PUNE: Vinod Khanna's two-year stint at Pune's Osho International Meditation Resort, colloquially known as the Osho ashram, was a turning point in the actor's life.

That was when Khanna, who was at the pinnacle of stardom, decided to quit the film industry out of love for his guru, Osho.

The ashram's spokesperson Ma Amrit Sadhana shared a few fond memories of the actor with TOI. She recalled an interview she did with Khanna, when she was a young disciple herself.

Describing him as a friendly and simple man with a penchant for meditation, Sadhana said: "He was good-natured and a deep meditator. I once had the opportunity to interview him for the April 1994 issue of Osho Times. He talked at length on the subject of spirituality, life and death," she said.

"I asked him about his tryst with Osho and how old he was then," Sadhana said. "He said that he was just 25-26 years old when he started listening to Osho's discourses., back in 1974. He told me Osho's words had introduced him to an eternal truth: death. He said that four of his relatives had recently passed away, including his mother and sister, which had shaken him to his very foundations. One thought that went through his head was, 'I too will die one day, but I do not know anything about my real self'."

Thus began Khanna's spiritual awakening. He decided to pay Osho a personal visit, after which he was initiated as a disciple. He was christened Swami Vinod Bharti.

"Vinod was very unpretentious," Sadhana said. "He would work and meditate with us. He stayed at the resort for a couple of years after which he went to the US with Osho. They stayed in Rajneeshpuram, a commune that Osho had built in America. After two years, the guru-disciple duo returned to India. While Osho returned to Pune, Vinod went back to his family in Mumbai. But he remained Osho's disciple. Being a disciple does not mean one has to forsake one's family and friends," she said.

FTII pays tribute

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Osho ashram stint was turning point for Vinod Khanna - Times of India