Christopher Calder’s Criticisms of Osho Answered
“Osho, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the Lost Truth” by Anthony Thompson.
Mr. Calder, according to his own information, became a disciple of Osho back in 1970`s during the time that Osho resided in the Woodlands apartments in Mumbai, then Bombay. He came to India in November 19 1970. Osho gave him the name of Sw. Krishna Christ “I was Rajneesh’s second Western sannyasin just behind Ma Yoga Prem. Check out a first addition copy of “The Silent Explosion.” I came up with the title and wrote the introduction. My sannyasin name was Swami Krishna Christ.” (Calder 2006). He did not particularly appreciate the name and he complained to Osho about it. Here is an excerpt from a letter from Osho to Sw Krishna Christ, in answer to his complaint about the name, reproduced from “A Cup of Tea” (letter 327):
The ego is the seriousness, the disease, and the tao, the egoless existence,is the bliss, the ecstasy. That is why I have given you a name so absurd! But I have given it to you knowingly. I have given it to you so that you may never be identified with it.The name is so absurd that you will have to remain nameless and nobody behind it, and the name is such that not only others but you yourself will be able to laugh at it. Swami Krishna Christ!
His name then was Walter Pfuetze. In 1971 his adopted father took a group of students to Woodlands Building in Bombay and met Achayra Rajneesh face to face. That is why his name was listed in early books as Swami Krishna Christ, aka “Walter Pfuetze.” He changed his name in 1976 to Christopher Calder because he did not like German names. Besides he was British and was interested in the artist Alexander Calder. Somewhere along the way he got disillusioned and disappointed with Osho and wrote fiery articles against him
I am not a disciple and I do not consider Osho my Master, but I cannot hide my admiration for the old man. I think his contribution to expanding human awareness has no parallel in human history. There have been other masters, but no one has been so effective in reaching so many people during his lifetime as Osho did. Also, his insistence on laughter, enjoying life and humour as religious qualities makes him stand alone in the world of mystics. Finally, he helped to liberate, sexually and from social conditioning vast numbers of spiritual seekers that would have, otherwise, ended up ranking with some ascetic, repressive guru, and thus contributing with more repression and self-torture to this world.
Osho´s Sayings
Mr. Calder quotes Osho on many occasions. The way he does this is malicious and clearly his intention is not that of an expert detached observer, but that of a resentful lover. His intention is to create an image of Osho that becomes a pass way for his own feelings of anger and hurt. To be hurt or angry is Mr. Calder’s prerogative. However, to twist facts, quotes and ideas to spread the understanding that we are facing an evil character is just a manipulative and indirect way of giving an outlet to his own personal vendetta.
In my understanding it is utterly nonsense to pick up a few statements from Osho’s more than 8500 hours of talks and evaluate him based on that. I can’t believe that a person like Calder, who claims to know him since ages, can do it. And a funny thing is, Osho himself never denied being contradictory, on the contrary he glorified it. So, to this day to take a quote from Osho means nothing in itself. You can get the man to advise you on gardening, wallpapers or sex. Out of a whole chapter referencing a quote means nothing. Calder quotes (without a direct book or chapter reference) that Osho loved Hitler. I have searched the entire library of his talks and that quote is nowhere to be found. Supposedly he took this quote from the discourses “I am the gate”. And certainly Mr. Calder appears as one of the Editors of the first edition. No where he said “I loved Hitler”. What he says is something that is of public domain, and that is that Hitler had an alliance with Tibetan esoteric groups. In fact the Tibetans supported the third Reich. Where do we think “the swastika” came from? It is an old esoteric symbol used both by Jains and Tibetans. The Nazis just turned it around.
The only thing that I have found is an interview in Der Spiegel. I have seen the video (The Last Testament, july 19, 1985), and Osho says to both journalists, Erick Widdeman and Reiner Weber, when he is asked about Hitler “I love the Man. He was Crazy”, jokingly to see their reactions. To what both German journalists look shocked. Later he adds that “he considers the man to be completely immoral and a murderer”, and he compares him with Mahatma Gandhi. Not to speak positive about Hitler, but to show how immoral Mahatma Gandhi was, in his view, for being against technology in a poor country like India and preaching celibacy and self-torture. Now, the article in Der Spiegel, edited of course, shows Osho comparing Hitler and Gandhi as saying both were great men. “Hitler was like Gandhi” can be read as the article heading. That is the way how things get distorted by the yellow press.
