Biography of Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). Osho. Biography of Osho

Osho - Enlightened Master from India.

He is better known throughout the world as Bhagawan Shree Rajneesh. More than 600 books have been published under this name in 30 languages.
These books are records of his conversations that he had with his students over a period of 25 years. A year before his death, in January 1989, he announced that he was dropping the prefix "Bhagwan Sri" because for many it meant "God".
His students - sannyasins - decided to call him "Osho", a name that first appeared in ancient Japan.
This is how the disciples addressed their spiritual teachers. “O” means “with great respect, love and gratitude”, as well as “synchronicity and harmony”. "Sho" means "expansion of consciousness in many dimensions" and "existence pouring out from all directions."

Osho was born on December 11, 1931 in Kushwad (Central India). His family loved him very much, especially his grandfather, who gave him Raja, which means king. He spent his entire childhood in his grandfather's house. His father and mother took him in only after the death of his grandparents. Before school he was given a new name - Rajneesh Chandra Mohan.

From an early age he was interested in spiritual development, studied his body and its capabilities, and constantly experimented different ways meditation. He did not follow any traditions and did not seek teachers.
The basis of his spiritual search was experiment. He looked very closely at life, especially at its critical, extreme points. He did not believe in any theories or rules and always rebelled against the prejudices and vices of society.

On March 21, 1953, Osho was 21 years old. On this day, enlightenment happened to him.
It was like an explosion. "That night I died and I was reborn. But the person who was reborn has nothing in common with the one who died. It is not a continuous thing... The person who died died totally; nothing remained of him... not even a shadow.
The ego died totally, completely... On that day, March 21, a personality who had lived many, many lives, millennia, simply died. Another being, completely new, completely unrelated to the old, began to exist... I became free from the past, I was torn out of my history, I lost my autobiography."
At this point Osho's story actually ends.
The man, whose name was Rajneesh Chandra Mohan, died at the age of 21, and at the same time a miracle happened: a new enlightened man was reborn, completely free of ego.

After that outer life Osho has not changed. He continued his studies at Jabalpur College in the philosophy department.
In 1957 he graduated from Saugar University, receiving a diploma with honors, gold medal and M.Phil. Two years later he became a lecturer in philosophy at Jabalpur University. He was loved by students for his humor, sincerity and uncompromising pursuit of the truth.
During his nine-year career, Osho traveled throughout India, often traveling fifteen days a month. A passionate and skilled debater, he constantly challenged orthodox religious leaders.
Addressing an audience of hundreds of thousands, Osho spoke with the conviction emanating from his enlightenment, he destroyed blind faith to create true religiosity.

In 1966, Osho left the university department and devoted himself entirely to spreading the art of meditation and his vision of a new man - Zorba the Buddha, a man who synthesizes the best features of East and West, a man capable of joy

Osho explained:

"For ten years I worked continuously with the methods of Lao Tzu, that is, I continuously studied direct relaxation. It was very simple for me, so I decided that it would be simple for anyone. Then, time after time, I began to understand that this is impossible... I, of course, said “relax” to those I taught.
They understood the meaning of this word, but could not relax. Then I decided to come up with new methods of meditation that first create tension - even more tension. They create such tension that you become simply crazy. And then I say "relax."

What is meditation? Osho spoke a lot about meditation. Based on his conversations, many books have been compiled, in which all the objects of meditation are examined in great detail, starting from the technique of implementation, ending with explanations of the subtlest internal nuances.

In 1974, Osho moved to Pune, where, together with his students, he opened an ashram in the beautiful Koregaon Park.
Over the next seven years, hundreds of thousands of seekers from all over the world come there to experience new Osho meditations and listen to his conversations. In his conversations, Osho touches on all aspects of human consciousness, shows the innermost essence of all existing religions and systems spiritual development.
Buddha and Buddhist teachers, Sufi masters, Jewish mystics, Indian classical philosophy, Christianity, yoga, tantra, Zen...

Osho says about his books:

"My message is not a doctrine, not a philosophy. My message is not a verbal contact. That is much more risky. It's about nothing more and nothing less than death and rebirth..."

Many people from all over the Earth felt this and found the strength and courage to touch this source and begin their own transformation.
Those who are finally confirmed in this decision accept sannyas. The sannyas that Osho gives is different from the traditional one. This is neo-sannyas. Former sannyasins - people who completely devoted themselves to spiritual practice, went to monasteries or secluded places and studied with their Master, minimizing contacts with outside world.
Neo-sannyas Osho does not require this. Neo-sannyas is not a renunciation of the world, but rather a renunciation of the madness of the modern mind, which creates divisions between nations and races, drains the Earth's resources into weapons and wars, destroys the environment for profit, and trains its children to fight and dominate others.
Modern sannyasins, Osho's students, are in the thick of life, they do the most business as usual, but at the same time they regularly engage in spiritual practice and, first of all, meditation, combining material life with spiritual life, synthesizing in themselves the love of life of Zorba and the height of spiritual consciousness of the Buddha.
This is how a new man is formed - Zorba the Buddha, a man who will be free from the madness of the modern mind. According to Osho, “a new man is the only hope for the future.”

One who becomes a sannyasin receives a new name as a symbol of commitment to meditation and a break with the past. The name, usually derived from Sanskrit or Indian words, contains indications of a person’s potential capabilities or a specific path. Women receive the prefix Ma - an indication of highest quality feminine nature: to cherish and take care of oneself and others. Men receive the prefix Swami - which Osho translates as “self-mastered.”

Osho met with his students every day, except for periods when he was unwell. His conversations were very beautiful.

1981 For many years Osho suffered from diabetes and asthma. In the spring his condition worsened and he plunged into a period of silence. On the recommendation of doctors, in June of this year he was taken to the United States for treatment.

Osho's American disciples bought a 64,000-acre ranch in Central Oregon and founded Rajneeshpuram.
Osho came there in August. During the four years that Osho lived there, Rajneeshpuram became the most daring experiment in creating a transnational spiritual commune.
Every summer, up to fifteen thousand people from Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. As a result, the commune became a prosperous city with a population of five thousand people.

1984 Just as suddenly as he stopped speaking, Osho spoke again in October. He spoke about love, meditation and human unfreedom in a crazy, heavily conditioned world. He accused priests and politicians of corruption human souls, in the destruction of human freedom.

From the very beginning of the commune experiment, federal and local authorities tried to destroy it in any way. Subsequently, documents confirmed that the White House was involved in these attempts.

In October 1985, the American government accused Osho of violating immigration laws and took him into custody without any warning.
He was kept in handcuffs for 12 days in custody, and was denied bail. He suffered physical harm in prison. According to a subsequent medical examination, he was exposed to a life-threatening dose of radiation in Oklahoma and was also poisoned with thalium. When a bomb was discovered in the Portland prison where Osho was being held, he was the only one who was not evacuated.

Concerned for Osho's life, his lawyers agreed to admit that he had violated immigration law, and Osho left America on November 14. The commune fell apart.

The US government was not content with violating its own constitution. When Osho, at the invitation of his students, went to other countries, the United States, using its influence in the world, tried to influence other states so that Osho’s work would be disrupted where he did not arrive. As a result of this policy, 21 countries banned Osho and his companions from entering their borders. And these countries consider themselves free and democratic!

In July 1986, Osho returned to Bombay and his disciples began to gather around him again.

In January 1987, as the number of people coming to him grew rapidly, he returned to Pune, where by that time the International Osho Commune had been formed. Daily wonderful conversations, meditations, and celebrations began again.

In December 1988, OSHO again went to bed with a serious illness that required the 24-hour presence of a personal doctor. Three weeks later, Osho reappears in the meditation hall and makes a startling announcement.
In her letter, one Japanese clairvoyant says that Gautama Buddha lives in Osho’s body.
Osho confirms that this is true and announces his decision to renounce the title of Bhagavan. In addition, for the first time in many months, he takes off the sunglasses that protected his eyes from camera flashes and gives them to one of the students. Over the course of several days, he selects a new name for himself and settles on the option that was voiced in response to a question from a reporter from United Press International.

Gautama Buddha took refuge in me. I am the host, he is my guest. This does not mean converting to Buddhism. I am a Buddha in myself, which is why he decided to use my body to finish what he didn’t have time to do. He waited a long time. For twenty-five centuries he was a wandering cloud, looking for a suitable body.

I'm not a Buddhist. Gautama Buddha also did not set out to create Buddhism, an organized religion. He never created it. The moment truth is transformed into an organization, it immediately becomes a lie. Organized religion is simply an implicit policy, a hidden exploitation of people by the clergy, and it does not matter what the priest calls himself - shankaracharya, imam, rabbi or priest.

Gautama Buddha did not leave behind a successor. His last words were: "Don't build statues of me, don't write down my words. I don't want to be a symbol, I don't want to be worshiped. And most of all I am afraid that you will become imitators. There is no need to become a Buddhist, because potentially everyone one of you is a buddha."

And I also want to state: I do not teach Buddhism. For that matter, I don't teach any "-ism" at all. I teach how to become a Buddha.

And my people do not belong to any organized religion. They are independent, independent seekers. They are my companions and friends, not students.

By the way, I would like to recall the prophecy made by Guatama Buddha twenty-five centuries ago. He said: “When I return again, I will not be able to be born from my mother’s womb. I will have to seek refuge in a person with a similar consciousness, of the same level and under the same open sky. And I will be called simply Friend.”

The word "friend" implies great freedom. Buddha doesn't want to be a guru, he just wants to be a friend. He has a lot to talk about, but he does not want to bind others to any strict conditions.

By the way, this is useful, because some sannyasins are now confused. They do not know how to distinguish the words of ancient Gautama Buddha from my own words. Gautama's prophecy clears up the confusion.

Although he has taken refuge in me, I will not call myself Gautama Buddha. Let me be called, according to his prophecy, "Buddha Maitreya." This will show the difference, there will be no more confusion.

On the fifth night after the unusual visit, Osho appears in the meditation hall with a new statement.

Gautama Buddha left due to some discrepancies in the lifestyles of the host and the guest.

These four days were very difficult for me. I hoped that Gautama Buddha would understand what changes had happened in the world over two and a half millennia, but he never succeeded. I tried my best, but he is too peculiar and disciplined... Twenty-five centuries have made him as hard as stone.

And therefore, even with the most unremarkable little things, difficulties arose. He sleeps only on his right side. He is not used to the pillow and simply places his palm under his cheek. He considers a pillow a luxury.

I told him: “This cheap pillow is not a luxury. Sleeping with your head on your palms is sheer torture. You think that you should sleep only on your right side, but what’s wrong with the left? Personally, I have a different principle: I always try to treat to both sides of things."

He ate only once a day - and demanded it from me. In addition, he was accustomed to feeding only on alms and kept asking: “Where is my alms bowl?”

Last night, at exactly six o'clock, when I was taking a Jacuzzi, he suddenly became terribly indignant, because he considered even bathing twice a day a luxury.

And I told him: “You fulfilled your prophecy. You returned. But four days were enough for me - now goodbye! Stop wandering the earth, dissolve in your blue sky.

During these four days you have already understood: I am doing the same thing that you wanted to do, but I am doing it in accordance with the dictates of the time and current conditions. But no one will order me anything. I am a free person. I gave you shelter with all my love, I received you as a dear guest, but don’t even try to become the master here.”

All these days I had a headache. I haven't had a headache for thirty years. I completely forgot what it was. But all my attempts to improve relations were in vain. He was used to doing everything his own way and could not even understand that times had changed.

So now I make an even more important, historic statement: I am just me.
If you want, you can call me Buddha, but this will no longer have anything to do with Gautama or Maitreya.
I am a buddha in my own right. The word "buddha" simply means "awakened one." And now I declare that from now on my name is Shri Rajneesh Buddha Zorba."

Soon "Shri Rajneesh Buddha Zorba" again strips himself of all names and says that he will remain a man without a name. However, his sannyasins are confused, they do not know how to address him, and therefore offer the title Osho, which in many Zen parables is used as a respectful, respectful address. Osho agrees and adds a new meaning to this word, connecting it with the concept of “ocean” by William James. Later he says that this is not a name at all, but just a healing sound.

Zen Manifesto: Freedom from Self

For several weeks after his “visit” to Gautama Buddha, Osho seemed to be filled with new reserves of strength and energy. The conversations are getting longer - a couple of times he spoke for almost four hours without a break.
Osho's speech sounds noticeably more lively and energetic. In several lecture series, he links Zen to the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Walt Whitman, compares it to Christianity, and even recommends it to Gorbachev as a simple path to transition from communism to capitalism.
However, in February 1989, after two lectures in a new series called “The Zen Manifesto,” Osho fell ill again and did not appear in the meditation hall until early April. The Zen Manifesto was the last cycle of his conversations.

The Zen Manifesto is absolutely necessary because all the ancient religions are now falling apart. And before they completely perish, and humanity does not go crazy, Zen needs to be spread throughout the entire earth. New houses need to be built before the old ones fall apart.

