Osho - Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain. Born - December 11, 1931, IndiaDied - January 19, 1990, IndiaPhilosophy - neo-sannyasins

"If you really want to know who I am, you have to be as absolutely empty as I am. Then two mirrors will be facing each other, and only emptiness will be mirrored. Infinite emptiness will be mirrored: two mirrors facing each other. But if you have some idea, then you will see your own idea in me."

"Find moments when you are not, and those will be the moments when you will be for the first time...really."

"When you are no more, only then for the first time will you be."

"Be true, and you will be blissful. Be authentic, and you will be happy. And that happiness will be uncaused; it will be just a part of your being true."

Amazon.com Widgets

The works of Osho challenge readers to examine and break free ofthe conditions, belief systems, and prejudices that limit theircapacity to experience life in all its richness. One of the best-knownand most provocative spiritual teachers of the twentieth century, Oshohas been described by the Sunday Times of London as one of the"1000 Makers of the 20th Century" and by American novelist Tom Robbinsas "the most dangerous man since Jesus Christ." More than a decadeafter his death in 1990, the influence of his teachings continues togrow, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every country of theworld.

Oshosaid that enlightenment is everyone's natural state, but that one isdistracted from realising it particularly by the human activity ofthought, as well as by emotional ties to societal expectations, andconsequent fears and inhibitions.

He was a prolific speaker (inboth Hindi and English) on various spiritual traditions including thoseof Buddha, Laozi, Krishna, Guru Nanak, Jesus, Socrates, Zen masters,Gurdjieff, Sufism, Hassidism, Tantra and many others. He attempted toensure that no "system of thought" would define him, since he believedthat no philosophy can fully express the truth.

An experiencedorator, he said that words could not convey his message, but that hisbasic reason for speaking was to give people a taste of meditation:I am making you aware of silences without any effort on your part. Myspeaking is being used for the first time as a strategy to createsilence in you.

This is not a teaching, a doctrine, a creed.Thats why I can say anything. I am the most free person who has everexisted as far as saying anything is concerned. I can contradict myselfin the same evening a hundred times. Because it is not a speech, it hasnot to be consistent. It is a totally different thing, and it will taketime for the world to recognise that a tremendously differentexperiment was going on.

Just a moment when I became silent,you become silent. What remains is just a pure awaiting. You are notmaking any effort; neither am I making any effort. I enjoy talking; itis not an effort.

I love to see you silent. I love to see youlaugh, I love to see you dance. But in all these activities, thefundamental remains meditation.

Oshosaid he loved to disturb people only by disturbing them could he makethem think. Accordingly, his discourses were peppered with offensivejokes and outrageous statements lampooning key figures of establishedreligions such as Hinduism, Jainism or Christianity. Concerning thevirgin birth, for example, he said that Jesus was clearly a bastard,since he was not Joseph's biological son. An attempt on his life wasmade by a Hindu fundamentalist in 1980. Osho, however, said that theonly thing he was serious about in his discourses were the jokes theywere the main thing, and everything else was spiritual gossip.

Oshosaid it was very difficult for modern man to just sit and be inmeditation, so he devised so-called Active Meditation techniques toprepare the ground. Some of these preparatory exercises can also befound in western psychological therapies, suchas breathing, gibberish, laughing or crying. His mostsignificant meditation techniques are today known as "OSHO Dynamic Meditation","OSHO Kundalini Meditation","OSHO Nadabrahma Meditation","OSHO Chakra Sounds", For eachmeditation, special music was composed to guide the meditator throughthe different phases of the meditations. Osho said that DynamicMeditation was absolutely necessary for modern man. If people wereinnocent, he said, there would be no need for Dynamic Meditation, butgiven that people were repressed, were carrying a large psychologicalburden, they would first need a catharsis. So Dynamic Meditation was tohelp them clean themselves out; then they would be able to use anymeditation method without difficulty.

