Osho : His Life & Work
Posted On 19.10.08 at by Peace Network
Very few people step out of the world of time and mind, its ambitions and competitiveness, and begin to live in the world of timeless. And of those who do, only a few have attempted to share their experience. LaoTzu, Buddha, Bodhidharma, .... or more recently, George Gurdjieff, Raman Maharshi, J. Krishnamurti- they are thought by their contemporaries to be eccentrics or mad man; after their death they are called "Philosophers".
And in time they become legends- not flesh-and-blood human beings, but perhaps mythological representations of our collective wish to go beyond the smallness and trivia, meaninglessness of our everyday life.
Osho is one who has discovered the door to living His life in timeless dimension of the present - He has called Himself a "true existentialist" - and he has devoted his life to provoking others to seek the same door, to step out of the world of past and future and discover for themselves the world of eternity.
Osho was born in Kuchwada, Madya Prades, India on December 11, 1931. From His earliest childhood , he was a rebellious and independent spirit, insisting on experiencing the truth for Himself rather than acquirng the knowledge and beliefs given by others.
After His enlightenment at the age of 21, Osho completed His academic studies and spent several years teaching philosophy at the University of Jabalpur. Meanwhile, He traveled throughout India giving talks, challenging orthodox religious leaders in public debate, questioning traditional beliefs, and meeting people form all walks of life. He read extensively, everything he could find to broaden his understanding of the belief systems and psychology of contemporary man. By the late 1960''s Osho had begun to develop his unique Dynamic Mediation techniques. Modern man, he said, is so burdened with the out-mooded traditions of and the anxieties of modern-day living that he must go through deep cleansing process before he can hope to discover the thoughtless, relaxed state of meditation.
In the early 1970''s, the first westerners began to hear of Osho. By 1974, a commune had been established around Him in Poona, India, and the trickle of visitors from the West was soon to become a flood. In the course of His work Osho had spoken on virtually every aspect of development of human consciousness. He has distilled the essence of what is significant to the spiritual quest of the contemporary man, based not on intellectual understanding, but tested against his own existantial experience.
He belongs to no tradition- "I am a beginning of a totally new religious consciousness ", he says. "Please don''t connect me with the past-it is not even worth remembering." His talks to disciples and seeks from all over the world have been published in more than 600 volumes, and translated to over 30 languages.
Osho left his body on Jan 19th, 1990
His commune in Nepal continues to be the spiritual growth center attracting many international visitors who come to participate in its meditation or just to experience being in Buddha field.
What are Osho Active Meditations™?
Osho Active Meditations are a new way of taking care of both the outer and the inner you. Each programme starts with physical activity such as breathing, shaking, dancing or humming and is followed by relaxation and stillness. This is when meditation can happen - a time to just be aware of your body sensations, thoughts and feelings in a self-accepting way without judgement.
How do they work?
Unrelieved tensions block the natural flow of energy in our bodies. This affects our ability to think and the way in which we relate to others. Osho Meditations dissolve these blocks and allow us to become more natural and relaxed.
Who are they for?
Osho Meditations are especially designed for people who want to bring a new quality of ease to their busy, pressured lives. For men and women who not only care about their bodies and their health, but who also like to feel at ease inside. For people who want to become more calm and flexible, without being controlled by the opinions of others.
What tools do I need?
Especially composed music for the different techniques is to accompany the meditations. CDs, containing detailed instructions, can be ordered from Osho Purnima Distribution.
Can I do the meditations by myself?
It is recommended to do the meditations for the first time in a group or with someone who has done them before, mainly the Dynamic Meditation. Later on they can be done on your own.
How often should I do the meditations?
Once you have found a meditation that works for you and you enjoy doing, decide to do it for three consecutive days (and stick to it). If after these three days you wish to continue, you can commit yourself for the next three weeks, and later for three months.
Who has invented them?
Active Meditations have been devised by the modern mystic Osho especially for the modern man.
You can choose from one of these meditations:
Osho Dynamic Meditation™
Recommended to be done in the morning, this hour-long method is a powerful way to kick-start your day. It provides an outlet for tension and withheld emotions as well as being a great energy-booster!
First Stage - 10 minutes: Breathe chaotically through the nose, concentrating always on exhalation. The body will take care of the inhalation. The breath should move deeply into the lungs. Be as fast as you can in your breathing, making sure the breathing stays deep. Do this as fast and as hard as you possibly can - and then a little harder, until you literally become the breathing. Use your natural body movements to help you to build up your energy. Feel it building up, but don‘t let go during the first stage.