Now you must not repeat the mistakes of the past. You lived in a house that did not exist at all, and therefore suffered from rains, cold winters and the burning sun, because the house existed only in your imagination. This time it is time for you to enter your real home, and not hide in man-made temples, under the roof of far-fetched religions. Hide in your own existence. Why be someone's exact copy?

This is a very important time. You are lucky that you were born in this era when the old loses its validity and reality, when it just hangs around because you are afraid to escape from this prison. But the doors are open! In truth, there are no doors at all, because the whole house where you live exists only in the imagination. Your gods, priests and holy scriptures are all only in the imagination.

This time you shouldn't make the same mistake. Humanity must make a qualitative leap, move from old, rotten lies to fresh, eternally youthful truth.

This is the Zen Manifesto.

Osho pronounces his last words addressed to the gathering of sannyasins on the evening of April 10, 1989:

You are now the most blessed people in the world. To remember yourself as a Buddha is the most precious experience, because in it is your eternity, your immortality.

It is no longer you, but the Universe itself. You are one with the stars and the trees, the sky and the ocean. You are inextricably linked to all that is.

The last thing the Buddha said was the word sammasati.
Remember that you are buddhas! Sammasati.
Inner Circle

On April 6, 1989, Osho chooses the so-called “Inner Circle”. This group includes twenty-one students who are involved in the practical management of the community.
This is not publicly announced, but later he explicitly explains to the group members that their goal is not the spiritual leadership of the community, but purely practical concerns about the availability of the fruits of his labor.
If someone from the “Circle” dies or for some reason refuses further work, another person is elected to take his place by secret ballot. The group makes all its decisions only by general voting.

Tradition cannot be avoided. This is not in our control. After death, you are no longer able to influence people. And therefore, it is better to give clear instructions to trusted people in advance than to leave everything to the mercy of the ignorant.

Preparing for care

On the evening of April 10, at the end of the lecture, Osho tells his secretary that his energy has sharply changed its qualities. He explains that nine months before death the energy enters a period of preparation for death - just as nine months before birth a person's energy begins to develop in the mother's womb. Osho's next lecture was to be the beginning of a new cycle called "The Awakening of the Buddha."

May 19 at general meeting in the meditation hall it was announced that Osho would never speak before a public meeting.

On May 23, it was announced that Osho would begin coming to the meditation hall in the evenings. When he appears, music plays and everyone can have fun with him. The holiday gives way to silent meditation, after which Osho leaves. After he leaves, recordings of his conversations are shown in the hall.

Osho University was founded in June-July. It consists of many "faculties" covering the workshops and programs offered by the community. The University's departments include the Center for Transformation, the School of Mystery, the School of Creativity and the Arts, and the School of Martial Arts.
Everyone is asked to wear white to evening meetings. This rule is established during the traditional Indian festival in honor of enlightened Teachers, which takes place on the July full moon. This holiday has been celebrated in the community for a long time.

On August 25, Osho asks that purple capes be worn in the community during the day.
On August 31, a new bedroom for Osho is being completed in the former Chuang Tzu Hall adjacent to his home. He is directly involved in the design of the new room, which is decorated with marble and illuminated by a huge chandelier; Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook a wild jungle garden.

On September 14, Osho returns to his old bedroom. New room given to meditation therapy groups “Mystical Rose” and “Out of Mind”. The new covered and air-conditioned glass corridor, built specifically to allow Osho to walk through the garden, is now dedicated to Vipasana, Zen and other silent meditation groups.

November 17 Osho gives instructions on what needs to be done when he leaves this world. He also requests the creation of a team to translate his books from Hindi into English and leaves detailed orders for the work of the Inner Circle.

On December 24, the English Sunday Mail published an article stating that Cardinal Ratzinger, that is, the Vatican, was responsible for the deportation of Osho from the United States.

On December 17, Osho’s doctor announces that from now on he can no longer participate in the evening meditations in the common room, but will appear briefly only to greet those gathered. When Osho enters the hall, everyone sees that it is already very difficult for him to move.

On January 18, Osho remains in his room and does not appear at the evening meeting, but conveys through assistants that he will attend the meeting invisibly.

On January 19, 1990, at five o'clock in the evening, Osho leaves his body. Before this, he finds himself rejected by the doctor’s offer to carry out urgent medical intervention.
Osho says: “The Universe itself measures its time,” closes his eyes and leaves peacefully.
The doctor announces death at 7 pm, when everyone arrives at the meditation hall for their daily meeting.
After some time, when the sad news spreads throughout the community, Osho's body is brought into the hall, where a ten-minute farewell takes place. The procession then carries him to a nearby funeral pyre site. A farewell ceremony is held throughout the night.

Two days later, Osho's ashes are transferred to the Chuang Tzu Hall - the very room that was to become his new "bedroom". There he held talks and met with sannyasins and visitors for many years. According to Osho's will, the ashes are placed "by the bed", that is, on a marble slab in the center of the room, which was really intended as a support for the bed. Nearby there is a sign with words that Osho himself dictated a few months earlier:

He was often asked the question, what will happen when he dies? Here is Osho's response to Italian television:

"You are asking what will happen when Osho dies. He is not God and he does not believe in any prophets, prophecies or messiah. They were all selfish people. So whatever he can do at this moment, he does. What happens after he leaves, he leaves it to the will of existence. His trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth in what he says, it will survive."

Osho did not write books. All published books are recordings of his conversations with his students. The energy of the listeners, their preparedness and interest determined the direction of the conversation. These conversations reflect the relationship between the Master and his students, their mutual penetration.

"My words are living. They are the beat of my heart. This is not a teaching. My words are a knock on your door so that you can get home. Accept my gift."

Relax. Remember that you are just an observer. This body is not yours, this mind is not yours. You are just a mirror. Look at everything the way a mirror looks, and then the whole Universe will become unimaginably beautiful. Everything will become divine.

This evening is wonderful in itself, but Joshu’s lion’s roar made it even more beautiful...
Now you are a buddha.
And when you go back, take this buddha with you. Live it in everyday life. I am against renouncing the world - I am for the creation of a new world. If there are enough Buddhas in the world, new heavens will appear, new dimensions will appear, new doors will open... new secrets, new miracles.
Take as many fragrant flowers with you as possible.

[Drum beat]

Come back, but come back as a Buddha... Peacefully, gracefully... Sit a little to remember these sensations - the sensations of the space you visited, the splendor you saw.

Every day you go deeper. Remember that no matter how far you go today, you can go a little further tomorrow.
It may take two years, five, ten, twenty or thirty years, but you will certainly become a buddha. For me, you are already Buddhas, all you have to do is muster up the courage and admit it to yourself.
Thirty years are not needed to become a buddha, you are already a buddha. It may take thirty years to throw away the hesitation, the doubt that you are really a buddha.
Even though I say this, all the buddhas are trying to convince you, but deep down you still doubt: “God, am I really a buddha? How can this be?”
But one day you will see this from your own experience. No one can convince you of this; you can only verify it yourself.
Epilogue: 1990 - present day

The International Osho Community in Pune is thriving and developing into a wonderful place of relaxation, meditation and self-discovery. This corresponds to the ideas Osho expressed a few months before his death. He managed to take part in the development of many new buildings: buildings for meditation and seminars in the form of pyramids, mineral springs, gyms and recreation centers, as well as a new pyramid-shaped meditation hall, which opened in January 2001.

My faith in existence is absolute. If there is any truth in my words, it will remain for centuries. The torch will be picked up by those who remain interested in my work, but I don’t want to impose anything on anyone. I will remain a source of inspiration for my people. This is what my sannyasins feel - inspiration. I want them to grow on their own, so that they themselves cultivate the most important thing in themselves: love, around which a church will not be created, awareness, which does not become someone’s exclusive property, and also fun, joy and fresh, childishly surprised eyes...

I want my people to know themselves, and not become something according to someone else's orders.

The main path leads inside...

Related materials - OSHO

"Meditation is a state of no-mind."

The cult of Rajneesh is difficult to attribute even to pseudo-Hindu new formations - it is absolutely an “author’s work”, closest to the New Age movement.

History of the cult: The reasons that motivated the founder of this cult were greed, lust and thirst for power. Rajneesh Chandra Mohan (1931-1990) was born in Kushwad (Central India, modern Madhya Pradesh) into a Jain family. Jainism arose approximately at the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 5th century. to R X. This religion recognizes the existence of an individual soul - jiva, but denies the existence of a supreme God. Like adherents of other Indian religions, Jains see salvation in the liberation of the jiva from the wheel of rebirth. He who has achieved liberation becomes, as it were, a living god and an object of worship. This Jain idea had a significant influence on Rajneesh, although in general his teaching is extremely eclectic.

In his youth, he began to experience various meditative techniques, while trying not to follow any traditions and did not look for teachers, always relying only on himself. One of Rajneesh's main childhood experiences was the experience of death. In his diary of 1979, he writes that in his childhood he went to funeral processions, as other guys ran after a traveling circus. In 1953, when Rajneesh was studying at the philosophy department of Jabalpur College, he, in his words, experienced “enlightenment” - his last experience of death, after which it was as if he was reborn. As a student, Rajneesh led a life that was far from conforming to the strict ascetic norms of Jainism. But they entered his soul so deeply as a child that, for example, he vomited all night when he ate with his friends after sunset (eating in the dark is strictly prohibited for Jains - you can swallow something without noticing it). a small insect into which, say, the soul of a great-grandfather was reincarnated). Jainism does not know repentance, and Rajneesh was able to resolve the internal conflict only by rebelling against the “superstitions” of the religion of the fathers and all other religions. Rajneesh’s theoretical basis for this was the “philosophy of life” that he became acquainted with at the university.

In 1957, Rajneesh graduated from Saugar University with a gold medal in the All India Debating Competition and a Master of Philosophy degree, then taught philosophy at Jabalpur University for nine years. During this time, he travels around India, meeting and holding debates with various religious and public figures. Speaking to audiences of thousands, he gradually gains fame as a polemicist and rebel. In 1966, Rajneesh left the university and began to preach his own teaching, which was a paradoxical mixture of bits of Jainism, Tantrism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Hasidism, Nietzscheanism, psychoanalysis, popular “psycho-spiritual” therapies and the methods and teachings of Krishnamurti and Gurdjieff. Having no initiation into any of the mystical traditions, he reinterpreted everything in his own way, adapting it to his needs.

At this time, Rajneesh called himself Acharya ("teacher"). He wandered on foot and rode a donkey across India, calling for inner transformation in order to survive the coming nuclear holocaust and preaching a kind of new non-conformist religiosity, opposed to the traditional religions, which Rajneesh sharply attacked at every opportunity: “We are making a revolution... I I am burning old scriptures, destroying traditions..."(This Is a Revolution, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, video cassette 18C236, Dec. 28,1980); “I am the founder of the only religion, other religions are deceptions. Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha simply seduced people...” (Martin W. Kingdom of Cults. P. 288). “Faith is pure poison” (Rajnish Osho. The Rights of the New Man. P. 34)

Rajneesh's preaching did not have much success in India until he settled in Bombay in 1968, where he soon had his first students from the West. These were mainly Americans and British, most of whom had gone through various new religious movements, a passion for “narco-spirituality”, the hippie movement, occult psychotherapeutic groups, etc. In April 1970, in a meditation camp near Bombay, Rajneesh first demonstrated the “invented” " dynamic" (or "chaotic") meditation. Here is its “technology”:

Stage 1: 10 minutes of deep, rapid breathing through the nose. Let your body be as relaxed as possible, then begin deep, fast, random breathing.

Stage 2: 10 minutes of catharsis, full cooperation of any energy that the breath generated. Focus on catharsis, and let it come what may... Don't suppress anything. If you want to cry, cry, if you want to dance, dance. Laugh, scream, yell, jump, twitch: whatever you want to do, do it!

Stage 3: 10 minutes of shouting “Hoo-hoo-hoo.” Raise your arms above your head and jump up and down while shouting, “Hoo-hoo-hoo.” When jumping, land firmly on the soles of your feet so that the sound penetrates deep into the sexual center. Exhaust yourself completely.

Stage 4: 10 minutes of complete stop, frozen stay in the position in which you are. By breathing the energy was awakened, purified by catharsis and raised:

Stage 5: 10 to 15 minutes of dancing, celebrating, giving thanks for the deep bliss you have experienced.

Deep breathing listening to the beat of a drum at the first stage of “dynamic meditation” leads to hyperventilation of the lungs, as a result of which a person gets drunk from excess oxygen. Then he “comes off” as best he can, to the point of exhaustion. Having exhausted the reserves of activity, a person, according to Rajneesh, can no longer control the conscious mind, and it turns off. In a state of “blackout,” when the head is empty and the body is completely relaxed, the unconscious comes into its own. Rajneesh passed off this cheap psychophysiological trick as enlightenment.

