Zen: Zest, Zip, Zap and Zing - Discourses Series by Osho

About this series · summary by Osho Live

"Zen: Zest, Zip, Zap and Zing" is a vibrant exploration of the intrinsic energy and profound insight that Zen offers to the human spirit. Through this series, Osho eloquently captures the essence of Zen as an awakening force that brings life into vivid clarity. He delves into the intricacies of Zen practice, not as a rigid structure, but as a fluid expression of freedom, presence, and heightened awareness. Osho’s perspective unravels the traditional Zen paradoxes, showing how they serve as mirrors reflecting our own inner complexities and illusions. With his characteristic wit and penetrating understanding, he challenges conventional thought patterns, urging followers to experience the immediacy and simplicity of life. Throughout the discourses, Osho emphasizes the transformative power of living 'in the moment', advocating for an energetic embrace of life's experiences as they are. This series is not just an intellectual exploration, but an invitation to embody Zen's liveliness and dynamic potential. Through stories, koans, and meditative insights, Osho paints a rich tapestry of Zen’s practical wisdom, offering a pathway for inner liberation and a zestful celebration of existence.

Find a talk Show summaries

1
Zen: The Koan of Life 27 December 1980
Zen is living life herenow—transcending religious conditioning and mind's ideologies; a reckless, ecstatic dive that burns ego into samadhi.
2
Innocence: Lost and Found Again 28 December 1980
Heaven is here and now; the mind's knowledge throws us out of innocence into time. True innocence is regained through awakening, not after death.
3
Sex, Love and Compassion: Seed, Flower and Fragrance 29 December 1980
Feeling sorry is ego; true compassion is being, arising when meditation transforms sex (seed) into love (flower) and, transformed, into compassion’s fragrance.
4
Mind: An Expert Coward 30 December 1980
Mind is an expert coward; scholars cling to the past to hide ignorance. The heart risks love; meditation can bring sudden self-realization even in old age.
5
Freedom and Love: The Centre and the Circumference 31 December 1980
Freedom as centre, love as circumference: promising another a future kills present love. Decondition beliefs, commit to the moment and to existence.
6
Bhagwan: Perfectly at Ease, Totally at Home 1 January 1981
Critics call him a 'self-styled god' because witnessing another's bliss wounds their ego; 'Bhagwan' means 'Blessed One' — a self-declared state, not creator.
7
The True Master: The Ultimate Rebel 2 January 1981
True Master is a rebel: egoless, spontaneous compassion blooms from enlightenment, shattering idols and illusions and demanding disciples uproot ego.
8
Women: Free of All the Chains 3 January 1981
India's spiritual chains - pseudo-religion and repressed sex - enslave women; freeing them from these taboos is the key to India's true liberation.
9
India: A New Present for a New Future 4 January 1981
Freedom exposed India's slave‑conditioning; until people awaken and are deprogrammed, chaos will surface — brief benevolent leadership must seed democracy.
10
Here and Now: The Only Time, The Only Place 5 January 1981
Nostalgia is a disease of escaping the present; living intensely here-and-now completely dissolves longing for past or future and opens timeless awareness.
11
Man: The Call of the Eternal 6 January 1981
Man is not a fixed being but a becoming: born without a prewritten soul, free to create his own soul and destiny; responsibility moves us from sex through love to prayer.
12
Life: Let it have it's Dance 7 January 1981
Fear of opening your heart steals life; give love freely—emptiness becomes fullness. Osho urges courage: share your delicate flower now, now is the time.
13
Godliness: An Experience of Immense Joy 8 January 1981
Longing for admiration stems from self-rejection; see the ego as a projected snake—bring light (meditation) and godliness, joy and freedom, will arise.
14
The Child: Father to the Man 9 January 1981
A child deserves privacy and freedom from parental conditioning; unconditioned growth—nurtured, not imitated—is the seed of a truly free humanity.
15
The Philousia 10 January 1981
Nothingness is overflowing fullness: Vimalkirti's passing celebrates attaining turiya—becoming zero, dropping body-identity and rejoicing with love, laughter.

Talk summaries are written by Osho Live to help you find your way; they are not Osho's words.