The Bottom Line
by Dhanyam
In the aftermath of the trademark decision against OIF, I see much confusion and misunderstanding in the sannyas world, and I would like to share with anyone interested how I see things.
When Osho left His body, the Inner Circle took over the running of the Osho Commune, and I guess most of us hoped and expected the world of Osho to continue the same as when Osho was alive. Osho had clearly limited the function of the Inner Circle to the day-to-day, practical management of the Commune, and no one was given the right to alter His message.
After a while, more and more of the original Inner Circle members left, and many changes started happening, including the disappearance of Osho’s photos around the Commune and a new name, the Resort. The people who resisted the changes were pushed out.
I have heard Osho say that He was not interested in the mainstream, as the masses would not understand His message. I heard Him speak against altering or changing His work and that He wanted His message to be unedited, exactly as we all heard, saw, and experienced Him.
The management team, however, developed a new strategy to work with international publishers and manipulated Osho’s words into compilation books, with popular, catchy titles that would be salable to the mainstream. As I see it, they have created MacOsho, and they have sold and continue to sell millions of books and have received millions of dollars in royalty payments. These amounts of money are controlled and known only to them. Now MacOsho is known and popular in edited form throughout the world.
Of course, pure, vegetarian Osho is available, but the management team is mainly interested in MacOsho and the huge royalty payments they are receiving. Following the money trail would make a best-selling thriller, if anyone can find out the truth.
From this angle, it is easy to understand many of the actions the management team has taken, for example when they ban people and send their lawyers against anyone and everyone who challenges their authority to own and control Osho. I think it is simply a matter of money.
Dear Dhanyam,
Thats precisely been the case with the so called Inner Circle. First, the present Inner Circle is no Inner Circle at all. All the people popped up after Osho left His body, so they are not even aware what Osho wanted. They only know what they want. To control the Osho movement and earn huge royalties. Have you checked the new website of Osho Friends. http://www.oshofriendsinternational.com
Its an eye opener with all the details of Osho Trademark case.
Forget the inner circle.
Do you think the “world of Osho” would have stood still had the Master been alive in the last 18 years??
It was always changing radically when he was alive, even the death of Rajneeshpuram may have had an element of engineered change by the Master about it.
Interesting discussion about compilations towards the bottom of this link…
http://www.satrakshita.com/osho_books.htm
It appears Osho was sometimes in favour of compilations. As far as I can see OIF is acting within the spirit of the discussion on this page.
Dhanyam writes : “they have sold and continue to sell millions of books and have received millions of dollars in royalty payments.”
How do you know this figure for worldwide book sales? I do not know what the figure is. Is there any way of finding out?
The most popular Osho book on amazon.com is The Book of Secrets which is number 13,951 in the Amazon.com Sales Rank.
The second most popular Osho book on amazon.com is a compilation Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously with amazon.com sales rank 15,136. This has not been reprinted since 1999.
Clearly these books are not bestsellers in USA. The most popular Osho item in US is the Zen Tarot with amazon.com sales rank 4,641.
It may be a fantasy they are receiving US $ millions per year in royalty payments.
Dhanyam writes : ” the management team is mainly interested in … the huge royalty payments they are receiving.” Am doubtful. If I was almost 70 like Dr Amrito and was only interested in money, I’d sell up and retire to Italy, rather than work hard running a campus in a third world country for people in emotional/spiritual pain.
Money is one things, but what about POWER? we creatures love that too!
there you are heraclities
do tell
how is the appeal going?
as far as I remember over the book rights…
the book rights (as many as they could ) have been sold!
that was as I have a memory a one of payment. for all time..
not a book by book royalty.
a case of get the money and run!
Dear Alok John,
Thanks for your comments. In the January 2006 Osho Times they report that the total annual book sales for 2005 were close to 3 million copies. I remember seeing a much larger number last year, but presently don’t see an exact number in my files.
The Courage book is available, and I have bought it many times, and it is in my stock.
Love,
Dhanyam
Dhanyam,
Maybe they exaggerate about selling 3 million copies? They have been known to do such a thing. Even if it is true, there may be massive debts from the refurbishment of the resort in the 90s. Who knows? I tend to judge by character, and although they can be difficult, I think they are essentially of good character.
The inner circle has no balance of power. There’s no governing body to review their actions. In his comments Alok John continues to express in other words his faith and support for the wisdom of the inner circle. It is said absolute power corrupts absolutely…Is there something I’m missing?
dear alok.
get real.
you don’t know them at all!
you have never spoken to them!
Dear Dhanyam
I think that you are right on the issue . They are selling the product that is bowdlerised Osho.
