Osho: Think and Grow Rich is dangerous & harmful!

isn't that the book (Think and Grow Rich) network marketers promote all the time? read some of it about what henry ford did like make a lot of mistakes until he got his engine prototypes to work

Napoleon Hill's book changed my life into better.

Is methods worked for me. That's all that counts

Cheers,

C.G.

I have always thought same thing but I never put it in words like the great osho. If subconscious is much powerful then we must tame that side of us correct? But how to do?

Whenever I do postive thinkings, I always feel I'm fighting losing battle. It feels like I'm forcing to feel something I don't believe completely.

I heard hypnosis helps to tame subconscious. Is it helping any body here?

Works for me. I don't care what Osho says.

Everyone is blaming everyone in this industry anyway.

Amazing book: (Stood the test of time and made countless people more successful.)

There are "negative" opinions on just about everything. In fact many writers go against popular opinion for the "sensationalism factor."

I think the author has no idea what they're talking about.

who is Osho and did he read think and grow rich..or just assume it was an earlier version of the power of positive thinking ?

The fact is, nearly everyone who has read that (or any other) book has done absolutely sweet F***-ALL with it.

FACT.

Lazy people wanting magic results.

I read that book when I was in my early 20s. I DID the things it said to do. I made a 'brief.' I'm the only person I know who did. I used that brief to have several jobs created for me that did not exist before I got there. I made plans and implemented them. I changed those plans as needed but kept the same goals.

Most people are so lazy and then they wonder why nothing happens. I am tired of it and have no sympathy anymore. If you want to whine that nothing happens, or spout this baloney the OP has linked to (no offense, OP; it's fine for discussion) then go sit on your derriere and accomplish nothing. You can concentrate on that crap (it represses what??! Get OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING!!) or you can take intelligent, meaningful, emotional action. Anyone who takes that kind of action immediately has my support. The rest...you may as well go back to your minimum wage jobs now.

This is the real world, and this is how it is.

The missing thing with the Law of Attraction is EFFORT. Effort is required. You don't just imagine something and Presto! there it is...as a newbie. You have decades of lousy programming and thinking to overcome before you can manifest that way. Later on, maybe you can do that...manifest without much effort at all...but for now, at the beginning, it's like trying to lift 150 lbs when you just started out at the gym. It's not gonna happen and you're going to complain about it...and it might even hurt.

Hill is crystal clear in TAGR that you must create detailed plans with quantifiable goals, and put them into ACTION. He never says, "Just sit on your behind wishing, and it will come to you." Sometime in the future, when you have that flywheel rolling, then yes, you may be able to put a smackdown of intention upon your world and produce the result quickly and without much action. But right now, you're a 120-pound weakling. Don't go near those giant weights.

What Hill is getting at is most people defeat themselves before they start. They think, "I could never do that," or "Nobody could do that,' and it's Game Over. I've done it myself. Silly. We have no idea what we can or cannot do unless we don't even try. The first step to accomplishment IS believing you can do it. So if you don't think positively, "Yes, I can accomplish this--I don't know how long it will take, or what it will take, or what I will have to learn to do so...but I am committed to it and will do whatever is necessary for however long is required." Do Or Die.

Stop hopping from thing to thing. Pick ONE quantifiable goal. Develop detailed plans to accomplish them. Be ready to change those plans based on reliable feedback. But STICK TO THE GOAL.

If your goal doesn't inspire you, and make you say to yourself, "Duh, of course I'm sticking to it come hell or high water," you don't really believe. Review your beliefs. Is this goal big enough for you? Or is it Thinking Small? A lame goal will leave you unwilling to take action. A strong goal will pull you forward like a powerful magnet. If comments from friends, family or strangers are enough to bump you off target, review your beliefs and goal again. These people know less than you do. I guarantee it.

Quit worrying about whether Hill is right nor not, and pick a freakin' GOAL!

I love that book. My first coach made me read it three times before agreeing to coach me. It changed my life. The information is transformative if you actually apply it.

