“How mercantile you are, my friend. Remember: everything that money can buy is already cheap! - one of the most peculiar spiritual leaders of the 20th century spoke about wealth, the owner of almost 100 Rolls-Royces, 4 planes, a combat helicopter and a fortune of 200 million dollars. Osho left a controversial memory of himself: a great teacher, exiled from several dozen countries, a biological terrorist and a sex guru. It seems he was a bit of everyone.
This man was born into the family of a cloth merchant in a small Indian village. They called him then Chandra Mohan Jayin, but quickly enough he received the nickname Rajneesh (Lord of the full moon). He will wear this name almost until his death, only later they will add Acharya (teacher) and Bhagwan (enlightened) to him. In the last year of his life, he will choose another name for himself - Osho, under which he will remain in the memory of people.
Young Chandra Mohan Jayin with his parents.
Why Osho is considered a great teacher
Well, first of all, for creating your own teaching. It is not called a new religion, probably because in fact Osho, who received a classical philosophical education, very organically mixed and fused into a single whole pieces from a variety of religious teachings - Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism, Zen, Sufism and almost a dozen other sources. Therefore, his works are called syncretic. And this applies not only to theory, but also to practice - he added Western methods of group therapy to eastern meditation.
Shock as one of the ways to "wake people up" is the basis of Osho's spiritual practice.
Secondly, for the organization of the ashram system (the abode of sages and hermits in ancient India). There is no data on how many people at different times touched his teachings to one degree or another, but only 7 thousand people from all over the world came to the festival in 1987 in the settlement-commune of Rajneeshpuram in the USA. The population of this city of Osho followers was then 15 thousand people.
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Today, in the homeland of the thinker in India, he is considered a teacher who left an important mark on the mass culture of this country and influenced its fate. The complete collection of Osho's works is kept in the Library of the Indian Parliament in New Delhi. By the way, in total he published more than 600 books, which are still published worldwide in 55 languages with a total circulation of about 3 million copies annually.
First Osho Ashram in Pune (India).
Why Osho is considered a dangerous sectarian
Well, here, first of all, again you need to return to his eclectic teaching. One of the components of the philosophical system has become a free attitude to sex. This tantric component of the "integration of sexuality and spirituality" aroused understandable interest and, at the same time, denial in the West. It was because of this that his communities were criticized for mass orgies, and the teacher himself received the nickname of a sex guru in the press.
Osho's arrival in America.
Secondly, Osho's main troubles began because of the ashrams he organized. In 1984, a disgusting story happened in America. Salmonella bacteria have been added to food in several restaurants in the neighboring town of Rajneeshpuram. This strange action was carried out by the followers of Osho's teachings. In addition, weapons depots and drug laboratories were found on the territory of the center. Despite the fact that Osho himself was not involved in these crimes, his reputation was forever undermined.
Rajneeshpuram, Oregon. Osho drives a Rolls-Royce alongside his crowd of followers. Summer 1982
The next few years turned into a forced flight, which Osho optimistically planned as a trip around the world. The religious leader was accused of violating the immigration and tax laws of America, and after a prison and a huge fine from the United States he was simply deported. Further teachers are not allowed or kicked out of Greece, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Canada, Holland, Germany, in total 21 countries refuse to accept him. Leaving Greece, Osho makes a statement to reporters:
“If one person with a four-week tourist visa can destroy your two thousand-year morality, your religion, then it is not worth keeping. It must be destroyed."
Probably, we have yet to fully realize who this person was and what he gave to the culture of humanity. In the meantime, about him and his teaching, one can find diametrically opposite opinions. In Russia and in many countries, the centers of Osho followers are officially considered destructive religious organizations and sects.
About 300 Osho meditation and information centers operate in about 50 countries around the world.