From the beginning of the 70s, Rajneesh began to initiate everyone into the “Sen-Yasins”, who, however, did not necessarily have to leave the “world”; only the most fanatical of them later began to settle in Rajneesh's ashrams. And, of course, these “sannyasins” did not take any vows and did not lead an ascetic life; on the contrary, Rajneesh called on them to abandon all “conventions.” The only thing that was required of them was to completely “open up” to Rajneesh and surrender to him in everything. Sannyasins received new Sanskrit names "as a symbol of commitment to meditation and a break with the past." Women received the obligatory prefix “Ma” (mother), and men received the prefix “Swami”. They had to wear bright orange robes and wooden rosaries with a portrait of Rajneesh on their necks, and also always carry a nut with a “piece of the body” of their guru (usually clippings of his hair or nails).

In 1974, Rajneesh moved to Pune (India), where he opened his first ashram commune in Koregaon Park. The ashram could accommodate up to 2 thousand people at a time, and up to 50 thousand people passed through it per year. Over the course of seven years, the Pune center was visited by hundreds of thousands of “spiritual seekers” from the West. By the end of the 70s, about 10 thousand fans of Bhagavan lived in the ashram, and about 6 thousand more pilgrims, whom the ashram could no longer accommodate, settled in Pune. Every day, Rajneesh delivered sermons in broken English, richly seasoned with all kinds of stories, jokes, ridicule and blasphemy. These sermons and lectures were recorded on tape and published in the form of separate books (the guru himself wrote nothing except diaries), the number of which currently exceeds six and a half hundred. In addition to books translated into more than 30 languages, Rajneesh's followers distribute audio and video recordings of his speeches.

To organize the production and sale of these products, Rajneesh's favorite student and personal secretary, Indian adventuress with an American passport, Ma Ananda Sheela (Sheela Silverman), created the Rajneesh Foundation Limited company in New Jersey, the turnover of which soon amounted to millions of dollars.

At the ashram in Pune there were “therapy groups”, in which professional psychotherapists worked. Rajnish sannyasins generally lived only in groups, subordinate to a leader. Mind control in such communes was especially effective. For example, when Rajneesh hinted that a woman burdened with children could not achieve enlightenment, many female sannyasins were surgically sterilized at the cult center in Laguna Beach. Naturally, a well-constructed cult could not do without apocalypticism. Rajneesh predicted the imminent approach of a worldwide catastrophe:

"This crisis will begin in 1984 and end in 1999."

Rajneesh preached freedom of fornication and perversion, while calling family and children an unnecessary burden. He said:

“There is nothing sinful in pure simple sex... No duty, no duty, no obligation in this. Sex should be full of play and prayer” (Osho. Sex. Quotes from conversations. M., 1993. Quoted from: New Religious Russian organizations of a destructive and occult nature: Directory (Belgorod, 1997, p. 280).

“Develop your sexuality, don’t suppress yourself!.. I don’t inspire orgies, but I don’t prohibit them either” (“Paris-match”, 08.11.1985. Quoted from: Privalov K.B. Op. op. p. 35 ).

Visitors to the Pune commune came back with stories of such sexual orgies, as well as perversions, drug addiction and drug dealing! suicides among Ashram residents. It happened that meditation sessions in Rajneesh ashrams ended in fights and stabbings. Many lost their health after experiencing Rajneesh’s “therapy” (Barker A. Op. cit. p. 244).

Here is an excerpt from a memoir about a visit to an ashram in Pune around 1980: “Murders, rapes, mysterious disappearances of people, threats, arson, explosions, abandoned children of “ashram residents” begging on the streets of Pune, drugs - all this [here] in order of things... Christians working in psychiatric hospital Pune will confirm everything that has been said, not forgetting to mention the high level mental disorders, due [in particular] to the fact that the ashram took political power into its own hands and there was no one to complain about it" (Martin W. Op. op. p. 288).

In 1980 and early 1981, Hindu traditionalists made two unsuccessful assassination attempts on Rajneesh. At the same time, in 1981, an investigation was launched that showed that “Rajneesh Foundation Limited was mired in tax evasion, misappropriation of donations for charitable purposes, theft and criminal cases against sect members.” That same year, the government of Indira Gandhi deprived the Rajneesh Ashram of the status of a religious organization, and he had to pay huge taxes. Rajneesh, without waiting for the end of the investigation, stopped giving lectures and generally speaking in public on May 1, 1981. From that time on, Rajneesh's intermediary in communicating with the world became his " right hand"Sheila Silverman. Having sold the ashram's property in the early summer of 1981, withdrawing money from his Indian accounts and taking with him 17 of his most devoted students, Rajneesh went to the United States on a tourist visa, ostensibly for treatment.

In the desert part of Central Oregon, the huge Big Magdy Ranch was acquired in Wasco County. At first, an agricultural commune of the Rajneeshists settled here, and later a city of five thousand people called Rajneeshpuram arose, which had an airfield, a comfortable hotel with a casino, shopping streets, restaurants, parks, gardens, greenhouses, roads and regular buses. All this was created by about 2000 followers of Rajneesh. They worked for free, seven days a week, under the scorching sun for 12 hours a day, slept in barracks and all the time listened through loudspeakers to Rajneesh's sermons, in which they were taught that exhausting work is a holiday, meditation, so to speak, a feast of the spirit.

Tens of thousands of other Rajneeshites flocked to Rajneeshpuram.

More than 300 Rajneesh meditation centers were opened around the world, which also brought in considerable income. By the end of 1982, his net worth had reached $200 million tax-free. He owned 4 aircraft, a combat helicopter and 91 Rolls-Royces.

The surrounding farmers, driven by the immoral behavior of the Rajneeshites to the point that they were ready to call them to order by force, were threatened with murder by Rajneesh's secretary Sheela.

Under the influence of public opinion, the police and then the FBI finally opened a criminal case against the Rajneesh sect. About four dozen FBI investigators were directly investigating Rajneeshpuram. They discovered weapons warehouses, laboratories for the production of drugs, which were regularly added to the food of sectarians, carefully camouflaged underground passage for the guru's escape in case of emergency. Rajneesh's trial, held in Portland, Oregon, ended on November 14, 1985. The state authorities, who had already suffered colossal losses due to Rajneesh’s activities, feared that they simply would not be able to endure the extremely expensive, months-long trial. Moreover, according to state Attorney General Charles Turner, they did not want to make a martyr out of Rajneesh. As a result of difficult negotiations with Rajneesh's lawyers, a compromise was reached - Bhagwan pleaded guilty to only 2 of the 34 charges brought against him. Thus, he received a symbolic punishment for violating immigration laws and related criminal standards: ten years of suspended imprisonment plus a $400,000 fine. In addition, Rajneesh was ordered to leave the United States forever within five days.

In July 1986, Rajneesh was finally able to return to India (he was expelled from there in December 1985). He settled in Bombay, where the thinning ranks of his disciples began to gather around him again. In January 1987, Rajneesh moved to Pune again. Here he comes up with a new meaningful name for himself - “Osho”, that is, “ocean”, which, apparently, should be associated with vastness, depth, chaos, abyss.

By the end of the 80s, Osho's health had deteriorated significantly. IN recent months Before his death, if his health allowed, Osho went out to his students for “music and silence meditation,” and then they watched videos of his previous conversations. Osho died in 1990, apparently from AIDS. When he passed away, he did not leave full-fledged organization, believing that there was no need for it, and did not appoint an heir. Moreover, he made it clear that if anyone declared themselves to be his successor, he should be avoided. As a result, after the death of the guru, several independent movements formed within the movement. Among them are the “International Academy of Meditation” by Paul Lowe, the “Huma University”, headed by the Dutch sannyasin Verish, and others.

There are now about 200 Osho meditation centers in the world. The main ashram of the cult - "Osho International Commune" - is located in Pune. On the territory of the former Soviet Union, there are Osho centers in St. Petersburg, Voronezh (operating since 1996 under the name "Tantra Yoga"), Odessa, Krasnodar, Minsk, Tbilisi, Riga and Moscow, where, in addition to the Osho Rajneesh center, The “Eastern House” center, created by the young Russian Igor, also operates. In the early 90s, he completed a course of study in Pune and returned from there as a sannyasin, Swami Anand Toshan. In addition to meditation training, sending “to study” in Pune and other programs, the “Eastern House” conducts Sunday “Osho Discos”, where “everything is allowed”.

Love should not restrain free impulses. The one who loves will not leave, will not change. Shackles in relationships kill lightness. Tenderness. Passion. And only rotten firebrands of jealousy and misunderstanding remain.

The mind is a wonderful thing! He is irreplaceable. Counts, thinks, explains logically. But in matters of love you cannot rely on him... - Osho

Restrictions on sex are the first step on the path to slavery. There should be no prohibitions in sex. If there is no free sex, there is no freedom for the person himself. We need to open the doors sexual energy- and start living.

As soon as all our desires dissolve in the fog, an unpleasant reality begins to emerge.

Osho: If two people are perfect for each other, they have a completely different love, not the same as yours.

The person who loves you does not have to be completely open. Everyone has the right to certain boundaries, their own “secret island” where they can escape from the whole world.

We must constantly remember - we are created for sex. As soon as this axiom is understood, life turns into a fairy tale...

Read the continuation of Osho’s famous aphorisms and quotes on the pages:

Let love be your guiding star.

We live in falseness only because we have not had the opportunity to feel the taste of the real thing.

Never look for the perfect man or the perfect woman. This idea was also driven into your head - they say, until you find it, you will not see happiness. So you're chasing the ideal, but you can't find it. That's why you're unhappy.

For a meditator there is no tomorrow.

Everyone is looking for a love that goes beyond love and hate. But they search with their minds, and therefore they are unhappy. Every lover experiences failure, deception, betrayal, but no one thinks why. The reality is that you are using the wrong tool.

Sex is a natural, natural flow of vital energy and its lowest use. Sex is natural, because life without it is impossible. The lowest - because it is the base, but not the top. When sex replaces everything, life is lived in vain. Imagine that you are constantly laying a foundation, but the building for which it is intended is not built.

Without love a person can be rich, healthy, famous; but he cannot be normal because he knows nothing about inner values.

Two mature people in love help each other become more free. There is no involvement of politics, no diplomacy, no effort to prevail. How can you dominate the person you love?

Here is the basic requirement of love: “I accept a person as he is.” And love never tries to change another person according to its own idea. You will not try to cut a person here and there to fit him into a size that is created everywhere in the whole world.

To be crazy is to be normal.

It was like an explosion. That night I became empty and then filled. I stopped being and became being itself. That night I died and was born again. But the one who was born had nothing in common with the one who died. There was no connection. I didn’t change in appearance, but there was nothing in common between the old me and the new me. The one who perishes perishes to the end, nothing remains of him. (about enlightenment)

You have traditionally been taught that in love men should take the initiative; This is not appropriate for women. These ideas have outlived their usefulness - why give yourself second place from the very beginning? If you love a man, why wait? I know many women who waited for years because they wanted a man to take the initiative. But they fell in love with men who were not going to take the initiative.

I have been sitting silently in my room all my life.

If you live with a woman or a man and do not love them, you are living in sin. If you are married to someone and do not love that person, and yet continue to live and make love with him or her, you are committing a sin against love.

Remember, never demand perfection. You have no right to demand anything from anyone. If someone loves you, be grateful, but don't demand anything - because he doesn't have to love you. If someone loves, it is a miracle, be in awe of this miracle.

Giving love is a real, wonderful experience, because then you are the emperor. Receiving love is a very small experience because it is a beggar's experience.

People think that they can only fall in love when they find a worthy person - nonsense! You will never find one like this. People think that they will only fall in love when they find the perfect man or woman. Nonsense! You will never find them because the perfect woman and the perfect man do not exist. And if they exist, then they don’t care about your love.

What death cannot take from you is your true essence.

Love that comes from the mind is always “love-hate.” These are not two words, this is one word: “love-hate” - even without a hyphen separating the words. But the love that comes from your heart is beyond all dualities...

Parents fulfill their duty towards their children, and in return, children must fulfill their duty towards their parents. The wife performs her duty towards her husband, and the husband fulfills his duty towards his wife. Where is the love?

Conscience is death to self-awareness.

Love is food for the soul. Love is for the soul what food is for the body. Without food the body is weak, without love the soul is weak.

Two people can be very loving together. The more they love, the less possibility there is for any relationship. The more they love, the more freedom exists between them. The more they love, the less possibility of any demands, any dominance, any expectations. And naturally, there is no question of any disappointment.

Loving means sharing; to be greedy is to accumulate. Greed only wants and never gives, but love only knows how to give and does not ask for anything in return; she shares without conditions.

Until you can say no, your yes will have no meaning.

The luckiest lovers in the world are those who have never met.

Becoming too serious is the greatest misfortune.

What you call love right now is directed at someone, limited by someone. And love is not a phenomenon that can be limited. You can hold it in open hands, but not in a fist. The moment your fingers are clenched into a fist, they are empty. The moment your hands are open, the entire existence is available to you.

Stop thinking about how to get love and start giving it. By giving, you receive. There is no other way...

Love is a function as natural as breathing. And when you love a person, don't start demanding; otherwise you close the doors from the very beginning. Don't expect anything. If something comes, feel grateful. If nothing comes, then it doesn’t need to come, there is no need for it to come. You can't expect this.