Osho Essential teachings

On MEDITATION - Meditation is astate of witnessing without judgments. It is not concentration: it is relaxation, let-go. There is no "how" to this,because "how" means doing one has to understand that no doing isgoing to help. In that very understanding, non-doing happens.

Meditation means awareness. Whatsoever you do with awareness is meditation.Action is not the question, but the quality that you bring to your action.Walking can be a meditation if you walk alertly. Sitting can be a meditation if you sit alertly.Listning to the birds can be a meditation if you listen with awareness.Just listening to the inner noise of your mind can be a meditation ifyou remain alert and watchful.The whole point is: one should not move in sleep. Then whatsoever you do is meditation.

On ENLIGHTENMENT- Enlightenment is everyone's natural state, but that one is distractedfrom realizing it particularly by the human activity of thought, aswell as by emotional ties to societal expectations, and consequentfears and inhibitions.

On LOVE - Love is the only real thing worth doing. All else is secondary. If ithelps love, it is good. All else is just a means, love is the end. Sowhatsoever the pain, go into love. If you don't go into love, as manypeople have decided, then you are stuck with yourself. Then your lifeis not a pilgrimage, then your life is not a river going to the ocean;your life is a stagnant pool, dirty, and soon there will be nothing butdirt and mud. To keep clean, one needs to keep flowing. A river remainsclean because it goes on flowing. Flow is the process of remainingcontinuously virgin. A lover remains a virgin. All lovers are virgin.The people who don't love cannot remain virgin; they become dormant,stagnant; they start stinking sooner or later -- and sooner than later-- because they have nowhere to go. Their life is dead. That's wheremodern man finds himself, and because of this, all kinds of neuroses,all kinds of madnesses, have become rampant.

On CELEBRATION - Celebration is the foundation of my sanyas, not renunciation but rejoicing; rejoicing in all the beauties, all the joys, all that life offers, because this whole life is a gift of God.

On HAPPINESS - Happiness is a function of truth. Whenever there is truth, happiness functions. Whenever there is not truth, happiness stops functioning and unhappiness functions.

On CREATIVITY - To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.

Oshowas born Chandra Mohan Jain in Kuchwada, a small village in theNarsinghpur District of Madhya Pradesh state in India, as the eldest ofeleven children of a cloth merchant. At the time, an astrologerpredicted that he might die before he was seven years old according tothe birth chart. His parents, who were Taranpanthi Jains, sent him tolive with his maternal grandparents until he was seven years old.

Oshosaid this was a major influence on his growth because his grandmothergave him the utmost freedom and respect, leaving him carefree; withoutan imposed education or restrictions.

At seven years old, he wentback to his parents. He explained that he received a similar kind ofrespect from his paternal grandfather who was staying with them. He wasable to be very open with his grandfather. His grandfather used to tellhim, "I know you are doing the right thing. Everyone may tell you thatyou are wrong. But nobody knows which situation you are in. Only youcan decide in your situation. Do whatsoever you feel is right. I willsupport you. I love you and respect you as well." He resisted hisparents' pressure to get married.

He was a rebellious, but gifted student, winning the title of All-India Debating Champion.

Hestarted his public speaking at the annual Sarva Dharma Sammelan held atJabalpur since 1939, organised by the Taranpanthi Jain community intowhich he was born. He participated there from 1951 to 1968. Eventuallythe Jain community stopped inviting him because of his radical ideas.

Oshosaid he became spiritually enlightened on 21 March 1953, when he was 21years old. He said he dropped all effort and hope. After an intenseseven-day process he went out at night to a garden in Jabalpur, wherehe sat under a tree: The moment I entered the garden everythingbecame luminous, it was all over the place the benediction, theblessedness. I could see the trees for the first time their green,their life, their very sap running. The whole garden was asleep, thetrees were asleep. But I could see the whole garden alive, even thesmall grass leaves were so beautiful. I looked around. One tree wastremendously luminous the maulshree tree. It attracted me, it pulledme towards itself. I had not chosen it, god himself has chosen it. Iwent to the tree, I sat under the tree. As I sat there things startedsettling. The whole universe became a benediction.

