming it into a kind of Tribute to the Creation… then it has a meaning.
It must have it.

In life, meaning has to be created; it is never given a priori. There are no magic formulas that tell you HOW to live best and WHAT the Meaning of it all is.
You have been offered freedom, you have been offered creativity, and the possibility to practice it through Life.
That thing we all take too much for granted and appreciate ONLY when it is attacked or deprived of us through the loss of a loved one or something else.

We have been given all the necessary ingredients to create our own Life Menu but no one has ever given us a meaning a priori.
Because the meaning of everything you must create yourself.
You must become a Creator in every sense and in this way, you become a participant and protagonist of the divine part that is in you.
You become part of God.
You, I, we... after all, we are all God.

Hypnotic reading but not difficult... only for those who are on "a journey towards something".