Osho Zen

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Sep 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

WhiteDrag0n	23 Sep 2002
I was wondering who had this deck and their thoughts. I just got this deck today and it was love at first reading! i cant put it down....i even did a reading for my dog. So lets hear you peoples thoughts. Love and Light

napaea	23 Sep 2002
i have this deck and love it. i've had it probably 4 years (yes, time for a new one. looking a little ragged!) i use it for most of my readings, but it seems to need a rest right now, so i'm using some other decks. i've had tremendous luck with this deck. it's very good at giving me extra information besides just the card itself. and it is very loving. it's a keeper in my book!

Jewel	23 Sep 2002
I really like the Osho-Zen as well. I like the perspective from which it provides the info and I love the brilliance of the colors. What I mean by the perspective, is that to me many of the cards seem to have the same basic meaning as those from the Raider Waite, but the interpretation is given from a different perspective. I think it adds a new dimension to what I am used to.

Liliana	23 Sep 2002
I got it recently too, havent used it yet but I adore the artwork, I even kind of like the Master card, tho Id read it my own way not necessarily anything they say in the book. My husband says if he ever got the nothingness card in a reading he'd read it like the blank rune, I thought that was cool And you guys know my sense of humor- the ice-olation card just cracks me up :) :THP

Phoenix	23 Sep 2002
I liked the art work on it, but I traded it off because I couldn't read with it. Maybe in a few years, I will try it again.

Strega	23 Sep 2002
Congrats on your new Osho Zen! Exquisite artwork... on my wishlist. :)

Frequency	23 Sep 2002
He's my buddy. The readings are ALWAYS very positive, and very optimistic. The colors are so bright and the scarier cards are so light hearted that you can't help but be optimistic. It is my first deck, and I am hoping that the thoth deck might help to give me a balance between giving me a helping hand and whipping me back in line. The Osho deck certainly has it's dark side though. I remember a reading where it told me to be calm and to try to relax, but it gave me the thunderbolt card (Tower) so that scared the crap out me. I got the message. Something was going to make me panic (The Mind card is a strange reminder of my Asperger Syndrome and it comes up ALOT) and I should try to remain calm while at the same time remaining passionate and caring etc... It confused the hell out of me, but I figured the Thunderbolt card meant that things would come together when it happened. The next day was crazy... Everything the previous reading gave me, as confusing as it was at the time, fell into place. It's given me great advice, but more than that it's actualy helped me to understand what my Asperger Syndrome is all about. You see... People haven't been explaining it to me. Whenever I went out on the internet to find information it was always very vague and information on the subject is hard to find as the condition was only recognised in '94. I know how to deal with the problem now. People have been saying that the Osho deck doesn't predict the future, but when it benefits you, it will. It's different though. It relates it to the present, and then tells you things like "You'll understand when it happens". Such as No-Thingness, Thunderbolt, Moment to Moment... Different cards reminding you that things haven't shaped themselves yet but they will in time. Then it gives you what I would call your reminder cards. It's very interesting...

wavebreaker	24 Sep 2002
Osho Zen is one of my favourite decks. I use it when I want a clear and honest answer to a question. Not that other decks aren't honest, but some decks are more "careful"; Osho Zen doesn't beat around the bush, it tells me exactly how it is. This means that sometimes the readings can be a bit harsh, but they always give good advice and are very helpful. I remember a reading I did for a friend with it about her relationship with her boyfriend, and when she saw the various cards, she was pretty shocked. But it certainly served as a wake-up call for her and really helped her! ;)

Fuzzmello	25 Sep 2002
I'm really partial to this deck. I feel so in connection with the artwork and symbolism. I find the book helpful sometimes, bt I don't use it all that much. It's just an easy deck for me to read! fuzz

Jewel	25 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Fuzzmello I'm really partial to this deck. I feel so in connection with the artwork and symbolism. I find the book helpful sometimes, bt I don't use it all that much. It's just an easy deck for me to read! Same here :)

WhiteDrag0n	25 Sep 2002
I know what you mean Fuzzmello. I havent even looked at the book, I dont need it, the symbolism is crystal clear for me. God I love this deck!:D