Do we all have underlying self defeating programs? Well of course. Should we work on digging them up and changing them? Definitely. At the same time, a book like this helps you keep your end goal in mind. It challenges you to keep the passion to succeed burning at full blast.

The bottom line though is that it is, like most books of its kind, a powerful tool. And like any type of tool, you need to use it to see results.

I think others here have sufficiently covered the various flaws in this quotation. In other words, it's been thoroughly owned.

I for one would simply like to know how this person concluded that the unconscious mind is precisely "9" times more powerful than the conscious mind (which in reality is the most powerful tool available to a human being).

It's amazing how people are STILL using the popularity of Think And Grow Rich in order to click-bait people into reading their articles. It just goes to show how this old, CLASSIC text has stood the test of time.

TAGR has helped many people, and has changed my mindset for the better. I recommend it.

yesboss,

In the end, life is a myriad of choices....

Those who choose to be negative will probably also choose to do nothing...

Those who choose to be positive will probably also choose to take some action.... and eventually succeed.

Is it the "positive mindset" alone that makes one succeed? I don't think so...

Thinking positive leads the person to act... It is the action coupled with positive expectations that makes one successful.

All the Best,

Rich Beck BCIP, MCSD, MCIS

Both sides have their own truths.

I highly respect Osho as a teacher of meditation - I meditate daily as well. He's not wrong. If we try to repress negative thoughts, we will end up channelling it in various ways.

In Freudian psychology, there are various forms of "mature" mental defenses, namely the following: Altruism, Anticipation, Humour, Identification, Intellectualization, Introjection, Sublimation, Thought suppression

I think it's easy to practice the LOA in the wrong way since it is so open to any interpretation. It could actually be mentally unhealthy if you were to approach it in a backwards-rationalization or denial kind of way. I think it's far easier to sublimate the emotion and reinterpret it in a socially-safe way. That's my take on true positive thinking. It's not simply donning a mask of happiness and trying to force everything through that lens of bubbly candyfloss lol

Imogen, I'm pretty sure no one's saying to "repress negative thoughts" or "donning masks of happiness" or "trying to force everything through a lens of bubbly happiness". That sounds more like someone on heavy narcotics. These are obviously unhealthy extremes. I've never met, read about or seen anyone who's ever really done that anyway and I'm pretty sure that's not what we're talking about here. Crazy insane mentally disturbed behaviour (as you've eluded to above) is one thing; deciding to take a "sunnier" approach to life is quite another.

To give negative emotions more attention than they deserve takes up the same time as it does to take a lighter approach and to think and hope for a positive outcome or trying to think of positive ways to handle a task or travel down the road. Negative and positive thoughts just happen and we can entertain and dwell on any which we choose.

The overall message of positive thinking is that it's a better (more productive and generally more pleasant) choice than negative thinking if you're trying to achieve a specific result and I think that's generally accepted as being true and a productive way of thinking. Considering the negatives is one thing but showering shite on positive emotions and thoughts as worthless (and even harmful) and encouraging negative thoughts and thinking are (in my view) the signs of a very disturbed person (the author - not you).

I accept that. It's not that anyone's being told to reject the bad things they don't want to hear either - at least I've never been told to do that (and I've read a LOT of these types of books). The general message that I think runs as a common thread through all the PMA books is that if one focuses on the negative too much it will affect the way you act and think in a negative way and you can see billions of examples of that all around us. It "grows" like a mould and gets in everything and worst of all supports the next negative thought or external suggestion compounding the problem. I hear my negative thoughts and (if I'm on my game at that moment) I'll just dismiss it as "loser talk/thinking".

It's a subtle battle with profound and real results in both directions. Focusing on allowing the negative thoughts to become dominant will lead to bad shit going down or progress never being made. The opposite is also true. You don't have to be godly or the devilish to suffer. Expectations are very powerful and are formed by each of us (mostly voluntarily) so if we all have a choice then thinking, being and acting positive (even mildly) will always produce better results than doing the opposite. For him to suggest otherwise and that "we're fooling ourselves" flies in the face of reality.

