Osho is my favorite Zen Master guy. :sultan: too bad he passed away. Every word that flowed from his mouth way solidly enlightened.
Are you calling me or her a troll? Take what was said, grab a pillow and sit with it. Maybe you'll see what I'm saying.
So many people hate on Osho. I'm not sure why as I don't know too much about the whole thing but it seems to be a trend. I read a tantra book written by him... it was alright.
Ok fine now I get that YOU weren't hating on Osho, but I think it was Chodpa (I really might be mistaken here) who was criticizing him pretty vehemently.
I was referring to the OP. The guy wasn't Zen. He wasn't really even Buddhist. His teachings may have been fine, but he became the head of a destructive cult. While it seems that a lot of the cult abuse came from his underlings, he permitted it in his name. So, to come onto a Buddhist forum saying what a great guy he was sounds to me like flame-bait. I could be wrong about that, but that is how it looks to me.
I guess Osho wouldn't want people to be bummed about his passing. He always said that with enlightenment the individual really wants to take a "plunge" into death out of pure curiosity. He also wouldn't mind if people hate on him or not. He spoke the truth as best he could see it, and the way he did that was pretty slick from my perspective. I love his speeches and sayings. Whatever came of his organization doesn't matter much to me. Just like Christians distort much of what the original teachings of Jesus were. He spoke of Zen quite a bit.
wasn't osho the one with all the rolls royces and the tax-dodging stories? i'll have to Wiki... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagwan_Shree_Rajneesh . yup, that's him. the other day i did notice a book he wrote called "zen" and also one called "tao" but i don't think of him in the same sentence as zen or tao, really. also, the chodpa who was mentioned above (by shivaya) as osho's critic - was that the chodpa who un-monked himself and ran off with a 16-year old aristocrat? (i'm paraphrasing from a review i saw about a movie that was made about him - if it's him).
I don't think so. I never met Rajaneesh. I read some books. I don't deny he was a genius. The true test if a teacher is whether what they taught 'sticks' beyond their passing. On looking back, what can one say of Rajaneesh's teaching? He wrote some amazing books of very intuitive, but thoroughly untested 'knowledge.' Where are his Sidhas now? His organization? On an interesting note, he and Maharishi Mahesh were both from the same town.
I think it's a very positive sign of a man that he left behind no organisations or disciples. I wish the same could be said about the buddha.
the way i see it, quite often organisations and disciples spawn all by themselves, leaving the original teacher/prophet/seer/ turning in his grave (to use a convenient but possibly not quite accurate phrase) at their antics :ack2:
"Osho" was an alias of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a fraud who lived in opulent splendor on a 60,000 acre ashram with 96 Rolls Royces while presiding over a cult which carried out multiple acts of arson, assault, attempted murder, and even bioterror attacks; poisoning hundreds of men, women, and children. He wasn't Buddhist. He wasn't a Zen teacher; he had no Dharma transmission and no lineage. The whole "Zen master" nonsense was a new swindle he developed after he was convicted of fraud and deported or denied entry by 21 countries under the name Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh; "Osho" was simply a mystical-sounding alias he dreamed up. He didn't uphold the Dharma, he defiled it. He prostituted it to satisfy his own materialistic and egoic cravings. He and his "teachings" have nothing to do with Buddhism, and have no place on a page such as this.
I also don't think Osho should be on the Buddhism forum but I don't think he warrants such criticism as well. His philosophy was quite unorthodox which does not gel with everyone, especially the conservatives, and it is quite possible that he was framed with issues and crimes he did not commit by vested interests and clandestine state agencies and actors . Eastern philosophy was not exactly popular in the west during those times and there was a lot of opposition to it. The Indian christian preacher Anthony de Mello who combined Christianity with eastern philosophy was found dead of a supposed heart attack one fine day in the U.S. while on a successful lecture tour in 1987, even though he had no previous issues of heart disease. In addition to the suspicious nature of his death, the Catholic church subsequently stated that his teachings were misleading and not in accordance with Christian doctrine. Meister Eckhart was similarly accused of heresy centuries back for similar teachings.
He was more charlatan than Buddhist, and a dangerous con artist and criminal. He and his followers tried to take over a town in Oregon by poisoning its inhabitants with salmonella, and tried to assassinate a U.S. Attorney. He was quite eclectic in drawing from a wide variety of eastern religions, including Jainism, Hinduism, Hinduism, Hassidism, Tantrism, Taoism, Sufism, Buddhism, and Christianity in a meditation-oriented religion.
Jesus was also painted as a charlatan and criminal, publicly condemned and treated even worse than Osho. Some of his followers had a paranoia of the state, and probably did some activities which O was condemned for as well. Osho suffered from poor health, was more into recorded talks and meditation, and did not micromanage the organisation and its assets which were actually owned by those who inclined to his beliefs. In India too there were protests against him for his unorthodox speeches and viewpoints by intolerant people, stones were thrown at him, and there was also an assassination attempt against him by a hindu fundamentalist. The government too was against his teachings. His recorded speeches and books are his greatest legacy and is available to all of humanity, and which has helped break down conditioned mindsets and stimulate original thinking. His books were especially prized in communist countries during the cold war, and many of his books in exhibitions were stolen by youngsters who could not afford them . Osho himself told his organisers to ignore such theft.