I leave you my dream...

People take everything so seriously that it becomes a burden to them. Learn to laugh more. To me, laughter is as holy as prayer.

Sadness is deep, happiness is superficial.

Only dead things can be permanent.

In fact, you have never lived - that is what creates the fear of death.

Being an animal is bliss because it is freedom, the deepest freedom, you choose what to do and where to move.

Whatever happens, everything is fine.

Don't be a beggar. At least as far as love is concerned, be an emperor, because love is your inexhaustible quality, you can give as much as you want.

Love should give freedom; love is freedom. Love will make the beloved more and more free, love will give him wings, love will open the boundless skies.

Sin is when you don't enjoy life.

Usually people think that love and hate are opposites; this is not true, this is not true. Love and hate are the same energy, one love-hate energy. Love can become hate, hate can become love; they are reversible. So they are not opposites, they complement each other.

Self-love does not imply selfish pride, not at all. In fact, it implies exactly the opposite.

There is really no reason why a woman should wait for a man to take the initiative. If a woman is in love, she should make the first move. If the man did not respond, she should not feel humiliated. This makes them equal.

Only those who are ready to go crazy will reach God.

You cannot disappoint true love because first of all there are no expectations. And you cannot satisfy false love because it is rooted in expectations and no matter what you do, it will never be enough. If expectations are too high, no one will be able to meet them. So no real love always brings disappointment, but true love always brings fulfillment.

What you get from life is what you give to life.

You must constantly engage in purification: if you notice some nonsense idea in your head, cleanse yourself of it, throw it away. If your mind is pure and clear, you will be able to find a solution to any problem that arises in your life.

Laughter is the absence of ego.

Relationships as such, real or imagined, are a very subtle type of psychological slavery. Either you enslave another, or you yourself become enslaved.

A person becomes rich only by losing his ego. When you are not, only then are you...

Love melts the frozen ego. Ego is like an ice crystal and love is like the morning sun. The warmth of love... and the ego begins to melt. The more you love yourself, the less ego you find in yourself, and then this love becomes a great meditation, a great leap into divinity.

This is the same fear that a seed experiences when it begins to die in the soil. This is death, and the seed cannot imagine that there will be life growing out of this death.

An adult is someone who does not need parents. An adult is someone who does not need to cling to anyone or rely on anyone. An adult is one who is happy alone with himself. His solitude is not loneliness, his solitude is solitude, it is meditative.

Everyone can hear. Only those who remain silent can hear.

Love knows no boundaries. Love cannot be jealous because love cannot possess. You own someone - that means you killed someone and turned him into property.

Becoming an individual is the first thing. Second: don’t expect perfection, don’t ask or demand. Love ordinary people. Ordinary people are extraordinary! Every person is unique. Respect this uniqueness.

Love, and let love be as natural to you as breathing. If you love a person, don't demand anything from him; otherwise you will build a wall between you at the very beginning. Don't expect anything. If something comes to you, be grateful. If nothing comes, then it doesn’t need to come, there’s no need for it. You have no right to wait.

The only thing that fuels life is risk: the more you take risks, the more alive you are.

I wanted to tell you a very simple Truth, which I understood the very hard way, and this is the most worthwhile thing, because a person pays for this simple Truth with his life. This is surrender - trust in Existence.

If a woman has never been wild, she cannot be beautiful, because the more wild she is, the more alive she is.

A happy person belongs to himself.

There is no other way to enter into life except by going through the energy which is known as sex. The body knows no other law. And nature is all-inclusive: it does not believe in any exceptions, it does not allow any exceptions. You may be born out of sex, you are full of sexual energy, but that is not the end. This could be the start.

Love never hurts anyone. If you feel that love hurts, it means that something else is hurting, but not your love experiences. If you don’t understand this, then you will continue to move in the same vicious circle.

Surround yourself with the energy of love. Love the body, love the mind. Love your entire mechanism, your entire organism. By “love” we mean: accept him as he is. Don't try to suppress. We suppress something only when we hate it, we suppress something only when we are against it.

People think that they can only love when they find a worthy partner. Nonsense! You'll never find him. People think that they will only fall in love when they find the perfect man or the perfect woman. Nonsense! You will never find them, because the ideal man or the ideal woman does not exist in nature. And if they existed, they would have nothing to do with your love. They wouldn't be interested in her...

So-called devotion is an ugly phenomenon, but for thousands of years it has been considered one of most valuable qualities, because this is how society developed its strategy to turn you into slaves.

Love is not quantity, it is quality, and a quality of a special category that grows through bestowal and dies if you withhold it. If you are stingy with love, it dies.

Third: give, and do it without any conditions, then you will know what love is.

Love has nothing to do with relationships, love is a state.

To make life easier and more fun, you must be flexible. You must remember that freedom is the highest value and if love does not give you freedom, then it is not love.

You ask “What is love?” It is a deep urge to be one with the whole, a deep urge to dissolve I and YOU into oneness. Love is like this because we are separated from our own source; from this separation grows the desire to return back to the whole, to become one with it.

A person who hates himself will hate everyone else - he is so angry, violent, he remains in constant rage. A person who hates himself... how can he expect others to love him?

The ego is an iceberg. Melt it down. Melt it with the warmth of your love. Let it melt - and then you will become part of the ocean.

Lovers promise all sorts of things that they cannot deliver. Then disappointment comes, the distance becomes greater, a quarrel, conflict, struggle begins, and life, which should have become happier, simply turns into a long, endless misfortune.

freedom is the criterion: everything that gives you freedom is right; everything that destroys freedom is wrong.

Living with a woman you don't love, living with a man you don't love, living for security, living for security, living for financial support, living for any reason except love, makes it nothing less than prostitution.

Disease is nothing more than the lifestyle that a person leads.

Love is harmony. They love not only the body of the other, but his whole being, his very presence. In love, the other is not used as a means, a way to relieve tension. You love the person himself. The other is not a means or an adaptation for you, but is valuable in itself.

There is no other God but life.

If you can have freedom and love at the same time, you don't need anything else. You have everything - what life was given for.

Wealth is a quality of being.

If your energy is needed for something else that gives you more joy, sex will disappear. This does not mean that you have sublimated the energy, you have not done anything with it. The possibility of greater bliss simply opened up and automatically, involuntarily, all the energy flowed in a new direction.

Love for the mind will be chaos, it will interfere with everything. The heart has nothing to do with business. It's always on vacation. It knows how to love - and love without turning love into hatred, there is no poison of hatred in it.

Just observe any kind of suffering: either it contains some kind of pleasure that you are not ready to lose, or some kind of hope for it that dangles in front of your nose like a carrot.

Man and woman are the doors to God. The desire for love is the desire for God. You may understand it, you may not understand it, but the desire for love truly proves the existence of God. There is no other evidence. It is precisely because man loves that God exists. It is precisely because man cannot live without love that God exists.

Relax. Let being take responsibility for your life. And then bliss will become as natural as breathing.

Suppressing your true self is suicide.

Stop thinking about how to get love. By giving, you receive. There is no other way...

Love yourself, says Buddha. And it can transform the world. It can destroy all the ugly past. It may proclaim new era, this could be the beginning of a new humanity.

Separation has its own poetry.

If love is understood as a meeting of two souls - not just a sexual, biological meeting of male and female hormones - then love can give you great wings, great insights into life. And then for the first time lovers can be friends.

If there is fear, there can be no love.

As soon as sex becomes the limit of achievement, the space of spirituality is instantly lost. However, if sex becomes meditative, it is directed towards spirituality, turning into a step towards the goal, into a kind of springboard.

Osho - Enlightened Master from India. He is better known throughout the world as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. More than 600 books have been published under this name in 30 languages. These books are records of his conversations that he had with his students over a period of 25 years. A year before his death, in January 1989, he announced that he was dropping the prefix “Bhagwan Sri” because for many it meant “God”. His students - sannyasins - decided to call him “Osho”, a name that first appeared in ancient Japan. This is how the disciples addressed their spiritual teachers. “O” means “with great respect, love and gratitude,” as well as “synchronicity and harmony.” “Sho” means “expansion of consciousness in many dimensions” and “existence pouring out from all directions.”

Osho was born on December 11, 1931 in Kushwad (Central India). His family loved him very much, especially his grandfather, who gave him the name “Raja”, which means “king”. He spent his entire childhood in his grandfather's house. His father and mother took him in only after the death of his grandfather and grandmother. Before school, the boy was given a new name: Rajneesh Chandra Mohan.

His biographer writes: “The birth of Rajneesh was not an ordinary event. This was the birth of a man who had previously come to Earth in search of truth. He traveled innumerable ways, passed through many schools and systems. His last birth was 700 years ago in the mountains where his mystical school was located, which attracted many students of different traditions and beliefs from the most different countries. Then the Master lived 106 years. Before his death, he began a 21-day fast, which was supposed to lead him to enlightenment. But he had a choice - he could take one more birth before his final disappearance into eternity. He looked at his family of disciples: among them there were many who had stopped on their path and needed help. He also saw the great potential that was to arise from the synthesis of East and West, body and soul, materialism and spirituality. He saw the possibility of creating a new man - man of the future, completely cut off from the past. He, who had come so close to the ultimate achievement, for which he had worked hard for many lifetimes, decided to incarnate again in a human body. Because of his pure love and compassion, he promised his disciples to return and share his truth with them, to help them bring their consciousness to a state of awakening.”

This promise determined his entire life. WITH early childhood he was interested in spiritual development, studied his body and its capabilities, and constantly experimented with various methods of meditation. He did not follow any traditions and did not seek teachers. The basis of his spiritual search was experiment. He looked very closely at life, especially at its critical, extreme points. He did not believe in any theories or rules and always rebelled against the prejudices and vices of society. “Courage and fearlessness were the wonderful qualities of Rajneesh,” said his childhood friend. He loved the river very much and often stayed on it at night, swimming in the most dangerous places and diving into whirlpools. He later said: “If you fall into a whirlpool, you will be caught, you will be pulled to the bottom, and the deeper you go, the stronger the whirlpool will become. The natural tendency of the ego is to fight it, because the whirlpool looks like death. The ego tries to fight the whirlpool, and if you fight it in a rising river or near a waterfall, where there are many such whirlpools, you will inevitably disappear, because the whirlpool is very strong. You won't be able to overcome it.

But the whirlpool has one phenomenon: on the surface it is large, but the deeper you go, the narrower the whirlpool becomes - stronger, but narrower. And almost at the very bottom the funnel is so small that you can very easily get out of it without any struggle. In fact, near the bottom, the funnel itself will throw you out. But you will wait for the bottom. If you fight on the surface, if you do anything for it, you cannot survive. I have tried with many whirlpools: this experience is wonderful.”

The experience in the whirlpools was similar to the experience of death. Little Rajneesh had an early brush with death. When he was five years old, his younger sister died, and at the age of seven he experienced the death of his beloved grandfather. Astrologers predicted that he would face death every seven years: at seven, fourteen and twenty-one. And although he did not die physically, his experiences of death during these years were the deepest. This is what he experienced after the death of his grandfather: “When he died, I felt that it would be a betrayal to eat. Now I didn't want to live. It was childhood, but something very profound happened through it. For three days I lay and did not move. I couldn't get out of bed. I said: “If he died, I don’t want to live. I survived, but those three days were a death experience. I died then, and I came to understand (now I can talk about it, although at that time it was only a vague experience), I came to the feeling that death is impossible...”

At the age of 14, knowing about the astrologer's prediction, Rajneesh came to a small hidden temple and lay there awaiting his death. He did not want her, but he wanted to face his death consciously if it did come. Rajneesh asked the priest not to disturb him and to bring him some food and drink once a day. This extraordinary experience took place over the course of seven days. Actual death did not occur, but Rajneesh did everything possible to “become like a dead man.” He went through several scary and unusual experiences. From this experience he learned that once death is accepted as a reality, its acceptance immediately creates a distance, a point from which one can observe the flow of events in life as a spectator. This lifts him above the pain, sadness, anguish and despair that usually accompany this event. “If you accept death, then there is no fear. If you cling to life, fear will be with you.” Having gone through the experience of the deceased being intensely and meditatively, he says: “I died along the way, but I came to understand that there is still something immortal here. One day you will accept death totally and you will become conscious of it.”

The third time this happened was on March 21, 1953, when Rajneesh was 21 years old. On this day, enlightenment happened to him. It was like an explosion. “That night I died and was reborn. But the person who is reborn has nothing in common with the one who died. It is not a continuous thing... The person who has died has died totally; there is nothing left of him... not even a shadow. The ego died totally, completely... On that day, March 21, a personality who had lived many, many lives, millennia, simply died. Another being, completely new, completely unrelated to the old, began to exist... I became free from the past, I was torn out of my history, I lost my autobiography.”

At this point, Rajneesh's story effectively ends. The man, whose name was Rajneesh Chandra Mohan, died at the age of 21, and at the same time a miracle happened: a new enlightened man was reborn, completely free of ego. (It should be noted that enlightenment is not a concept that can be explained in known logical terms. It is rather an experience that transcends any verbal description. The Buddha, the most famous Enlightened man on earth, called it “nirvana.”)