Perhaps he has a valid point in there somewhere...but I can't find it. To me his suggestions are absurd and pitiful.

I am much less focused on the positive thinking or negative thinking aspects any more .. same with so called good and bad emotions .

as i have been moving from a dualistic way of thinking and perception ..to a third point of perspective . a much less judgmental point .

so initially the reaction to anything is to judge it as good or bad right now..then there is the shift in perspective to the longer term way things play out.

then there is what your dominant thoughts are when you sit down and have time to think ..
and what actually causes you to take action .

you can be a positive thinking or negative thinking machine ..and get stuck in either zone that you never really do anything good or bad you just get stuck thinking about it.. in either state you become impulse driven to act ..and many times it is badly timed and counter productive .

I have rapid cycling bi polar disorder .. and i didn't make to many long term costly choices ..when i was on the negative side of things as i had a large number of coping stratagies to help me climb out ..it was when i went manic positive that i'd do something to get me in a tonne on debt or something ..

so now that i have that under contro.. because of the environment shift i have made in the last few months ..

Personally i can't positive think my way out of seasonally effected disorder ..

does the method of thinking you Employ lead you to take actions or make choices that have a positive effect on your well being .

Or Is the method of thinking you are Using just a coping method to get through every day and not really do anything about problems you have .

I would say it can be dangerous only when being narrow-minded with it. Here is what I mean - I had few friends who dropped out of college and wanted to start their own business and as much as I felt that their choice was wrong I supported them anyways.

They didn't plan it out well and what they had was motivation and determination but with poor planning it's a disaster.

I think that this book is a good catalyst for taking action - however one must have good plan BEFORE deciding to take action. Taking action blindly thinking that just because you are positive everything will work out is delusional.

So again and again I would say be careful of the information you read and always try to look at the big picture.

Also read contradicting things because it helps you balance out the information instead of just buying into JUST one philosophy.

False: You get what you focus on. Ask any success in any area

I love Osho. He has contributed a lot of wisdom to the world. Love his book The Buddha Said.

But I think he has it wrong here.

This is basically the most common argument against positive thinking. That it's like trying to put a band aid over something that never really heals inside. That it's ignoring the negative, or pretending like the negative side isn't there.

No. This is a misunderstanding of the real power of positive thinking.

Positive thinking is for re-programming the human brain. It's for conditioning the mind to see things in more favorable light that then gets you to take the actions you need to take. For example, believing in yourself. If you don't have belief in yourself or if you have low self esteem or if you do not see yourself capable of achieving something, that is where positive thinking can and does help. Just a simple affirmation "I am worthy of living a happy life" can be an immensely powerful thing to say to yourself, especially if you need to overcome early childhood programming in which you learned the opposite.

This is one problem I have with many "gurus"... at some point they have an answer for everything instead of having an open mind to different possibilities. I think they feel a need to always have all the answers. Otherwise they might lose their status as a guru. Not meaning to slight Osho's contributions overall. He really does have a ton of insights to offer. But on this topic I disagree.

Unconscious or so called the Subconscious mind is the store house of all our memories, thoughts, actions and whatever happens to us. All those stored memories become like seeds inside it. Whenever we come in to contact with something that relates with some kind of stored seed (memory) that seed starts to sprout and comes out in our concious mind as a remembrance and thus affects our behaviour. Enthusiasm, Motivation, Positive and Negative are also seeds inside of subconscious and when we think or read something positive, seeds of positivity start to sprout and give us positive thinking, power and encouragement in life.

May be your thoughts about positive as negative have instilled inside your subconscious mind. Try to instil truth inside you. I would recommend you to read "Thich Nhat Hanh's" "Understanding Our Mind".

I also agree with you that Think and Grow Rich is dangerous & harmful!

How on earth can Think And Grow Rich be dangerous?? I agree with Terra.

Yes the subconscious mind is stubborn, it only lets you act on what you believe, and why do you believe certain things about yourself? You thought your own subconscious mind to believe it yourself.

How?

