Religion - - Posted on October, 28 at 2:21 pm
Rajneesh was born Rajneesh Chandra Mohan in Kuchwara, a town in Madhya Pradesh on December 11, 1931, in a Jain family. Rajneesh obtained a masters degree in philosophy from the University of Sagar. He taught philosophy at the University of Jabalpur for nine years and worked simultaneously as a religious leader. He attained enlightenment in1953. In 1966, he devoted his full attention to teaching while pursuing a career as a speaker.
Briefly settling down in Mumbai, he moved to Pune in 1974 where he soon established an Ashram in sprawling, thickly wooded area. He combined elements from Hinduism, Jainism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and many other religious and philosophical traditions, besides psychology, in his teachings.
Rajneesh developed new forms of active meditation, the best known called “Dynamic Meditation,” which starts with strenuous physical activity followed by silence and celebration. He taught a form of Monism, that God was in everything and everyone. Masterfully combining the best of all religions, he presented his philosophy in a manner that attracted people from all over theworld. He peppered his discourses with jokes, saying that laughter was one of the best things that helped people live in the moment.
Rajneesh has a following all over the world and his informal commentaries on religion and philosophy have been well received by seekers far and wide. Considered controversial and too revolutionary by traditionalists, Rajneesh definitely played a role in reviving interest in Indian and oriental philosophy among both westerneres and westernised, educated Indians.
He went to the United States in 1981and settled on the 65,000 acre ranch in Oregon, The ranch was renamed Rajneeshpuram. He returned to Pune, India in 1987, where his health began to fail. In the later years of his life he was called “Osho”. He passed away in Pune in 1990.
Rajneesh has left behing hundreds of books and audio casettes with his lectures. In these, he has touched almost every school of thought and commented on them in his own individual style.
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