Fortunately they cannot sell Osho’s soul or his spirit.
He comes again and again to say what I am told he says and yet we do not understand. Yet when I listen to him saying it in video or tape or whatever media it seems very clear.
I wish that I had more oshoness
Don’t you?
Swami,
I have seen Dr Amrito many times in person. He was acting as the commune doctor when I visited in ’90 and I had a brief consultation with him. I observed him around the Commune many times, also a few years later in the 90s when there was a centre in St James, London.
I am extremely observant of people and consider myself a good judge of character. Unlike many others I was unsurprised when Rajneeshpuram folded. I have been involved with Osho since ’75 (yes, really) and I know a lot of history of the movement. Dr Amrito wrote a book about Osho, many years ago, in which his love of Osho is clear. So I judge on the basis of all that. The Buddhafield really is a mystery school and if you immerce yourself in it, you will find your preconceptions (ie your mind) shattered.
OFI which includes Dhanyam applied three times for trademarks while litigating OIF and saying they wanted “Osho to be free.” This looks like evidence of bad character to me.
well perhaps dyanyam would explain that to us!
dyanyam?
yea yea yea ..
a mystery school
immerse yourself…you will find your mind shattered….
…..
pass the sick bag!
You should try it Swami, the mystery school. Or maybe you do not need it. Some of us do.
these days I look out of my window and see a mystery school!
the mystery school that was the osho mandir ceased to exist the day Osho left his body.
;;;;;;;;
Osho was the mystery school.
the only mysterious thing left there is who is stealing the money…………
will there be no retirement .. will we have to wait until amrito is leaving the body and then jayesh is called in to get some amrito guidance
and then later jayesh’s friend …a young indian boy will get called in to jayesh leaving the body for jayesh guidance…
hilarious!
the mystery school is long gone swami.
I can only advise you to look again without the rose tinted specs.
regards.
As Mr OSHO Mystery School Man himself would ,I am told, have said
“That Will Do”
Or will It?
But where is all that money going ?
Who benefits?
Is there no publication of accounts?
No accountability to the members , whoever they might be?
I know from speaking to people who knew better than I did that in Pune1 and the Ranch there was much confusion in the finances . Much less than perfect controls in management. Oh and I better not mention the means to extract “donations” from rich divorceees and widows.
And of course Taxes went unpaid in India .
Is there no freedom of information in India or Switzerland ?
Oh and was it not interesting that the Osho Foundation is headquartered so I gather in Suisse which is where the former “fuhrer” of Rajneeshpuram fled to apparently tottering under the weight of donations or contributions.( yes that is right I was referring to Ma Anand Sheela)
I would imagine that the Osho International foundation lives as I understand it in Switzerland for Confidentiality and Tax reasons.
Not for the good of Osho’s message or to help any local interest.
Can any one really support this who truly loves or is involved with Osho?
Don’t say its nowt to do with me .
They own your guru ‘s image rights !
And they will sue you if you fart about Osho in their general hearing range probably.
It would be interesting to seek to track how the money gets collected and moved around. By whom , how and why?
If any one has any information or would like to start to build a group about the way these people have assumed this business and how they operate it I would love to hear about it.
3,000,000 books at say $12 per book at 5%( Low)per cent per annum is going to gross $1.8million. Then we have the Ashram / Resort complex. How mucgh does it make. Video rights Royalties for TV showings the list goes on ………..
tell me if someomne already has this going I want to speak to them
Oh and if Jayesh or Amrito or anyone the Invisible Inner Circle see this It is not personal I just like to know what goes on.
And for the Gurdjieff fans – see I just dug another fine hole !
Namaskhar
Jai Jai Osho !
Woyawaya Guru Na
Osho Osho Osho
But have you been there Swami? Tried some meditations there?
Ashik, Think what accountability to members means. Who is a member? If someone spent a week in Pune in the 70s, took sannyas from Osho, was never seen again, is he a member? You are going to have to have rules about who is a member. It would be a nightmare, probably impossible.
to quote ashick
Woyawaya Guru Na?????
Don’t say its nowt to do with me .
They own your guru ’s image rights !
And they will sue you if you fart about Osho in their general hearing range probably.
from pantha
..
fuckin realy hilarious …..
utter tosh ashick …
fart nowt and woyawoya…
alok swami.
yes
I have
with osho and later…
kundalini nadabrama .. nataraj..and rushing across town in the early morning cold for dynamic…usually with a myserious rickshaw driver called kailash.
sometimes making it and sometimes not …
haha..
