A review by Prem Geet of “Osho Luminous Rebel—Life Story of a Maverick Mystic” by Vasant Joshi (Publisher: www.WisdomTreeIndia.com)

“Osho Luminous Rebel—Life Story of a Maverick Mystic” is a long-awaited and much-needed biography of Enlightened Spiritual Master Osho, also known as Bhagwan Rajneesh around the world. This illuminating account was written by one of his closest long-time associates and translator, Dr. Vasant Joshi, selected by Osho himself in 1975 to write the Awakened One’s life story. Thirty-five years and millions of Osho rumors later, “Luminous Rebel” factually traces the life of the most prolific, humorous, and outrageous enlightened being the world has ever known. As a world-renown authority on Osho, Joshi’s chapters communicate a pulsing intimacy with its precious subject. “Luminous Rebel” is elegant evidence that Osho lives on as the highest order spiritual master with a universal message of revolutionary aliveness for the 21st century and beyond.

Vasant Joshi is a trusted biographer, respected academician, and first-person witness to much of what he has written about. “Luminous Rebel” incorporates and expands on Joshi’s earlier book published in 1983 as “The Awakened One: Life and Work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.” In a recent interview, Dr. Joshi stated, “I found it subsequently necessary that the story after Osho’s arrival in the USA must be told and the following fascinating and yet turbulent times with the Master, the heart breaking treatment given to his body, the shameful utter injustice done to him, his incredible world tour, and finally, the reflowering of Osho Energy in Poona must all be shared.”

With vast information and experience to draw from, Dr. Joshi demonstrates mastery of editorial restraint and tone throughout the 268-page book. Disappearing far into the background, this most skillful biographer navigates seamlessly between objective fact and subjective feeling. Concerning misinformation about Osho, Joshi writes, “…Misunderstanding arises because mostly people only see a snapshot of what really is an adventure movie. They see a pool rather than a river of consciousness.” Joshi is careful to write for the historical record, while appealing to both devotees and the public at large. With great sensitivity, Joshi renders the human side with poignant cameos of Osho’s formative years as an imaginative child, a rebellious teen, and a troublingly brilliant college student.

Joshi’s writing is masterfully understated as he describes the impact of loss on young Osho. He reveals the deep heartache of how his beloved spiritual master was shaped by loss of loved ones. At 5 years old, young Osho lost his most-beloved grandfather, and later on, his teenage sweetheart, both of whom were central to his heart and his world. These losses were profoundly crushing to him as a young boy and seem to have been catalytic in his acceptance of aloneness.

Joshi also traces the rise of the enormously successful Rajneeshpuram ashram in Oregon to its tragic demise. He then takes us on a heart-breaking excruciating journey around the world as Osho sought a safe refuge but was deported or refused entry to 21 countries. Further vignettes serve as a magnifying glass on the punishing hell of stupid governments completely terrified of the ecstatic bliss the spiritual master came to share. Joshi gently exposes the thieves, detractors, and murderers of Osho while revealing the power of Osho’s mere openness to life as a highly threatening energy to the status quo.

For years people have asked what really happened to Osho in America, but the answers in “free” press were somehow suppressed. Finally, a credible authority who witnessed those terrible times reveals little known facts. The bizarre tale of how America treated Osho reads like a horrifying nightmare. During a mysterious 10 days in various jails around the US, Osho was poisoned with thallium, a radioactive substance. Violating the spiritual master’s most basic human rights, the Reagan Administration made a mockery of the American Constitution in the most grotesque and cruel way. Thanks to Dr. Joshi’s courage, this alarming truth cannot be untold. Poisoning a beloved spiritual master for merely speaking is the modern day equivalent of nailing Christ to the cross or forcing Socrates to drink hemlock. Osho’s free thinking and popularity aroused the raging collective shadow of the American government, and he paid for it with his life.

Despite the tragic acts that brought about Osho’s early death, Joshi delivers the natural joy of mystical experiences that forged a worldwide following. A series of juicy highlights, the book’s vivid descriptions make the reader thirst for more. For example, the chapter on Osho’s enlightenment at age 21 is replete with beautiful descriptions in the master’s own words of how it feels to be awakening as it is happening. Nowhere else in sacred scriptures does a spiritual master report what it actually feels like to be awakening psycho-physically into an enlightened Being. While Jesus spoke in parables, Buddha gave abstractions, and Lao Tzu pointed to nature, Osho speaks in a language that resonates with the contemporary psyche, in both Eastern and Western worlds. His stirringly precise words and deconstructions of psychological patterns activate people to fall inward into pure consciousness. Osho explains that enlightenment is natural to humans and it comes through nature from existence itself. Of his own enlightenment, Osho said, “That night I became empty and became full.”

Throughout the book, Joshi thoughtfully plants select quotes from Osho’s discourses. As Osho lovers attest, with the writings of Osho, there is no room for guess work. It is all right there between the words. For readers new to their own spiritual transformation, Joshi’s explanation of a spiritual master as an “inner healer” is a profoundly succinct explanation of the benefit of having a relationship to an awakened master.

“Osho Luminous Rebel” is a non-stop read that carries great impact. Joshi underscores that experimentation was key to Osho’s personal development and life’s work. His descriptions of Osho’s love for the river are deeply engaging, further illuminating the prolific body of writing by Osho that includes 650 books and hundreds of scientifically validated meditations, available in many languages.

A very enriching post script includes a delightful discourse given by Osho in 1967 called, “A Gathering of Friends,” showing that love is the difference between a gathering and an organization. The post script also contains a series of excellent definitions of various guru-shisya relationships, a conversation with Ma Yoga Neelam, the names of Osho’s original Inner Circle, and finally, a very useful condensed biographical timeline of Osho’s life.

This authoritative and colorful biography creates a feeling of intimacy with the person of Osho, although Joshi claims, “Osho is not a person, Osho is a phenomenon.” Joshi’s writing puts us in close proximity to the Awakened One, and leaves us wanting more brilliant glimpses of the master. At book’s end, it was somewhat saddening, like having curtains drawn across a panoramic view of the ocean.

Like cool water in the desert, the biographer’s words come from a deep source. Joshi’s masterful telling leaves the reader desiring to find the oasis of Osho himself. Sensing the depth of this biographical river, one gets a feeling that there are many stories left to tell. Joshi writes of Osho, “It is not easy to write about him. He is like a vast space containing all dualities, all diversities and all contradictions. He radiates consciousness which brings light to those groping in the dark. He symbolizes spirituality in its ultimate glory.”

Entrusted with the sacred responsibility of being Osho’s story keeper, Dr. Vasant Joshi has created a direct pathway into the life and work of Osho. Touching the spiritual master through words and shared memories creates the possibility of inclusion for millions of people now and in the future. It would enrich the world tremendously if Dr. Joshi continues to write of his own life experience and all that he knows of Beloved Osho.

Reviewer Ma Prem Geet is a writer and painter. She is passionate about helping others understand and heal suppressed grief through Osho’s active meditations and the 21-day Mystic Rose Therapy. Contact her at: mysticrosetherapy@gmail.com

–30-