Second Stage - 10 minutes: Explode! Express everything that needs to be thrown out. Go totally mad. Scream, shout, cry, jump, shake, dance, sing, laugh; throw yourself around. Hold nothing back; keep your whole body moving. A little acting often helps to get you started. Never allow your mind to interfere with what is happening. Be total, be whole hearted.
Third Stage - 10 minutes: With raised arms, jump up and down shouting the mantra, "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" as deeply as possible. Each time you land, on the flats of your feet, let the sound hammer deep into the sex centre. Give all you have; exhaust yourself totally.
Fourth Stage - 15 minutes: Stop! Freeze wherever you are, in whatever position you find yourself. Don‘t arrange the body in any way. A cough, a movement - anything will dissipate the energy flow and the effort will be lost. Be a witness to everything that is happening to you.
Fifth Stage - 15 minutes: Celebrate through dance, expressing your gratitude towards the whole. Carry your happiness with you throughout the day.
A silent alternative: Rather than throwing out the sounds, let the catharsis in the second stage take place entirely through bodily movements. In the third stage, the sound "Hoo" can be hammered silently inside.
View demos for each stage in new window.
Osho Kundalini Meditation™
With four stages of fifteen minutes each, this method is a gentle yet effective way to release all the accumulated stress of your day.
First Stage - 15 minutes: Be loose and let your whole body shake, feeling the energies moving up from your feet. Let go everywhere and become the shaking. Your eyes may be open or closed.
Second Stage - 15 minutes: Dance any way you feel, letting the whole body move as it wishes. Again, your eyes can be open or closed.
Third Stage - 15 minutes: Close your eyes and be still, sitting or standing, observing, witnessing, whatever is happening inside and out.
Fourth Stage - 15 minutes: Keeping your eyes closed, lie down and be still.
View demos for each stage.
Osho Mandala Meditation™
This is another powerful technique that creates a circle of energy, resulting in a natural centring. There are four stages of 15 minutes each.
First Stage - 15 minutes: With open eyes run on the spot, starting slowly and gradually, getting faster and faster. Bring your knees up as high as possible. Breathing deeply and evenly will move the energy within. Forget the mind and forget the body. Keep going.
Second Stage - 15 minutes: Sit with your eyes closed and mouth open and loose. Gently rotate your body from the belly, like a reed blowing in the wind. Feel the wind blowing you from side to side, back and forth, around and around. This will bring your awakened energies to the navel centre.
Third Stage - 15 minutes: Lie on your back, open your eyes and with the head still, rotate them in a clockwise direction. Sweep them fully around in the sockets as if you are following the second hand of a vast clock, but as fast as possible. It is important that the mouth remains open and the jaw relaxed, with the breath soft and even.
Fourth Stage - 15 minutes: Close your eyes and be still.
View demos for each stage.
Osho Nadabrahma Meditation™
Nadabrahma meditation lasts for one hour and has three stages. It is a sitting method, in which humming and hand movements create an inner balance, a harmony between mind and body. Suitable for any time of the day, have an empty stomach and remain inactive for at least fifteen minutes afterwards.
First Stage - 30 minutes: Sit in a relaxed position with eyes closed. With lips together, start humming, loud enough so that - if you are doing it with others - you can be heard by them. This will create a vibration in your body. You can visualize a hollow tube or vessel filled only with the vibrations of the humming. A point will come when the humming continues by itself and you become the listener. There is no special breathing, and you can alter the pitch, and move your body smoothly and slowly, if you feel to.
Second Stage - 15 minutes: This stage is divided into two segments, of seven and a half minutes each. For the first part, move the hands, palms upwards, in an outward, circular motion. Starting at the navel, both hands move forward and then divide to make two large circles mirroring each other left and right. The movement should be so slow that at times there will appear to be no movement at all. Feel that you are giving energy outwards to the universe. After seven and a half minutes, the music will change and you turn your hands palm downwards, and start moving them in the opposite direction. Now the hands will come together towards the navel and divide outwards towards the side of the body. Feel that you are taking energy in. As in the first stage, don‘t inhibit any soft, slow movements of the rest of your body.
Third Stage - 15 minutes: Sit absolutely quiet and still.
View demos for each stage.
Osho Nataraj Meditation™
An easy and natural way to turn in. This method has three stages, and lasts a total of sixty-five minutes. Dance, giving it all you have got.
First Stage - 40 minute: With eyes closed, dance as if possessed. Let your unconscious take over completely. Do not control your movements or witness what is happening. Just be totally in the dance.
Second Stage - 20 minutes: Keeping your eyes closed, lie down immediately. Be silent and still.
Third Stage - 5 minutes: Dance in celebration and enjoy.
