Monday, February 4, 2013
Lots of Osho Books in Malayalam
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Where to do OSHO Meditations in KERALA ?
Osho's revolutionary meditations can be done individually or in groups.
If you are an Osho Sannyasin, Lover or simply a friend in KERALA and would like to invite others for small gatherings in your place, please post a comment on this blog with details.
All around the world, there are meditation groups and OSHO centers who usually meet on a regular weekly/bi-weekly basis. Surprisingly, there are numerous Osho centers being operated from individual homes!.
It is so simple and logical to understand why you don't see large crowds and masses following OSHO like sheeps. Osho's messages are so 'penetrating' and 'revealing', that it shakes the foundations of all types of beliefs and ideaologies. Many feel offended because OSHO says the TRUTH straight on their faces and never compromise it in order to attract large crowds and blind followers.
According to Osho, a real master is not a consolation. A real master is like Fire who will burn all that is unncessary in you. When all the unnecessary garbage is thrown out, only then there is a possibility for relaxation and peace.
Though you don't see large crowds , the truth is there are millions and millions of genuine individuals (especially youngsters) being transformed through listening to OSHO and doing his active meditations all around the world
"Do not Follow.. Be a light unto yourself" ~OSHO
If you are an Osho Sannyasin, Lover or simply a friend in KERALA and would like to invite others for small gatherings in your place, please post a comment on this blog with details.
All around the world, there are meditation groups and OSHO centers who usually meet on a regular weekly/bi-weekly basis. Surprisingly, there are numerous Osho centers being operated from individual homes!.
It is so simple and logical to understand why you don't see large crowds and masses following OSHO like sheeps. Osho's messages are so 'penetrating' and 'revealing', that it shakes the foundations of all types of beliefs and ideaologies. Many feel offended because OSHO says the TRUTH straight on their faces and never compromise it in order to attract large crowds and blind followers.
According to Osho, a real master is not a consolation. A real master is like Fire who will burn all that is unncessary in you. When all the unnecessary garbage is thrown out, only then there is a possibility for relaxation and peace.
Though you don't see large crowds , the truth is there are millions and millions of genuine individuals (especially youngsters) being transformed through listening to OSHO and doing his active meditations all around the world
"Do not Follow.. Be a light unto yourself" ~OSHO
Monday, June 7, 2010
Why OSHO's "Active" Meditations?
Why " Osho Active Meditations "?
Modern man is a very new phenomenon. No traditional method can be used exactly as it exists because modern man never existed before. So, in a way, all traditional methods have become irrelevant.
For example, the body has changed so much. It is so drugged that no traditional method can be helpful. The whole atmosphere is artificial now: the air, the water, society, living conditions. Nothing is natural. You are born in artificiality; you develop in it. So traditional methods will prove harmful today. They will have to be changed according to the modern situation.
Another thing: the quality of the mind has basically changed. In Patanjali's [the most famous commentator on Yoga] days, the center of the human personality was not the brain; it was the heart. Before that, it was not even the heart. It was still lower, near the navel. The center has gone even further from the navel. Now, the center is the brain. That is why teachings like those of Krishnamurti have appeal. No method is needed, no technique is needed - only understanding. But if it is just a verbal understanding, just intellectual, nothing changes, nothing is transformed. It again becomes an accumulation of knowledge.
I use chaotic methods rather than systematic ones because a chaotic method is very helpful in pushing the center down from the brain. The center cannot be pushed down through any systematic method because systemization is brainwork. Through a systematic method, the brain will be strengthened; more energy will be added to it. Through chaotic methods the brain is nullified. It has nothing to do. The method is so chaotic that the center is automatically pushed from the brain to the heart. If you do my method of Dynamic Meditation vigorously, unsystematically, chaotically, your center moves to the heart. Then there is a catharsis.
A catharsis is needed because your heart is so suppressed, due to your brain. Your brain has taken over so much of your being that it dominates you. There is no place for the heart, so the longings of the heart are suppressed. You have never laughed heartily, never lived heartily, never done anything heartily. The brain always comes in to systematize, to make things mathematical, and the heart is suppressed. So firstly, a chaotic method is needed to push the center of consciousness from the brain toward the heart.
