Osho′s unpublished darshan diaries scan thirty months between 1978 and 1981.
These were short intimate one-to-one talks given mainly to sannyas-takers about the meanings of their new names.
The tapes were immediately transcribed and the material prepared for publication, and then, because of the move to the Ranch, most ended up in cold storage.
Not long before he left his body, Osho gave instructions for excerpts to be culled from these darshans to create two new companion compilations, and these are - titled by him (as all his books are) -
A Must for Morning Contemplation and A Must for Contemplation Before Sleep.
For sannyasins used to hearing Osho say clearly that contemplation is not meditation, you are bound to feel some surprise at his choice.
But he has, as always, defined very precisely their differences: to concentrate on something is not the same as meditate on it; and
contemplation is quite unlike what he called dhyana, meditation itself.
So at a time when the reader is usually at his most restful and receptive, early in the morning or late at night, the short daily passages in these books will be
there to help return his thoughts to the topics Osho talks about so beautifully.
Osho is acknowledging that you cannot expect to be empty-minded at these times; he seems to be offering to replace the usual fantasies and worries with
nuggets of wisdom from his own enlightenment. And what lovelier way to go to sleep, what lovelier way to wake?
"I don′t teach you any dogma, any belief system, any philosophy. I simply give you the science of going in, of waking up your soul." – Osho
Osho often says that the last thought on falling asleep is not only the first thought in the morning but stays with you throughout the night.
With so many beautiful thoughts here - and not only thoughts, because the books are full of pictures too, pictures of Osho, of His commune,
of his sannyasins and of nature - it is hard not to imagine a night full of illuminating dreams.
These are bedside books. They have a broad ribbon to mark your place, and if there are connotations of a book at bedtime, of folding up under the duvet with a
rum toddy, what could be more suitable? The older generation will appreciate the books, because there are none of those jokes or political passages,
and the books will make delightful gifts without risk of raised eyebrows.
But be sure to give yourself one as well. For what more could we ask than to be tucked up in bed with our master, have a little chit-chat and then sleep with him
all night?
That may sound wonderfully cozy, but of course these are not only bedside books.
Osho gave specific suggestions as to how they are to be read: not like a novel, for you to lose yourself in, nor even to be dipped into like a Reader′s Digest,
but in a way that in itself makes a powerful meditation - one short passage per sitting (or lying, as it probably will be).
The passages have an order to them that is accumulative; if you have both books, the morning and evening readings complement each other.
The natural temptation will be to read on. And yet the idea is to let each short passage sink deep inside all on its own: to take one piece at a time.
Stay with these daily fixes for a year, just the way the book invites you to with its layout - each passage numbered according to the day of the month you start -
and who knows what secret shifts of fortune might occur between nightfall and dawn, between dawn and dusk?...
Swami Anand Robin
"To be with a master simply means to live with someone who is awake, who is no more asleep, whose dreams are finished, whose nightmares are over. And just being in tune with the master slowly slowly wakes you up. The very energy of the master starts penetrating your being. Slowly slowly it seeps into your heart, slowly slowly it gives you a new heart, a new beat. You cannot remain long with a master without becoming awake, because he is continuously shouting, calling you forth to wake up, calling you forth to come out of your grave." – Osho
(Osho Times International April 1, 1991)