I have found some other Osho quotes about Hitler and Gandhi and his arguments about it. “Just think: if Adolph Hitler had been a cripple or had amoebas or was continuously getting hepatitis, the world would have been saved. In fact, Adolph Hitler was against smoking, against alcohol. He was a pure vegetarian like Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, both men have many things in common. Both believed in going early to bed and both believed in getting up early in the morning. Both believed that vegetarian food is great. Both believed that smoking is bad, alcohol is bad. Both were great saints! Both were equally dangerous and psychopathic. The only difference was that Mahatma Gandhi had the Jaina characteristic very much developed in him — he was only ten percent Hindu, ninety percent Jaina — so he tortured himself. Adolph Hitler had the Mohammedan characteristic developed in him: he tortured others, he didn’t torture himself. But both tortured. Whom they tortured is not of that much significance. They both were enjoying torture. … “(1980, Zen: Zest, Zip, Zap and Zing)
To torture oneself or to torture others, both are diseases — the very idea to torture. Somebody is an Adolph Hitler, he tortures others; somebody is a Mahatma Gandhi, he tortures himself. Both are in the same boat — maybe standing back to back, but standing in the same boat. Adolph Hitler’s joy is in torturing others, Mahatma Gandhi’s joy is in torturing himself, but both are violent. The logic is the same — their joy depends on torture. Their direction is different, but the direction is not the question, their mind has the same attitude: torture. You respect a person who tortures himself because you don’t understand the logic of it. Adolph Hitler is condemned all over the world and Gandhi is worshipped all over the world, and I am simply puzzled. How is it possible? — because the logic is the same. (1977, Tao: The Pathless Path)
In addition, there are of course innumerable times where Osho describes Hitler as a pygmy, as occupying the lowest rank a human being can sink to, etc.. Misquoting Osho, or quoting him out of context, is one of the favourite and most despicable pastimes of Mr. Calder.
A quote of two lines means nothing out of a context nowadays. As an example: Osho said “esoteric means bullshit” from the talks “From Bondage to Freedom” in 1985. And “everything that is valuable is esoteric” from the talks “Beyond psychology” in 1986. Osho himself once said “You need not agree with what I say; you can only agree with me directly. There is no need to come through what I say. I say a thousand and one things and I contradict myself everyday. If you start agreeing with me you will go mad! You can’t agree; nobody can’t agree with a what I say. You can only agree with a few points but those will not be all that I say. Contradiction is my method. I go on shattering. I go on shocking, offending people; that is my method, to shatter people’s beliefs” (Osho, 1980, The Open Secret).
Therefore, I think Osho’s words need to be taken not as a comprehensive philosophy, but rather as a seductive invitation to self-explore and understand the nature of mind, body, emotions, and the role of meditation in this search. Besides, the discourses were given many times as responses to individuals, and in several occasions he was answering not only the question but the questioner himself/herself. I can remember his speaking against the women’s lib movement to a radical feminist and then saying the exact opposite to a male chauvinist south American. Or talking about god to an atheist and then saying it was a lie to a catholic priest. (”The Ultimate Risk”, 1980 by Satya Bharti)
The “Cult” Story
Mr. Calder speaks of the sannyas movement referring to it as a “cult”. I do not agree with his statements of Osho´s movement being a cult. This is why: Some of the pre-requisites to have a cult is to have a systematic body or set of beliefs - a complete belief system that explains everything in terms of itself. As Mr. Calder’s knows, and has consistently argued, Osho contradicted himself a lot. It is practically impossible to create a cult out of his words. The only consistent idea in his talks is that of awareness and meditation. The rest is simply not systematic enough to do anything with it. If you are going to join a sect, you need to have something to believe…some promise of paradise or future enlightenment. You don’t join a sect that tells you that “you are already a Buddha, enlightened” (from “The heart sutra”) and that you just “need to come back home. However you are, you are beautiful the way you are” (from “The Goose is Out”).
My understanding is that Osho´s work was mainly deprogramming people against their self-constructed ideas about love, spirituality, growth, relationships, etc. In fact if you want you can find statements where he speaks of karma and reincarnation and then another statement where he says there is no soul, no reincarnation (see “Reincarnation a Misconception” discourse given in 1989) , and that karma is just a way of social control. He speaks of god and then says there is no such a thing and it is just a” teddy bear” for fearful people.
Second, you need rituals that people, old and new, can join to. And nowadays there is nothing like that. Even the celebration of his death and birthday, and his pictures, or the “sannyas giving” have been removed as official celebrations in the Osho resort in India. Anyone can go there and verify and see if there is any “blind cult” happening.
Third, a cult does not admit dissent, and Mr. Calder and I have been writing and discussing on a sannyas owned website quotes he took from Swami Anand Parmartha´s (Editor/Sannyasnews) article. There are also discussions criticizing Osho on sannyas websites. Sannyasins tend to be variously free, open minded, closed, fanatics, or careless… as any human being can be. But there is no official enforced dogma on believing or agreeing on anything. The proof of this is that sannyasins are the single group of spiritual seekers that you can find practically at the feet of any master, or new therapy or mind expanding method. You can see them in shamanism, ayurveda, Kalindi´s, Diamond logos, work, etc, etc, in addition to their ranking with different therapeutic schools.
