Osho the One

WAS OSHO ONE?  Lokesh explores his dilenmas

A fundamental difference between many early Western sannyasins and their Indian counterparts was that the Westerners had travelled East looking to extend their forays into the world of ‘Oneness’ (a timeless state beyond polarities, including life and death, wherein there is somehow no experiencer to experience the experience). For many this extraordinary condition had originally been brought on by the use of psychedelic drugs, which were being used widely in the West during the sixties and seventies. In my opinion Indian sannyasins were mainly attracted to Osho for reasons rooted in more traditional motivations, emotive, meditative, devotional etc.
In my own case I simply could not get enough of oneness and I allowed myself to be wooed in by Osho and his promise that if I surrendered to him he’d deliver oneness by the truck load. It seemed like a wonderful idea at the time, reinforced by the presumption that following an ‘enlightened’ master was the best way to arrive in a state of permanent oneness. Osho definitely appeared to fulfil the role of ‘enlightened one’, at least to my young and inexperienced eyes. He was to all appearances selfless, egoless, loving, compassionate, wise and without doubt, in my mind at least, above it all…floating like a white cloud in an endless sky, high above the mundane goings on of this material world. Yes. He was where I wanted to be. I was certain of it. Now I’m not so sure.
One side-effect of a positive psychedelic experience is the realization of how little we do in fact need to be happy. This idea has remained with me throughout the last 45 years of my life. We don’t need more money, bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger tits or the latest iPad to be happy. Happiness is our birthright, especially if born into a privileged society like most of us are and have a healthy body and mind. Back in the old days, when I sat at Osho’s well manicured tootsies, looking up into his hypnotic eyes, while listening to his seductive voice, enveloped in that incredible energy field that only he seemed capable of producing, I was 100% sure that no one else on earth knew better than Osho the emptiness of materialism.
Time passed and Zorba the Buddha came dancing down the path. Then the path was replaced by an asphalt road, fit for a fleet of Rolls Royces to drive along. It all felt like outrageous fun, at least in the beginning. By this time the psychedelic experiences that had originally propelled me to Osho’s feet had receded into a purple haze in the distant past. Nevertheless, the realization that I needed little in the way of material possessions to experience happiness remained and I began to ask, if Osho is enlightened why does he want all that stuff around him, crazy get-ups, cars, watches that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars etc? I don’t believe for a second that it was a case of him making others happy by taking on these trappings of material success. He apparently kicked up a fuss when he did not get that two million dollar diamond-encrusted watch that he wanted Sheela to use commune funds to purchase. During his so-called periods of silence he spent hours talking on the phone ordering bells and whistles for his fleet of luxury limos. I ask you, do you think that you need to indulge in such pastimes when living in cosmic consciousness 24/7? From what I’ve seen of cosmic consciousness you don’t need any of those distractions,because that is just what they are…distractions.
Someone recently asked why there is so much focus on Rajneeshpuram on this site. The answer is that is where certain matters began to become public that signalled that all was not well behind the scenes in Osho’s world. Drug abuse was a biggie, although that was not limited to Oregon. It turns out that Osho consumed a lot of laughing gas. The stories about him being out of it on pharmaceuticals are too many to ignore, although many still try.
The first time Osho spoke to me he explained how drugs were in the long term a hindrance to the seeker and although those drugs had given me a glimpse of the holy mountain I’d have to become a meditator if I wished to make that lofty domain into my abode. I followed what I still believe was good advice.Yet the man who gave me that advice eventually became dependent on drugs himself, which leaves one asking, who was getting high and why was he advising others not to? How is it possible that someone claiming to be super-conscious could become involved in such an unconscious game role reality?
There is good reason why there has been much written about the dangers encountered on the spiritual path and surely the one most at danger is the guru himself, because he is the one most at risk by the roles demanded of him. What’s more, when someone is treated like Osho was the potential for becoming delusional is great. Could it be that Osho was less enlightened than he imagined? If he wasn’t enlightened in the generally agreed meaning of the word the strain of keeping up such a pretence must have been colossal.
Enlightenment by its very nature is very hard to prove, seeing as how one has to be enlightened to recognise it. Nonetheless, we have some good examples to go by. Buddha’s life was well documented, as was Ramana Maharshi’s etc. These men’s lives were uncontaminated by scandal. Every word they spoke was from on high. They lived simple lives. They were perfect examples of the human potential to act and behave in an enlightened manner, minus the need for material wealth. Osho just doesn’t fit the picture.
I find it almost Orwellian how Catholic sannyasins are able to ‘Doublespeak’ and ‘Doublethink’ when it comes to explaining away the inconsistencies in Osho’s life. Their investment is of course huge. It takes a certain kind of courage to say that you spent years or even decades with a movement that was at best misguided and in the background corrupt, for nothing corrupts like power and Osho was given absolute power over many people’s lives on a solid gold platter. Of my old contemporaries from Poona One, who are still actively involved with the sannyas scene in one form or another, I see that many have a reason for being involved that, when it all boils down, is often worldly, although there are exceptions. Some are self-appointed spokesmen for Osho, even though I can’t help but remember how they often as not weren’t totally committed when actually with him. Others remain in a kind of sentimental cocoon, watching rewinds of their dreams and talking lovingly about someone who was in essence a very charismatic authoritarian father figure, who put into practice some extremely bizarre ideas that belong on the opposite side of the compass to spiritual enlightenment.
Meanwhile, we have a group of people (mostly Indian sannyasins playing out the old extremist Hindu devotional programme) determined to preserve Osho’s legacy. It seems that Osho was not the only one who might have suffered from being delusional. If Osho has a legacy that is not a shambles it is a legacy that will never be bound up with an organization, for that legacy has to do with a freedom that will always refuse to bow down to people who want to build an institution around it (rebellion). Of course, such things as access to Osho’s samadhi must remain open to the people who wish to visit it. Let us hope that they realise the palpable energy that exists at such a spot has nothing to do with Osho’s ashes, because they are dead, and the magic of the place has been created by the tens of thousands of loving meditators who have went before them and the wonderful events that once transpired there at Osho’s feet.
I’ve always maintained a warts an’ all vision of Osho. Enlightened or not magic happened in his presence and nobody can deny that. That said, I think the times we live in collectively require us to think for ourselves and question all authoritarian figures, including Osho. If we do not do that we will find ourselves in a stuck space that signals that we have entered an evolutionary cul-de-sac, a dead end in which we will be unable to fulfil our potential. Which is, you might well ask. Answer: Well, I’ll let you fill in the blanks on that one, my dear gods and goddesses, but I think it might be worth bearing in mind that Osho was a perfect example of what happens when people want to turn someone into a saviour and that person goes for it. The strain of such responsibility can become lethal.
Originally I intended to bring all this into a coherent conclusion but have now decided that it will be more interesting as a thread to leave my questions open and hopefully those questions will provoke a good discussion.