Namaste	19 Mar 2004
I just arrived here today for the first time and have been reading around. When I saw you were discussing Osho Zen, I couldn't resist jumping right in and voicing my love for this deck. I have such a reverence for its wisdom, that I take just one card every morning in my search for spiritual guidance for the day. It has never failed to guide me in the right direction, while inspiring me at the same time. It has been so true to me, yet it's as though I'm afraid to have it address the more mundane part of my day..., so have never used it in larger readings. Am I being a goose? :P

lunakasha	19 Mar 2004
Hi Namaste! I am also very fond of the Osho Zen...it is such a wonderful deck for meditation and self-exploration....the artwork is absolutely gorgeous! I used to pull one card every night, just before going to bed and would meditate on the image and message of that particular card. Needless to say, I had some very interesting dreams!;) I also felt very rested in the morning, after spending a few minutes with the Osho Zen the night before... Like you, I have not used the Osho Zen for larger readings (I did try a 3-card reading once and it was pretty good, although somewhat ambiguous) but I know there are people here at AT who do use them for Celtic Cross readings and find them very accurate. Have you seen the Tao Oracle cards, by the same artist??? They are also very beautiful...I don't have it yet, but would like to add it to my collection! :D Here is a link to the Tao Oracle: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/tao-oracle/ :) Luna

Kosmos	19 Mar 2004
My love for the osho zen deck runs deep. It was my first deck, originally given to me by a friend about a year ago, but I returned it and bought my own. I find it to be very intuitive and clear, so much so that I can 'see' the whole reading before I even start to think about the cards individually, and its always like "Man, this makes perfect sense". It really is a zen deck! I have to say that if you like reading with this deck I would strongly strongly strongly suggest picking up a copy of 'The Book of Secrets' by Osho. Its about 1200 pages so it will last you a lifetime, and every section of the book is as breathtaking as this deck. I think having been reading that book (and a lot of other zen books) for quite a while before I got the deck also really influenced the ease with which I can use this deck. I just ordered the Taoist oracle by the same artist. I can't wait to get them. I think the cross between the osho zen and the I ching should make for slightly more complicated, but no less amazing readings

contrascarpe	19 Mar 2004
I picked up the Osho Zen about a month ago and I love it. I haven't done a full-fledged reading with it yet, but it is a great meditation deck. Dan

Namaste	23 Mar 2004
Thank you so much for the link Luna! The Tao deck is beautiful and I really like the idea of it reflecting the I-Ching. The way you use the Osho Zen deck is a wonderful idea! I can see how well it lends itself to meditation. I think I will try it also and see if I am visited by enlightening dreams. I will not fail to add it to my wishlist. I love the accompanying book to the Osho Zen, and if the Tao deck has one that is anything like the Zen's, then this deck must be part of my collection. I would love to hear about some of those dreams. Care to share? :)

Namaste	23 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Kosmos I have to say that if you like reading with this deck I would strongly strongly strongly suggest picking up a copy of 'The Book of Secrets' by Osho. Its about 1200 pages so it will last you a lifetime, and every section of the book is as breathtaking as this deck. I think having been reading that book (and a lot of other zen books) for quite a while before I got the deck also really influenced the ease with which I can use this deck. Thank you, Kosmos, for the book suggestion. I will be sure to see if I can find it and take a look at it. I too have been interested in zen for some time, as well as Sufism, meditation, etc., and, I think, that is why I have such reverence for this deck. I seem to be unable to use it as I do my other decks, though, and keep it for spiritual guidance or, as Luna suggests, for meditation. I agree. I believe that having an understanding of the spiritual path gives users of this deck the insight into its messages the author would have wished us to have. :) Has any Osho Zen lover thought of doing a once a week one card exchange, where we could just discuss our different perceptions of the card we each draw for this purpose and its effect on our lives?