Fourth, you need someone to believe in, some saviour, and Osho himself advised his disciples not to believe in him unless it was their direct experience. And repeatedly he told his disciples he was “no saviour or prophet or only begotten son of god, just an ordinary human being, like you” (Osho 1985, Interviews with the Press). Or “a Master is not someone who has achieved anything. a Master is someone who has discovered that there is nothing to Achieve”(Dying for enlightenment, 1979, By Bernard Gunther)
My research shows that Osho was no ” Deepak Chopra”. The man was a rebellious iconoclast who did and said what he thought was his truth. He demolished the Catholic Church, Islam and any form of organized religion; he spoke against mother Theresa, Gandhi (precisely for being against technology, which Osho strongly advocated, not as Mr. Calder’s affirmation in his article).
Osho, was a man who saw no use for rituals, discipline and all the self-torture that is going on in the name of renunciation or spirituality. The development of self-awareness was his flag. Moreover, he spoke against Indian traditions. Reason enough for the attempted murder against him in early eighties in Poona, by a fanatical Hindu during a public talk.
He thought of the meeting of east and west, of materialism and spirituality. “Zorba the Buddha”, he called his “new man”. And certainly he did not live the life of an ascetic. But beyond all, he helped his disciples and friends to be independent and rebellious individuals.
Mr. Calder’s Sources
Most of his sources, as I said before, were the books written by two angry ex-disciples Sw. Shivamurti (Hugh Milne) and Ma Satya Bharti. I have personally interviewed some people mentioned in Milne’s Book and they have reassured me that many stories of his book are complete fabrications, like the story of the mango uses in tantra groups and the fact that he was Osho´s personal bodyguard. Milne was not Osho´s personal bodyguard. He was Laxmi´s. (Osho´s secretary at the time). Osho´s bodyguard was Sw. Vimalkirti. Milne was just guarding the Darshan sessions when Osho spoke to his disciples. He was the ashram osteopath, and had somehow a special position in Poona one, which was not where he found himself later in The Ranch in Oregon. He had to drive a bulldozer and obey the orders of Ma Anand Sheela, Osho´s new Secretary. He was the one who reported to have seen Osho inhaling Nitous Oxide in his house. He failed to see that that was the anesthetic being used in a dental session and not the recreational endeavor of the master. Actually, Hugh Milne´s book should have been called “The Secretary who failed”, because all the problems reported in the book were with Sheela not Osho.It is interesting to note that Hugh Milne (sw. Shivamurti) had psychiatric problems. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and ended up consulting witches and trying to kill himself. (Milne 1986)This is Mr. Calder´s source, and key witness, together with the introduction to one of the books that Osho dictated from the dental sessions and under the effect of this anesthetic.
When I confronted Mr Calder with the quotes from Devageet, he just wrote that “Devageet was a crazy man” and so was I. Therefore my disagreeing with his second-hand information made me into a “fanatic cult follower”. The other source of information is the Book “The Promise of Paradise” by Satya Bharti Franklin. He was an early disciple who wrote two previous celebratory books about the life in the ashram and his experiences with Osho. In this book, he speaks about the rumours of Osho touching, or having sex with his disciples early in Bombay. That is where Mr. Calder, together with Milne´s stories constructed the idea that “ ( He ) stated that he made love to his young female disciples because it would ensure their enlightenment in a future life” (Calder 2007).This is sheer invention. Mr. Calder is not a witness to this account. Unless, of course, he was holding the camera while the master spoke this words and had sex in the privacy of his bedroom. I strongly doubt Mr. Calder was invited as a voyeur to such sessions.
I do not think that Osho was celibate, moreover he admitted not to be so, but still I have not find one single disciple to testify to have had sex with the man. I have however found accounts of people who heard other people saying they had sex with him and I have no reason to doubt that. Again, he did not preach celibacy. In fact he considered it a disease. A quote of Osho himself speaking about his sex-life. It is in The Last Testament, Vol. 1, 22 July 1985 pm in Jesus Grove, and goes like this: Q: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CELIBATE? A: Right now I am celibate, but if my health gets better I am not going to be celibate. I have never been celibate. I do not do anything against nature. Right now I am celibate not because celibacy has any value, but just because I am sick. I don’t have any energy to make love to a woman and do all the gymnastics, no. I have enough energy to talk to my people, to talk to you. If I get healthy again, I promise you, I will not be celibate.