After this event, Rajneesh's external life did not change. He continued his studies at Jabalpur College in the philosophy department. In 1957 he graduated from Saugar University, receiving a diploma with honors, a gold medal and a Master of Philosophy degree. Two years later he became a lecturer in philosophy at Jabalpur University. Students loved him very much for his humor, sincerity and uncompromising desire for freedom and truth. During his 9-year university career, Osho traveled throughout India, often traveling 15 days a month. A passionate and skilled debater, he constantly challenged orthodox religious leaders. Addressing an audience of 100 thousand, Osho spoke with the authority emanating from his enlightenment, he destroyed blind faith to create true religiosity.

In 1966, Osho left the university department and devoted himself entirely to spreading the art of meditation and his vision of a new man - Zorba the Buddha, a man who synthesizes the best features of East and West, a man capable of enjoying a full-blooded physical life and capable of simultaneously sitting silently in meditation, reaching the heights of consciousness.

1968 Osho settled in Bombay and soon the first Western seekers of spiritual truth began to come to him. Among them were many specialists in the field of therapy, representatives of humanistic movements, wanting to take the next step in their growth. The next step, as Osho said, was meditation.

Osho experienced his first glimpses of meditation as a child, when he was jumping from high bridge into the river, or walked along a narrow path over an abyss. There were a few moments when the mind stopped. This caused an unusually clear perception of everything around him, his presence in it, and complete clarity and separateness of consciousness. These experiences, experienced repeatedly, aroused Osho's interest in meditation and prompted him to look for more accessible methods. Subsequently, he not only tested all the meditations known since ancient times, but also came up with new, revolutionary techniques specifically designed for modern man. These meditations are commonly called “dynamic meditations” and are based on the use of music and movement. Osho brought together elements of yoga, Sufism and Tibetan traditions, which made it possible to use the principle of energy transformation through the awakening of activity and subsequent calm observation.

Osho first demonstrated his morning dynamic meditation in April 1970 at a meditation camp near Bombay. That day everyone was stunned and fascinated at the same time. Indian journalists were amazed to see the participants screaming, screaming and tearing off their clothes - the whole scene was fatal and very intense. But just as strong was the tension in the first, intense stage, just as deep was the relaxation in the second part, leading to complete peace, unattainable in ordinary life.

Osho explained: “For 10 years I continuously worked with the methods of Lao Tzu, that is, I continuously studied direct relaxation. It was very simple for me and so I decided that it would be simple for anyone. Then, time after time, I began to understand that this was impossible... I, of course, said “relax” to those whom I taught. They understood the meaning of this word, but could not relax. Then I decided to come up with new methods of meditation that first create tension - even more tension. They create such tension that you become simply crazy. And then I say “relax.”

What is “meditation”? Osho spoke a lot about meditation. Based on his conversations, many books have been compiled, in which all aspects of meditation are discussed in great detail, from the technique of execution to explanations of the subtlest internal nuances. Here is a short excerpt from the “Orange Book”.

“The first thing you need to know is what meditation is. Everything else will follow. I cannot tell you that you should do meditation, I can only tell you what it is. If you understand me, you will be in meditation and there is no should. If you don't understand me, you won't be in meditation.

Meditation is a state of “no-mind”. Meditation is a state of pure consciousness without content. Usually your mind is too full of nonsense, just like a mirror covered with dust. The mind is a constant bustle - thoughts move, desires move, memories move, ambitions move - it's a constant crush. The day comes, the day goes. Even when you are sleeping, the mind is functioning, it is dreaming. It's still thinking, it's still worrying and sadness. He prepares for the next day, continues his underground preparations.

This is the state of non-meditation. Just the opposite is meditation. When there is no crowd and thinking has stopped, no thought moves, no desire is held back, you are completely silent... such silence is meditation. And in this silence the truth is known, never again.

Meditation is a state of “no-mind”. And you will not be able to find meditation with the help of the mind, because the mind itself will move. You can find meditation only by putting the mind aside, becoming cold, indifferent, unidentified with the mind, seeing the mind passing by but not identifying with it, not thinking that “I am it.”

Meditation is the realization that “I am not the mind.” As this awareness goes deeper and deeper, little by little there appear moments-moments of silence, moments of pure space, moments of transparency, moments when nothing is held in you and everything is permanent. In these moments you will learn who you are, you will learn the secret of existence.

A day is coming, a day of great bliss, when meditation becomes your natural state.”

Elsewhere Osho says: “Only meditation can make humanity civilized, because meditation will release your creativity and remove your tendency to destroy.”

Being an enlightened man, Osho realized more clearly than others the fragility of the current existence of humanity on Earth. Constant wars, savage treatment of nature, when more than a thousand species of plants and animals die out every year, entire forests are cut down and seas are dried up, the presence nuclear weapons enormous destructive power - all this puts a person on the line beyond which there is complete disappearance.

“Life has brought us to a point where the choice is extremely simple: only two paths, two possibilities. Humanity will either commit suicide or decide to meditate, to be in peace, tranquility, humanity, love.

Live naturally, live peacefully, turn inward. Spend some time alone and silently observing the inner workings of your mind.

In this inner silence you will experience a new dimension of life. There is no greed, no anger, no violence in this dimension. Love will appear, and in such abundance that you will not be able to contain it, it will begin to pour out of you in all directions.” And meditation gives a person such a state.

In 1974, Osho moved to Pune, where, together with his sannyasin students, he opened an ashram in the beautiful Koregaon Park. Over the next 7 years, hundreds of thousands of seekers from all over the world come there to experience new Osho meditations and listen to his conversations. In his conversations, Osho touches on all aspects of human consciousness, shows the innermost essence of all existing religions and systems of spiritual development. Buddha and Buddhist teachers, Sufi masters, Jewish mystics, Indian classical philosophy, Christianity, yoga, tantra, Zen... Here are a few of his books: “The Mustard Seed. Conversations about the sayings of Jesus”, “Wisdom of the sand. Conversations about Sufism”, “Buddha: the emptiness of the heart”, “Parables of Zen”, “Tantra: the highest understanding”, “True sage. About Hasidic parables”, “Psychology of the esoteric”, “Book of secrets”, “Priests and politicians (mafia of the soul)”, “The new man is the only hope for the future”, “Meditation is the first and last freedom”, “Meditation: the art of inner ecstasy "

Osho says about his books: “My message is not a doctrine, not a philosophy. My message is a certain alchemy, the science of transformation, so only those who have the will to die as they are now and be born again into something so new that you can't even imagine it now... only a few such brave people will be ready to be heard, because what is heard will lead to risk, you will have to take the first step towards revival. This is not a philosophy that you can put on yourself and start bragging about it. This is not a doctrine with the help of which you can find answers to the questions that bother you... No, my message is not verbal contact. It's much more risky. It is nothing more or less than death and rebirth...”

Many people from all over the Earth felt this and found the strength and courage to touch this source and begin their own transformation. Those who are finally confirmed in this decision accept sannyas. The sannyas that Osho gives is different from the traditional one. This is neo-sannyas.

Former sannyasins - people who completely devoted themselves to spiritual practice, went to monasteries or secluded places and studied together with their Master, reducing contact with the outside world to a minimum. Neo-sannyas Osho does not require this. Neo-sannyas is not a renunciation of the world, but rather a renunciation of the madness of the modern mind that creates divisions between nations and races, drains the Earth's resources into weapons and wars, destroys the environment for profit, and teaches its children to fight and dominate others. Modern sannyasins, Osho's students, are in the thick of life, doing the most ordinary things, but at the same time they regularly engage in spiritual practice and, first of all, meditation, combining material life with spiritual life, synthesizing in themselves the love of life of the Greek Zorba and the height of spiritual consciousness Buddha. This is how a new man is formed - Zorba the Buddha, a man who will be free from the madness of the modern mind. According to Osho, “a new man is the only hope for the future.”

One who becomes a sannyasin receives a new name as a symbol of commitment to meditation and a break with the past. The name, usually derived from Sanskrit or Indian words, contains indications of a person’s potential capabilities or a specific path. Women receive the prefix “Ma” - an indication of the highest qualities of female nature to cherish and take care of themselves and others. Men receive the prefix “Swami,” which Osho translates as “self-mastered.”

Osho met with his students every day, except for periods when he was ill. His conversations were very beautiful. This is how Swami Chaitanya Kabir describes his meeting with the Master:

“We sit quietly listening;

He enters with his hands folded in greeting.

The lecture starts sometime

With a simple stunning statement.

And the morning flows into us.

Energy flows around words

Ideas, stories, jokes, questions,

Weaving them into a grandiose symphony,

The container for everything.

Mocking, great, blasphemous, holy...-

And always in contact with our consciousness,

At the right moment, leading us straight to the center.

Themes develop on their own

Taking an unexpected turn

Reflecting in clarity into something opposite

And going back.

He talks until

Until we no longer hear his words

In a deafeningly growing silence.

The surf is roaring everywhere.

"Enough for today!"

He comes out smiling

Folded hands send greetings to everyone

We are sitting".

1981 For many years Osho suffered from diabetes and asthma. In the spring his condition worsened and he plunged into a period of silence. On the recommendation of doctors, in June of this year he was taken to the United States for treatment.

Osho's American disciples bought a 64,000-acre ranch in Central Oregon and founded Rajneeshpuram there. Osho came there in August. During the 4 years that Osho lived there, Rajneeshpuram became the most daring experiment in creating a transnational spiritual commune. Every summer, 15,000 people from Europe, Asia, South America and Australia came to the festival held there. As a result, the commune became a prosperous city with a population of 5,000 people.

1984 Just as suddenly as he stopped speaking, Osho spoke again in October. He spoke about love, meditation and human unfreedom in a crazy, heavily conditioned world. He accused priests and politicians of corrupting human souls and destroying human freedom.

“I raise my hand against the past of all humanity. It was not civilized, it was not humane. It did not in any way contribute to the flourishing of people. It wasn't spring. It was a real disaster, a crime committed on such a huge scale that we renounce our past, we begin to live according to our own being and create our own future. ...The people gathered around me are learning how to be happier, more meditative, how to laugh more joyfully, live more actively, love deeper and bring love and laughter to the whole world. This is the only defense against nuclear weapons. We are not creating armies here to conquer the world. We are creating a commune of individuals who have their own spirituality, because I want these individuals to be free, responsible, vigilant and conscious people, not allowing anyone to dictate to them, but also not imposing anything on anyone.”

From the very beginning of the experiment to create a commune, federal and local authorities tried to destroy it in any way possible. Subsequently, documents confirmed that the White House participated in these attempts.

In October 1985, the American government accused Osho of violating immigration laws and took him into custody without any warning. He was held in custody for 12 days in handcuffs and shackles and was denied bail. He suffered physical harm in prison. According to subsequent medical examinations, he was exposed to a life-threatening dose of radiation in Oklahoma and was also poisoned with thalium. When a bomb was discovered in the Portland prison where Osho was being held, he was the only one who was not evacuated.

Concerned for Osho's life, his lawyers agreed to admit that he had violated immigration law, and Osho left America on November 14. The commune fell apart.

The US government was not content with violating its own constitution. When Osho went to other countries at the invitation of his disciples, the United States, using its influence in the world, tried to influence other countries so that Osho's work would be disrupted wherever he went. As a result of this policy, 21 countries banned Osho and his companions from entering their borders. And these countries consider themselves free and democratic!

In July 1986, Osho returned to Bombay and his disciples began to gather around him again. In January 1987, as the number of people coming to him grew rapidly, he returned to Pune, where by that time the International Osho Commune had been formed. Daily beautiful discourses, meditation weekends, and holidays began again. Osho creates several new meditations. He called one of them, “The Mystical Rose,” “the greatest breakthrough in meditation 2500 years after the Vipassana meditation of Gautama Buddha.” Thousands of people have taken part in the Mystic Rose Meditation, not only at the Pune commune, but also at Osho meditation centers around the world. “I have created many meditations, but this one may be the most essential and fundamental. It can reach the whole world.”

The meditation lasts 21 days as follows: one week participants laugh for 3 hours a day, the second week they cry for 3 hours a day, the third week they silently observe and witness for 3 hours a day. During the first two stages, those involved simply laugh and cry for no reason, passing through layers of stiffness, depression and pain. This clears the space in which silent witnessing will happen later. After cleansing with laughter and tears, it is easier not to identify or get lost in everything that happens: in thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations.

Osho explains: “All of humanity has gone a little “crazy” for the simple reason that no one laughs from the heart, completely. And you suppressed so much sadness, so much despair and anxiety, so many tears - they all remained, covering you, enveloping you and destroying your beauty, your grace, your joy. All you have to do is go through these two layers. Then, while witnessing, simply open clear skies.”