Then catharsis is needed to unburden the heart, to throw off suppressions, to make the heart open. If the heart becomes light and unburdened, then the center of consciousness is pushed still lower; it comes to the navel. The navel is the source of vitality, the seed source from which everything else comes: the body and the mind and everything.
I use this chaotic method very considerately. Systematic methodology will not help now, because the brain will use it as its own instrument. Nor can just the chanting of bhajans help now, because the heart is so burdened that it cannot flower into real chanting. Consciousness must be pushed down to the source, to the roots. Only then is there the possibility of transformation. So I use chaotic methods to push the consciousness downward from the brain.
Whenever you are in chaos, the brain stops working. For example, if you are driving a car and suddenly someone runs in front of you, you react so suddenly that it cannot be the work of the brain. The brain takes time. It thinks about what to do and what not to do. So whenever there is a possibility of an accident and you push the brake, you feel a sensation near your navel, as if it were your stomach that is reacting. Your consciousness is pushed down to the navel because of the accident. If the accident could be calculated beforehand, the brain would be able to deal with it; but when you are in an accident, something unknown happens. Then you notice that your consciousness has moved to the navel.
If you ask a Zen monk, "From where do you think?" he puts his hands on his belly. When Westerners came into contact with Japanese monks for the first time they could not understand. "What nonsense! How can you think from your belly?
But the Zen reply is meaningful. Consciousness can use any center of the body, and the center that is nearest to the original source is the navel. The brain is furthest away from the original source, so if life energy is moving outward, the center of consciousness will become the brain. And if life energy is moving inward, ultimately the navel will become the center.
Chaotic methods are needed to push the consciousness to its roots, because only from the roots is transformation possible. Otherwise you will go on verbalizing and there will be no transformation. It is not enough just to know what is right. You have to transform the roots; otherwise you will not change.
When a person knows the right thing and cannot do anything about it, he becomes doubly tense. He understands, but he cannot do anything. Understanding is meaningful only when it comes from the navel, from the roots. If you understand from the brain, it is not transforming.
The ultimate cannot be known through the brain, because when you are functioning through the brain you are in conflict with the roots from which you have come. Your whole problem is that you have moved away from the navel. You have come from the navel and you will die through it. One has to come back to the roots. But coming back is difficult, arduous.
Traditional methods have an appeal because they are so ancient and so many people have achieved through them in the past. They may have become irrelevant to us, but they were not irrelevant to Buddha, Mahavira, Patanjali or Krishna . They were meaningful, helpful. The old methods may be meaningless now, but because Buddha achieved through them they have an appeal. The traditionalist feels: "If Buddha achieved through these methods, why can't I?"
But we are in an altogether different situation now. The whole atmosphere, the whole thought-sphere, has changed. Every method is organic to a particular situation, to a particular mind, to a particular man. The fact that the old methods don't work doesn't mean that no method is useful. It only means that the methods themselves must change. As I see the situation, modern man has changed so much that he needs new methods, new techniques.
Osho: The Psychology of the Esoteric , #4
Osho Dynamic Meditation
Description:
Dynamic Meditation lasts one hour and is in five stages. It can be done alone, and will be even more powerful if it is done with others. It is an individual experience so you should remain oblivious of others around you and keep your eyes closed throughout, preferably using a blindfold. It is best to have an empty stomach and wear loose, comfortable clothing.Osho Says"This is a meditation in which you have to be continuously alert, conscious, aware, whatsoever you do. Remain a witness. Don't get lost. While you are breathing you can forget. You can become one with the breathing so much that you can forget the witness. But then you miss the point."Breathe as fast as possible, as deep as possible; bring your total energy to it but still remain a witness. Observe what is happening as if you are just a spectator, as if the whole thing is happening to somebody else, as if the whole thing is happening in the body and the consciousness is just centered and looking."This witnessing has to be carried in all the three steps. And when everything stops, and in the fourth step you have become completely inactive, frozen, then this alertness will come to its peak."
Method
Modern man is a very new phenomenon. No traditional method can be used exactly as it exists because modern man never existed before. So, in a way, all traditional methods have become irrelevant.