The Sheela Story
Both Milne and Bharti had serious conflicts with Sheela´s fascist style in the Commune in USA. They both assumed that Osho was behind her actions. In fact she usually said that the “order comes from the chief” to convince someone to do something they felt their consciousness would not allow. So people thought it was a “devise” from the master. Now, Osho and his personal staff have clarified that many “orders” did not only not come from Him, but were deliberate moves on Sheela´s part to expand her power to areas where it was weak, such as the inner circle of the personal staff around Osho.This area that was not under her command in the commune. In fact the attempted murder of Osho´s doctor was a move in this direction.Many people were expelled from the commune in Oregon and big international and prosperus communes like Medina in England and Sushila´s in Autralia, were closed down because they were too successful and independent from Sheela ´s regime. Osho knew nothing about it (we must remember he was not speaking in public or having personal contact with his disciples) and to all of them it was said that it was Osho´s order.Sheela´s fascist style developed over time as a response to the intense antagonism that the commune created around them . There were 17 state agencies trying to get them out of there; the sign announcing the nearby commune was used as shooting target by the local resident of the area; the hotel they bought in Portland was bombed, and even there is convincing evidence that the CIA hired someone to kill Osho. All this has been documented in the books “Passage to America” by Max Brecher and, “The way of the heart” By Judith Thompson, and “Rajneesh garden”, by Dell Murphy. Also, it can be checked in Juliette Forman´s account of the time and Ms Appletton´s Book. I do not justify Sheela´s behaviour and I think she was criminally minded. But it certainly creates a context to view what these guys were facing. For a complete story of Osho´s commune see: http://www.ashe-prem.org/two/davisson.shtml
Also, in his article, Mr. Calder joins, or at least holds morally responsible, Osho´s arrest and deportation from USA with Sheela´s crimes. What he fails to see is that all those crimes, the salmonella poisoning, the intent of murder of Osho´s doctor, Devaraj, and the plot against the attorney general, the bugging of the commune, including Osho´s own room, were crimes committed by Sheela and her associates. These crimes were exposed by Osho, and it was him who invited the FBI to investigate them in his own commune. This ultimately lead to the capture of Sheela and her friends in Germany. If he had kept silent, no one would have ever guessed or known about them. We should know that the salmonella poisoning in The Dalles was attributed to “improper food handling” by the authorities. Now this is referred to by the media as “The only American case of Bio-terrorism”. We could argue that Osho had a poor eye for choosing his secretary or that she changed over time, or that he should have been more involved in controlling what she did in his name, but we can not accuse him of crimes that include him as a victim, such as the wire-tapping of his own room. To think of Osho as omniscient or infallible is nothing but a god-like father projection. He was a human being. Wise, awake, but a human being. He himself said when a journalist asked him “if he was enlightened, how he did not know about theses crimes?”. His answer was “enlightenment means I know myself. It does not mean that I know that my room is being bugged” (Osho, Interviews with the press, 1985)
Osho´s factual “criminal” records As far as criminal records is concerned, Osho´s criminal records (as Mr. Calder mentioned to me) and reasons for his deportation are just two charges of immigration fraud. He was accused, First, of arranging sham marriages. And second, of lying on the tourist visa application, in the sense that he stated he did not intend to stay in the States and later he tried to stay.
It is just not possible for Osho to have arranged any marriage due to the fact that he did not see any disciples in private. Marriages were certainly arranged to allow foreign sannyasins to live in the commune. But these are the sole responsibility of the people involved. To hold Osho responsible for this is just stupid. it is like charging the Pope for any Catholic staying illegally in Rome. n relation to the second charge,according to his attorney, Niren, and the research he did, no one in the whole history of the United States has been even prosecuted for such an “offence” and, what to say about the half a million dollar fine that he was forced to pay for his release. To come to the US on a touirist visa with the “hidden intention” of eventually applying for a permanent one is not a ” crime” that anyone, ever, has been charged with.
The attorney general said when he was asked why Osho was not accused of the same crimes as Sheela that “I did not have any proof whatsoever linking Rajneesh to Sheela´s crimes.” And “all we wanted was to dismantle the commune”. And he forgot to add that the complaint that lead to Sheela ´s arrest was filed by Osho himself.
athompsonphd@hotmail.com
(This is a shortened version of a longer article which appears at http://beyond-truth.blogspot.com/2008/02/lost-case.html)
I think many of us have heard the satire from Osho where he mentions about two old ladies who could found dozen of obscene words in the complete dictionary. christopher Cadler is one of their kind. This man will not enjoy the solitary path leading to a nice view but will complain about few cigarette buds or empty beer bottles on the way. Ego clashes, naked ambitions and lust covered with Tantra were always part of sannyas movement, but this does not demean the essence of the whole work.
Once i enquired from Mr. Cadler,” Can he tell me just two names in the world of spirituality where he finds the feet are not of clay. Just two names, who he thinks, have contributed more than Osho, just two names where his critical mind drops.”
It was around three years before. His answer was,”People i admire are very private. They are not in public domain. And he criticizes this old man as He is taller than all, in the market.”
Everyone is naturally, inherently, and incontrovertibly egocentric. No one can see the world from any perspective other than his or her own nor fully escape the tendency to perceive the world through the filter of his or her own self-interest. Some are more egocentric than they need to be to protect their own well-being and their egocentrism often harms other people.
And, even when we recognize that our views may be contaminated by our egoistic perspective,we have extreme difficulty separating the actual events from our interpretations. C.Calder is a prime example.
It is difficult for devotees, notwithstanding disciples, to find a proper interpretation of the famous “Cup of Tea” book made by Osho in letter 54: “Buddha. Jesus.Lao Tzu - it is easy to be their heir, but Genghis Khan, Taimur and Hitler: they are also within me”. and later in the same letter:
“Nectar and poison - both are mine”.
