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1. Youth - Enlightenment - University studies: 1931 - 1957

[274x285]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 his book 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.

Notes:

• A story about Mataji, Osho′s mother.
• Osho′s home in Kuchwada

2. Travelling all over India - lecturing, teaching: 1957 - 1974

[337x288]Osho (then called Acharya Rajneesh) 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.
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. As of 1967 he started to initiate people into sannyas. One of Osho′s oldest sannyasins was Kiran. In 1970 Osho decided to stop traveling and settled in Bombay where he continued to give regular public lectures. By the following year, he had begun to attract a small Western following, and these early Westerners enjoyed personal and close relationships with their master. Among their number was a shy twenty-two-year-old English woman named Christine Wolff. Taking on the name Ma Yoga Vivek, she became Osho′s constant companion.

Notes:

• Interview with Ma Yoga Vivek, later known as Ma Prem Nirvano.
• The Rising Moon video is a unique recording of the earliest phase: starting with the famous meditation camps in Mount Abu, continuing through Osho staying in a Bombay apartment and up to the Ashram in Poona. An account of what the video is all about.
  Download The Rising Moon video (345 MB, 352 x 288, .mpg-file, right-click and ′save link as′)
• Devotional song excerpted from The Rising Moon Video (4.18 MB, .mp3-file, right-click and ′save link as′)
• There is a short video showing Osho giving sannyas in the seventies.
  Download short video (24.5 MB, 352 x 288, .avi-file, right-click and ′save link as′)
• Osho on the Master-Disciple relationship in chronological order.
• September 26th. 1970, Osho initiated his first disciples at Manali. Here′s a picture:

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  Read more on who these first sannyasins are.

3. Bhagwan in Poona 1: 1974 - 1981

[355x295]For more than thirty-five years Osho worked directly with people who came to him, sharing his vision of a "New Man" aka "Zorba the Buddha", 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.
Terence Stamp is one of the many who took sannyas from Osho in 1976.
Slowly Osho builds up what he calls a Buddhafield.

Notes:

• When Osho left for the U.S.A, quite a few sannyasins were taken by surprise and felt like they were left behind. A sannyasin remembers...
• Here′s a film document by Robert Hillmann, finished in 1978 after editing, and with German undertitles, but filmed in Dec. 1975. It gives an account of Osho′s 44th birthday celebration: Osho (Bhagwan) 1975 (broadband necessary). A review of this movie.
• A video clip covering a period of time of the 1970′s in Osho′s Ashram in Pune (Poona 1). The electronic music track is by the German hard rock band Scorpions.
• An old movie made by a sannyasin in 1979 of the then ashram (19.9 MB, no sound, just image).
• An account of how the atmosphere was in the Poona 1 Ashram during preparations for Enlightenment Day Celebration.
• A New York Times review of "Ashram", a controversial movie shot in Osho′s Ashram at the time.
• Osho′s account on how the Ashram was run.
• In 1979 Osho′s early evening darshans became "energy darshans" in which, rather than discussing issues with individuals, he would transmit energy to them (shaktipat) by pressing on their "third eye". A number of female sannyasins were chosen as mediums to transmit his energy more widely.
• Osho called the entrance to his Ashram in Poona The Gateless Gate.
• Osho gave many wooden boxes to sannyasins to help them cope with the challenging West and to assist in transcending bodily, emotional and mental problems, should these appear in the course of their meditation. These boxes contain Osho′s nail and hair clippings, which are saturated with the master's vibe; here′s a picture.

4. Rajneeshpuram: 1981 - 1985

[306x361]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. Ma Anand Sheela, Osho′s private secretary at the time, and a few other women were in charge. Thousands of Osho′s 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, after a short stay in an American prison, he was forced to leave America.
This is described in a book by Max Brecher called A Passage to America. Read more about it here.
The inhabitants of a nearby little town, called Antelope, were glad that Osho and his people were gone, as is clear from a plaque at the base of the Antelope post office flagpole, to mark that time.
The inscription reads:
"Dedicated to those of this community who, through the Rajneesh invasion and occupation of 1981-85, remained, resisted, and remembered."

During the Rajneeshpuram period, the gachchamis were introduced.