All I can say is whenever I see someone who has just returned from Pune, I can see they have changed and carry something of Osho’s energy. You can see it. And this applies now as it did 20 years ago.
ok alok
20 years and nothing has changed?
so much has changed…
has nothing changed for you in 20 years…
do you even recognise yourself from that time?
you must be in an osho hotspot there …to see a lot of people comng and going to pune…
have you got some gossip to share?
……for me…..
20 years ago I was in kindergarten at pune…
2009 and I have long since graduated….
if fact since I left kindergarden I have been to
college and graduated from university…..
there can be no going back.
let go of the past alok.
that is my suggestion to you .
good luck and best regards.
very interesting. i was reminded after all this time, that the first ‘rajneesh’ books i read, in the 70′s, were compilations. ‘i am the gate’ and ‘meditation: the art of ecstasy”.
these were paperback only and i believe put out by major american publishers. at the time i was not open at all to the indian/guru trappings, not spending the big bucks on the few hardbacks available, like ‘hammer on the rock’, tho i eventually got that and many more.
at the time, at least, osho was casting his net wide, with his words. then it was up to the individual. and it still is.
Of course I have been there .
I am crying thinking about how sweet it was and
if i did not have the experience I would not talk of this.
Alok John my view is that all of the people who connected to or were touched by our Master , or our Friend called Osho or Mohan chandra Rajneesh and whatever lies between, has a right of connection.
They are the “members” if you like.
Not the fat cat politicians and placekeepers who mantain the status quo.
If I went to Pune now my experience would be different from then but i still have that too and If I did not connect and regard Osho as my guide and friend I am sure that I would be a much more frightened person.
I’d like to go to Pune again
Meanwhile I’d still like to know how these guys at the Resort and the Foundation get by as it were.
Do they pay taxes and if so where?
Who gave them the right to deal in
Osho? ,
Osho books?
Osho dresses?
Osho music ?
and how long does it last ?
Has anyone seen the contracts ?
Can I have some Osho too or do I have to pay for having my existing connection?
Ah This just is
For the uninitiated dears
I heard the lovely singing by Indian Ladies Sanyassins all on March 21st Singing to Osho ! Celebrating him as I recall with
Jai Jai Osho !
Woyawaya Guru Na!
Osho Osho Osho!!
( I apologise if I got the spelling Wrong but I hear it in my dreams for ever since
I celebrate the future with Osho .
Love and hugs
Alok John wrote,
“OFI which includes Dhanyam applied 3 times for trademarks.”
I’d like to set the record straight on that: I have been running the Osho Viha Center in Mill Valley, CA for the past 23 years and have nothing to do with “trademarks” and nothing to do with “OFI.”
Of course the inner circle can’t destroy the transformational power available at the resort, as it is still strong. Though I ponder how much stronger it could be…. Truth and the intention of earnest seekers transcends all….. even Osho….. Get on with it……… In God we trust, but verify what they are up too…..
Dhanyam, sorry to have made a mistake about that.
Konrad wrote :
“The inner circle has no balance of power. There’s no governing body to review their actions. In his comments Alok John continues to express in other words his faith and support for the wisdom of the inner circle. It is said absolute power corrupts absolutely…”
The trouble is : who is going to choose the governing body? Remember Osho was against democracy. He taught (roughly) that those with the most expertise in a field should have the power. Osho’s work is about awareness and let-go and trust. It is deeply rebellious to our conditionings. It is subtle. It is more subtle than it first appears. It is not a matter of “Everyone should read his books and do an Osho meditation once a day.” Osho chose Jayesh and Dr Amrito, they were round him for years, I think they understand his work and are doing a reasonable job. If you want to gain more awareness/consciousness, you can still go to Pune and do (probably) the most powerful meditations on the planet. If you go there and want something else, you may have your desires thrown back in your face. It has always been like that. It is Buddhafield, not a religious organisation, a music and dance venue, or a social club (okay, I acknowledge there is sometimes a social side.)
It is like saying the people who run the Institute of Physicists should be world class physicists, not physics students or junior physicists.
Jesus, think of the responsibilty Amrito and Jayesh have, trying to continue the work of the greatest Master ever to walk on the earth, whose work is a deep discontinuity from the past.
Hey, I dont know if anyone has checked it out yet but here’s the link:
The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.
This is a youtube video where Dr. Amrito is talking to Paula Gloria about Osho, Aids and Meditation. Its an interesting interview where a slight argument erupts over Paula’s use of the word “Guru”.
I found his analysis and presentation quite nice though.
Bless you all
Osho chose to come to people
Osho chose people …. to do what?
By exerting power and influence they are acting like a religious organisation .
They ban people
They try to control the use of Osho materials and experience
Yet they do not account to or explain what they do to anyone.