Well….. of course one can go along with the writer of this article, Osho may well have been writing to one particular person, and yes Osho certainly talked against the tyrants that have run this world in many other places.
But… Osho would not be alone amongst mystics to talk about being “beyond good and evil” and therefore treating both, as somehow arrows from the same bow, which to “transcend” one has to go beyond. Dangerous talk from a common sense perspective, but enough for me to “pause” when I hear discussion around this point.
To be sure, Mr Calder is up shit creek. But is the writer of this article far behind, if the mysteries (which he may want to penetrate), lie beyond good and evil, as ordinairily defined?
So what if Osho played with nitrous oxide and got high, and pissed people off by having too many carsHe was free, and awake.Shiva enjoyed smoking hash,gurdjieff enjoyed drinking loads of cognac,ramana maharshi,enjoyed chewing betel,,Jesus drank wine and Nisargatta smoked beedies.Why doesnt Chris Calder just find another master if he wants to be free and stop moaning about Osho?
when mystics talk about being beyond good and evil.
surely they are talking about going beyond the llimited and dualistic perspective of the conscious mind?
or maybe thay are saying :get blasted,drink yourself stupid,raise a bit of hell,kick a bit of ass and fuck you…
if you are unenlghtened,you deserve everything you get,loser…
?
hi heraclitus,
as regards letter 54 in a cup of tea.
osho did appear to be the heir of laotse and chuang tse with his laid back wit and exagerated characterisation of the world.
but,excuse me,i never heard of him disembowelling anyone with his bare hands,massacring thousands and putting their heads on stakes,burning whole cities alive ,and the only gas chamber he was involved with was a laughing gas chamber!
a few geezers feeling sick in a salad bar and sticking a poison pen up the doctors` arse are not quite in the same league.
devotees and disciples may be able to find “proper explanations”,
but how about poetic license?
Sure Frank you are right. I am myself not sure why Osho wanted to compare himself to Genghis Khan, etc… maybe to press some buttons here and there and keep people awake.
Must admit that it disturbed me when I first read it years ago.
On a related point I am aware that “conventional society’ is very afraid of mystics and what they stand for. So much so, that they often seek to kill them. When they do so they find their excuses, like accusing them of consorting with the devil, (even when they heal) and “corrupting” the youth - they executed Socrates for that “crime”! Maybe this is why in the public mind mysticism is somehow associated with the powers of what they call darkness.
What do you think?
mystic is a bit of a dodgy word in englsh.
dictionary defs usually include:occult.obscure,otherworldly,hidden,mysteries etc. -all spooky stuff!
not to mention mist,misty,miss,mush…
its all very slippery and indeterminate,hard to pin down and insubstantial.might not even really exist.
its enough to turn any right-thinking,rational,straight,square,upstanding,regular guy a bit nasty and violent just thinking about it.
I just exchanged a few emails with Mr. Calder. I provoked him first by expressing the same sentiment as in the article here - that he sounds like a scorned lover, rather than an impartial observer of events. His second response to me was a sly insult regarding the absence of my name signing my emails to him. It was nice to read this article later, which mentions his name change(s) which shows the real importance he places on names…
I would like to give the new adress where my whole article can be found:
http://truthaboutosho.blogspot.com/
greetings
Anthony
haha finally you appear Anthony!! thanks for your article, I needed to make your words available because alot of the links you had were too long!! I tried contact you as well, o well, you’re here! I will frwd your blog.
Love,
Amrito
he is a r vry egoistic…n does not understand the meaning of what osho is trying to say from his words… does not understand hw v r blessed by havin such a holy man lik osho….it does not mater who osho is…or wat he was…all dat maters r his words which are of immence importance…osho has shown us the right way -of not blindly acceptin what other ppl say…no matr who it is…he has shown us dat path of questioning nd trying to find out by ourslf what life is and what god is…if he has evr cld himslf God…dn he hs also tld us at d same tym dat v ourslf r god…but the onli difference is dat he knos d fact nd v do not…
he says dat osho had loads of drugs…but dosnt he realise osho is d same person who hs tld us to live life in all possible ways….to explore it in all possible ways…nd what makes you feel dat some one takn drugs mst b a bad person….n who is he to decide who is good and who is bad…!!U do not evn kno wat is good nd wat is bad…wat mite b good 4 u mst nt be good 4 othrs…so den shud othrs go on makin such stupid websites like u hav made n strt criticisng u instead…!
u hv also criticised him of havin hd sex wid many girls…..!!y ??cnt he hav sex…!!he hs equal rites of havin sex as much as ur pop had wen he thought of creatin u…nd instead osho has nvr discriminated sex…instead he hs encouraged it…nd explained d beauty of it….n i gss u r still a virgin nd havnt had sex…mayb dats y u dnt kno d beauty of it…
if u hav nethn 2 say in reply pls go ahead…bcz i vl b sureli able 2 clear all ur doubts..bcz i hv been vry close to him…more than mst of dem hav
The first time I read Calder I fell from the sky - Osho urinating in the halls, Osho taking 6mg Valium, Osho making love to gals…my god ! I was waiting for a long time that someone will come forward to blast his lies…we should all be very-very grateful to Mr. Thompson.