This meditation, like many others, is therapeutic in nature. Scientific research, taken during and after the group meditation “Mystical Rose”, showed that participants felt deep and permanent changes in many areas of their lives. They consist of deep inner relaxation, a decrease in psychosomatic illnesses and an increasing ability to feel and express one's emotions in everyday life and at the same time to be detached from these emotions - to become a witness to one's experiences.

Now there are many other therapeutic groups in the Osho International Commune. All of them are united into the Osho Multiversity. As part of the Multiversity: School of Centering, School of Creative Arts. International Academy of Health, Academy of Meditation, Center for Transformation, Institute of Tibetan Pulsations, etc. Each school offers its own program aimed at developing a person’s spiritual qualities. The leaders of the schools are people from different countries who share and support Osho’s views on man and his place in this world.

The Osho Times International magazine is published twice a month, which is distributed throughout the world and is published in nine languages ​​(except Russian). There is an international connection Osho - computer network between meditation centers and Osho ashrams in different countries.

Osho left his body on January 19, 1990. He was often asked the question, what will happen when he dies? Here is Osho's response to Italian television, transmitted through his personal secretary:

“Osho relies and trusts existence. He never thinks about the next moment. If everything is good at this moment, then the next moment flows from this and will be even richer.

It doesn't want to become a prison like other religions do. He even dropped the word “Bhagwan”, just because one of the meanings of this word is “God”. The moment someone is God, then of course you are a slave, a created being. They can destroy you without asking. Even the stars disappear, but what about human life?

He doesn't want any of this to resemble religion in any way. His work focuses on the individual and his freedom, and in the end it is one world, without any restrictions of color, race or nationality.

You are asking what will happen when Osho dies. He is not God and he does not believe in any prophets, prophecies or messiah. They were all selfish people. Therefore, whatever he can do at this moment, he does. What happens after he leaves he leaves to the will of existence. His trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth to what he says, it will survive. Therefore, he calls his sannyasins not followers, but travel companions.

He said clearly: “Don't cling to the past. Continue searching. You can find the right person because you have already had a taste.” And this question is strange. Nobody asked what would happen when Einstein died. Existence is so limitless and so inexhaustible that people grow as naturally as trees, unless they are mutilated by society. If they are not destroyed by people for their own purposes, then they will bloom on their own, Osho does not offer any program. On the contrary, he wants everyone to be deprogrammed. Christianity is a program. His job is to deprogram people and make their minds clear so they can grow on their own. Support is welcome, but no demands.

Absurd questions are always asked by people who think that they rule the world, Osho is simply part of the Universe. And everything will continue fine without him. It's not a problem. And he will be happy that there is no religion, and no one will proclaim himself a successor when he leaves. If anyone declares himself his successor, he must be avoided. Such people destroyed Buddha, Christ, Krishna.

Everything he can do, he does. There is no specific plan that needs to be implanted in your mind. This creates fanatics. Every individual is unique, so no program can make humanity happy, because then they wear other people's clothes and shoes that don't fit them. All humanity is like clowns.

The people who remain interested in his work will simply carry the torch. But they will not impose anything on anyone, neither with bread nor with sword. He will remain a source of inspiration. for us. And this is what most sannyasins will feel. He wants us to grow on our own...Qualities like love, which no church can be built around, like awareness, a quality that no one can monopolize, such as celebration, joy, a fresh childlike perspective. He wants people to know themselves, regardless of anyone else's opinion. And the path leads inward. There is no need for an outside organization or church.

Osho is for freedom, individuality, creativity, for making our Earth even more beautiful, for living in this moment, and not waiting for paradise. Do not be afraid of hell and do not be greedy for heaven. Just be here in silence and enjoy while you are. Osho’s whole philosophy is that he strives in any way to destroy everything that later becomes slavery: authorities, groups, leaders - all these are diseases that must be completely avoided.”

Osho did not write books. All published books are recordings of his conversations with his students. The energy of the listeners, their preparedness and interest determined the direction of the conversation. These conversations reflect the relationship between the Master and his students, their mutual penetration.

“These words are alive. They contain the beat of my heart. This is not a teaching. My words are a knock on your door so you can get home. Accept my gift."

Do you want to know yourself deeper? Then my new idea...

"There were also false prophets among the people, like
and you will have false teachers who
will introduce destructive heresies and, rejecting
the Lord who bought them, they will bring
self-inflicted death"
2 Peter 2:1

1. "Love yourself and do what you want"

The story of Rajneesh (Osho) and his cult is the story of the rise and fall of one of the adventurers of our time. Rajneesh deeply despised humanity and did not consider it necessary to hide his aspirations; perhaps even more than in the stories of other sects, here the reasons that motivated the newly-minted guru - greed, lust, vanity and thirst for power - are brought to the surface with undisguised cynicism. It is worth adding that the cult of Rajneesh is difficult to attribute even to pseudo-Hindu new formations - it is absolutely an “author’s work” operating in the area of ​​the New Age movement.

Rajneesh Chandra Mohan (1931-1990) born in Kushwad (Central India, modern Madhya Pradesh) into a Jain family. Jainism arose around the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century. BC This religion recognizes the existence of an individual soul - jiva, but denies the existence of a supreme God. Like adherents of other Indian religions, Jains see salvation in the liberation of the jiva from the chain of rebirths.

He who has achieved liberation becomes, as it were, a living god and an object of worship. This Jain idea had a significant influence on Rajneesh, although in general his teaching is extremely eclectic.

Rajneesh was the eldest of his five sisters and seven brothers. Until the age of seven, Rajneesh lived with his grandparents. Rajneesh recalled that issues of spiritual liberation occupied him from a very early age. In his youth, he began to experience various meditative techniques; At the same time, he tried not to follow any traditions and did not look for teachers, always relying only on himself. One of Rajneesh's main childhood experiences was the experience of death. In his diary of 1979, he writes that in his childhood he followed funeral processions, like other children followed a traveling circus. In 1953, while Rajneesh was studying at the philosophy department of Jabalpur College, he, in his words, experienced “enlightenment” - his last experience of death, after which it was as if he was reborn. As a student, Rajneesh led a life that was far from conforming to the strict ascetic norms of Jainism. But they entered his soul so deeply as a child that, for example, he vomited all night when he ate with his friends after sunset (eating in the dark is strictly prohibited for Jains - you can swallow it without noticing what... some small insect into which, say, the soul of a great-grandfather was reincarnated). Jainism does not know repentance, and Rajneesh was able to resolve the internal conflict only by rebelling against the “superstitions” of the religion of the fathers and all other religions. The theoretical basis for this for Rajneesh was the “philosophy of life” (Nietzsche and others), which he became acquainted with at the university.

In 1957, Rajneesh graduated from Saugar University with a gold medal in the All India Debating Competition and a Master of Philosophy degree, then taught philosophy at Jabalpur University for nine years. During this time, he travels around India, meeting and holding debates with various religious and public figures. Speaking to audiences of thousands, he gradually gains fame as a polemicist and rebel. In 1966, Rajneesh left the university and began to preach his own teaching, which was a paradoxical mixture of bits of Jainism, Tantrism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Hasidism, Nietzscheanism, psychoanalysis, popular “psycho-spiritual” therapies and the teachings of Krishnamurti and Gurdjieff. Having no initiation into any of the mystical traditions, he reinterpreted everything in his own way, adapting it to his own needs.

At this time, Rajneesh called himself Acharya ("teacher"). He wandered on foot and rode a donkey around India, calling for inner transformation in order to survive the coming nuclear holocaust and preaching a kind of new nonconformist religiosity, opposition to traditional religions, which Rajneesh sharply attacked at every opportunity: “We are making a revolution... I am burning old scriptures, destroying traditions..." ; "I am the founder of the only religion, other religions are deceptions. Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha simply seduced people..." ; “Faith is pure poison” and so on in the same spirit. More than once he said that he did not believe in any prophets or in the Messiah and that they were all selfish people. Rajneesh saw the main mistake of traditional religious doctrines and meditative techniques in the fact that they call on a person to give up a “full-blooded” physiological life, offering “spiritual enlightenment” in return.

Rajneesh called the truly enlightened new man, combining the rich life of the flesh and meditation, materialism and spirituality, Western activity and Eastern inaction, Zorba the Buddha (the Greek Zorba is an energetic lover of life, the hero of the novel of the same name by the Greek writer Nikos Kazanzakis. In Zorba the Buddha he saw "a man of the future, completely cut off from the past."

The main postulate of Rajneesh's “only religion” can be expressed by paraphrasing the famous patristic saying: “Love God and do what you want.” When applied to the teachings of Rajneesh, it turns out: “Love yourself and do what you want.” According to Rajneesh, there is no god except man, and this is a hedonistic god: “Everyone has the potential to become God... God is a state of consciousness... it is a way of enjoying life right here and now”; “The first thing you need to understand,” Rajneesh taught, “is that you are perfect. If someone tells you that you need to become even more perfect, then that person is your enemy, beware of him.” “You can be Christ, so why should you become a Christian?”

If you follow Buddha you will be in trouble - millions have already been. If you follow Christ, you will also get into trouble. Look at any followers - they inevitably get into trouble, because life changes every minute, and they adhere to dead principles. Remember the only golden rule: “There are no golden rules!”

To achieve a spiritually and physically fulfilling life “here and now,” you need to “be spontaneous,” because “life is spontaneous.” Rajneesh saw the main obstacle preventing a person from being a god and enjoying every moment of life in the division of the mind into two warring principles: the conscious and the unconscious. A person identifies himself only with his conscious mind, and this does not allow him to achieve inner integrity. Only when the potential, the unconscious, is allowed to blossom can a person experience the “bliss of being.” Passions and unconscious impulses should not be suppressed or overcome, but intensely and exhaustively lived. Following one's passions and lusts is, according to Rajneesh, the path to achieving divine freedom.

Immersion in the unconscious, turning off the reflective mind and removing all moral restrictions subsequently led some of Rajneesh's students, especially if they were neurotics, psychopaths, drug addicts or alcoholics, to serious mental illness. Rajneesh himself, however, believed that true madness is a split of consciousness into two unequal and mutually hostile halves, consciousness and unconsciousness:

You are crazy and you need to do something about it. Old traditions say: -Suppress your madness. Don't let it come out, otherwise your actions will become crazy," but I say, "Let your madness come out. Become aware of it. This is the only path to health." Release it! Inside it will become poisonous. Throw it out, completely free your system from it. But this catharsis must be approached systematically, methodically, because it means going crazy with the method, becoming consciously crazy.

Schizophrenia goes away after deep awareness. Don't fight yourself. Always remember that the winner is wrong. When conflict arises, follow nature.

The nature that Rajneesh proposes to follow is fallen: “If a conflict arises between love and celibacy, follow love and surrender to it entirely”; “...if it happens that you choose anger, give yourself entirely to it” and the like.

Traditional teachings cannot cure a person from the conflict in his mind, because they themselves are the culprits of this division. “Religions gave rise to schizophrenia” by binding the unconscious with their law and commandments. But Rajneesh opposes the insufficiency of the law not with the freedom of grace-filled transformation, which he had never heard of, but with the permissiveness of lawlessness:

There are no sinners. Even if you have reached the very bottom in this life, you are as divine as before, you cannot lose this divinity. I tell you: salvation is not needed, it is in you.

Rajneesh considers it vitally important for the diseased rationalism of humanity to free the infernal unconscious:

Revolution in human consciousness is no longer a luxury, but an extreme necessity, for there are only two possibilities: suicide or a qualitative leap of consciousness to the level that Nietzsche called the Superman.

2. "Meditation is a state of no-mind"

Rajneesh's preaching did not have much success in India until he settled in Bombay in 1968, where he soon had his first students from the West. These were mainly Americans and British, most of whom had gone through various new religious movements, the craze for “narco-spirituality,” the hippie movement, occult psychotherapeutic groups, etc. In this audience, Rajneesh’s illogical and immoral “non-teaching” about man-theology found a warm response . Rajneesh adds to his name, instead of Dcharya, the epithet Bhagwan Sri - “God the Lord”. From the beginning of the 70s, he began to regularly conduct so-called meditation camps, mainly in mountainous areas.

Rajneesh opposed the purposeful and utilitarian activity of the conscious mind to “celebration” or “play,” that is, activity for the sake of enjoying the activity itself, and not its final result. Such activity, in his opinion, can rightfully be called meditation.

Meditation is a state of no-mind. Meditation is a state of pure consciousness without content... You can find meditation only by putting the mind aside, becoming cold, indifferent, not identified with the mind, seeing the mind passing by but not identifying with it, not thinking that " I am him."

Rajneesh's meditation is similar in description to the dhyana of classical yoga, but achieving samadhi required enormous ascetic efforts, and Rajneesh's methods were even simpler and more effective than Sri Aurobindo's "integral yoga"; they fully corresponded to the superficiality and relaxation of his audience, offering an easy path to “enlightenment” as a kind of acute “spiritual” pleasure. At the same time, Rajneesh did not stop speculating on the fears of his flock, generated by " cold war" and the emerging environmental crisis, presenting meditation as the only way to solve these problems.