View demos for each stage.
Osho No Dimensions Meditation™
This one-hour meditation has three stages. It is based on a Sufi technique of movements for awareness and integration of the body. Because it is a Sufi meditation, it is free and non-serious. In fact it is so non-serious that you can even smile while you are doing it.
First Stage - 30 minutes: A continuous dance in synchronicity with the other people in the group involving a set of six movements.
Second Stage - 15 minutes: Whirling
Third Stage - 15 minutes: Silence - lie down on the belly with your eyes closed. Leave your legs open and not crossed to allow all the energy you have gathered to flow through you.
View demos for each stage.
Osho Gourishankar Meditation™
This technique, for the nighttime, consists of four stages of fifteen minutes each.
First Stage - 15 minutes: Sit with closed eyes. Inhale deeply through the nose, filling the lungs. Hold the breath for as long as possible; then exhale gently through the mouth, and keep the lungs empty for as long as possible. Continue this breathing cycle throughout this stage.
Second Stage - 15 minutes: Return to normal breathing and with a gentle gaze look at a candle flame or a flashing blue light. Keep your body still.
Third Stage - 15 minutes: With closed eyes, stand up and let your body be loose and receptive. Allow your body to move gently in whichever way it wants. Don’t do the moving, just allow it to happen gently and gracefully.
Fourth Stage - 15 minutes: Lie down with closed eyes, silent and still.
View demos for each stage in new window.
Biography Osho - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Posted On 3.10.08 at by Peace Network
Early Life - Osho
Osho or Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was born in 1931 in Central India. He was a charismatic and gifted speaker who became the leader of a worldwide new spiritual movement. It is said that at the age of 21 he attained enlightenment or Samadhi. At the time he was studying philosophy at the University of Saugar. On receiving a masters degree he taught philosophy at the University of Jabalpur for nine years.
As well as teaching philosophy he also began to attract disciples to follow his own eclectic mix of philosophy and religion. In 1966 he decided to leave his teaching post and give full attention to his role as spiritual Master. In 1974 he moved with his disciples to Pune, India. Here he established a new ashram in a comfortable setting of 6 acres. In 1980 he was attacked by a Hindu fundamentalist who disagreed with Osho’s unconventional stance on religion and spirituality. It is said that due to police incompetence the assailant was never convicted.
Due to failing health Osho decided to leave India for America where he would be able to receive better medical treatment. His disciples bought a large plot of land near Antelope, Oregon. Here they wished to build a large ashram and other buildings. There was often friction between the local townspeople and the ashramites. There was a clash of cultures and the local townspeople felt threatened by the influx of devotees. Because of this many building permits were denied. This led to ashramites trying to get elected directly to the town council. There were also allegations made that followers of Osho were involved in illegal activities such as spreading salmonella in a local restaurant. More seriously there were allegations of Murder made against some followers of Osho. Two were eventually convicted of the murder of Charles Turner who had tried to close the ranch.
In 1987 Osho became fearful of investigation by the authorities so he decided to leave the compound in Oregon and went to South Carolina. Here he fell foul of US immigration law. He had arranged false marriages and other violations of immigration laws. He was given a suspended sentence on the condition that he leave the country. Therefore he reluctantly decided to leave for Puna in India. It was at this time that he decided to change his name from Rajneesh to Osho. This is said to be a Japanese word for “Master”, although others say Osho comes from the term “oceanic experience” Osho died in 1990, his birth certificate gave a reason of heart failure. Although some followers alleged poisoning by the CBI, although these allegations had little evidence to support them.
Philosophy and Beliefs of Osho
Osho was born into a Jain family. He though never believed in any one religion but combined elements of many religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. However he also added new types of meditation practise. His philosophy was a type of Monism that God was in everything. All human beings were in essence divine, it was just that there were different manifestations of that divinity. He introduced a new type of meditation that involved letting go of all attachments to the past and future and ego. If a seeker could attain a consciousness where there was "no past, no future, no attachment, no mind, no ego, no self.” Then he would attain enlightenment. One different practise he advocated was to practise physical exercise just before meditation. Unlike many Indian gurus Osho taught that sex was not an obstacle to spiritual progress. Although many of his disciples led fairly simple and frugal lifestyles Osho was well known for his love of cars. It is said he amassed over 20 Rolls Royces.
It is estimated over 50,000 westerners spent time seeking enlightenment with the Guru. At its peak there were over 200,000 members world wide, although this dropped off after the scandals of the late 1980s. Osho never wised to appoint a successor but he did appoint 21 followers to administer the Osho foundation which continues to provide an outlet for the dissemination of his teaching.
