Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain (December 11, 1931 - January 19, 1990), better known during the 1970s as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and later as Osho was an Indian spiritual teacher or guru. He lived in India and the United States and was the spiritual head of the Osho-Rajneesh movement, a controversial new religious movement.

As is customary with spiritual teachers in India, Osho received several honorifics over his life. He was known as Acharya Rajneesh (teacher Rajneesh), later Shree Rajneesh and finally Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Sanskrit word Bhagwan means "Blessed one" (historically, it is used to refer to a Hindu god, such as Bhagwan Ram or Bhagwan Krishna or to a spiritually awakened being in Mahayana Buddhism). It is also used to denote individuals who possess a great wealth of spiritual knowledge. Throughout Hindu history this name has also been used as a given or first name -- as most Hindu children are provided with the name of a god or a spiritual attribute. Shree (more commonly transliterated as Shrī or Śrī) in Sanskrit means "spiritual wealth" and is thus roughly equivalent to the English word "Lord". It derives this meaning from its use as another name Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity.

Since all these honorifics had always been a matter of discord with many outside his community, specially amongst some religious groups in which those names are significant, in February 1989 Osho requested his disciples to drop them all, including his legal name. This was a bit inconvenient so his disciples proposed several names over these weeks until he accepted the loving offer by his oldest American disciple Swami Harideva (who introduced Osho to the West and organized Rajneesh's last international festival in India) to use the name "Osho" which had previously been used for hundreds of years in Japan when addressing a spiritual master. The name "Osho" in this context means "The Friend"

Attempts have been made by those in charge of Osho's legacy to trademark "Osho" (and his meditations for that matter) but whether these have succeeded is not clear. All recent attempts by the Canadian lawyers to try and "own" the name Osho have met with failure in the courts.

Osho's philosophy

Osho (Rajneesh) claimed that the greatest values in life are (in no specific order) love, meditation and laughter, and that the sole goal of human life was to reach spiritual enlightenment.

He extracted and expounded truth and techniques from various spiritual sources. He was a prolific speaker both in Hindi and English on various spiritual traditions including those of Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Socrates, Zen masters, Hassid, Sufism and many others. His lectures were mixed with wit and jokes. His discourses have been printed in several hundred books and are available in audio and video recordings.

An experienced orator, he used it to convey his message, but insisted that the only reason he kept on talking was to eventually convince his listeners to start on a path of meditation.

In India he was often called the "sex guru" after some speeches in the late 1960s on sexuality in an orthodox society, which were later compiled under the title "From Sex to Superconsciousness". According to him, "For Tantra everything is holy, nothing is unholy".

Osho on meditation

Osho had a different view of meditation than the usual one. According to him, meditation is a state beyond mind. It is not concentration. It is not about spiritual thoughts; it is a state of thoughtlessness. It is something that can just happen, it is a state that one can be in, it is not something that one can do. But he said that it is very difficult for modern man to just sit and be in meditation, so he devised some active meditation techniques that naturally take one into meditation. These techniques allow a person to unburden by expressing

Some of these preparatory exercises can also be found in western psychological therapies (i.e. gestalt therapy), such as altered breathing, gibberish, laughing or crying. His most significant meditations are referred to as Active Meditations, such as "Dynamic Meditation", "Kundalini Meditation", "Nadabrama", "Nataraj" and are quite demanding physically.

He also reintroduced several traditional meditations reducing them to their most minimal expression, stripping them off of ritual and tradition, retaining the most therapeutic parts. He also recognizes that, given sufficient practice, the meditative state can be achieved and maintained while performing everyday tasks. Furthermore, enlightenment is nothing but being continuously in a meditative state.

In this regard, it is worth noting that Osho, as a spiritual teacher, was what is sometimes referred to as a Bodhisattva, that is, a person who has achieved enlightenment and is willing to transmit his wisdom, thus, he has disciples. This is in contrast to an Avatar who is an incarnation of an immortal being in a mortal body and thus has devotees. Though immortal beings might be in short supply so that few may turn into an Avatar, Osho insisted on the Buddhist concept that enlightenment is a condition that can come naturally to everyone, just as himself, meditation being the best path to this. The traditional Indian greeting Namaste can be interpreted as "I salute the Buddha in you", a reminder of this capability.