Well reading these pages and the calder pages it seems that everybody is trapped into accusing defending. Blindly somehow trough faith. 35 years are gone, the guy is gone, the beliefs have been established even if you don’t see them, the conditioning, thing like aids are viewed as in1989 , oshotimes is a regime paper, censored, oshoism decadentism is rampant and if you want to believe, you just believe what you want. Sheela was the villain, osho the saint who sacrificed himself for us. So hilarious to hear all this and still people believing in fairy tales , no courage to move further, without the osho stick or lantern, a lantern that never led anywhere but right back to ego and bondage, all the mass of sannyasin today are stuck and do not where to turn, so they do not turn, they keep going like gremlins down a cliff…..enlightement on the death bed, what a joke! what a cheat, still working today, people gulping it down like fois gras goose! halleluya!
yes you might have had great experiences and memories, but what else? the horror of those kids in pune 1, the horror of the ranch, prisoners happy in their camps, carrots wavers for a enlightened future……
take care boys
umberto
What is an intelligent, witty, critically minded person like you umberto ( I always thought the name was Humberto), discussing with blind cult followeres like us. …taking the time to write in these kind of places.
Come on! the man is dead, 35 years have passed… get a life.
Some unfinished bussiness … perhaps?
At least be honest to admit you are still hooked.
regards ‘
anthony
Hey Heraclitus,
Osho was never in favour of good or bad. But he was more interested in neutral which he also called as pure existence beyond any good or evil. Everything spreads from the heart he knew that.
People always confuse with the term “god”. they think its something which beyond their understanding. Yes its true its beyond understanding but still its inside them only. Osho knew that the god is settled in of everybody’s heart. What is god its pure existence which is neither good nor bad / evil. It is just the bodily or more particularly egoistic attachment and its relations with mind and brain makes a person good or bad for the society. Still the person, his life and his pure existence remains as it is. It never changes.
If we see it as just a pure existence / life then god is in everybody. There is no exception. Its there in gengis khan and hitler, its there in gandhi also, in buddha also. Only thing differs is the nearness to the existence. Highly egoistic people take decisions which are harmful for the society which makes them evil, but still they have existence.
Osho was interested in only one thing that was man’s existence which is universal, which is the only truth and which is in everybody thats why if he is heir of buddha he is also the heir of genghis khan. Because existence doesnt know the good or evil it is just pure silence, shunya, god or parabrahma whatever you can call. And its just man’s ignorance about it that makes him gengis khan or hitler. also its man’s desire to become existence itself which makes him buddha, jesus or krishna.
Rohan
I am neither a follower nor an opponent of Osho. But I can critically say that he was an intelligent man. He was charismatic. He was magnetic. A few things that he said were right. I do not agree with everything he said. Well, he was a human being. Even Jesus, Moses, Mahomet were human beings. They were criticised too. Osho was not infallible. Even the so called prophets were not infallible. Even though they were spiritual.
Well, I believe Osho was a threat to religions. Religions are great businesses. Christ is dead, but many so called custodians are doing good business out of it. Same for all religions, without any exception.
So Osho was ruining that religious business. He was a threat. So, he had to be expelled from the competition. And hence a plan was set up to get rid of him.
I myself can set up another school of thought. And I am sure that religious leaders will try to challenge me. It is like opening a new chain store! Anybody can do that.
I believe that Osho was a man, but his mental faculties were impressive. In this world, either you are a ‘good’ man or a ‘bad’ man. If you are an intelligent man, you are ‘bad’. If you are a nincompoop then you are ‘good’. This is the golden rule. The Mob rule.
One thing I do not agree with Osho is the idea of talking about reincarnation. I do not believe in that. It is not true. But he could have talked about spiritual reincarnation which is true; it might have been misunderstood by people. But physical reincarnation is nonsense.
He said all religious are bogus. He was right. All religions nowadays have gone to Dogs. He said that Jesus, Lao Tzu, Mahomet, Buddha were enlightened. He was right. He said that being vegeterian was aesthetic. Well, I do not agree with him. I guess pregnant women need non-veg food. Those who are sick as well need non-veg food. Ok, I agree that slaughtering is bad, but it should be done in such a way so as to inflict a low degree of pain to the animal.
Cycle of death and re-birth is quite problematic view of Osho. The big bang theory has proved that the universe had a beginning and it will sooner or later come to an end. This planet will not last forever. The geostationary model has been proved to be incorrect. The planets in the solar system will not last forever.
If there is a beginning and an end, this means that there must be a secret behind it. It can’t be a matter of chance. Osho’s brain couldn’t have been created by Osho himself. The laws of this universe are so precise that simple error of 0.0000000001 % would cause a whole destruction of the entire universe. Osho’s heart could have have come in this universe by chance. His whole body couldn’t have come here by chance. A human body is highly sophisticated.
