Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

**Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh** (11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990) was an Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher. He is one of the most notable of many gurus who brought forms of yoga to the West. 

He freely invented yogic and tantric practices. These characteristics of Neo-Hinduism that began to emerge in the 1870s. His international following has continued after his death. 

Rajneesh was born **Chandra Mohan Jain**; he was known as the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s, and finally as **Osho** in the last year of his life.

## Personal life 
### Early life 
He was born in a small village in the Gadarwara town of Narsinghpur District of Madhya Pradesh state in north India. He spent most of his childhood with his maternal grandparents, which he later mentioned as "the blessing in his life" for its carefree environment.

### Education & teaching 
He entered college at his age of nineteen. The principal asked him to leave the college, and he transferred to D.N. Jain College. There, he completed his B.A. in philosophy in 1955. He earned his M.A. in philosophy in University of Sagar in 1957.  

After earning his Master's degree, he started teaching at Raipur Sanskrit College. He became a professor at Government Mahakaushal Mahavidyalaya in Pachpedhi, Jabalpur, which was affiliated with Jabalpur University. (This institution is now known as Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya.) While teaching at colleges, he became known as a public speaker.  

Around 1957-1959, he lived in a rented, simple house on Garha Road. (This road led from Ranital Crossing to Garha sub-town.) He did all of the routine work on the property by himself. 

In those days he used to meditate in Bhawar Tal Park of Jabalpur City under the "Maulshri" tree which is still preserved and known as "Osho Tree" in the Park. (based on personal knowledge as a student of Mahakaushal College (now Govt,  College of Arts & Science) 1956-60.

### Academic 
As a professor of philosophy, he traveled throughout India in the 1960s as a public speaker. He was a critic of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi, and other stalwarts of Indian politics, including institutionalised religions. He advocated a more open attitude towards sexuality:  so the press called him a "sex guru". 

In 1970, he settled for a time in Bombay initiating disciples (known as neo-sannyasins) and expanded his spiritual teaching and work. In his discourses, he reinterpreted writings of religious traditions, mystics, and philosophers from around the world. Moving to Poona in 1974, he established an ashram that attracted increasing numbers of Westerners.

## Ashrams 
### Poona 
The Poona ashram was by all accounts an exciting and intense place to be, with an emotionally charged, madhouse-carnival atmosphere. The day began at 6:00&nbsp;a.m. with Dynamic Meditation.

The ashram offered therapies derived from the Human Potential Movement to its Western audience and made news in India and abroad, chiefly because of its permissive climate and Osho's provocative lectures. By the end of the 1970s, there were mounting tensions with the Indian government and the surrounding society.

A situation rose when Rajneesh entered a three-and-a-half-year period of self-imposed public silence on 10 April 1981. He occupied himself with *satsangs*—silent sitting with music and readings from spiritual works, and gave no discourses. This made him the largest single owner of the cars in the world. He argued that these institutions often suppressed individual freedom and spiritual growth.

#### Influence of Ma Anand Sheela 
Ma Anand Sheela (born Sheela Ambatal Patel, 28 December 1949) was Rajneesh's personal secretary from 1981 to 1985. On 10 July 1981, she purchased the  Big Muddy Ranch to create the Rajneeshpuram, Oregon commune. It was under Sheela's influence that Rajneesh decided to travel to the United States and begin an ashram there.

While at Rajneeshpuram, Rajneesh depended on Sheela to manage the organisation. He was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with immigration violations, and was deported from the United States in accordance with a plea bargain.

Ma Anand Sheela was sentenced to three concurrent 20-year prison sentences, for assault, attempted murder, telephone tapping, immigration fraud and product tampering. She served 29 months before being released on parole. Upon release, she left immediately for Switzerland, where she now manages two nursing homes.

## After the collapse 
Twenty-one countries denied him entry, causing Osho to travel the world before returning to Poona, where he died in 1990. His ashram is today known as the Osho International Meditation Resort. His teachings emphasised the importance of meditation, awareness, love, celebration, courage, creativity and humour—qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialisation. Osho's teachings have had an impact on Western New Age thought,p177 and their popularity has increased since his death.p182

One of his strong hopes was creating what he called "new man", who embodies characteristics of Gautama Buddha and Zorba the Greek  at the same time. Through this concept, Rajneesh tried to reject neither science nor spirituality, but embrace them both. According to him, “New man” is not subject to one’s sex and does not belong to institutions such as family, political ideologies, or religions.

## Books by Rajneesh 
Many books of his teachings were published. They followed a pattern: he would give talks, they would be recorded. The tapes would be worked up into a typed manuscript by some of his followers. The manuscripts would be published, at first in India, and without ISBN numbers, so they were at first bought by his admirers. Later some of the best were reprinted in the West. His talks covered a wide range of religions and philosophies. The total number of books is not known, but it was certainly more than 30.

### 1974-1977 
*1974 *The book of the secrets I: discourses on Vigyana Bhairava Tantra*. The Rajneesh Foundation, Poona, India. Reprinted 1976 by Thames & Hudson, London. . This book is about meditation, and there were four more volumes.
*1975. *Roots and wings: talks on Zen*. Rajneesh Foundation, Poona, India.
*1975. *And the flowers showered*: talks on Zen. Rajneesh Foundation, Poona, India.  
*1976. *The hidden harmony: discourses on the fragments of Heraclitus*. Rajneesh Foundation, Poona, India.
*1976. *When the shoe fits: talks on Chuang Tzu*. Rajneesh Foundation, Poona, India.
*1977. *Ancient music in the pines: talks on Zen stories*. Rajneesh Foundation, Poona, India.

### Undated writings 
**The ultimate alchemy*, vols I & II.
**Yoga: the alpha and the omega*. vols I and II
**Vedanta: seven steps to the Samadhi*.
**The way of the white cloud*.
**No water no moon*: talks on Zen. (UK edition Sheldon Press)
**The mustard seed*: discourses on the sayings of Jesus.
**Neither this nor that*: discourses on SosanZen
**Tantra: the supreme understanding*. (U.S. edition: *Only one sky*)
**Just like that*: discourses on Sufi stories.
**Until you die*: discourses on Sufi stories.
**I am the gate*. Harper & Row, New York.
**The inward revolution*.
**TAO: the three treasures*: discourses on Lao Tzu, vols IIV.
**Tantra, spirituality and sex*. Published in the U.S.A.
**Meditation: the art of ecstasy*. Harper & Row, New York.
**Come follow me*: discourses on the life of Jesus.

## References 
## Further reading 
* .

* .

## Other websites 
* Osho International Foundation
* Excerpt of an Osho discourse on youtube
* Osho Bibliography at Sannyas Wiki