Thinking.

If you think about failing in something enough, you will not even bother to go on and take action will you? You will stop six inches from your Gold.

On the other hand, if you start thinking about being successful you start to teach your mind to act that way. What happens next? You start having a positive attitude, a positive way of thinking, a positive way of taking action and following your plan. And then what happens? You start being successful, and it all started with a thought. The good and the bad. That is how I see it.

So I can not for the life of me understand how anything in Think And Grow Rich be dangerous? Maybe if you are scared of success it will be dangerous, and you can't hide behind all your excuses anymore.

My 2 cents.

That website or blog post is horse crap. Did they even read the book??

"Think and grow rich… you don’t have to do anything, you only have to think in absolutely positive terms and riches will start flowing towards you. If they don’t come, that simply means that you have not been thinking absolutely positively."

Where in the book it says just to think positive and things will flow to you. I think they got their books mixed up. That is what "The Secret" is more about.

Think and Grow rich as strategies on how to plan and take action on your desires.

The statement above is incorrect and therefore the entire premise is incorrect. Positive thinking does not necessarily insert negative thinking into the sub-consious. Techniques such as visualization and hypnosis can be used to insert positive thoughts in the sub-conscious. The term unconscious is also the incorrect term.

Here is a trick: the information in it may be transformative to the MIND.

To succeed, you need to take REPETITIVE SUCCESS-PRODUCING ACTION.

Many people, including me in the past, thought that JUST THINK better, more optimistic, more positive - and you are golden.

No.

You must THINK AND FEEL rich, and take RIGHT ACTION, turning that right action into a habit of success.

Then, you need to know WHY you will succeed (a very good logical reason associated with physical realm rather, than mental. Once you have that, you start thinking rich automatically. Not vise-versa).

Did you know that over 90% of prosperity teachers are broke or get broke as soon as they stop preaching their teachings? Napoleon Hill became broke.

And if you would only know how many of them cross-marketed and cross-positioned each other. You would probably feel nauseous about their so beloved materials if you know what happens in reality.

Did you know that what "legends of prosperity" teach works for only 2% of people, and they know it, and still teach it without mentioning it in marketing materials?

A lot of these things can put you into thinking hell, you may not be able to make decisions clearly, may procrastinate and have ADD/OCD-like mentality. And you may start thinking that you just need a "better", more expensive product. Sure enough, they got one!

How do I know it? First of all, I've been there. Second - I coach people and know people who have names in this field.

Third, I have a system that makes any person a "globally accepted expert". Take anyone, tell what they want to be expert in and soon - they would be recognized as such, even if they don't know anything on that subject. Guess where I got it?

Put it this way: if it helps you with your goals, use it. If it doesn't - don't.

I just want to make this clear: I'm not badmouthing here, I'm being realistic based on too many experiences of too many people, knowing what happens behind the scenes - just weeding off illusions and deceptions.

So, yeah, this is what I think...

Wow! I'd love to see the studies that produced those incredible statistics. Do you have any links to those studies? They don't sound true to me and don't reflect my experience at all but if they are the facts I'll be surprised but (proof is proof and) it's difficult to argue with a proper scientific (peer reviewed) study and statistics. Can't wait to read them. Post some links.

Osho also mentions doubt. That doubt is negative.
Everyone has doubts when things do not work the way
they think that they should.

I don't think that the ideal of positive thinking is about
not having doubt, or not having any negative feelings.
Positive thinking is about overcoming the negative
things that come up in a person's life.

This guy (Osho) says that thinking positive is only
to deceive one's self. I hastily disagree. I doubt that
anyone is deceived by their failures, and negative
emotions. Everyone has them. It is the dwelling
on the negative that is harmful. So Mr. Osho, why not
try focusing on the brighter side of things?

Having an up-beat outlook on life has been shown to
increase a person's life span (Oh No, Mr. Bill, I will find the
research if you would like I doubt that Osho has any
research to back up his numbers.

