Years ago, a friend shared a problem in her relationship. At the time, I was reading a book on the topic, so I enthusiastically recommended it to her. But she looked at me condescendingly and said, “Oh, Kamy, your books aren’t helping me.” And yet, inside, I couldn’t help wondering, “Why do these books help […]
“And the truth is that as a person’s true power grows and their knowledge expands, the path before them grows narrower. In the end, they begin to do only and entirely what must be done, without choosing.”Ursula Le Guin, Earthsea, p. 64 These are the words spoken by the Master Summoner to Ged, the main […]
In the wholeness of our response to what is happening in our lives lies a very important secret. If we understand it—if we truly understand it—something significant happens in our life, and after that, we are never the same. To explain what I mean, I will start from a distance—from the time I began reading […]
“People believe in so many lies. Some of these lies are so subtle and convincing that we build our entire virtual reality upon them without even noticing that they are lies. The lies we believe about ourselves can be difficult to detect, because we are so used to them that they seem normal. For example, […]
When we learn to make decisions by developing sensitivity to circumstances and by trusting our inner nature, we gradually and almost imperceptibly become more patient. And this is very important, because there are decisions that we cannot make yet, simply because the inner preconditions for them have not ripened. I call these “ripe pear” decisions. […]
I recently came across an article on economy.bg about “Successful People Who Failed First.” And I have a soft spot for stories about people who overcame discouragement after failure. Like the little donkey that was thrown into a well but managed to climb out, they are living examples of turning obstacles into stepping stones on […]
There is a tale about two frogs that I know from my father. I have seen it online too, but for me this is not a story I have read – it is a story that was told to me when I was a child, and in this way it became deeply etched in my […]
Once, a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. While the owner was wondering what to do, the animal cried pitifully for hours. In the end, the farmer made a decision: to bury the well together with the donkey. He told himself that the donkey was already very old anyway, and that the well would have […]
Below is Osho’s response to a follower who shares that he feels depressed and self-judging, but does not know why. “This is the way to remain the same… this is a trick of the mind. Instead of moving toward understanding, the energy begins to move toward judgment… and change comes through understanding, not through judgment. […]
Once, a man was walking near a cliff and fell. As he was falling, he managed to grab onto the branch of a small tree growing out of a crack in the rock. Hanging from the branch, shaken by the cold wind, the man realized the full hopelessness of his situation: below him were river […]
One of the great paradoxes is that even while we seem to be doing all the “wrong” things and moving in the “wrong” direction, we are in fact getting closer to the very solution we seek. The most striking example of this is the teaching of accepting things exactly as they are. I agree that […]
This is a true story. I read it in one of Osho’s many texts and am retelling it from memory. The protagonist is Rabia al-Adawiyya, the Sufi mystic, about whom there are many anecdotes regarding how she preached her teachings. This is one of them. One day, Rabia was searching for something on the street […]
