The Beauty of the Human Soul

Book excerpt: 'The Beauty of the Human Soul' continues the AUTHENTIC LIVING series by Osho with talks by the contemporary mystic during his stay in the United States. All of the Osho books are created from his extemporaneous talks, and in this volume reflect the intimate setting in which they were given, with small audiences of those gathered in the Oregon commune around him. Everything is on the table - belief in God, the meaning of compassion, what happens when we die. In sharing stories from his own life, bringing new insights to old parables, and challenging his listeners to examine their own conscious and unconscious beliefs, he begins to create a new and more authentic "narrative" about what we human beings are doing on this planet, and why we are here. The entire Authentic Living series is a manifesto of the priceless gift of individuality, of both the freedom and the responsibility that comes with living life according to your own light, free from fixed concepts and ideologies given by others – whether that be parents, teachers, priests, or politicians. The challenge is to take nothing for granted, leave no sacred cow unexamined. And to take the courage to step into the unknown with no idea of what is going to happen, with great creativity, sensitivity, and awareness, but with no fixed ideology. Osho says: "You have to go through a transformation and that, only you can do. Except you, nobody can reach there. And this is the beauty of the human soul, that it is absolutely unavailable to anybody. Your center is so protected by existence that nobody can even touch it."