Notes:

• A closer look at Rajneeshpuram, Osho′s commune in America.
• Feelings After the Fall, perceptions of former Rajneeshpuram members after this commune collapsed.
• Another video giving a taste of what Rajneeshpuram was like: The Way of the Heart.
  Download this video (303MB, 352 x 288 VCD, right-click and ′save link as′)
• In the Rajneeshpuram period many Rolls-Royce cars were given to Osho by his disciples. The Rolls-Royces were one reason why Osho became notorious. Towards the end of Rajneeshpuram Osho could choose between 93 Rolls-Royces and he had the intention to have at his disposal a fleet of 365, one for each day of the year. He has this to say about it.
  When Osho left the USA, his Rolls-Royces were up for sale, something which perturbed executives at the carmaker′s U.S. headquarters: article.
• Rajneeshpuram had its own airport.
• In connection with what happened in Rajneeshpuram
• Osho talked about the mismanagement in Rajneeshpuram in his lecture series From Bondage to Freedom.
• Samvado′s high definition pictures of Antelope and The Ranch in Oregon, USA as they are today (2007). (The Ranch, aka The Muddy Ranch, is another name for Rajneeshpuram)
• Rajneeshpuram was legally incorporated on May 18, 1982 and survived the last attack on its legality (on land use grounds) in a 1987 Oregon Supreme Court decision. Ironically, by that time, the thousands of red-clad sannyasins who had transformed the once barren Big Muddy Ranch into a thriving city had long since deserted it after Osho′s controversial deportation on unproven minor immigration charges in 1985. In a taped interview, Charles Turner, the US Attorney for Oregon, finally admitted, "We were using  the criminal process to solve what was really a political problem." So much for upholding constitutional freedoms of religion and speech. (OTI July 1, 1990)
• Osho had several interviews with the World Press to expose and explain what had happened in Rajneeshpuram.
  Here′s a 30 seconds excerpt from an interview with Jim Gordon, journalist at The Atlantic Monthly Magazine, and The Washington Post (a .flv file).
  Excerpts from an interview with Mike Wolfe KBND Radio, Bend, Oregon. "I am destroying the whole idea of the separation, of a split between matter and mind, body and soul, materialism and spiritualism." - Osho
• ZorbaTheBuddha An interesting (and only slightly biased) view of the happenings at the end of the Ranch. The writer is Sarmad (aka Kent Welton), an established writer and musician. The Osho Story at ZorbaTheBuddha gives a good account of commune history.
• Sambodhi, Nura, Samarpan, and Felix took a daytrip to what used to be Rajneeshpuram. Now it is a Young Life youth camp.
  Watch:
  Rajneeshpuram revisited video 1
  Rajneeshpuram revisited video 2
  Rajneeshpuram revisited video 3
  Rajneeshpuram revisited video 4
• Niten also went back to pay a visit to what once was called The Muddy Ranch and reports about his journey (with pictures)

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5. Worldtour: 1985 - 1986

Osho then began a World Tour. He is refused entry by 21 countries.
In the midst of this 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.

Notes:

• While Osho went on a World Tour, many sannyasins left the USA and spread all over the world. A substantial part of them landed in Ibiza. Anthropologist Anthony d′Andrea, aka Techno Tony, has spent recent years investigating club/rave centres around the World, researching a PHD thesis on ′Club Cultures′. He writes in this pdf file that sannyasins became a crucial bridge between Ibiza′s 60s counterculture and the 90s electronic dance subculture.
• Somewhere on his world tour: Osho celebrating and dancing with his sannyasins (video, 27.4 MB, 352 x 288, right-click and ′save link as′). "Celebration is my message", says Osho.

6. Osho in Poona 2: 1986 - 1990

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. [283x361]
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. These sittings together with Osho are called White Robe Brotherhood Meetings.
In the last year of his life, Osho organised an administration of his closest disciples to take care of his work after he had left his body. Osho himself chose the 21 members of this inner circle who could contribute in the administrative work and who had different areas of expertise. This was the ′decision making committee′. The members of the inner circle were for life, only to be replaced after death. After a while a group of 6 people formed within the inner circle, called the praesidium, which, over time, became decisive in policy making; this led to struggles within the inner circle whereupon many members left.

Note:

A TV documentary was made by ′Channel Four′ in 1988 presenting a look at Osho′s pull on his disciples.
It′s a 25 min. video, rm-file for real player, (42 MB), called: Bhagwan - My Dance is complete.

7. Poona 3: 1990 - ... I Leave You My Dream

[295x370]On 19 January 1990 Osho leaves his body after a long sickness due to his poisoning by the US- Government in 1985. His body was brought to Buddha Hall the same evening so that his Sannyasins could give him a send off. Later on his body was carried to the burning ghat at the river near the ashram and cremated in a large celebration with all his Sannyasins.
Just a few weeks before his demise, Osho 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."

He also said:

"If you have loved me, I will live with you forever. In your love, I will live. If you have loved me, my body will disappear but I cannot die for you...
Even if I am gone I know you will search for me. Yes, I can trust you will hunt for me in every stone and flower, in every eye and star... And I can promise you one thing: if you hunt for me, you will find me - in every star and every eye - because if you have really loved a Master, you have moved into eternity with him. The relationship is not of time; it is timeless.
There is going to be no death. My body will disappear, your body will disappear - that will not make any change. If the disappearance of the body makes any change, it simply shows that love had not happened.
Love is something beyond the body. Bodies come and go, love remains. Love has eternity in it - timelessness, deathlessness."

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