OSHO - A REVOLUTIONARY WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

OSHO - A REVOLUTIONARY WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

The appearance of Acharya Rajneesh, popularly known as Osho, on the socio-philosophical scene of modern India signifies a very defining moment for Indian spirituality. He saw and presented religio-spiritual truths in a completely different light, which was not only totally new, but it also revolutionised the way people saw and practised spirituality in India and across the world.

Osho symbolizes a storm of change. He is the ultra modern, radical, new and revolutionary face of Indian spirituality. He is unparallel among the great saints and his philosophy presented a point of view which was unprecedented in spiritual history. Osho is man of the millenium, it was not without reason that the leading world magazine - TIME, considered him one of the greatest Indians of all times, comparable to Buddha and Gandhi.

Osho, unlike other philosophers, said desire was not wrong. He preached love for the body, as equally important and useful as love for the spirit. Osho was an iconoclast. He vehemently attacked organised religion, scriptures, dogmas and superstitions and established social norms like the existing views on sexuality. Osho, quite controversially, advocated the idea of free sex, but at the same time defined this freedom according to his propunded logic and wisdom. Osho preached against the institution of society, he said society and religion were created as instruments to sabotage and crush human individuality and freedom.

Osho’s wave was novel, partially controversial but at the same time very different type of wisdom. It tanscended all narrow boundaries and made life and beauty the centre piece of human existence. He taught that being one with nature brought about attainment of ultimate bliss. He was never a compromise. He was bold, frank and courageous. Osho preached the necessity of linking with one’s soul and the futilty of reading scriptures to attain knowledge and bliss.

Osho was neither an accident of nature, nor  was he a creation of historical circumstances. He was a need of his times, he was a requirement of the world. Osho was the first saint to have questioned the fundamental spiritual laws, he strongly denounced male dominance, Mahatma Gandhi, The role of nations, and other popular symbols of order and establishment. Osho effectively married spirituality with materialism, idealism with pragmatism. Osho did this not for convenience or popularity but rather he reached this conclusion after lot of spiritual churning. A self proclaimed enlightened person, Osho defined enlightenment differently, not conventionally.

Osho’s activities brought him in direct clash with the established political order of the day. He had uncomfortable and rather hostile relationship with the Indian government for a long period. He also had plans to set up a city in US, where men and women would live in completely nude condition, this step of his had infuriated the US government, and he was not permitted to set up such a city. Actually, his intention was to take human beings to pre-civilizational condition, so that they can judge for themselves the values, the ethics, and all social laws and redefine them accordingly in a new light and with a different perspective. It was his attempted experiment which was aborted as it did not go well with the existing social thinking of the times.

Osho, though largely used Hindu philosophy and spirituality, but was on the whole religion independent, as his preachings and discourses made use of other faith systems as well. He was mystical, devotional, meditative, analytical all in one. He believed that seed of enlightenment lies latent in each human being, which should be nurtured and developed. He said the worst disservice to the religious founders of the world has been done by their respective followers. Thus Buddhists have ditched Buddha, Hindus have devalued Krishna and Christians have destroyed the spirit of Jesus. This because the religious founders wanted people to develop, while their followers had tied them down to narrow, sectarian creed, thinking and made them slaves rather than free thinkers. Thus he exhorted that Hindus should not become Hindus, Buddhists should not become Buddhists and Christians should not become Jesus, rather they should become Krishna, Buddha and Jesus respectively.

Osho had outstanding oratory skiils, he had a highly magnetic personality and could mesmerize his audience very effectively. He spoke in Hindi and English and he had a huge following in India and across the world. Arguably, he was the most popular Indian spiritual saint of the 20th century.

Osho brought a new lease of life to the world. He was builder of the new man, the savior of the 20th century. He believed spirituality was not about renunciation, serious contemplation, hardcore discipline and abstinence. On the contrary it was about enjoyment – both physical and mental, complete involvement into ‘things of pleasure’ considered taboo by the conventional spirituality, about materialistic happiness. Osho taught to the world to see things not through established social norms rather as they actually are or the manner in which they should be seen. Indeed, he was a revolutionary spiritual saint, who gave a new dimension to things, which were never seen that way before.

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