They just are.
And where’s the money going?
in general, all this went on with osho still in the body. there were always conflicts, disagreements, jealousies among people.
whoever he put in charge of organizational stuff was disliked by some. and of course, he himself changed his mind whenever, about sheela, of course.
what if he were in the body, just in silence, as he was in oregon for 3 years? all this going on would be the same as it is now.
for everything he said, at another time he said the opposite, so no quotes make a difference. at least as far as specific externals and material world shenanigans.
only his basic core message of meditation, the individual and such was constant, consistent.
was not anything he said alone in last moments for the person he spoke to and nobody else? what could anando as medium mean to anyone but her? leaving whoever his dream, does that mean anything but however the person spoken to interprets it.
is not everything he said and did for one purpose only, the spiritual growth of the individual?
yes, he spoke to crowds, tho if answering a personal question by someone, was he not speaking to them?
speaking on various traditions and masters, yes it was to the crowd, or better to say to many individuals. and dissemination of books, audio and video would of course be for many individuals.
did he not say often forget the words, listen to the silence between them?
his words as koans, yes. not to be analyzed and argued/debated. waste of time and energy.
love,
sugit
I have always found the words helpful. Yes silence and meditation are the real thing but I find the words keep me on track.
Sugit writes : “for everything he said, at another time he said the opposite, so no quotes make a difference”
Although this is commonly said I do not think it is true. Show me a quote where he says sannyasins should develop strong will power. Show me a quote where he says the division of the planet into nation-states is a good thing. Show me a quote where he says sannyasins should dump their anger on others to fulfil their desires.
“for everything he said, at another time he said the opposite, so no quotes make a difference” This can be very useful if someone wants to exploit Osho’s name to create a therapy business.
I like both these last 2 contributions, though they speak from different places.
Supporting Alok’s view for example, I have never seen any quote, or anyone saying they had heard Osho say, that he wanted “compilations” .
All I know about that is, like Nisagardata before him, he was totally adamant that the words should be kept as he said them, etc. and within the “series” of talks he was giving at that time. Of course no-one makes any money that way, but that’s that, and still the invitation of the Master in my view is to produce the sort of books that he himslef so approved of between 1974 and 1981.
With all these alpha males and females who have led the Osho movement over the years one thing can be said without contradiction:
In every ordinairy sense of the word many have given their lives for Osho. And one has to include people as far apart as Keerti, Arun, Amrito, Jayesh, Laxmi, Anando, Dhanyam even, and a number of others.
In my looking at it, they are all serving Osho in their different ways. Maybe the fact that they disagree with each other actually helps in that even more people are reached, and when they are reached they have a choice of approach through which to come.
The “old man” may be chuckling still! Oddly enough this is not so different from the view of “Swami”, who for some reason constantly wants to deride the Greek enlightened one
Heraclitus!
I like these contributions
And it makes one think
I want to ask how would Osho want us to do this or how would he want us to see these situations now?
Would he still want these groups going on like the one he called the “Inner Circle” and the benighted oustsiders and all of the other groups including my muddled K B O group?
Therapy – tried that! (still trying to figure what I did or it did
though it was fun
Ashik
Osho never had an inner circle when he was alive, or not one he named. He certainly had an organisation, and it passed from Sheela to the “house” people in 1985. They were joined by Anando and the like.
I am sure if he was alive now all the various people we remark on here would still be involved with him, – and at whatever base he was physically located. This may not have been Poona, at the time of his death much talk was about settling in Italy.
People like Arun, Keerti, Dhanyam, etc would definitely not be banned, but of course they would be following the party line as they understood it from Osho! As they did when he was alive….
These…what-ifs…they are slowly becommin “what-the-fucks”.
Really, when Buddha left his body some 2500 years ago, who would have guessed he would reach to places like Tibet, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thai Land and Afghanistan.
I’m pretty sure Tibet and Japan probably would be shaking hands if they had met each other at that point in history—they may have dismissed each other for their mis-interpretations of Budhha;s message.
But still, Tibet created many mystics and enlightened ones, so did Japan, Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.
So hasn’t the maturity come from anyone that Osho is simply going to new places but indeed, its Osho. Who knows when his fragrance may wither away, but its only been some 19 years since he left his body…and I can certainly feel a whisp of fresh air.
Those who say Osho’s gone, dead, in the history books…Its an ignorant stand that gets the applause of so-called “Progressive” spiritualists who run to anyone alive other than back to Osho.
But, really…Osho is more alive now than ever, because while Osho was alive people could only see Osho in fragments—talking about Zen sometimes, Tantra sometimes, Jesus sometimes…and anti-jesus sometimes!
