The Song of Ecstasy: Talks on Adi Shankara's Bhaj Govindam

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From the Jacket:

Shankara is a unique person. And it is very easy to misunderstand the unique person because he is beyond your common understanding. It seemed to people that he was also a logician, a great logician. But can a great logician say, "Sing! Dance! Sing the song of the divine"? It is just not possible for the logician to say so. Such words can be spoken only by a lover of the divine from the depths of his heart. - Osho

The path of Shankara's realization is through the heart and not through the head. That is why, although Shankara has written commentaries on the Brahmasutra, the Upanishads and the Gita, you will find his innermost feelings expressed in these small verses; here he has opened his heart. Here Shankara does not speak like a scholar or a thinker, here he expresses himself like a devotee. - Osho

Osho, the enlightened master for the twenty-first century, has spoken many times of Adi Shankaracharya, the eighth-century Indian enlightened mystic, but here for the first time we have a series of talks given on him and his teachings. In these talks we are introduced to a different Adi Shankaracharya - one who can sing of his ecstasy, and can dance in his joy in life.

"No one is more qualified to introduce the mystics than Osho, a man who stands out even in their exalted company. He speaks from his own experience, bringing his mystic predecessors to life, making them his contemporaries." - John Lilly, Scientist and author

About Osho:

Osho defies categorization, reflecting everything from the individual quest for meaning to the most urgent social and political issues facing society today. His books are not written but are transcribed from recordings of extemporaneous talks give over a period of thirty-five year. Osho has been described by the Sunday Times in London as one of the "1000 Makers of the 20th Century" and by Sunday Mid-Day in India as one of the ten people - along with Gandhi, Nehru and Buddha - who have changed the destiny of India.

Osho has a stated aim of helping to create the conditions for the birth of a new kind of human being, characterized as "Zorba the Buddha" - one whose feet are firmly on the ground, yet whose hands can touch the stars. Running like a thread through all aspects of Osho is a vision that encompasses both the timeless wisdom of the East and the highest potential of Western science and technology.

He is synonymous with a revolutionary contribution to the science of inner transformation and an approach to meditation which specifically addresses the accelerated pace of contemporary life. The unique Osho Active Meditations are designed to allow the release of accumulated stress in the body and mind so that it is easier to be still and experience the thought-free state of meditation.

Introduction:

Osho, the enlightened master for the twenty-first century, has mentioned Adi Sankaracharya, an enlightened mystic of eighth-century India many times, but there for the first time we are given a series of talks on the mystic and his teachings. Here we are introduced to a different Adi Shankaracharya - one who can sing in his ecstasy, one who can create a song and dance of his joy in life with an enlightened perception.

Osho begins the series with "The first and the basic sutra to be understood, is that truth is attained in emptiness and is lost in words…Language is created by man. Truth is not created by man, it is his discovery. It is neither to be created or proved, but only to be unveiled." Here Osho begins to unveil the secret, "Language is the veil. Thoughts are the only obstacle." Again we are directed inward into meditation, to bring out the mystery and mastery of our humanness.

Hearing Osho mention this master many times I had formed in my mind a character for Adi Shankaracharya - the great teacher, Shankara - as a dry debater of the scriptures. Adi Shankara went around the country, from one end to the other, arguing, debating and defeating all the renowned scholars, theologians and the so-called traditional religious leaders of that time who had turned the search for one's self into merely a mental exercise, and academic discussion. In these debates he continually insisted on bringing the search for one's self, of one's enlightenment, back to where it should be - the search within.

This popular son, which is in the Sanskrit language, is sung throughout India and is known as "Bhaj Govindam."

"Oh fool! Sing the son of the divine, sing the song of the divine." These words introduce the sutras of this song, leading us into Adi Shankara's perceptions that many will find will cut to the bone. One by one he cuts all delusions away from you, all supports and constructs that your might have used for the way of life you have chosen up to now, allowing a fresh opening, a new beginning. This song contains the truth, the bearuty, the clarity and the power of this enlightened master's teaching.

At the same time Osho is continually exhorting us, from his own understanding, "Oh fool! Sing the song of the divine, sing the song of the divine."