For example, the body has changed so much. It is so drugged that no traditional method can be helpful. The whole atmosphere is artificial now: the air, the water, society, living conditions. Nothing is natural. You are born in artificiality; you develop in it. So traditional methods will prove harmful today. They will have to be changed according to the modern situation.
Another thing: the quality of the mind has basically changed. In Patanjali's [the most famous commentator on Yoga] days, the center of the human personality was not the brain; it was the heart. Before that, it was not even the heart. It was still lower, near the navel. The center has gone even further from the navel. Now, the center is the brain. That is why teachings like those of Krishnamurti have appeal. No method is needed, no technique is needed - only understanding. But if it is just a verbal understanding, just intellectual, nothing changes, nothing is transformed. It again becomes an accumulation of knowledge.
I use chaotic methods rather than systematic ones because a chaotic method is very helpful in pushing the center down from the brain. The center cannot be pushed down through any systematic method because systemization is brainwork. Through a systematic method, the brain will be strengthened; more energy will be added to it. Through chaotic methods the brain is nullified. It has nothing to do. The method is so chaotic that the center is automatically pushed from the brain to the heart. If you do my method of Dynamic Meditation vigorously, unsystematically, chaotically, your center moves to the heart. Then there is a catharsis.
A catharsis is needed because your heart is so suppressed, due to your brain. Your brain has taken over so much of your being that it dominates you. There is no place for the heart, so the longings of the heart are suppressed. You have never laughed heartily, never lived heartily, never done anything heartily. The brain always comes in to systematize, to make things mathematical, and the heart is suppressed. So firstly, a chaotic method is needed to push the center of consciousness from the brain toward the heart.
Then catharsis is needed to unburden the heart, to throw off suppressions, to make the heart open. If the heart becomes light and unburdened, then the center of consciousness is pushed still lower; it comes to the navel. The navel is the source of vitality, the seed source from which everything else comes: the body and the mind and everything.
I use this chaotic method very considerately. Systematic methodology will not help now, because the brain will use it as its own instrument. Nor can just the chanting of bhajans help now, because the heart is so burdened that it cannot flower into real chanting. Consciousness must be pushed down to the source, to the roots. Only then is there the possibility of transformation. So I use chaotic methods to push the consciousness downward from the brain.
Whenever you are in chaos, the brain stops working. For example, if you are driving a car and suddenly someone runs in front of you, you react so suddenly that it cannot be the work of the brain. The brain takes time. It thinks about what to do and what not to do. So whenever there is a possibility of an accident and you push the brake, you feel a sensation near your navel, as if it were your stomach that is reacting. Your consciousness is pushed down to the navel because of the accident. If the accident could be calculated beforehand, the brain would be able to deal with it; but when you are in an accident, something unknown happens. Then you notice that your consciousness has moved to the navel.
If you ask a Zen monk, "From where do you think?" he puts his hands on his belly. When Westerners came into contact with Japanese monks for the first time they could not understand. "What nonsense! How can you think from your belly?
But the Zen reply is meaningful. Consciousness can use any center of the body, and the center that is nearest to the original source is the navel. The brain is furthest away from the original source, so if life energy is moving outward, the center of consciousness will become the brain. And if life energy is moving inward, ultimately the navel will become the center.
Chaotic methods are needed to push the consciousness to its roots, because only from the roots is transformation possible. Otherwise you will go on verbalizing and there will be no transformation. It is not enough just to know what is right. You have to transform the roots; otherwise you will not change.
When a person knows the right thing and cannot do anything about it, he becomes doubly tense. He understands, but he cannot do anything. Understanding is meaningful only when it comes from the navel, from the roots. If you understand from the brain, it is not transforming.
The ultimate cannot be known through the brain, because when you are functioning through the brain you are in conflict with the roots from which you have come. Your whole problem is that you have moved away from the navel. You have come from the navel and you will die through it. One has to come back to the roots. But coming back is difficult, arduous.