From the Mayo Clinic:
"The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking
and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking
may provide include:

Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress
Greater resistance to the common cold
Better psychological and physical well-being
Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress"

I think I've said enough. I really don't think that having
a positive outlook on things is dangerous (or harmful).
It would only be harmful if you continued to do the same
things, and found the results to be the same, but then
we know what that is the definition of now, don't we?

Okay, the quoted words are retarded. The point of Think and Grow Rich is to practice thinking correctly until it becomes habitual. Anything that you repeatedly do becomes who you are. Just because a large part of people are unable to do this successfully doesn't mean that Think and Grow Rich is harmful, it simply means that it isn't an easy thing to do. THAT is why I believe people attack TAGR, because the techniques require hard work and discipline...which they aren't willing to put forth to achieve their desired results. They don't do what it takes to stay focused on their goals and get nothing as a result, therefore TAGR must be a scam and/or harmful....GTFOH.

Hi Yesboss, positive thinking in and of itself won't do very much if your underlying belief structure isn't changed. Most of us have a lot of self-limiting beliefs buried in our subconscious that we are not even aware of, and those deep seated beliefs are indeed very powerful, and will over-ride any amount of positive thinking. I'm not sure where you got the 'nine times more powerful' from as I've never come across that. My understanding is that your subconscious is a hundred times more powerful and it's why using 'willpower' alone can be such an uphill battle - because when you use willpower, you are fighting your subconscious and 9 times out of 10, it wins. Clearing your self-limiting beliefs, I believe, is the best way to start.
Maria
www.atuneu.com

Reading Think & Grow Rich is awesome, but reading is not enough, you have to apply the steps.

You'll know if you've fully applied the steps because you'll lose a lot of friends, gain brand new ones, look like a psychotic mad-man during the process and end up looking like a genius.

Literally, everything you touch will turn into money - and it will all be subconscious. You will be able to look at a tree and learn a new business strategy. You don't even have to try anymore, it's like second nature. I don't even care about my credit score anymore, wtf? Being debt free is the place to be.

The book is wonderful, it's the best thing I've ever came across other than the Holy Bible itself.

I always knew that Think & Grow Rich is one of the most destructive and dangerous books around along with everything Napoleon Hill wrote. I am delighted that finally, others are realizing it too, although not many.

However, I am not sure if Osho's reasoning is the right one.

In any case, here is how this works: this book is full of very spiritual, positive, constructive, good stuff! The reader naturally response to this content, because it's the TRUTH. Then, the book twists the truth just enough to destroy it.

This is how "evil" works: it seizes all that is true and good and neutralizing it by cleverly inserting lies in it! Then, good is destroyed because the truth is corrupted.

That's the story of Think & Grow Rich!

Tell us Joe, how did he do that? You say "that's the story of Think and Grow Rich" but you mention no story or reasoning to help us understand how you came to such a bizarre conclusion. How do you think "evil" was injected? What does that mean? How is the truth "twisted" in this book? What do you mean by that? How do you figure that this is "one of the most destructive books ever written"? Let us hear your logic.

How can my questions be "wrong" Joe? I'm asking you to elaborate on your view. If you "can't" - that's fine.

I love Napoleon Hill's teachings. Osho on the other hand is the re-invented name for an unscrupulous person who was once known as Rajneesh and was caught up in an ugly scandal in the 1980's in Oregon. Maybe you remember hearing about his cult and all of his Rolls Royces? Sexual mis-use of power going on there as well. Bagwan Rajneesh was a narcissistic and cruel manipulator of people capable of doing unbelievable things. When he was kicked out of the US he was also not allowed into many other countries either. See more here Rajneesh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Napoleon Hill was a great teacher. Osho/Rajneesh is not.

Let me see....Napoleon Hill or Osho? It's a no-brainer. Do your research people. And listen to your gut. Your inner guidance is there for a reason. I applaud all of you who knew that instinctively on this thread.

No way! lol, we know him down here as "tough titties" because that's what one of his sidekicks said to an interviewer once when asked something controversial - I think maybe followed by a hand being raised to the camera lens.

Classic.