I believe there is an architect who has designed this Universe. I dot call him God or Creator. I prefer the word engineer or designer. There is a designer. Just like the tailor who used to design the very clothes of Osho. Likewise, a designer designed the body of Osho and every human beings. I strongly believe that Osho knew that a Designer or Engineer was here. But, since the idea of this designer was in itself associated with bogus religions, Osho might have said a ‘healthy’ lie to go to the other extreme. Buddha never affirmed or denied God. He took birth when blindfaiths and superstitions were associated with God. So, a new approach had to be used. I guess Osho imbibed his strategy to get people from the abyss of blindfaith and obscurantism. I belive Osho was a spiritual liar. At times a lie is more helpful than 1000 truths.
The musical soundless sound ‘OM’ is a fact. I myself can hear that sound. It sounds like a small bell that rings unceasingly. It sounds like ‘chin chin’. I agree fully with Osho on this point. He said those who wish to listen to that could try physical exercise such as yoga, or karate or music so on. It is true. He talked about chakras in spinal chord. This is something true. Even martial artists of Japan approved that. In martial jargon, the word ‘Ki’ is used. The inner force. Oyama (founder of Kyokushinkai), who was one of the greatest martial artist of the world in fact exploited this very inner force to kill around 50 bulls with his hands. He could kill anyone with his fist. That force is known as Dan Jun in Japanese. Martial Artists say that it is located just below the navel. Kung Fu so on uses that inner force too. Osho talked about that inner force. He is 1000% right. Osho talked about meditation. All martial artists practise meditation.
Oyama himself used to practise meditation. He used that power of meditation to challenge all his opponents in combat. He defeated all of them. All martial artists know about that. Osho is right when he talk about that inner spiritual energy. Anyone who has had the opportunity to see a martial artist in Japan, would realise that there is an inner energy that allows that martial artist to fight or break slabs of ice so on.
I guess he should not have used the word Bhagwan. Had he used the word Osho uniquely he would have been a spiritual hero. Big mistake. Those who are enlightened are always humble. Wisdom means humility. But Osho was challenging. Had he been alive, I would have come to meet him and challenged his views. Just too bad, he is no more.
He said to listen to music so on…not bad idea. Celibacy was a disease. I agree with him. But promiscuity is a disease too. Sex can lead to spirituality. Yes, he is true. But love is important for that to happen. Quite problematic. His views are not very specific.
In short, he was a man. He himself said that evolution can never stop. So, I believe his enlightenment did not reach the highest level. Because according to Osho, himself! spiritual evolution is infinite. I guess even had he lived for over 1000 years, he would have never reached the end. End does not exist.
I am someone who practise martial arts. In Martial Arts, there is no such thing as ‘ I have known everything’. Oyama once said that before his death, that there are certain techniques that I have not yet mastered well. It is like a circle.
Enlightenment is a like a circle as well. Those who think that Osho reached the highest level and final level of enlightenment are Big Fools.
He might have reached a certain level. Because Spiritual Enlightenment is infinite. It is oceanic, to quote Osho himself!
If Osho said that he reached the final and last level of enlightenment, then He was either ignorant or he was a liar.
It doesn’t matter how often an individual reads a “holy” book if they read it with the same fixated understanding and never change. It is my understanding that all of these people disgruntled with Osho had their own issues, often projections of wanting a “guru” to be like Gandhi and when Osho spoke in contradictions and behaved in ways that didn’t fit in with their idea of what a guru should be, they collapsed. They were weak, slave-minded people who thought they were free by “giving up” on society but when they went to Osho they had never given up their slave mind and instead just made Osho the slave master. They might have been attracted to his “different” ways at first but once they couldn’t hold onto anything solid as a philosophy or teaching, they collapsed
because they had never put in the time to work their own leg muscles, instead always relying on someone else to hold them up and when Osho said, “I am not here to hold anyone up,” they collapsed atop of their atrophied legs.
Christopher Calder wrote something like, “Osho said he had no respect for Jesus.” This is just asinine. I have read multiple 300+-page books where Osho talks about his tremendous respect for the man. This clearly suggests Calder has taken one silly statement out of context, probably a joke, and making it into a definitive philosophy. He could just as easily say, “Osho hates Polish people” based on his many Polish jokes and he would be just as off in his assessment. This not only shows Calder’s lack of understanding of the man, Osho, but also his lack of sense of humor.
Osho answered one student who questioned his own loyalty to Osho that the student never loved him but only his words and his arguments. He said over and over that he is NOT teaching philosophy, that he is NOT his words, NOT his arguments. I understand and connect with the man deeply and so I can hear him say things that on the surface that may be “wrong” or seemingly “angry” or “biased” and know them to either be tools or just having fun. Calder does not have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. He could have spent 20 years with Jesus and would probably write a piece about the dirty hippie who called himself God.
Christopher Calder is one of those sad people who has metaphorically sat on a meditation cushion for 20 years the whole time daydreaming about women and food and sports cars and then proclaims to “know” meditation because he has “put in the time.” I read his words and see him as a child, no matter what his chronological age.