Traditional methods have an appeal because they are so ancient and so many people have achieved through them in the past. They may have become irrelevant to us, but they were not irrelevant to Buddha, Mahavira, Patanjali or Krishna . They were meaningful, helpful. The old methods may be meaningless now, but because Buddha achieved through them they have an appeal. The traditionalist feels: "If Buddha achieved through these methods, why can't I?"
But we are in an altogether different situation now. The whole atmosphere, the whole thought-sphere, has changed. Every method is organic to a particular situation, to a particular mind, to a particular man. The fact that the old methods don't work doesn't mean that no method is useful. It only means that the methods themselves must change. As I see the situation, modern man has changed so much that he needs new methods, new techniques.
Osho: The Psychology of the Esoteric , #4
Osho Dynamic Meditation
Description:
Dynamic Meditation lasts one hour and is in five stages. It can be done alone, and will be even more powerful if it is done with others. It is an individual experience so you should remain oblivious of others around you and keep your eyes closed throughout, preferably using a blindfold. It is best to have an empty stomach and wear loose, comfortable clothing.Osho Says"This is a meditation in which you have to be continuously alert, conscious, aware, whatsoever you do. Remain a witness. Don't get lost. While you are breathing you can forget. You can become one with the breathing so much that you can forget the witness. But then you miss the point."Breathe as fast as possible, as deep as possible; bring your total energy to it but still remain a witness. Observe what is happening as if you are just a spectator, as if the whole thing is happening to somebody else, as if the whole thing is happening in the body and the consciousness is just centered and looking."This witnessing has to be carried in all the three steps. And when everything stops, and in the fourth step you have become completely inactive, frozen, then this alertness will come to its peak."
Method
- First Stage: 10 minutesBreathe chaotically through the nose, concentrating always on exhalation. The body will take care of the inhalation. The breath should move deeply into the lungs. Be as fast as you can in your breathing, making sure the breathing stays deep. Do this as fast and as hard as you possibly can - and then a little harder, until you literally become the breathing. Use your natural body movements to help you to build up your energy. Feel it building up, but don't let go during the first stage.
- Second Stage: 10 minutesExplode! Express everything that needs to be thrown out. Go totally mad. Scream, shout, cry, jump, shake, dance, sing, laugh; throw yourself around. Hold nothing back; keep your whole body moving. A little acting often helps to get you started. Never allow your mind to interfere with what is happening. Be total, be whole hearted.
- Third Stage: 10 minutesWith raised arms, jump up and down shouting the mantra, "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" as deeply as possible. Each time you land, on the flats of your feet, let the sound hammer deep into the sex center. Give all you have; exhaust yourself totally.
- Fourth Stage: 15 minutesStop! Freeze wherever you are, in whatever position you find yourself. Don't arrange the body in any way. A cough, a movement - anything will dissipate the energy flow and the effort will be lost. Be a witness to everything that is happening to you.Fifth Stage: 15 minutesCelebrate through dance, expressing your gratitude towards the whole. Carry your happiness with you throughout the day.
Osho Kundalini Meditation
This meditation lasts for one hour and has four stages, three with music, and the last without.Kundalini acts like an energetic shower, softly shaking you free of your day and leaving you refreshed and mellow.
Method
- First Stage: 15 minutesBe loose and let your whole body shake, feeling the energies moving up from your feet. Let go everywhere and become the shaking. Your eyes may be open or closed."Allow the shaking; don't do it. Stand silently, feel it coming and when your body starts trembling, help it but don't do it. Enjoy it, feel blissful about it, allow it, receive it, welcome it, but don't will it."If you force it will become an exercise, a bodily, physical exercise. Then the shaking will be there but just on the surface; it will not penetrate you. You will remain solid, stone-like, rock-like within. You will remain the manipulator, the doer, and the body will just be following. The body is not the question - you are the question."When I say shake, I mean your solidity, your rock-like being should shake to the very foundations so that it becomes liquid, fluid, melts, flows. And when the rock-like being becomes liquid, your body will follow. Then there is no shake, only shaking. Then nobody is doing it; it is simply happening. Then the doer is not." Osho
- Second Stage: 15 minutesDance, any way you feel, letting the whole body move as it wishes. Again, your eyes can be open or closed.