He finishedhis studies at D. N. Jain College and the University of Sagar,receiving a B.A. (1955) and an M.A. (1957, with distinction) inphilosophy. He then taught philosophy, first at Raipur SanskritCollege, and then, until 1966, as a Professor at Jabalpur University.At the same time, he travelled throughout India, giving lecturescritical of socialism and Gandhi, under the name Acharya Rajneesh(Acharya means "teacher"; Rajneesh was a nickname he had been given byhis family). In 1962, he began to lead 3- to 10-day meditation camps,and the first meditation centres (Jivan Jagruti Kendras) started toemerge around his teaching, then known as the Life Awakening Movement(Jivan Jagruti Andolan). He resigned from his teaching post in 1966.

In1968, he scandalised Hindu leaders by calling for freer acceptance ofsex; at the Second World Hindu Conference in 1969, he enraged Hindus bycriticising all organised religion and the very institution ofpriesthood.

In 1969, a group of Osho's friends established afoundation to support his work. They settled in an apartment in Mumbaiwhere he gave daily discourses and received visitors. The number andfrequency of visitors soon became too much for the place, overflowingthe apartment and bothering the neighbours. A much larger apartment wasfound on the ground floor (so the visitors would not need to use theelevator, a matter of conflict with the former neighbours).

OnSeptember 26, 1970, he initiated his first disciple or sannyasin at anoutdoor meditation camp, one of the large gatherings where he lecturedand guided group meditations. His concept of neo-sannyas entailedwearing the traditional orange dress of ascetic Hindu holy men.However, his sannyasins were not expected to follow an asceticlifestyle.

From 1971, he was known as BhagwanShree Rajneesh. Shree means Sir or Mister; the Sanskrit word Bhagwanmeans "blessed one". It is commonly used in India as a respectful formof address for spiritual teachers.

The new apartment also provedinsufficient, and the climate of Mumbai was deemed very bad for hisdelicate health. So, in 1974, on the 21st anniversary of hisenlightenment, he and his group moved from the Mumbai apartment to anewly purchased (by Catherine Venizelos) property in Koregaon Park, inthe city of Pune, a four-hour trip from Mumbai. Pune had been thesecondary residence of many wealthy families from Mumbai because of thecooler climate (Mumbai lies in a coastal wetland, hot and damp, Pune isinland and much higher, so it is drier and cooler).

The twoadjoining houses and six acres of land became the nucleus of an Ashram,and those two buildings are still at the heart of the present-day OshoInternational Meditation Resort. This space allowed for the regularaudio and video recording of his discourses and, later, printing forworldwide distribution, which enabled him to reach far larger audiencesinternationally. The number of Western visitors increased sharply,leading to constant expansion. The Ashram now began to offer a growingnumber of therapy groups, as well as meditations.

During one of his discourses in 1980, an attempt on his life was made by a Hindu fundamentalist.

Osho taught at the Pune Ashram from 1974 to 1981.

On10 April 1981, having discoursed daily for nearly 15 years, Oshoentered a three-and-a-half-year period of self-imposed public silence,and satsangs (silent sitting, with some readings from his works andmusic) took the place of his discourses.

In mid-1981, Osho wentto the United States in search of better medical care (he suffered fromasthma, diabetes and severe back problems). After a brief spell inMontclair, New Jersey, his followers bought (for US$6 million) a64,000-acre (260 km) ranch in Wasco County, Oregon, previously knownas "The Big Muddy Ranch", where they settled for the next four yearsand legally incorporated a city named Rajneeshpuram.

Oshostayed in Rajneeshpuram as the commune's guest, living in a modest homewith an indoor swimming pool. Over the coming years, he acquired famefor the large number of Rolls-Royces his followers bought for his use.

Oshoended his period of silence in October 1984. In July 1985, he resumedhis daily public discourses in the commune's purpose-built, two-acremeditation hall. According to statements he made to the press, he didso against the wishes of Ma Anand Sheela, his secretary and thecommunes top manager.