Swami Asananda, “Swami X”
http://rebelyogi.com
AsanandaX@yahoo.com
I have come across OSHO just recently after going through different authors such as Eckhard Tolle, and Ramana Maharshi. I was just amazed at (and easily related with ) what he had to say in Ashtavakra’s Mahageeta, Krishna’s Bhagwad Geeta, about Meera and Kabir, about Jesus, about Pythagoras, about Socrates, about Gurdief, about sufism,etc. etc. … just mindbogling and inspiring. I am just glad to have come across OSHO during a rough phase in life.
When I learnt about the Oregon incident it made me feel bad for OSHO. And then when I was reading Mr Calder’s website I again started feeling weird about OSHO. I am glad I saw this blog and different clarifications.
OSHO has done a great service to humanity by explaining/debunking so many wide varieties of religious beliefs. I hope that people forget about Oregon incident or the RollsRoyces and start enjoying life as OSHO suggests. It’s funny that recently when I was expressing my excitement about what I have learnt from OSHO to some of my American/Indian friends they ridiculed me and ridiculed OSHO’s amassing RollsRoyces and overall Oregon incident.
On the topic of Gandhi, I see OSHO saying so many nice things about Gandhi - such as his praise for “Experiments with Truth” as a good book for reading during self-realization instead of blindly re-re-reading or by-hearting Geeta.
One thing to remember is that no one will know the real truth since that time has long passed and those beings are no more. We have no right, no authority or no right tools to judge their actions. Focus on building the right ground for your own enlightenment and meditate/interpret all different teachings (including OSHO’s) to help grow yourself.
Live a happy life! Stay aware!
I am kinda agree with Vishal & S.K.
I have listen Osho, most of his Hindi lecturers & he is amazing how he can explain about all the characters. Command on the Hindi language is great. But I would suggest all of you to listen UG Krishamurti, you may find some different view about all the enlightenment & spirituality.
The Way you see it life from where you see it & that is how one can explain & other can interpret…..
It’s suspense, that is why it’s fun in philosophy of life. No one really has known the god/creator & no one can/will knows, some of them try to pass their experience but most of them fake about enlightenment.
Enjoy
hay i’m very sorry 2 say all of u that Osho has done various misinterpretation about various gurus who had done a massive contribution for the humanity recently i;ve read some osho articles in which he misquoted about Swami Vivekananda he said bluntly that through Swami Vivekananda no one can reach to Ramakrishna, more over he quoted that Vivekananda’s sayings about Ramakrishna was a misinterpretation etc, Since he was an intellectual and Ramakrishna was emotional to there forms a polaraty and what all nonsence… how come he can quote all these about somebody without knowing properly about him . i’m saying this because i’ve myself read Swami Vivekananda and life of Ramakrishna to his core realities and found nowhere such intellectual and emotional relation at all. I cannot expect such foolish remarks from so called baghwan Rajneesh to whom once i used to respect a lot…
It’s interesting in this article that Osho basically says the opposite of what people want to hear (telling the priest that god doesn’t exist, telling the atheist that god does). If this is the norm, then how would one discern truth (from the heart) from fiction/lies?
He says that Ghandi was violent, and goes on later to describe his own (Osho’s) style: “Contradiction is my method. I go on shattering. I go on shocking, offending people; that is my method, to shatter people’s beliefs”.
So his method then is (disguised) mental violence? The auto escape hatch out of any argument is the doctrine of “contradiction”. No statement of his can be falsified or debated, because they are essentially meaningless.
Strange that you can defend Osho by saying he can’t be quoted, because he contradicts himself so much, and then go on to use various quotations of his in other areas as if those particular quotes are somehow special and hold true. It allows you to pick and choose, you can make him into whatever you want. If we accept the contradictory nature, then Osho boils down to meaninglessness. ie. In Osho’s world, words mean nothing, they are just used as weapons.
“He said over and over that he is NOT teaching philosophy, that he is NOT his words, NOT his arguments”. This doesn’t hold up from someone who made a living calling himself a teacher. Consider a man who lies, his defence is “I am NOT my words!”. A man abuses others mentally (to “shatter” them), his defence is “I am NOT my actions!”. A man who lives an opulent lifestyle and says “They are NOT my possessions, I just did it to get you ["idiots" he says] interested!”.
To me his output (teachings, methods, books etc), appears to be bogus, and a claim to have been operating on a “higher level” would also seem to be spurious.
Chaos ahoy!
Hi,
Few times Osho has criticized Islam. On the contarary, in one of his lectures he said that “when I am nearing to die, I would speak about Islam & Mohammed Paigambar, because these peoples (Muslims) are such a barbarous..”
Sir, your articles on Rajneesh were interesting, unbiased and fair, I would say. Do you have any info, that Rajneesh, on his deathbed, said something very similar to: “thank God I no longer have to keep up the pretence of being a guru”; and that this was videotaped by his followers? Reply highly appreciated. Many thanks. Om Shanti, Viktor Nowicki.