- Third Stage: 15 minutesClose your eyes and be still, sitting or standing, observing, witnessing, whatever is happening inside and out.
- Fourth Stage: 15 minutesKeeping your eyes closed, lie down and be still.
What Meditation Is -- and What It Is Not
What Meditation Is -- and What It Is Not
There are many different, even contradictory ideas, about what meditation is. Primary to the Osho approach is the need for the meditator to understand the nature of the mind, rather than fight with it.
Most of us most of the time are run by, dominated by our thoughts or feelings. It follows that we tend to think we are those thoughts and feeling. Meditation is the state of simply being, just pure experiencing, with no interference from the body or mind. It's a natural state but one which we have forgotten how to access.
The word meditation is also used for what is, more accurately, a meditation method. Meditative methods, techniques or devices are means by which to create an inner ambience that facilitates disconnecting from the bodymind so one can simply be. While initially it is helpful to put time aside to practice a structured meditation method, there are many techniques that are practiced within the context of one's everyday life - at work, at leisure, alone and with others.
Methods are needed only until the state of meditation - of relaxed awareness, of consciousness and centering - has become not just a passing experience but as intrinsic to one as, say, breathing.
Some Common Misconceptions
There are many different, even contradictory ideas, about what meditation is. Primary to the Osho approach is the need for the meditator to understand the nature of the mind, rather than fight with it.
Most of us most of the time are run by, dominated by our thoughts or feelings. It follows that we tend to think we are those thoughts and feeling. Meditation is the state of simply being, just pure experiencing, with no interference from the body or mind. It's a natural state but one which we have forgotten how to access.
The word meditation is also used for what is, more accurately, a meditation method. Meditative methods, techniques or devices are means by which to create an inner ambience that facilitates disconnecting from the bodymind so one can simply be. While initially it is helpful to put time aside to practice a structured meditation method, there are many techniques that are practiced within the context of one's everyday life - at work, at leisure, alone and with others.
Methods are needed only until the state of meditation - of relaxed awareness, of consciousness and centering - has become not just a passing experience but as intrinsic to one as, say, breathing.
Some Common Misconceptions
- Misconception 2) Meditation is a practice to gain "peace of mind." Peace of mind is a contradiction in terms. By its very nature the mind is a chronic commentator. What you can discover through meditation is the knack of finding the distance between yourself and the commentary, so that the mind, with its constant circus of thoughts and emotions, no longer intrudes on your inherent state of silence.
- Misconception 3) Meditation is a mental discipline or effort to control or "tame" the mind, to become more mindful. Meditation is neither a mental effort nor an attempt to control the mind. Effort and control involve tension, and tension is antithetical to the state of meditation. Besides, there is no need to control the mind, only to understand it and how it works. The meditator does not need to tame his mind, to become more mindful, but to grow more in consciousness.
- Misconception 4) Meditation is Focusing, concentrating or contemplating. Focusing, like concentrating is a narrowing of awareness. You concentrate on one object to the exclusion of everything else. By contrast, meditation is all-inclusive, your consciousness is expanded. The contemplator is focused on an object - perhaps a religious object, a photograph or on an inspiring aphorism. The meditator is simply aware, but not of anything in particular.
- Misconception 5) Meditation is a new experience. Not necessarily - sportsmen know this space, which they refer to as "the zone." Artists know it - through singing, painting, playing music. We can know it through gardening, playing with the kids, walking on the beach or making love. Even as children we may have had experiences of it. Meditation is a natural state and one that you have almost certainly tasted, although perhaps without knowing the name of the flavor.
Osho in Kerala !!
Malayalam Books: A number of Osho books have been published in Malayalam by Osho Silence. These books are available in most book stores in Kerala.
English Books: Almost all major book stores (in the world) carry Osho books. Stop by one of the nearest book stores in your town.
Hindi Books: Most Indian book stores carry Osho's Hindi books.
Free Osho MP3: One of the best ways to know Osho is through listening to the discourses which were recorded in Pune, India, Oregon, USA and several other countries during the world tour. Visit www.oshoworld.com
Osho people with origin in Kerala: There are numerous Osho sannyasins and lovers spread across the globe who are originally from Kerala. Contact information will be made available soon.
