Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other by Osho

Once again, Osho’s books are hard to review as they are as simple as they can be. He repeatedly keeps telling you about letting go of our conditioning and living in the present without diving between the past and the present. To summarize my insight from the book Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other, Insights for a New Way of Living here is the paragraph that says it all.

Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other by Osho

“Nobody wants to become dependent. Freedom is the ultimate value. Even love is not higher than freedom. Freedom is the ultimate value, love is next to it. And there is a constant conflict between love and freedom. Love tries to become the ultimate value. It is not. And love tries to destroy freedom, as only then it can become an ultimate value. And those who love freedom become afraid of love.”

He also mentions that becoming intimate is to expose yourself and make yourself vulnerable to others. There is a risk involved, but that is what it takes to be intimate with people. There is another interesting observation “Weakness has a beauty in it as it is tender and soft. When a storm comes, big strong trees will fall, but small plants will simply bend, and once the storm passes by they are again smiling and flowering.” He quotes Lao Tzu “Life loves the weak”, and Jesus “Be alive and be weak”. A weakness has the beauty of grace, nonviolence, love, and forgiveness, and that of no conflict.

Updates

According to the author, intimacy is not about sex or physical closeness, but about emotional and spiritual connection. It is about being able to be completely open and vulnerable with another person, without fear of judgment or rejection.

The book discusses the many fears that prevent people from being intimate. Like the fear of being hurt, being rejected, losing control, and the fear of being oneself. Guides on how to overcome these fears and create more intimacy in our relationships.

Divided into four parts:

• Fear of Intimacy
• Art of Trust
• Elements of Intimacy
• Journey to Intimacy

Fears can manifest in our relationships, leading to a lack of trust, communication, and openness. Importance of trusting oneself, other person, and the process of intimacy. The importance of communication, vulnerability, acceptance, and love, the way these elements can create a deep and meaningful connection between two people. The journey to intimacy is a lifelong process.

If you like reading Osho, you would like this book as well.

Buy this book – Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other by Osho at Amazon India.

Read more reviews of Osho’s books:

• Tantra: The Supreme Understanding by Osho
• Nirvana – The Ultimate Nightmare by Osho
• The Book of Man by Osho
• Maturity The Responsibility of Being Oneself by Osho