Imagemaker	23 Mar 2004
Quote: I too have been interested in zen for some time, as well as Sufism, meditation, Then you will be fascinated by The Book of Secrets. There are several smaller books by Osho that are a bit less overwhelming, on specific topics. I highly recommend: Creativity, Unleashing the Forces Within Courage, The Joy of Living Dangerously Intuition, Knowing Beyond Logic Awareness, The Key to Living in Balance From Medication to Meditation Meditation, The First and Last Freedom

darwinia	23 Mar 2004
I've had the Osho Zen for 2 years and it's fabulous. One of the fellows here recommended the Tao Oracle to me and I thought the imagery would be too similar to the Osho Zen, so I never bought it until recently. There are a couple of cards that are similar but it's very good on its own and the book is very well done, just like the book in the Osho Zen. I also have the new Osho book "Tarot in the Spirit of Zen : The Game of Life" which further augments the book that comes with the Osho Zen Tarot.

Thea Lynx	23 Mar 2004
I have just purchased Osho Zen - I have seen it for a long time and read what others have said, so I finally bit the plastic and added it to my ever-expanding collection. At first, I thought the differences would make it difficult to use, but I was able to put the entire deck into my usual order (majors, wands, cups, swords, pentacles - oops, 'cuse me rainbows) without even looking at the book - speaks volumes for the clarity of the symbolism. I will not be able to work with it for a while yet, other obligations call, but am very glad I have added it to the family. Thea Lynx

punchinella	24 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Namaste I have such a reverence for its wisdom, that I take just one card every morning in my search for spiritual guidance for the day. It has never failed to guide me in the right direction, while inspiring me at the same time. It has been so true to me, yet it's as though I'm afraid to have it address the more mundane part of my day..., so have never used it in larger readings. Quote: Originally posted by lunakasha I used to pull one card every night, just before going to bed and would meditate on the image and message of that particular card. Needless to say, I had some very interesting dreams!;) I also felt very rested in the morning, after spending a few minutes with the Osho Zen the night before... Me too, me too!!! I just got this deck a few weeks ago, & the same day I bought it I read, on some thread or other, that Lark puts a deck right beside her bed & pulls one card each night just before going to sleep, until she's made her way through the entire deck, at which point she switches decks . . . I thought this was seriously cool, & so put my O.Z. deck beside the bed. It works, it really works! It's such a sleepy sort of deck, it never fails to just . I sleep so deeply, & dream such satisfying & vivid dreams. It's almost like the deck is connected to a flock of angels . . . it calms the mind & soothes the heart. (&, for what it's worth--it also has an uncanny way of being dead-on relevant, but that's really beside the point :) ) P.

Namaste	24 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Imagemaker Then you will be fascinated by The Book of Secrets. There are several smaller books by Osho that are a bit less overwhelming, on specific topics. I highly recommend: Creativity, Unleashing the Forces Within Courage, The Joy of Living Dangerously Intuition, Knowing Beyond Logic Awareness, The Key to Living in Balance From Medication to Meditation Meditation, The First and Last Freedom Thank you, Imagemaker, for your suggestions. :)

Namaste	24 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by punchinella Me too, me too!!! I just got this deck a few weeks ago, & the same day I bought it I read, on some thread or other, that Lark puts a deck right beside her bed & pulls one card each night just before going to sleep, until she's made her way through the entire deck, at which point she switches decks . . . I thought this was seriously cool, & so put my O.Z. deck beside the bed. It works, it really works! It's such a sleepy sort of deck, it never fails to just . I sleep so deeply, & dream such satisfying & vivid dreams. It's almost like the deck is connected to a flock of angels . . . it calms the mind & soothes the heart. (&, for what it's worth--it also has an uncanny way of being dead-on relevant , but that's really beside the point :) ) P. The deck by the bed idea is wonderful, punchinella! I'm going to try it. :)

13thFaeChylde	24 Mar 2004
I'm a fan of OZ as well! I pull a card at night, also. I've never used this deck for a reading, I just like to pull single cards. I find this deck very relaxing. And thanks for the book suggestions ~ I'll be on the lookout for those.

Pipkin	26 Mar 2004
I use Osho Zen for myself a lot of the time at those times when I need some sort of grounding or emotional centring. I find them to act like wisdom, common-sense guides, the message you can't ignore or deny. I find it tells me what I might not want to hear or acknowledge but will confront when the cards appear. They act like an inner voice that I sometimes haven't had time to focus on.