Major Osho Centers: Pune, India, where Osho's Samadhi and ashes are kept is now an International Meditation Resort www.osho.com . Other major centers include Osho Tapoban (www.tapoban.com), an international Osho commune in kathmandu, Nepal run by Bodhisatva Swami Anand Arun, one of Osho's earliest desciples, Osho World (www.oshoworld.com) in Delhi, and Osho Nisarga (www.oshonisarga.com)
English Books: Almost all major book stores (in the world) carry Osho books. Stop by one of the nearest book stores in your town.
Hindi Books: Most Indian book stores carry Osho's Hindi books.
Free Osho MP3: One of the best ways to know Osho is through listening to the discourses which were recorded in Pune, India, Oregon, USA and several other countries during the world tour. Visit www.oshoworld.com
Osho people with origin in Kerala: There are numerous Osho sannyasins and lovers spread across the globe who are originally from Kerala. Contact information will be made available soon.
Major Osho Centers: Pune, India, where Osho's Samadhi and ashes are kept is now an International Meditation Resort www.osho.com . Other major centers include Osho Tapoban (www.tapoban.com), an international Osho commune in kathmandu, Nepal run by Bodhisatva Swami Anand Arun, one of Osho's earliest desciples, Osho World (www.oshoworld.com) in Delhi, and Osho Nisarga (www.oshonisarga.com)
Who is Osho?
Who is Osho?
"I have been misunderstood perhaps more than anyone else ever, but it has not affected me, for the simple reason that there is no desire to be understood. It is their problem if they don't understand, it is not my problem. If they misunderstand, it is their problem and their misery. I am not going to waste my sleep because millions of people are misunderstanding me." ~Osho
Born in Kuchwada, Madhya Pradesh, India on December 11, 1931*, Osho says of his parents, "I had chosen this couple for their love, their intimacy, their almost one-ness." Growing in an atmosphere of tremendous love, freedom and respect, Osho was an intuitive and adventurous child with the knack of penetrating to the very heart of a situation. Exploring life fearlessly and intensely, he insisted on experiencing life for himself rather than acquiring beliefs or knowledge given by others. "My childhood was certainly golden - not a symbol, absolutely golden; not poetically but literally, factually... Those years were unforgettable."
When he was seven years old, his maternal grandfather died with his head in Osho's lap as they traveled in the back of a bullock cart on the long journey to reach the nearest doctor. This had a profound effect on his inner life, provoking in him a determination to discover that which is deathless. "I learned much in that moment of his silence...," Osho said later. "I started on a new search, a new pilgrimage." This, and other stories in Glimpses of a Golden Childhood, give rich insight into Osho's early years, and the innocent spirit of the flame of rebellion and playfulness he brought to every endeavor in his life.
At the age of twenty-one, Osho became enlightened. "For many lives I had been working on myself, struggling, doing whatsoever can be done - and nothing was happening. The very effort was a barrier... Not that one can reach without seeking. Seeking is needed, but then comes a point when seeking has to be dropped... And that day the search stopped...it started happening. A new energy arose... It was coming from nowhere and everywhere. It was in the trees and in the rocks and the sky and the sun and the air - and I was thinking it was very far away. And it was so near..." A full account of his enlightenment can be found in The Discipline of Transcendence.
After his enlightenment on March 21, 1953, Osho graduated from the University of Saugar with first class honors in philosophy. While a student, he won the All-India Debating Championship. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Jabalpur for nine years.
Meanwhile, he traveled throughout India giving talks, challenging religious leaders in public debate and meeting people from all walks of life. He read extensively, everything he could find to broaden his understanding of the belief systems and psychology of contemporary man.
Osho had now begun to develop his unique dynamic meditation techniques. Modern man, he said, was so burdened with the outmoded traditions of the past and the anxieties of modern-day living that he must go through a deep cleansing process before he could hope to discover the thought-less, relaxed state of meditation. He began to hold meditation camps around India, giving talks to the participants and personally conducting sessions of the meditations he had developed.
