Through an assortment of Zen stories and responses to questions, Osho uses humor to hammer on the idea that the self is all that there is. “A sudden change, a sudden clash of thunder, a discontinuity” and the bondage of the mind is broken.

Osho uses the Tao Te Ching texts as Lao Tzu intended: to ignite the flame of individual awareness and insight. From the seven verses Osho selected to comment on, he moves deeply into his own understanding and burns through every idea we may hold about ourselves until we can see with the same crystal clear light as Lao Tzu.

In The Hidden Harmony, Osho introduces Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who was thought of as eccentric, using outlandish statements to put across his message. His audience found him difficult to understand ‒ he was known as “the Riddler” and “the Obscure,” but Osho describes Heraclitus as a rare flowering; a highly penetrating soul.