Kosmos	26 Mar 2004
Quicker to ask if anyone out there DOESN'T like Osho Zen. I think the options are love it/like it/don't know about it.

punchinella	27 Mar 2004
I seem to recall somebody saying that they found the deck 'dark' & traded it away, but I can't remember who. The thing is, people who don't like the deck are probably unlikely to get this far into the thread. (???)

punchinella	28 Mar 2004
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19079 --Check out truthsayer's (very interesting) post near the bottom of the page. P.

Namaste	17 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by lunakasha Have you seen the Tao Oracle cards, by the same artist??? They are also very beautiful...I don't have it yet, but would like to add it to my collection! :D Following your suggestion, dear Lunakasha, I bought the Tao Oracle over the weekend. It is amazing! This is the most beautiful rendition and interpretation of the I Ching I have ever seen or possessed myself. I cannot recommend it enough to all who have and love their Osho Zen decks. The Tao Oracle is a wonderful complement to the OZ. Its advice is clear and important to those who seek deeper spiritual awareness!

MysticHermit	01 Jun 2004
I like this deck very much though I am yet to do any readings with it. Well, I dont have enough practice to do a reading yet. I want to learn more about this deck from al of you. Is there any place where I can learn more about this deck apart from the book that comes with it? Thanks, MysticHermit

Moonbow*	01 Jun 2004
Hi MysticHermit and welcome to AT This is a beautiful deck which I use myself mainly for personal readings. Many people on this site have the deck and I'm sure if you start to post your readings with it, more people will join in. How about joining in with the Comparative Study Group in General Study Groups forum? Moonbow*

Imagemaker	01 Jun 2004
There's a book on this deck that expands the discussion of each card--"Tarot in the Spirit of Zen: the Game of Life" by Osho. It's very good.

MysticHermit	02 Jun 2004
Hi Moonbow Thanks for welcoming me. I will look into the Comparative study group threads to see how these cards are discussed and learn more about the process before I start posting. I would like to see what others think about these cards too. MysticHermit

Namaste	02 Jun 2004
I just found this site, that seems to have all of the Osho Zen cards online, which might be useful to us: www.nodntap.net/tarot/osho_zen/osho_zen_deck.shtml :)

Imagemaker	02 Jun 2004
I don't see in this thread that the Osho site has ever been posted. You can get online readings with the deck there: (both the transformational deck and zen deck) www.osho.com

Meg	02 Jun 2004
i recently got the osho zen...around february. i have come to like it a lot...it reads extremely well, and it's replaced dragon tarot and one world as my favorite deck to read with :) i really want to look into getting those books you all posted.

Ravenswing	03 Jun 2004
Punchinella-- I read just about everything. Opinions that oppose mine are at times the best place to learn. Anyhow... I had this one for a while. It was an interesting take. I really loved the card with the praying mantis :D. And some of the cards the best I've seen; stunning artwork. But things started bothering me. First, the Master Card. Okay, a lot of decks have new Major Arcana as a projection or amplification. But that one got me. This was zen?? First crack. The whole swords suit eventually grated on me. I don't see thought as undesirable or (as I saw it presented) near evil. I happen to do a lot of thinking. But I also do a lot of intuiting, feeling and doing. If nothing else,I've learned the importance of balance. I started to see this deck as a bit unbalanced and a lot biased. Second BIG crack. And, naturally, the less I trusted the deck, the more quiet it got. Or at times just out and out nasty. The Master card came up all too often and just kind of gloated. Third and final crack. As a note here: I have the Tao Oracle. Beautiful, delicate art. Reads like a dream-- two card transition will give you all you need to know... fly well Raven

Summerdream	03 Jun 2004
The Osho Zen was one of the first decks I purchased. The cards are so easy to read and very intuitive. A beginner would be able to pick them up easily and have the cards speak to them. The artwork is unique and very colorful. Summerdream:)