For more than thirty-five years Osho worked directly with people who came to him, sharing his vision of a "New Man" and inspiring them to experiment with a life based in meditation. Bridging the ancient truths of simpler times with the current reality of man, he created numerous meditation techniques which give seekers an avenue to experience the ultimate. Seeing that the complexities of life needed to be addressed, he worked closely with many prominent therapists from the West to create new therapies based in meditation.
After his initial work in India, Osho was invited to America where a bold communal experiment to translate his vision into a living reality began. Thousands of his disciples poured their love into a barren piece of land and began to transform it into a flowering oasis in the desert. But Osho's presence and the success of the commune revealed the hypocrisies inherent in the beliefs and prejudices of the current age, particularly in the religious and political establishment. The antagonism of these groups toward Osho and the commune mounted, and after only four years, he was forced to leave America.
Osho then began a World Tour. In the midst of a campaign of worldwide persecution orchestrated by the US Government, Osho responded with characteristic humor and uncompromising honesty, publicly challenging his persecutors and at the same time showering his love unconditionally, giving some of his most intimate talks to disciples who gathered around him wherever he went.
Finally, Osho returned to Poona, India, giving talks twice a day. Thousands of seekers from around the world came together again to be in the presence of this rare buddha and mystic, and a new commune grew around him. It was during this time that Osho announced that he did not want to be called Bhagwan again: "Enough is enough! The joke is over." In these years of his final discourses, Osho gradually began to withdraw from public activities. His fragile health often prevented him from giving discourses, and the periods of his absence grew longer. He introduced a new element into his discourses, guiding his audience into a three-stage meditation at the end of each sitting. Eventually he delivered his last discourse series, answering questions and commenting on Zen sutras.
After his failing health had caused him to stop giving discourses, a message came that the name Rajneesh was also being dropped. Many of his disciples had already collectively decided to call him Osho. He has explained that the word 'Osho' is derived from William James' expression 'oceanic experience' which means dissolving into the ocean. "Oceanic describes the experience," says Osho, "but what about the experiencer? For that we use the word 'Osho'."
In the following months, whenever his health permitted, he would appear in the evening to sit with his disciples and friends in a meditation of music and silence, after which he would retire to his room while the assembly watched one of his videotaped discourses.
Osho left his body on January 19, 1990. Just a few weeks before that time, he was asked what would happen to his work when he was gone. He said:
"My trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth in what I am saying, it will survive... The people who remain interested in my work will be simply carrying the torch, but not imposing anything on anyone...
"I will remain a source of inspiration to my people... I want them to grow on their own - qualities like love, around which no church can be created, like awareness, which is nobody's monopoly; like celebration, rejoicing, and remaining fresh, childlike eyes...
"I want my people to know themselves, not to be according to someone else. And the way is in."
OSHO
Never Born
Never Died
Only Visited This Planet Earth Between
11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990
"I have been misunderstood perhaps more than anyone else ever, but it has not affected me, for the simple reason that there is no desire to be understood. It is their problem if they don't understand, it is not my problem. If they misunderstand, it is their problem and their misery. I am not going to waste my sleep because millions of people are misunderstanding me." ~Osho
Born in Kuchwada, Madhya Pradesh, India on December 11, 1931*, Osho says of his parents, "I had chosen this couple for their love, their intimacy, their almost one-ness." Growing in an atmosphere of tremendous love, freedom and respect, Osho was an intuitive and adventurous child with the knack of penetrating to the very heart of a situation. Exploring life fearlessly and intensely, he insisted on experiencing life for himself rather than acquiring beliefs or knowledge given by others. "My childhood was certainly golden - not a symbol, absolutely golden; not poetically but literally, factually... Those years were unforgettable."
When he was seven years old, his maternal grandfather died with his head in Osho's lap as they traveled in the back of a bullock cart on the long journey to reach the nearest doctor. This had a profound effect on his inner life, provoking in him a determination to discover that which is deathless. "I learned much in that moment of his silence...," Osho said later. "I started on a new search, a new pilgrimage." This, and other stories in Glimpses of a Golden Childhood, give rich insight into Osho's early years, and the innocent spirit of the flame of rebellion and playfulness he brought to every endeavor in his life.
