15 Books That OSHO Has Loved (favourite list)
Osho is said to read over 1 lac books in his life. However, a very few of them (to be exact, 168) were really close to his heart.
Osho, during his various talks, had repeatedly mentioned the name of these few books that are being shortly described here.
Note- In case, you want to see books that are based upon Osho’s discourses then kindly go here.
Table of Contents
1. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil is one of the people whose work was very close to Osho’s heart. When it comes to Love, Osho never forgets to mention Kahlil’s work in poetry.
His book ‘The Prophet’ is appreciated with open-heart by Osho. The book is written in prose-poetry style, and answers life’s deepest questions in an interesting way.
2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
As Osho mentioned to Kahlil on the subject of Love; the leading man on the subject of Truth was Nietzsche for Osho. Nietzsche was a German Philosopher whose book named ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ was very close to his heart.
Zarathustra deals with ideas about the Übermensch, the death of God, the will to power, and eternal recurrence.
3. Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Published in 1980, and written by Russian Philosopher Dostoyevsky, the book is a passionate philosophical novel that deeply enters into the questions of God, free will, and morality.
This novel was very close to Osho’s heart, thus he recited some parts in several of his sermons.
4. The Book of Miradad by Mikhail Naimy
”The book of Miradad” was first published in 1948, and was very close to Osho’s heart.
The book is presented as a series of dialogues between Mirdad, the abbot of a monastery, and his disciples. This book is written in such a way that it draws on a variety of philosophies, including Sufi Islam’s, and that of Leo Tolstoy.
5. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
This 1922 novel is authored by German writer Hermann Hesse, and Osho has talked about this, in many of his talks.
Written in a simple, lyrical style, the novel is based on the life of Siddhartha Gautham, better known as Gautam Buddha.
6. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Osho has recited many of the stories from this book. This is how Wikipedia describes this book.
“The book tells the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a seagull who is bored with daily squabbles over food. Seized by a passion for flight, he pushes himself and learns everything he can about flying. His increasing unwillingness to conform finally results in his expulsion from the flock. Now an outcast, he continues to learn, becoming increasingly pleased with his abilities while leading a peaceful and happy life. ”
7. Alice in Wonderland by Jane Carruth (Adapted By)
This seems more like a kids’ book than a book on Philosophy. However, this one is just a philosophical book in kids’ format.
8. The Rubiyat by Omar Khayyam
This book is a poetry work by Omar Khayyam, written in the form of Rubai (quatrains, four-line-poems), and is highly recommended by Osho.
9. Tao Te Ching (or The Book of the Way) by Lao Tzu
Lao’s way of love was extremely close to Osho’s heart.
This book is the most widely translated work in world literature after the Bible. Moreover, it is the classic text of Taoism, the ancient Chinese school of thought.
10. Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath’s work was highly praised by Osho, especially that he did later in his life.
Originally published in Bengali, in 1910, ”Gitanjali” (viz, Song Offering), is the collection of 103 prose poems. For this, Tagore got a Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1913.
11. Mulla Nasruddin by Michael Günther (Editor)
Osho’s lectures are incomplete without Mulla Nasruddin’s tales and stories. All the people who love Osho, also love Mulla Nasruddin. This book is a collection of Nasruddin’s stories.
12. Meetings With Remarkable Men by G.I. Gurdjieff
Gurdjieff was a man who Osho has talked a lot about. This book, autobiographical in nature, is based on the meetings of Gurdjieff with some special people, that impacted heavily on his life, starting with his father.
13. Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Osho liked himself to be called ”Zorba The Buddha”.
First published in 1946, it is the tale of a young Greek intellectual who ventures to escape his bookish life with the aid of the boisterous and mysterious Alexis Zorba.
The novel was adapted into the successful 1964 film of the same name directed by Michael Cacoyannis as well as a stage musical and a BBC radio play.
14. The Dhammapada by Anonymous
The Dhammapada is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best-known Buddhist scriptures.
15. The First and Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti
Osho and Krishnamurthi were said to have clashing thoughts, however, Osho loved his book ”The First and Last Freedom”.