Sulis	03 Jun 2004
I got this deck last week but I don't think it's for me. Like Ravenswing I love the artwork and feel that some of the cards have some of the best imagery I've seen but it just doesn't seem right. I like my decks to be earthy. I think I'm quite an earthy, grounded person myself. I can't understand how rainbows which are made from air and water, maybe even with a litte fire from the sun thrown in can possibly represent the earth element. Cystals yes, rainbows no. The other bothers I have are the suit of swords which just seems so negative. Air is the element of the mind, of thought, of truth and justice - I can also see conflict but the Osho sword suit is so negative I just can't get round it. Then there is that Master card - I was expecting to dislike this card and if it were the only thing about the deck which didn't gel with me then I could have left it in the box and ignored it but not with the other things too. The eyes on the card are just spooky - I don't fancy Osho's eyes following me everywhere I go :) I'm going to add it to my trade list. Love Sulis xx

laura_borealis	03 Jun 2004
I don't have the whole deck, just a bitty set of the majors (minus the Master card) which came as punch-out cards in the back of the book Tarot in the Spirit of Zen. I love the art, but I don't think I'll be buying the deck. I have some of the same problems with the suits. They just don't fit my "feel" of tarot. Maybe I am too much of a traditionalist.

Aerin	03 Jun 2004
I found this an excellent deck at a time in my life when I relied perhaps overmuch on logic and thought. Never usually kept the Master card in, but I always saw it as self-mastery, not on someone else being a Master. If that makes sense. I think that. like many decks, it is valuable when you are at a certain place in your life. Then, it speaks to you. I still use it when I feel I am overanalyzing and underdoing. Aerin

Imagemaker	03 Jun 2004
Quote: I don't see thought as undesirable or (as I saw it presented) near evil. I happen to do a lot of thinking. But I also do a lot of intuiting, feeling and doing. If nothing else,I've learned the importance of balance. Osho would never say that *anything* is evil (fundmentalists saw HIM as evil). I see the deck's swords as presenting the potential for one's thoughts to be self-torturing. Osho was an extreme thinker (in several senses of the word) and also greatly in favor of wild sponteneity. Balance indeed is the key word. Some people live only in their heads and shut out feelings, then sword-thoughts can become "near evil." As in all decks, we have the ones that click and the ones that don't.

punchinella	03 Jun 2004
Sulis & Ravenswing-- Time has passed, & I'm beginning to think along these lines myself. I still love the deck, have no problem with the master card . . . but you know Sulis, I've thought that same exact thing about the rainbows! Earth & rainbows, really, have nothing to do with one another, & therefore to make rainbows stand for earth implies that earth is somehow no good, tainted, undesirable in & of itself . . . which imo is totally unfair. (Particularly from my personal Virgo/Virgo/Cap perspective :mad: ) And yes, the suit of clouds can be very dark, I see that now. The one other thing that bothers me is, in the book (the one that comes w/ the deck) the treatment of sexuality, or the physical, as something 'less' than the spiritual . . . Again, I guess this goes right along with disregard for the element of earth. Here's a quote from the section under VI The Lovers: These three things are to be taken note of: the lowest love is sex--it is physical--and the highest refinement of love is compassion. Sex is below love, compassion is above love; love is exactly in the middle. Very few people know what love is. Ninety-nine percent of people, unfortunately, think sexuality is love--it is not. Sexuality is very animal . . . And, from the 'commentary': What we call love is really a whole spectrum of relating, reaching from the earth to the sky. At the most earthy level, love is sexual attraction. Many of us remain stuck there . . . While I suppose none of this is untrue exactly, I just don't quite like it. --Like sex is something to be transcended, like we need to make an effort to get beyond it, when in my own experience of life I find just the opposite to be true: I & others around me need to make, if anything, an effort to be more physical, more comfortably animal, more grounded & in-the-body . . . Physical & spiritual are one & the same really, & to imply that sex needs to be transcended is to deny this. --Which act of denial leads, all too often, to dire consequences & s**tloads of unhappiness. --I guess what's missing here in this 'blurb' on VI The Lovers is that if we're talking about romantic lovers, a couple, man & woman, man & man, woman & woman, etc. etc. etc. . . . Then sex has got to be at the heart of it or you really don't have anything at all. This is so obvious, but due to cultural brainwashing it's incredible how often the point is missed. My knowledge of Zen is admittedly superficial . . . nonetheless, I guess I expected a bit more. ********************************************* rant officially over now