Biographical notes

Childhood and awakening

Osho was born at Kuchwada, a small village in Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh state in India. At the time, the astrologer predicted that he might die before he was seven years old according to the birth chart. His parents, who were Jains, chose to send him to be with his maternal grandparents until he was seven years old.

Osho explains that this was a major influence on his growth because his grandmother gave him the utmost freedom and respect, and also made the other people including her husband do the same. So, Osho was left reckless and carefree without education or restrictions.

Osho explains that children, during their first seven years, have their development affected by being forced to learn and having their dignity ignored. He says ideally it should be the opposite. People can learn from children that which they themselves have forgotten. If a child is allowed freedom during his initial years, he will grow in strength and have enough intelligence to decide and to discuss.

This, as he puts it, was what happened to him. When he joined the first school, he was able to discuss with and convince his teacher who was very strict with children. Osho explains that if the child receives respect, he is more obedient to his parents. If the parents ignore the child's individuality, the child would in turn ignore them.

After Osho was seven, he went back to his parents. Osho explains that he received a similar kind of respect from his paternal grandfather who was staying with them. He was able to be very open with his grandfather. His grandfather used to tell him, "I know you are doing the right thing. Everyone may tell you that you are wrong. But nobody knows which situation you are in. Only you can decide in your situation. Do whatsoever you feel is right. I will support you. I love you and respect you as well".

On 21 March 1953, when Osho was 21 years old, Osho explains that he became spiritually enlightened. It was the day of the full moon and he went out to the garden and sat under the bodhi-tree (bo-tree). During the 1960s he served as philosophy professor at the University of Jabalpur while touring India lecturing on his philosophy.

The Commune

In 1969 a group of his disciples established a foundation to support his work and allowed him to drop his university job. They settled in an apartment in Mumbai (ex-Bombay) where he gave daily discourses and received visitors. The number and frequency of visitors soon became too much for the place, overflowing the apartment and bothering the neighbours. A much larger apartment was found in a ground floor (so the visitors would not need

On September 26th, 1970 he initiated his first disciple or sannyasin in an outdoors meditation camp one of the large gatherings of his followers where he lectured and guided group meditations.

Still the new and bigger apartment proved insufficient and the climate of Mumbai was very bad for Osho's health so a new place had to be found. On March 21st, 1974, an anniversary of his enlightenment a caravan of cars departed from the Mumbai apartment to the newly purchased property in Koregaon Park, in the city of Pune, a four hour trip from Mumbai. Pune had been the secondary residence of many wealthy families from Mumbai due to its much better weather (Mumbai lies in a coastal wetland, hot and damp, Pune is inland and much higher so it is drier and cooler).

The two adjoining houses and 6 acres of land had known better times but in little time the nucleus of an Ashram started to grow and those two buildings are still at the heart of the present day . This stable and ample space allowed for the regular audio and video recording of his discourses and later printing for worldwide distribution, which allowed him to reach far larger audiences internationally.

The U.S. chapter

In 1981, Rajneesh was taken to the United States in search of better medical care (he suffered from diabetes and severe back problems) and also, reportedly, to escape tax evasion charges in India. His followers, at his request, bought (for US$6 million) a ranch in Wasco County, Oregon, previously known as "The Big Muddy", but later renamed Rajneeshpuram where they settled for the next several years.

Disagreements over zoning rules and building codes in the beginning continued to escalate between not only his followers and the inhabitants of Wasco County, but eventually with the rest of the state. His followers, known as Rajneeshees, settled en bloc in Antelope, Oregon, and were able to elect a majority of the town council. Comments by his public spokeswoman, Ma Anand Sheela, only increased tensions. Matters were not helped by Rajneesh's vow of silence, or the 93 Rolls-Royces his followers bought him as gifts - they said that he wanted 365 so that he had a new one for each day of the year (technically, he did not have income or own any property). One of his followers explains this in what is called When the Rajneeshees subsequently recruited homeless people from across the United States to settle at Rajneeshpuram, it was widely seen as an attempt to use the ballot box to seize control of Wasco County.

At the same time the commune offered an international refuge for his followers to live Osho's teaching; the ideal of meditating, celebrating, and trusting in love. At its largest, Rajneeshpuram consisted of some 7,000 members on a 100-square-mile ranch in Antelope. It included homes, meditation centers, its own road system, power grid, bus service, schools for children, and even a small airport.