Increasingconflicts with neighbours and the state of Oregon,as well as seriousand criminal misconduct by the commune's management (includingconspiracy to murder public officials, wiretapping within the commune,the attempted murder of Osho's personal physician, and a bio-terrorismattack on the citizens of The Dalles, Oregon, using salmonella), madethe position of the Oregon commune untenable. When the commune'smanagement team who were guilty of these crimes left the U.S. inSeptember 1985, fleeing for Europe, Osho convened a press conferenceand called on the authorities to undertake an investigation. Thiseventually led to the conviction of Sheela and several of herlieutenants.Although Osho himself was not implicated in these crimes,his reputation suffered tremendously, especially in the West.

Inlate October 1985, Osho was arrested in North Carolina as he wasallegedly fleeing the U.S. Accused of minor immigration violations,Osho, on advice of his lawyers, entered an "Alford plea" throughwhich a suspect does not admit guilt, but does concede there is enoughevidence to convict him and was given a suspended sentence anddeported from the United States.

Osho then began a world tour,speaking in Nepal, Greece and Uruguay, among others. Being refusedentry visas by more than twenty different countries, he returned toIndia in July 1986, and in January 1987, to his old Ashram in Pune,India. He resumed discoursing there.

In late December 1988, hesaid he no longer wished to be referred to as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,and shortly afterwards took the name Osho.

On January 19, 1990,four years after his arrest, Osho died, aged 58, with heart failurebeing the publicly reported cause. Prior to his death, Osho hadexpressed his belief that his rapid health decline was caused by someform of poison administered to him by the U.S. authorities during thetwelve days he was held without bail in various U.S. prisons. In apublic discourse on 6 November 1987, he said that a number of doctorsthat were consulted had variously suspected thallium, radioactiveexposure, and other poisons to account for his failing health: Itdoes not matter which poison has been given to me, but it is certainthat I have been poisoned by Ronald Reagan's American government.

Hisashes were placed in his newly built bedroom in one of the mainbuildings (LaoTsu House) at his last place of residence, his Ashram inPune, India. The epitaph reads, "OSHO. Never Born, Never Died. OnlyVisited this Planet Earth between Dec 11 1931 Jan 19 1990."

With200,000 visitors annually, the Osho International Meditation Resort inPune, India, is one of the largest spiritual growth centres in theworld today.

Today, Osho's books are more popular than everbefore, with translations published in 55 different languages. At theend of the eighties, the majority of people in South Asia wantednothing to do with Osho's commune; but since Osho's death, there hasbeen a sea change in public opinion. In 1991, an influential Indiannewspaper counted Osho, among figures such as Gautama Buddha andMahatma Gandhi, among the ten people who had most changed India'sdestiny; in Osho's case, by "liberating the minds of future generationsfrom the shackles of religiosity and conformism". Since then, histeachings have progressively become part of the cultural mainstream ofIndia and Nepal.

Osho is one of only two authors whose entireworks have been placed in the Library of India's National Parliament inNew Delhi (the other is Mahatma Gandhi). Excerpts and quotes from hisworks appear regularly in the Times of India and many other Indiannewspapers. Prominent admirers include the Indian Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, and the noted Indian novelist and journalist, KhushwantSingh. The Osho disciple Vinod Khanna, who worked as Osho's gardener inRajneeshpuram, served as India's Minister of State for External Affairsfrom 2003 to 2004.

In the West, figures such as the American poetand Rumi translator Coleman Barks, the American novelist Tom Robbinsand the German philosopher, author and TV host Peter Sloterdijk havechampioned Osho.

Osho's Ashram in Pune has become the OshoInternational Meditation Resort, one of India's main touristattractions. According to press reports, it attracts some 200,000visitors from all over the world each year; politicians, mediapersonalities and the Dalai Lama have visited the Meditation Resort.

Source Wikipedia

Visit link:
Osho - Spiritual teachers - Google Sites