13thFaeChylde	03 Jun 2004
punchinella ~ that is the very quote that frustrated me weeks ago when I pulled the Lovers card. The commentary just didn't sit well with me, especially since after years of not being able to feel love physically, I finally overcame that and am reveling in the feelings. I don't want to "transcend" it.

punchinella	03 Jun 2004
Nor should you!!!

muse	04 Jun 2004
I love the osho deck. I gatecrashed an art gallery opening here in victoria and ma padma and her sculptor husband were exhibiting there. i wanted to cry because she had a beatuiful paingint of a full moon i couldn't afford to buy. hell i could barely afford to buy her oracle deck speaking of which, has anyone seen that? its beautiful as well. i want to take a drive up to her and her husband's studio in woodend.

Moonbow*	04 Jun 2004
It's interesting how people's views of a deck can change, I have found myself doing this but usually my mind changes from disliking a deck to liking it, this is because I am usually attracted by the artwork first. Now that I am further along in my Tarot journey I change my mind constantly about decks - which is why I find it difficult sometimes to trade. Infact I have given away many decks and although I don't regret the giving, I do sometimes wonder if I gave that deck a fair crack at the whip. Having said that, I am looking again at my Osho Zen deck. I think it's true what Sulis says, that this is not an earthy deck. This is a 'transcendental' deck, the rainbows are the earth element to represent the bridge between earth and sky. I am limited in my knowledge of budhism which is one of the reason that I have the deck - I think it has something to teach me, but lets not forget this deck is Zen orientated and therefore will be about meditation and intuition in the main. I believe this is why some people don't regard it as Tarot. I think the Lovers card is trying to portray not just physical love but a higher one of the mind also, it's not saying that physical love is wrong, only that there is more to love than just the phyisical. Another quote from the books says: "If you become aware and alert, meditative, then sex can be transformed into love. And if your meditativeness becomes total, absolute, love can be transformed into compassion. Sex is the seed, love is the flower, compassion is the fragrance." I sometimes feel, along with Raven, that the swords could be more positive (I would like to see something like a knowledge card in there). But suit to suit they seem balanced to me and I think that perhaps knowledge is not the emphasis in buddism.

Imagemaker	04 Jun 2004
Quote: in victoria and ma padma and her sculptor husband were exhibiting there. i wanted to cry because she had a beatuiful paingint of a full moon What an opportunity, to even see her work. Where is her studio? Woodend, BC? We were in BC 2 summers ago, would love to go back!

Namaste	04 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by muse hell i could barely afford to buy her oracle deck speaking of which, has anyone seen that? its beautiful as well. If it's the Tao Oracle you mean, Muse, it is absolutely gorgeous and the best rendition of the I Ching that I have ever encountered. :) As for the merits of the Osho Zen, I cannot speak too highly of this deck which I have often said, here, that I revere and only use once a day for spiritual guidance. The deck speaks to me because I practice Zen and follow other similar disciplines, so the messages of the OZ are eloquent beyond words (for me). Today I drew The Fool, for example, and I couldn't have drawn a better card than the OZ fool. I do believe, though, that some of the messages are very difficult for those who are neither deeply immersed in Buddhist spirituality/mysticism as a "way of liberation", nor have studied the concepts at length. One doesn't need to have done so, of course, to bond with, be enthralled by this extraordinary deck and appreciate it deeply. It's just that it does divert quite significantly from the more traditional takes on tarot. Excuse my ramblings... :)

Imagemaker	04 Jun 2004
Quote: The deck speaks to me because I practice Zen and follow other similar disciplines . . . It's just that it does divert quite significantly from the more traditional takes on tarot. I'm with you Namaste, in that when we've studied and practiced Zen philosophy, this deck has extra wisdom to impart, opens alternative ways of living.

muse	05 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Imagemaker What an opportunity, to even see her work. Where is her studio? Woodend, BC? We were in BC 2 summers ago, would love to go back! Victoria, Australia I'm afraid! www.embraceart.com is their website.

The Osho Zen thread was originally posted on 23 Sep 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.