In 1984, a bioterrorist attack involving salmonella typhimurium contamination in the salad bars of the 10 restaurants at The Dalles, Oregon, was traced to the Rajneeshee group. The attack sickened about 750 people; none died. It was the first known bioterrorist attack of the 20th century in the United States. Eventually Sheela and Ma Anand Puja, another of Osho's close advisors, confessed to the salmonella attack and to attempted poisonings on county officials. About this time, Sheela was removed from her post in the Rajneesh's service, and shortly afterwards left for Germany.

While these controversial events brought much negative publicity to the commune, it is worth noting that Osho himself spoke very strongly against these acts, and that it was literally only a handful of people who were responsible out of the thousands of people who were living in the communce either permanently or temporarily.

In one of his daily discourses after Sheela left, Osho claimed that he chose Sheela as his secretary for several reasons, and one was to teach his followers not to blindly follow authority. He claimed that he wanted to make it clear by example that even if a beloved leader's first in command says to do something that it is ultimately up to each individual to make the right choice. In this view, Rajneeshpuram was a risky game, a lesson in questioning authority.

In May 1985, Sheela called a meeting of Rajneesh's inner circle to plot the assassination of Charles Turner, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, after the attorney was appointed to head a grand jury investigation into the commune. Catherine Jane Stubbs, known as Ma Shanti Bhadra, volunteered to be the killer. She later bought weapons and scouted Turner's property.

In 1985, Rajneesh was arrested in North Carolina as he was allegedly fleeing the U.S. On October 23, 1985, a federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon had secretly indicted Rajneesh, Sheela, and six others of his followers for alleged immigration crimes. Two days later, a Wasco County grand jury returned indictments against Sheela and two others, charging them with the attempted murder of Swami Devaraj, Bhagwan's personal doctor. Rajneesh on advice of his lawyers entered an "Alford plea," also called a no-contest plea, and was given a suspended sentence on condition that he leave the country.

Osho claimed that he was poisoned in jail.

Back in Pune

On January 19, 1990, four years after the arrest, he died. Osho claimed, and there is in fact debatable evidence to support, that his rapid health decline leading to his death was caused by his poisoning by US authorities while he was in prison. He claimed a plot led by the CIA and Ronald Reagan to assassinate him had been carried out due to their fear of Osho's controversial and counter-cultural teachings combined with his powerful ability to influence people. While this may sound like a typical conspiracy theory, it is worth noting that Osho's commune was rapidly growing and hosted an annual festival that attracted tens of thousands of seekers.

He was 58 years old when he died. His ashes were placed in a reconstructed meditation hall, at his last home place, his Ashram in Pune, India. The epitaph reads, "Never born, Never died: visited the planet earth between December 11, 1931 and, January 19, 1990."

In 1999, Sheela was convicted by a Swiss court. In September 2005, Catherine Stubbs pled guilty to conspiring to kill Turner, 15 years after being indicted; she had fled to Germany, where she is a naturalized citizen. In 1991, Germany had declined an extradition request from the United States.

The Osho Commune in Pune, India, now called the Osho Meditation Resort, continues to exist today, and is in fact the largest center for spiritual growth in the world. It offers daily Osho Active Meditations, workshops through its "Multiversity," and many resort amenities including pool, jacuzzi, sauna, tennis, parties and entertainment. Though Osho's teachings still remain at the core of the day-to-day activities, there is currently less emphasis on Osho the man, and much more on his practices.

Quotations

• "Love is far more mysterious than life itself, because it has life in it and something more; it is life plus death. And only those who are ready to die will know the life of love. Those who are afraid to die will never enter the mystery of love."
• "Meditation is the only way to make you aware. And once you are fully aware, all around is the ocean of godliness. The very life, the very consciousness is divine."

See also

• Indian philosophy
• Hinduism
• Jainism
• Buddhism
• India

Bibliography

• Judith M. Fox, Signature Books, 2002
• Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Philosophia Perennis by Osho international Foundation, 1981
• Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, The Hidden Harmony, discourses on the fragments of Heracletus by Osho International Fondation, 1976
• Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, 'The Mustard Seed, commentaries on the fifth gospel by Saint Thomas, 1975
• Osho, Meditation The First And Last Freedom, St. Martin's Press, New York
• Osho, The Book of Secrets, St. Martin's Press, New York
• Osho, Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2000
• Osho, Tao: The Living Treasure
• Osho, The Empty Boat

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh रजनीश Osho Rajneesh Osho Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh オショウ Rajneesh Раджниш, Чандра Мохан