In April 1970, at a meditation camp near Bombay, Rajneesh first demonstrated the “dynamic” (or “chaotic”) meditation he had invented. Here is its “technology”:

Stage 1: 10 minutes of deep, rapid breathing through the nose. Let your body be as relaxed as possible... If the body wants to move during this breath, allow it... Stage 2: 10 minutes of catharsis, full cooperation with whatever energy the breath has generated... Do not suppress anything. If you want to cry, cry, if you want to dance, dance. Laugh, scream, yell, jump, twitch: whatever you want to do, do it! Stage 3: 10 minutes of shouting “Hoo-hoo-hoo.” Raise your arms above your head and jump up and down while shouting, “Hoo-hoo-hoo.” When jumping, land firmly on the soles of your feet so that the sound penetrates deep into the sexual center. Exhaust yourself completely. Stage 4: 10 minutes of complete stop, frozen stay in the position in which you are. Through breathing, the energy was awakened, purified by catharsis and raised by the Sufi mantra "Hu". And now let it work deep within you. Energy means movement. If you no longer throw it out, it starts working inside. Stage 5: 10 to 15 minutes of dancing, celebrating, giving thanks for the deep bliss you have experienced.

Deep breathing under the beat of a drum at the first stage of “dynamic meditation” leads to hyperventilation of the lungs, as a result of which a person becomes drunk from excess oxygen. Then he “comes off” as best he can, to the point of exhaustion. Having exhausted all reserves of activity, a person, according to Rajneesh, can no longer control the conscious mind, and it turns off. In a state of “blackout,” when the head is empty and the body is completely relaxed, the unconscious comes into its own. Rajneesh passed off this cheap psychophysiological trance as enlightenment.

One of the components of the Rajneesh vinaigrette is the occult tantric teaching about chakras. True, Rajneesh added on his own that the chakras are perceptible only when they are polluted; if the chakras are clean, then the kundalini energy flows through them unhindered.

The main task of the “Hu” mantra is to open the muladhara chakra at the base of the spine and release kundalini, which in everyday life is spent on a person’s sex life. This is its natural use; however, for enlightenment it is necessary that it move in the opposite direction, up the “energy channel”, simultaneously opening all other chakras. Rajneesh did not hide that this method is very dangerous for physical body and that many outstanding yogis who practiced this method died before reaching old age from severe and painful illnesses. However, at the same time, he believed that the use of kundalini is the most effective method opening of the chakras and that further help from the guru can reduce its negative consequences. The main benefit that the ascending movement of kundalini brings, in his opinion, is that it allows “cosmic energy” to descend into a person and circulate in all his bodies, including the physical. The last two stages of chaotic meditation provide the opportunity to feel and enjoy this circulation.

In addition to “dynamic meditation,” Rajneesh also introduced “kundalini meditation,” which he developed, during which the sectarians shook violently in order to “disperse the clamps of the body” and danced “so that the newly found flowing vitality would manifest itself.” In order for meditation to be most effective, Rajneesh recommended doing it for 21 days in a row, combining it with yogic breathing exercises, in complete isolation and silence, or blindfolded.

3. Pune Commune

In the early 70s, Rajneesh began to initiate everyone into “sannyasins”, who, however, did not necessarily have to leave the “world”; only the most fanatical of them later began to settle in Rajneesh's ashrams. And, of course, these “sannyasins” did not take any vows and did not lead an ascetic life; on the contrary, Rajneesh called on them to abandon all “conventions.” The only thing that was required of them was to completely “open up” to Rajneesh and surrender to him in everything. Sannyasins received new Sanskrit names "as a symbol of commitment to meditation and a break with the past." Women received the obligatory prefix “Ma” (mother), and men received the prefix “Swami”. They had to wear bright orange robes and wooden rosaries with a portrait of Rajneesh on their necks, and also always carry a nut with a “piece of the body” of their guru (usually clippings of his hair or nails).

In 1974, Rajneesh moved to Pune (India), where he opened his first ashram commune in Koregaons Park. The ashram could accommodate up to 2 thousand people at a time, and up to 50 thousand people passed through it per year. Over the course of seven years, the Pune center was visited by hundreds of thousands of “spiritual seekers” from the West. By the end of the 70s, about 10 thousand fans of Bhagavan lived in the ashram, and about 6 thousand more pilgrims, whom the ashram could no longer accommodate, settled in Pune. Every day, Rajneesh delivered sermons in broken English, richly seasoned with all kinds of stories, jokes, ridicule and blasphemy. These sermons and lectures were recorded on tape and published in the form of separate books (the guru himself wrote nothing except diaries), the number of which currently exceeds six and a half hundred. In addition to books translated into more than 30 languages, Rajneesh's followers distribute audio and video recordings of his speeches. To organize the production and sale of these products, Rajneesh's favorite student and personal secretary, Indian adventuress with an American passport, Ma Ananda Sheela (Sheela Silverman), created the Rajneesh Foundation Limited company in New Jersey, the turnover of which soon amounted to millions of dollars. According to one of the Rajneeshists, “the organization has long understood the power of money.”

Pilgrims returning from Pune, initiated into neo-sannyas, began to open subsidiary ashrams and become their leaders. By the beginning of the 80s, 500 such centers had already been created - in other places in India, as well as in another 22 countries, including the USA, England, France, Canada and Japan.

At the ashram in Pune there were “therapy groups”, in which professional psychotherapists worked. Rajnish sannyasins generally lived only in groups, subordinate to a leader. Mind control in such communes was especially effective. For example, when Rajneesh hinted that a woman burdened with children could not achieve enlightenment, many female sannyasins were surgically sterilized at the cult center in Laguna Beach.

Naturally, a well-constructed cult could not do without apocalypticism. Rajneesh predicted the imminent approach of a worldwide catastrophe:

This crisis will begin in 1984 and end in 1999. All types of destruction will reign on earth at this time - from natural disasters to suicide by scientific achievements. In other words, floods unprecedented since the time of Noah, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and nature will give us everything possible... There will be wars that bring humanity to the brink of nuclear war, but Noah’s Ark will not save it. Rajneeshism is a Noah's Ark of consciousness, a corner of calm in the center of a typhoon... Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bombay - all these cities will perish in a worldwide catastrophe, which will not be limited to local destruction. It will be global and inevitable. It will be possible to hide from it only in my teaching.

In early 1984, Rajneesh expanded his prediction of a coming catastrophe, saying that a certain Nostradamus prophecy would be fulfilled and AIDS would kill two-thirds of the world's population. When asked whether the Rajneeshites would survive the coming nuclear holocaust, Bhagavan replied:

The monkeys made the leap and became humans, but not all of them. Some of them are still monkeys to this day... I will not say that the Rajneeshites will survive the catastrophe, but I can say with absolute confidence that those who survive will be Rajneeshites, and the rest will be monkeys or commit suicide. In the end, the remaining ones don't matter.

Rajneesh preached freedom of fornication and perversion, while calling family and children an unnecessary burden. He said:

There is nothing sinful in pure simple sex... No duty, no duty, no obligation in it. Sex should be full of play and prayer.

Develop your sexuality, don’t suppress yourself!.. I don’t inspire orgies, but I don’t forbid them either.

Visitors to the Pune commune returned with stories of such sexual orgies, as well as perversions, drug addiction and drug trafficking, and suicides among ashram residents. It happened that meditation sessions in Rajneesh ashrams ended in fights and stabbings. Many people lost their health after experiencing the “Rajneesh therapy”. Here is an excerpt from memories of a visit to the ashram in Pune around 1980:

Murders, rapes, mysterious disappearances of people, threats, arson, explosions, abandoned children of "ashram residents" begging on the streets of Pune, drugs - all this is the order of the day [here]... Christians working in the mental hospital of Pune will confirm everything that has been said , not forgetting to mention the high level of mental disorders, due [in particular] to the fact that the ashram took political power into its own hands and there was no one to complain about it.

The scandals associated with Rajneesh and his shocking statements attracted Western journalists. In addition, shaven-headed, bearded, wearing a “Sufi” cap and loose-fitting “spiritual” vestments, Rajneesh was distinguished by his photogenic personality. He first appeared in the American press in early 1978, when Time magazine published an article about him under the headline “The Lord God from the East.” The magazine reported that this gifted guru stood out among the early apostles of the various New Age "human potential" movements. Subsequently, Rajneesh remained in the spotlight of the Western press and in the first half of the 80s he became the most fashionable guru in the West, eclipsing the Maharishi.

4. "I am the guru of the rich"

In 1980 and early 1981, Hindu traditionalists made two unsuccessful assassination attempts on Rajneesh. At the same time, in 1981, an investigation was launched, which showed that “Rajnish Foundation Limited was up to its neck in tax evasion, misappropriation of donations for charitable purposes, theft and criminal cases against sect members.” That same year, the government of Indira Gandhi deprived the Rajneesh Ashram of the status of a religious organization, and he had to pay huge taxes. Rajneesh, without waiting for the end of the investigation, stopped giving lectures and generally speaking in public on May 1, 1981. From that time on, Rajneesh’s intermediary in communicating with the world became his “right hand” Sheila Silverman. Having sold off the ashram's property in the early summer of 1981, withdrawing money from his Indian accounts and taking with him 17 of his most devoted students, Rajneesh went to the United States on a tourist visa, ostensibly for treatment, and some Rajneesh sources indicate that he was going to be treated for a spinal disease, and others - that from diabetes and asthma.

With the money of Rajneesh's American students and mainly the second American husband, Ananda Sheela, a huge Big Magdi ranch was purchased in the desert part of Central Oregon, in Wasco County. Here, on dry, infertile lands, the agricultural commune of the Rajneeshites initially settled, and later a city of five thousand called Rajneeshpuram arose, which had an airfield, a comfortable hotel with a casino, shopping streets, restaurants, parks, gardens, greenhouses, roads and regular buses. All this was created by about 2000 followers of Rajneesh. They worked for free, seven days a week, under the scorching sun for 12 hours a day, slept in barracks and all the time listened through loudspeakers to Rajneesh's sermons, in which they were taught that exhausting work is a holiday, meditation, so to speak, a feast of the spirit.

Tens of thousands of other Rajneeshites came to Rajneeshpuram from time to time (in the summer, for example, up to 20 thousand people gathered). They were able to donate significant amounts of money to the gurus, since most of them belonged to the wealthy middle class. More than 300 Rajneesh meditation centers were opened around the world, which also brought in considerable income; Let's say that in British centers the basic annual course of "Rajneesh therapy" cost 3,500 pounds sterling. In addition, the centers offered a whole range of paid New Age courses: bioenergy, body mastery, dehypnotherapy, intuitive massage, neo-tantric yoga, rebirthing and many others. They tried to send those who completed the courses to Rajneeshpuram. For such a trip it was necessary to shell out several thousand dollars more. . Rajneesh believed that “spirituality is a luxury and a privilege of the rich.” About himself, he said: “I am the guru of the rich. There are enough religions that deal with the poor, leave me to deal with the rich.”

He dealt with them quite successfully for his own pocket. By the end of 1982, his net worth had reached $200 million tax-free. He owned 4 aircraft, a combat helicopter and 91 Rolls-Royces. In fact, he expected to have 365 of these most expensive cars in the world, a new car for every day of the year. In the Rolls-Royce, Rajneesh made his daily tour of the flock. The Guru himself drove the car, which moved slowly and solemnly, accompanied by machine gunners, along the living orange wall of his adherents, who stood along the edges of the so-called “road of nirvana” and threw pink petals under the wheels of a car. For them it was a rare opportunity to see their idol.

As Rajneeshpuram grew, “sacred cities” began to emerge in all major Western countries, built by Rajneeshites in his model - communes trying to lead autonomous existence and should become an alternative to the “society of unfreedom”. Amid talk of freedom, Rajneesh's sect gradually turned into a "totalitarian organization with a strict control system." It was with these words that even such a pro-sectarian researcher of new religious movements as Professor Eileen Barker described the commune in Rajneeshpuram.

In Oregon, the Rajneeshites occupied the nearby provincial town of Entelope, won a majority of seats on the city council and renamed it Rajneesh. Most of the original inhabitants of Entelope, mainly aged people, found themselves under constant surveillance by the police forces of sannyasins, were taxed in favor of the sect and were forced to see a nudist beach established by the city council in a local park. They chose to give up and leave the city. The city grew as Rajneesh's followers bought existing houses and built new ones.

Meanwhile, the election deadline for the county legislative assembly approached and the Rajnishites decided to achieve a majority in it too. According to local law, it was enough to live in the state for 22 days to get the right to vote in local elections. Therefore, it was decided to increase the number of voters who would vote for Rajneesh candidates. In the fall of 1984, Operation Share Your Home with Your Neighbor was carried out: from New York, San Francisco and others major cities US sectarians brought about three and a half thousand alcoholics, tramps and drug addicts to the ashram. The locals are scared by this legislatures urgently adopted a law increasing the period of residence required to participate in elections. The vagrants who gathered in Rajneeshpuram, therefore, did not bring any benefit to the sect. On the contrary, the semi-criminal homeless behaved arrogantly and defiantly, did not want to work for the guru and, on top of everything else, worsened the already not brilliant relations of the communards with local residents. In Rajneeshpuram, Sheela put together an armed detachment of one hundred militants, but even he was unable to disperse the annoying “neighbors,” and soon their corpses began to be found in the vicinity of the “holy city,” but not in Rajneeshpuram itself. The police established that they were all killed with an unknown poison, and, for obvious reasons, suspected Rajneesh and company.

