Osho
Indian godman who founded the Rajneesh movement.
Osho (pronounced [ˈoːʃoː]), born Chandra Mohan Jain on 11 December 1931 and also known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Acharya Rajneesh, or simply Rajneesh, was an Indian godman who founded the Rajneesh movement, a new religious movement. He opposed organized religions, arguing that spiritual experience cannot be confined to any single system of religious dogma. As a guru, he promoted meditation, particularly a distinctive practice he called dynamic meditation. He also rejected traditional asceticism, urging his followers to live life fully while staying detached from worldly desires. Osho claimed he underwent a spiritual awakening in 1953 at age 21. After several years in academia, he resigned in 1966 from his position as a philosophy lecturer at the University of Jabalpur. He then traveled across India, gaining notoriety for criticizing mainstream religions, political ideologies, and Mahatma Gandhi. In 1970, he began initiating followers called "neo-sannyasins" in Mumbai. During this time, he expanded his teachings and gave extensive discourses on writings from various religious traditions, mystics, bhakti poets, and philosophers worldwide. In 1974, he moved to Pune, where he established an ashram offering therapies derived from the Human Potential Movement to a growing Western audience. By the late 1970s, tensions with the Janata Party government under Morarji Desai led to restrictions on the ashram’s growth and a back tax claim of about $5 million. In 1981, the movement shifted to the United States, where Osho founded a commune called Rajneeshpuram in Wasco County, Oregon. The commune faced conflicts with local residents and the state government, and legal battles over construction and development hampered its success. In 1985, Osho asked authorities to investigate his personal secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, and her close supporters for crimes including a 1984 mass food-poisoning attack meant to influence a county election, a planned assassination of U.S. attorney Charles H. Turner, an attempt on Osho’s personal physician’s life, and the bugging of his own quarters. Several ashram members, including Sheela, were later convicted. That same year, Osho was deported from the United States on immigration charges after entering an Alford plea. Following deportation, 21 countries refused him entry. Osho returned to Mumbai in 1986, and after a period of public discourses, moved back to Pune in January 1987 to revive his ashram. He died there in 1990. The ashram, now called the Osho International Meditation Resort, along with all related intellectual property, is managed by the Osho International Foundation (formerly the Rajneesh International Foundation). Osho’s teachings have influenced Western New Age thought, and their popularity grew after his death.
- born
- 11 December 1931
- nationality
- Indian
- known_for
- Founder of the Rajneesh movement; advocate of dynamic meditation; controversial
Lore & Background
Osho, born Chandra Mohan Jain, grew up in a Jain household in central India. As a child, he lived with his maternal grandparents, an arrangement that gave him considerable freedom from imposed rules and education. The deaths of his grandfather when he was seven and a childhood girlfriend when he was fifteen left a deep impression on him, fostering a lasting preoccupation with mortality. In school, he was both gifted and rebellious, a formidable debater who read extensively from an early age, including communist literature by Marx and Engels. This interest led to him being branded a communist and threatened with expulsion. He briefly joined socialist and nationalist groups but could not accept external discipline, ideology, or systems. After his university studies, he became a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Jabalpur. In 1966, he resigned his academic post and began traveling across India as a public speaker, known for his sharp criticism of mainstream religions, political ideologies, and Mahatma Gandhi. He rejected the idea that spiritual experience could be organized into any single system of religious dogma, advocating instead for meditation and a unique practice he called dynamic meditation. He encouraged his followers to embrace life fully while remaining unattached to worldly desires, rejecting traditional ascetic practices.
Reader's Guide
Osho’s significance stems from his founding of the Rajneesh movement, a new religious community that explicitly rejected organized religion and the idea that spiritual experience could be codified into dogma. As a guru, he advocated meditation, particularly his own invention of dynamic meditation, and urged followers to embrace worldly life fully while cultivating detachment from desires, opposing traditional ascetic practices. His teachings drew heavily on his commentaries on global religious texts, mystics, and philosophers, and his ashram in Pune incorporated therapies from the Human Potential Movement, attracting a large Western following. The movement’s expansion led to conflict: in India, the Janata Party government under Morarji Desai curbed the ashram’s growth and pursued a $5 million back tax claim. Relocating to Oregon, the commune at Rajneeshpuram faced legal battles with residents and the state. In 1985, Osho requested investigations into his secretary Ma Anand Sheela and others for crimes including a mass food-poisoning attack to sway a county election, an assassination plot against a U.S. attorney, and the attempted murder of his doctor. After his deportation from the U.S. via an Alford plea, 21 countries denied him entry. He returned to India, revived his Pune ashram, and died there in 1990. His legacy endures through the Osho International Meditation Resort and his lasting impact on Western New Age thought.
Did You Know?
- Osho was born into a Jain family and was the eldest of eleven children of a cloth merchant.
- He claimed to have experienced a spiritual awakening on 21 March 1953 at age 21, while sitting under a tree in the Bhanvartal garden in Jabalpur.
- In 1985, Osho asked authorities to investigate his personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela for crimes including a 1984 mass food-poisoning attack intended to influence a county election.
- After his deportation from the United States in 1985, 21 countries denied him entry.
- Osho's ashram in Pune is now known as the Osho International Meditation Resort, managed by the Osho International Foundation.
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