READ- 10 Best Books on Spirituality (of all time)
More Titles That Were Very Close To Osho’s Heart-
The Parables of Chuang Tzu
The Sermon on the Mount
Bhagavad-Gita by Krishna
The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
The Book of the Sufis
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
The Book of Lieh Tzu
Dialogue on Socrates by Plato
The Notes of the Disciples of Bodhidharma
The Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam
Masnavi by Jalaluddin Rumi
The Isa Upanishad
All and Everything by George Gurdjieff
In Search of the Miraculous by P. D. Ouspensky
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Hsin Hsin Ming by Sosan
Tertium Organum by P. D. Ouspensky
Geet Govinda by Jayadev
Samayasar by Kundkunda
The First and the Last Freedom by J. Krishnamurti
The Book/Teachings of Huang Po
The Book of Hui Hi
The Song of Solomon
The Fragments by Heraclitus
The Golden Verses by Pythagoras
The Royal Song by Saraha
Tilopa’s Song of Mahamudra
Zen and Japanese Culture by D. T. Suzuki
Let Go by Hubert Benoit
Ramakrishna’s Parables
The Fables of Aesop
Mula Madhyamika Karika by Nagarjuna
The Book of Marpa
Brahma Sutras by Badrayana
Bhakti Sutras by Narada
Yoga Sutras by Patanjali
The Songs of Kabir
The Secret Doctrine by Madame Blavatsky
The Songs of Meera
The Songs of Sahajo
The Book of Rabiya-al-Adabiya
The Songs of Nanak
Vivek Chudamani by Shankaracharya
The Koran – Hazrat Mohammed
The Dhammapada – Buddha
Jaina Sutras – Mahavira
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
The Declarations of Al-Hillaj Mansoor
The Fragments of Mahakashyapa
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
The Stories of Baal Shem Tov
The Songs of Farid
Vigyana Bhairava Tantra – Shiva
Tatva Sutra by Uma Swati
The Songs of Naropa
The Poetry of Malukdas
Guru Granth Sahib (the book of the Sikhs)
The Light on the Path by Mabel Collins
The Songs of Lalla
Words of Gorakh-Nath
The Supreme Doctrine by Hubert Benoit
Shiva Sutra
Message of Gaurang
The Songs of Dadu
The Statements of Sarmad
The Will to Power by Friedrich Nietzsche
A New Model of the Universe by P. D. Ouspensky
The Statements of Sanai
The Fragments of Dionysius
At the Feet of the Master by Jiddhu Krishnamurti
The Fragments of Junaid
God Speaks by Meher Baba
Maxims for a Revolutionary by George Bernard Shaw
The Teachings of Hui Neng
The Jokes of Mulla Nasruddin
The Destiny of the Mind by Haas
The Sayings of Eckhart
The Sayings of Boehme
The Sufis by Idries Shah
The Way of Zen by Alan Watts
The Sayings of Rinzai by Lin-Chi
The Lectures of Hazrat Inayat Khan
All of the books by Hazrat Ali Khan
Jesus, the Son of Man by Kahlil Gibran
The Madman by Kahlil Gibran
Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre
Time and Being by Martin Heidegger
Tractatus Logico Philisophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Nirdesh Sutra by Vimalkirti
Commentaries on Living by J. Krishnamurti
Commentaries by Maurice Nicoll
Our Life with Gurdjieff by Hartmann
Shree Pasha by Ramanuja
The Future Psychology of Man by P.D. Ouspensky
The Book of Bahauddin
The Outsider by Colin Wilson
The Analects by Confucius
The Garden of the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
The Voice of the Master by Kahlil Gibran
Who am I by Maharshi Ramana
The Mind of India by Moorehead and Radhakrishnan
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
The Wanderer by Kahlil Gibran
The Spiritual Sayings by Kahlil Gibran
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Tales of Hassidism by Martin Buber
I and Thou by Martin Buber
Das Kapital by Karl Marx
Lectures on Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
Meetings with Remarkable Men by Gurdjieff
The Grantha by a disciple of Kabir
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
The Myth of Sisyphus by Marcel
The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
The Songs of Daya bai
Lust for Life by Irving Stone
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
Notes on Jesus by Thomas
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Mother by Maxim Gorky
Fathers and Sons by Turgenev
The Phoenix by D.H. Lawrence
Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious by D.H. Lawrence
Light of Asia by Arnold
Bijak by Kabir
One Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse
The I Ching
Nadi Ke Dvip (Islands of a River) by Sacchidanand Vatsayana
The Art of Living by Lin Yutang
The Wisdom of China by Lin Yutang
The Talmud
Shunya Svabhava by Taran Taran
Siddhi Svabhava by Taran Taran
Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Psychosynthesis by Assagioli
Prose Poems by Kahlil Gibran
Thoughts and Meditations by Kahlil Gibran
My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
Confessions by Saint Augustine
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Art of Tantra by Ajit Mukherjee
The Tantra Paintings by Ajit Mukherjee
Bhaj Govindam moodh mate by Adi Shankaracharya
Philosophical Papers by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Zen Flesh Zen Bones – Paul Reps
Zen Buddhism by Christmas Humphries
The Songs of Chandidas
Shiva Puri Baba by Bennett
Listen Little Man by Wilhelm Reich
Principia Mathematica by Bertrand Russell and Whitehead
Poetics by Aristotle
Three Pillars of Zen by Ross
The Gospel of Ramakrishna by Mahendranath
The collected works of Ramatirtha
Principia Ethica by G.E. Moore
The Songs of Rahim by Rahim Khan Khana)
Divan by Mirza Ghalib
The Book by Alan Watts