So they went step by step believing the next step Osho took was the real, the final—this was Osho at his truest etc… So in the finishing discourses in Buddha Hall, Osho talked about Zen—the only way. And now we have a “ZEN” resort (Zen Resorts Limited).
But now, anyone who dives into Osho doesn’ t dive the same as people who were with Osho—they dive into the ocean of Osho. I have available all of Osho, free to choose and choiceless: Zen, Tantra, Sufisim….all.
But its easier to embibe him now—Osho is a witnessing conciousness behind all subjects or theories..
So he is alive now, fresh now, available now. Those who are thirsty can still drink…
i appreciate all views and comments.
osho did name the inner circle when he was alive. he picked the 21 people and gave the name. for management, of course, not in any spiritual authority/capacity.
love,
sugit
Hi Deva,
Can you tell me how many of the 21 are still left from whom Osho chose? Did he choose a leader of the 21 as well?
Did Osho announce their selection or did one of the inner circle announce this?
How was Osho’s health around this time? I heard at one point Osho could not even walk to Buddha Hall.
And from a critical and valid skeptical standpoint,
Could Osho in his frail, weak and ill position been manipulated by a clever few?
Love,
Anand
anand,
as i’m sure you know, he was poisoned in the oklahoma city jail. from then on, he suffered in various ways until his death. but he walked until very near the end. (he went into silence publically much before). he was very fragile tho and in the last video of him in buddha hall he almost looked like he would fall over, however as he namasted every step or 2 he was perfectly still, standing, all the way around the front of the podium and back and then left.
as far back as almost 10 years ago 15 of the original 21 members of the inner circle had left. i dont know about since then.
originally jayesh was chairman, amrito vice-chairman and anando secretary. whatever that meant, since all decisions were to be unanimous.
osho said the original 21 were named for life or until they chose to leave. that replacements would be named by unanimous decision of the remaining members.
anything is possible, but i don’t think manipulation went on while osho was still in the body. he originally watched meetings of a few people, and instructed/commented. as he wanted to ‘retire’ from this type of work/decision making. eventually he named the full 21.
sugit
It is so sad to see the greed and lust for power being associated or connected with Osho–have people not learned anything from him? There is something very special about finding Osho’s books from the early 70′s–I search for them via the net–I am thankful for the site that offers many for free via download. The recent compilations are not my cup of tea–but–they are a way of getting Osho’s teachings and insights out to a generation that is in desperate need.Then again–a book I love so much and give to others who are new to Osho is– The Long and The Short and The All–which as we all know is a compilation.
Love!
Nitty Greedy — I skipped a great deal of messages, so forgive me, This situation was to be expected, – It is a Corporate take over, Now even with the US decision, the new inner circle will be managing quite well internationally. THE Essence of HIS books, which I supposed were approved…
That is what we do not want to loose, or do we?
The history of religion show again and again this sort of phenomena. Once the Master leaves his body, all kinds of opportunists see and seize a business.
Swami Bodhi Jacques
Amendment- It is not a new inner circle, He is no longer in his body, so he does not need an inner circle, It is a circle. A circle claiming….
Or is it not?
Please, someone list the names of the so called inner circle? Why do they not appear! Mulla Nasrudin is waiting!
One look at the devious minds of people who were top dogs in Rajneeshpuram, shows how all this was inevitable. I believe (because I wasn’t there) that there was a team of Lawyers close to Rajneesh there who would visciously attack (legally) anyone outside who tries to scupper their plans? I’ve even seen video of the time from some of those lawyers, making blatant threats (and one of them was a thinly veiled death threat to local civil servants).
And then there is the ‘internal’ police state of Rajneeshpuram itself, with Sanyassin’s every word being monitored for signs of dissent (with the risk of being chucked out). With such people at the top of the ladder then, it’s no surprise that the same tactics are being used again today and still against other Sanyassins who object.
It has been over 10 years since I went to Pune International, but I remember this syndrome one day when I was walking in that park close to the ashram. I picked up a chair that was lying around, and brought it a little further down the path to a nice area. One little Nazi that ran the gardening there and who had a bunch of Indian men under his charge treating them like dogs,had a go at me for moving the chair. I objected, and he issued a threat that he’d have me banned from visiting the Ashram. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was quite a wake up call.
He wanted my name and other details, like a ltitle Gestapo. I think he was from the States of Canada. I simply ignored him and told him I wasn’t going to comply. He didn’t have a leg to stand on, but it did wake me up very early on to how there are some seriously messed up people who manouever their way into positions of any powere there, so that they can enact their latent desires for control of others.