At the same time, the sect's political ambitions continued to grow. Since the trick with the homeless did not work, now in order to win the elections, the Rajnishites decided to ensure that those who do not support their candidates were not able to take part in the vote. Continuing to be the "tongue" of the silent guru, Sheila Silverman came up with an idea to do this: agents assigned to her sprayed salmonella bacteria on the salad bars of most restaurants in the county, causing many of their customers to get sick. True, this did not help the Rajnishites achieve the desired power in the county.

In October 1984, Rajneesh suddenly spoke. He again accused priests and politicians of corrupting human souls, again asserted that Rajneeshism was “the only defense against nuclear weapons,” and again preached renunciation of the “old world,” setting an example of “spiritual revolutionism”: “I raise my hand against the past of everything humanity."

His speeches became increasingly anti-Christian:

Messiahs are, as a rule, insane. He [Jesus] was absolutely sure that the crucifixion would prove him right, and that is why I see his actions as simply a disguised suicide attempt. If anyone was to blame for his crucifixion, it was himself. He asked for it himself. And not a single source - Jewish or historical - confirms that he was resurrected. Only the New Testament. Fiction. There was no Resurrection.

Rajneesh himself wanted to be his fans instead of Christ: “Let me be your death and resurrection.” . And they sang to him with adoration: “I entrust my heart into your hands.”

The spirit that spoke through the serpent to Eve in Paradise now spoke through the mouth of Rajneesh:

The devil tempted Eve with the argument that God wanted her to remain ignorant. .. He is envious. And this seems to be true, for the God of the Jews is very envious. He doesn't want people to become equal to him. He is not a loving father... Knowledge is not a sin... I advise you to eat from the tree of knowledge..." .

By 1984, the number of Rajneesh's followers exceeded 350 thousand, with their average age being 34 years. Despite the failure in the Wasco elections, the Rajnishites in the same 1984, in connection with the elections to the Oregon Legislative Assembly, gave reason to fear that the sect was striving for political power at the state level. Sheela added fuel to the fire by declaring that, if necessary, Rajneesh's people would turn all of Oregon into Rajneeshpuram. The surrounding farmers, driven to the point by the immoral behavior of the Rajneeshists that they were ready to call them to order by force, Sheela threatened to kill fifteen people for each follower of Rajneesh. . Under the influence of public opinion, the police and then the FBI finally opened a criminal case against the Rajneesh sect. About four dozen FBI investigators were directly investigating Rajneeshpuram. They discovered weapons warehouses, laboratories for the production of drugs that were regularly added to the sectarians’ food, and a carefully camouflaged underground passage for the guru to escape in case of emergency.

On September 14, 1985, Sheila Silverman with her personal guard and her next husband, as well as several other members of the commune board, fled to Western Europe. Rajneesh accused Sheela of trying to poison his personal doctor, attempting to kill the guru himself, killing vagabonds whose bodies the police found in the vicinity of Rajneeshpuram, and wanting to turn the ashram into fascist organization. Meanwhile, Sheela withdrew $55 million from the ashram's Swiss bank account and tried to escape, but was arrested in Stuttgart by Interpol. She, in turn, stated that “Bhagwan is a spoiled child who cannot breathe without $250 thousand monthly pocket money. He is a genius at exploiting people’s gullibility, a drug addict who cannot live without Valium. His life story is a complete scam. And I was an accomplice in this scam. He and I, we made a great couple of swindlers."

Rajneesh also managed to escape, but on October 29, 1985, he was arrested at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Bhagwan's own plane landed for refueling. Rajneesh and eight of his associates were allegedly flying to Bermuda on vacation.

Rajneesh's trial, held in Portland, Oregon, ended on November 14, 1985. The state authorities, who had already suffered colossal losses due to Rajneesh’s activities, feared that they simply would not be able to endure the extremely expensive, months-long trial. Moreover, according to state Attorney General Charles Turner, they did not want to make a martyr out of Rajneesh. As a result of difficult negotiations with Rajneesh's lawyers, a compromise was reached - Bhagwan pleaded guilty to only 2 of the 34 charges brought against him. Thus, he received a symbolic punishment for violating immigration laws and related criminal norms: ten years of suspended imprisonment plus a $400,000 fine. In addition, Rajneesh was ordered to leave the United States forever within five days. Sheela was found guilty of illegal use of listening devices, arson, beatings and intimidation, attempted murder and infecting 750 people with batulism, for which she was sentenced to prison and a heavy fine. After spending only 29 months in prison, at the end of 1988 she left for Switzerland and married again - to the Swiss Urs Birnstiel, who died in 1992 from AIDS. Sheela reconciled with Rajneesh, but she was never his follower and accomplice. Now 52-year-old Sheela Birnstiel owns two homes for the disabled and elderly near Basel. The contingent of its establishments are people with mental disorders, mainly patients with Alzheimer's syndrome, that is, a memory disorder. In the US, Schiele is again charged in old cases, this time with conspiracy to murder Oregon Attorney General Charles Turner, but her status as a Swiss citizen protects her from extradition. Of Sheela's $469,000 debt to the state of Oregon and Wasco County, an anonymous person recently paid $200,000 (one can assume that this was one of her less than adequate patients).

Rajneesh disbanded the Oregon ashram, burned five thousand copies of his pamphlets and publicly declared that he was not a god. After being deported from the United States, Rajneesh tried to stay in any country where he had followers, but 21 countries either banned him from entering or expelled him without any particular explanation (such as Greece). From this time on, the Rajneesh movement began to increasingly lose its mass character. Crowded communes fall apart, and the degree of influence of the cult on its followers decreases.

The majority of those who deal with the problems of new religious movements speak about the inadmissibility of using repressive measures against extremist totalitarian sects, justifying this by the fact that the banned sect will go underground and become even more dangerous. But a well-executed police operation to liquidate the community in Rajneeshpuram indicates otherwise. It turns out that in exchange for guarantees of personal safety, the cult leader, who values ​​his own person most of all, is ready to dissolve the sect. But just a few months before the events described, even a competent researcher of cults, a Christian apologist, holder of four doctoral degrees, Walter Martin, who, moreover, had a sharply negative attitude towards the Rajneesh sect, wrote: “Rajneesh and his followers attach great importance to the experiment with Rajneeshpuram, which led It would be tragic if the government intervened and ended their dream."

5. "The population needs to be reduced"

In July 1986, Rajneesh was finally able to return to India (he was expelled from there in December 1985). He settled in Bombay, where the few remaining disciples began to gather around him. In the last days of 1986, Rajneesh made two speeches, later published under the general title “The Rights of the New Man.” In these keynote speeches, Rajneesh expresses his resentment at being kicked out of all Western countries, expressing both general indignation at all priests, rich people and white politicians, and surprisingly petty complaints. In particular, he inherited the Declaration of Human Rights. The old Declaration must be replaced by a Declaration of the Rights of a new man, whose “only fundamental right” is “to become a god.”

Revealing in detail the ten points of his Declaration, Rajneesh paints a picture of the world in which his “new people” will live. The right to life in this world will mean the right to good life, in which there will be no suffering, but only joy and pleasure. It is clear that as the human population increases, there will not be enough resources for a good life for everyone. Therefore, Rajneesh says that “the population must be reduced if a person wants to live with dignity, joy, and not drag out a miserable existence.” To do this, Rajneesh proposes to limit the birth rate by any means, using not only contraception and abortion, but also the destruction of children with congenital defects. In addition, it is necessary to introduce and promote euthanasia in every possible way and recognize the rights of homosexuals.

In the future world "there should be neither nations nor state borders. There should be no religions." Rajneesh hopes that religions "will dissolve by themselves. The best of different religions will be preserved in Rajneesh's “one religion.” In a world of absolute freedom, the main cause of slavery must be eliminated, which, according to Rajneesh, is Christian anthropology, based on the belief that God created man in His image and likeness. Marriage in the society of “new people” must disappear, since it is “a counterfeit of love.” “New people” will freely come together and disperse, and it is better if the partners belong to different nations, and even better - to different races. Children should be separated from their parents and raised in communities. And not even to be brought up, since Rajneesh considers any upbringing, especially religious, a violation of children's freedom.

In a one world there will, of course, be a one world government. What will be the style of his reign? Rajneesh hates the monarchy. Democracy is also not good, because it is a cover for the manipulations of the powerful. In addition, when voting, the “ignorant masses” are guided by random criteria: some of the candidates look better, others speak better. In the new world, elections will be carried out by professional corporations: for example, “only teachers should choose the Minister of Education.” Only those who have received higher education will have the right to vote. The world government will be functional, but will not have power.

When a person, using Rajneesh methods, eliminates division in himself, divisions in the world will also disappear. The new world will be different from the current one, like heaven from hell.

Now there is no need to even describe what hell is. Just look around: here he is... But we can change everything. This earth can be turned into paradise. And then all need for paradise in heaven will disappear, there it will be empty. If we remember Rajneeshpuram, it will become clear what will be done with those who do not want to live in this paradise of radical hedonistic godless humanism.

6. Osho apparently died of AIDS

In January 1987, Rajneesh moved to Pune again. Here he comes up with a new meaningful name for himself - “Osho”, that is, “ocean”, which, apparently, should be associated with vastness, depth, chaos, abyss.

For his followers, Osho abolishes the mandatory wearing of orange clothes and sandalwood beads with his own portrait on them. True, during meditation and in the presence of Osho, sannyasins were ordered to wear white clothes. In addition, maroon robes must be worn at the meditation camps, which are held for three days every month.

Psychotherapeutic programs are being renewed and expanded, and new meditative techniques are being created. One of them, “The Mystical Rose,” Osho modestly considered “the greatest breakthrough in meditation 2500 years after the meditation of Gautama Buddha.” This meditation lasts 21 days; one week the participants laugh for 3 hours a day, the second week they cry for 3 hours a day, the third week they “silently observe” and “testify” how they feel better for 3 hours a day.

Following the example of his longtime competitor in the neo-guru market, the Maharishi, whom Rajneesh had previously criticized in every possible way, Osho is now trying to prove the benefits of his meditation therapy with the help of “scientific research.”

The various therapeutic groups in the Osho International Community were united into the "Osho Multiversity", which in the first half of the 90s included the following non-degree "colleges": School of Centering, School of Creative Arts, International Academy of Health, Academy of Meditation. The Center for Transformation, the Institute of Tibetan Pulsations and others are a completely typical New Age set.

By the end of the 80s, Osho's health had deteriorated significantly. In the last months before his death, if his health allowed, Osho went out to his students for “meditations of music and silence,” and then they watched videos of his previous conversations. Osho died in 1990, apparently from AIDS. When he passed away, he did not leave a full-fledged organization, believing that there was no need for it, and did not appoint an heir. Moreover, he made it clear that if anyone declared themselves to be his successor, he should be avoided. As a result, after the death of the guru, several independent movements formed within the movement. Among them are the “International Academy of Meditation” by Paul Lowe, the “Huma University”, headed by the Dutch sannyasin Verisch, and others.

There are now about 200 Osho meditation centers in the world. The center of the cult is still Pune. A group of 21 sannyasins led by Amrito, Osho's former personal physician, formed the leadership of the ashram after the latter's death. They turned a commune in Pune into a commercial enterprise - an exotic park of "esoteric" recreation, designed for wealthy Western tourists 35-40 years old.

On the territory of the former Soviet Union there are Osho centers in St. Petersburg, Voronezh (operating since 1996 under the name "Tantra Yoga"), Odessa, Krasnodar, Minsk, Tbilisi, Riga and Moscow, where, in addition to the Osho Rajneesh center, there are There is also the “Eastern House” center, created by a young Russian Igor. In the early 90s, he completed a course of study in Pune and returned from there as a sannyasin, Swami Anand Toshan. In addition to meditation training, sending “to study” in Pune and other programs, the “Eastern House” conducts Sunday “Osho Discos”, where “everything is allowed”.

OshoTime International magazine is published twice a month, which is distributed worldwide and published in nine languages. Websites of Osho fans from different countries are abundantly represented on the Internet. But Rajneesh's popularity is not commensurate with the presence of organizations associated with his name - elements of Rajneesh's ideology are an integral part of the New Age movement. Osho's books are sold in all New Age stores and are abundantly presented at any occult literature store.

179. Joachim Keden and others. Sects, spirits, miracle healers. Germany, 1999. -S. 28.

180. Amrit Swami Pres. Decree. op. -P.14.

Photo - Osho (Bhagavan Shri Rajneesh); cover of one of Osho's books; dynamic meditation; Russia - Belly dance lessons with Erasmia - the enlightened dancer Osho - www.oshoforum.ru &www.orientdance.ru