At the age of twenty-one, Osho became enlightened. "For many lives I had been working on myself, struggling, doing whatsoever can be done - and nothing was happening. The very effort was a barrier... Not that one can reach without seeking. Seeking is needed, but then comes a point when seeking has to be dropped... And that day the search stopped...it started happening. A new energy arose... It was coming from nowhere and everywhere. It was in the trees and in the rocks and the sky and the sun and the air - and I was thinking it was very far away. And it was so near..." A full account of his enlightenment can be found in The Discipline of Transcendence.
After his enlightenment on March 21, 1953, Osho graduated from the University of Saugar with first class honors in philosophy. While a student, he won the All-India Debating Championship. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Jabalpur for nine years.
Meanwhile, he traveled throughout India giving talks, challenging religious leaders in public debate and meeting people from all walks of life. He read extensively, everything he could find to broaden his understanding of the belief systems and psychology of contemporary man.
Osho had now begun to develop his unique dynamic meditation techniques. Modern man, he said, was so burdened with the outmoded traditions of the past and the anxieties of modern-day living that he must go through a deep cleansing process before he could hope to discover the thought-less, relaxed state of meditation. He began to hold meditation camps around India, giving talks to the participants and personally conducting sessions of the meditations he had developed.
For more than thirty-five years Osho worked directly with people who came to him, sharing his vision of a "New Man" and inspiring them to experiment with a life based in meditation. Bridging the ancient truths of simpler times with the current reality of man, he created numerous meditation techniques which give seekers an avenue to experience the ultimate. Seeing that the complexities of life needed to be addressed, he worked closely with many prominent therapists from the West to create new therapies based in meditation.
After his initial work in India, Osho was invited to America where a bold communal experiment to translate his vision into a living reality began. Thousands of his disciples poured their love into a barren piece of land and began to transform it into a flowering oasis in the desert. But Osho's presence and the success of the commune revealed the hypocrisies inherent in the beliefs and prejudices of the current age, particularly in the religious and political establishment. The antagonism of these groups toward Osho and the commune mounted, and after only four years, he was forced to leave America.
Osho then began a World Tour. In the midst of a campaign of worldwide persecution orchestrated by the US Government, Osho responded with characteristic humor and uncompromising honesty, publicly challenging his persecutors and at the same time showering his love unconditionally, giving some of his most intimate talks to disciples who gathered around him wherever he went.
Finally, Osho returned to Poona, India, giving talks twice a day. Thousands of seekers from around the world came together again to be in the presence of this rare buddha and mystic, and a new commune grew around him. It was during this time that Osho announced that he did not want to be called Bhagwan again: "Enough is enough! The joke is over." In these years of his final discourses, Osho gradually began to withdraw from public activities. His fragile health often prevented him from giving discourses, and the periods of his absence grew longer. He introduced a new element into his discourses, guiding his audience into a three-stage meditation at the end of each sitting. Eventually he delivered his last discourse series, answering questions and commenting on Zen sutras.
After his failing health had caused him to stop giving discourses, a message came that the name Rajneesh was also being dropped. Many of his disciples had already collectively decided to call him Osho. He has explained that the word 'Osho' is derived from William James' expression 'oceanic experience' which means dissolving into the ocean. "Oceanic describes the experience," says Osho, "but what about the experiencer? For that we use the word 'Osho'."
In the following months, whenever his health permitted, he would appear in the evening to sit with his disciples and friends in a meditation of music and silence, after which he would retire to his room while the assembly watched one of his videotaped discourses.
Osho left his body on January 19, 1990. Just a few weeks before that time, he was asked what would happen to his work when he was gone. He said:
"My trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth in what I am saying, it will survive... The people who remain interested in my work will be simply carrying the torch, but not imposing anything on anyone...
"I will remain a source of inspiration to my people... I want them to grow on their own - qualities like love, around which no church can be created, like awareness, which is nobody's monopoly; like celebration, rejoicing, and remaining fresh, childlike eyes...
"I want my people to know themselves, not to be according to someone else. And the way is in."
OSHO
Never Born
Never Died
Only Visited This Planet Earth Between
11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990
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