Using the Upanishadic vision, Osho contrasts the teachings of Buddha, J. Krishnamurti, and the Vedas, and explains how these different teachings have relevance to the way we live today.

I love the statement that the "man of Zen walks in Zen and sits in Zen" for the simple reason that meditation cannot be just a part of your life. You cannot make a fragment of your life meditative.

In The Secret, Osho introduces us to the world of love, and initiates us into the ways of love.

These discourses contain what Osho describes as the most significant statements ever made, which point to the whole secret of the mystic approach toward life. And the sutra that begins this series of discourses, he says, contains the very essence of the entire Upanishadic vision - that the universe is an indivisible totality, an organic whole. Osho illuminates these ancient texts with such clarity that their significance seems stunningly obvious.

In these delightful and playful talks, Osho introduces the mystery, the wonder and the emptiness that is Zen, not comparable to anything else and a completely different approach to life. The chapters alternate between elaborating original excerpts by the 14th Zen master, Ikkyu, taking us into the world of Zen – and responding to personal questions, which brings the world of Zen into our lives, connects with our issues and questions.

Nirvana has become an idealized word associated with the juxtaposition of a cult rock celebrity who died before his time and a vague new age version of Eastern religion. An altered state to be hoped for but likely unattainable, reinforcing that all too familiar uneasiness associated with never being able to have what we truly desire in life.

The Magic of Self-Respect is the second volume in a series titled Authentic Living. So much of the experience of everyday life, says Osho in this insightful guide, is shaped by religious and social conditioning - and we are not even aware of the fact.

Osho sees Zen not as a historical spiritual tradition but as the future spirituality of a humanity that has matured to the point that people no longer need religions controlled by priesthoods and based on fearful superstitions that cripple people's innate intelligence and divide them from one another. This series of talks offers a deeper understanding of the underlying differences between Eastern and Western approaches to religion and the nature of consciousness.

In these talks, Osho introduces his audience to Zen, with its emphasis on being alert and attentive to the simplest acts of ordinary life as a way to experience meditation. Zen stories serve as starting points for several talks in the series, illuminating the nature of that rare human capacity to transcend the limits of the rational mind.

There is a famous Zen story about a disciple, Riko, who once asked his master, Nansen, to explain to him the old Zen koan of the goose in the bottle. Namely, if a man puts a gosling into a bottle and feeds the gosling through the bottle's neck until it grows and becomes a goose - and then there is simply no more room inside the bottle - how can the man get it out without killing the goose or breaking the bottle? In response, Nansen shouts, "Riko!" and gives a great clap with his hands.