I like Osho's interpretation of tao

[alfa]

Osho's books are quite entertaining. He explains things from different angles, his meditation techniques are different, and all that. However:

 

 

* he contradicted himself

 

* acted as if he were paranoid (blamed US govt. of having poisoned him)

 

* Claimed toward the end of his life that Buddha had occupied him and he was a vehicle

 

* Many such outlandish comments and behavior

 

 

What do people think of him? Was he just an entertainer and nothing more? Which means, do we have to avoid his books on tao (or any other subject matter)? Or, was he doing this on purpose so as to shock people for whatever reason?

 

Alfa

[Inedible]

Osho had his own message and he could present it in the context of Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Islam in such a way that he was very convincing as if he were speaking as a member of one of those religions. I did not know he could do it within Taoism, too, but it makes sense. When he was a very young child, he spent a lot of time with his grandparents and they allowed him to spend much of his formative years in meditative silence / stillness. He did not really develop within any one tradition, and his education in school was allowed to wait.

[erdweir]

Osho's books are quite entertaining. He explains things from different angles, his meditation techniques are different, and all that. However:

* he contradicted himself

 

* acted as if he were paranoid (blamed US govt. of having poisoned him)

 

* Claimed toward the end of his life that Buddha had occupied him and he was a vehicle

 

* Many such outlandish comments and behavior

What do people think of him? Was he just an entertainer and nothing more? Which means, do we have to avoid his books on tao (or any other subject matter)? Or, was he doing this on purpose so as to shock people for whatever reason?

 

Alfa

 

Osho, or Rajneesh, as he used to call himself, was quite a character. All the Rolls Royces(I dont remember how many, maybe 20?) the weird paranoia and excessive violence of some of his followers, the rape stories where people in his retreats would get taken advantage of by his other followers. Then there was the salmonella attack on the residents of a local oregon town near his commune, the bugging of his followers quarters and even his own private chambers, etc..

 

I think Osho may have meant well, but he presided over allot of messed up stuff, I wouldnt follow his words too closely

[Prince...]

I consider him to be a genius and a great orator. Unfortunately, many smart people are just freakin weird. I own his book on the Tao, which I haven't really read and his book Buddha Says which made me think a lot about the things he says about Judaism and Christianity.

[Guest paul walter]

Osho's books are quite entertaining. He explains things from different angles, his meditation techniques are different, and all that. However:

* he contradicted himself

 

* acted as if he were paranoid (blamed US govt. of having poisoned him)

 

* Claimed toward the end of his life that Buddha had occupied him and he was a vehicle

 

* Many such outlandish comments and behavior

What do people think of him? Was he just an entertainer and nothing more? Which means, do we have to avoid his books on tao (or any other subject matter)? Or, was he doing this on purpose so as to shock people for whatever reason?

 

Alfa

 

 

Osho is valuable in terms of his conversational quality-when you want to think about stuff, read Osho. His talks on Tao are terrific to read- he also did talks on Chuang Tzu compiled in a book called 'When the shoe fits' which is very entertaining and in print. Of course he was also a hypocrite/arsehole, but that can only happen when a bunch of white people and others who can't think for themselves give a guru power. He was killed by the US gov-he was taken into custody for six days during which he was transported across five states and kept in five state prisons. There is paperwork for five of the six days. It goes that one of the days he was kept in a room with high exposure to radiation. When he got back to India and rapidly became sick a Reiki master was called in and said he was full of radiation. I got this from a guy who used to organise security at the Osho place in India and went to Oregon as well, also it's in other books.

[evZENy]

If I have to follow one voice out there it will be Osho's.

Big fan.

 

Yes, he contradicted himself. And explained many times WHY he is doing this.

Anyone using words to pass wordless messages will.

Yes, you can find a discourse of how great Jesus, Buddha etc. is, and then another one, where he points why they had their limits.

I don't see any problems with that at all!

There is a story about Buddha himself, where in a single day 3 different people come to ask him if there is a God and he gives 3 different answers.

 

The answer depends on the audience.

The same way a radio signal depends on the receiving tuner - an AM radio won't get HD radio and FM won't get XM.

 

Osho did few things that rightly put him among the most influential people of XX century:

- created methods for meditation suitable for the people of today

- discussed all major religions and philosophies, revealing their messages often hidden or unclear for most of us

- brought for many the freedom to feel good with their bodies, thoughts, lives, desires... which is the first step to liberation

- attacked organized religion, politics etc.

 

Yes, he may have been poisoned by the US government (seems that there was data on Thallium poisoning indeed). Why not speak about it !?

Yes, he had weird life - dozens of RR (as mentioned), addiction to painkillers etc.

And yes, his way was abused by many who joined him and destroyed to a great extend the intend he had, by selectively picking his messages and seeing them as a free pass to sex, drugs etc.

Yes, he might have gone with some of it instead of stopping it.

 

I liked an article of one of his close followers, who said - it's all true. But he was a human.

An awaken person is not a God (something which some Buddhists obviously won't agree with :-)

But he is a voice that channels the realization of what God is.

 

So in short - I focus on the message, not the messenger.

And for 20+ years I haven't found anyone else who comes even close to Osho as far as passing a message is concerned.

The Vedas, Buddha, Zen, Tao, the Greek philosophers, Sufism, Tantra, Christianity... He showed the best of them all, the treasure in each. The hidden gems.

And always reminded us to follow ourselves - not him, and not even the message he passes.

A true approach for a true mystic!

 

Just this part comes with a contradiction - giving a message and asking people not to follow it. What's the point, right? :-)

That's how it should be!

I would not even bother to listen to someone, who does not contradict himself :-)

Edited June 3, 2009 by evZENy

[evZENy]

Here is a very good link describing all his falls - drugs, sex, power issues etc. Links to similar links texts.

 

http://home.att.net/~meditation/Osho.html

 

I agree with it all.

Still love his message! :-)

[markern]

Great insights combined with stuff I think he said just to anoy people and have fun. Still he wa basicly a complete psychopath and to a large degree lead people astray. Lots of good stuff came out of the osho community but also a lot of bad stuff and damaged people. Imagine if he had been a real spiritual master that actualy took care of his students and lead them somewhere that was actualy totaly wholesome instead of somewhat good and very bad at the same time.

[Seth Ananda]

He was an Impotent voyeur hooked on Valium.

there was very little tantric about him which is my main gripe with him as he said that he was a Tantric master and some how has become the Bench mark for 'Tantra' in the west. and all the tantra is about a 1 hour orgasm stuff pretty much comes straight from his students in poona.

Also the Exstasy trade pretty much first started from his students. They used to spike the punch with E so that everyone could -Feel- the radiant bliss of the master...

 

More importantly Not a single enlightened student, but many brainwashed criminals.

 

I would not follow him but I also still think he Kinda had a good influence in some way on the world.

[Siliconvalley1]

The man might have said some good stuff - not sure, I never liked reading him, but there was evidently a lack of balance with that person. The one book I read was his interpretation of Vijnanabhairava Tantra and it disturbed my tummy. Like Mikaelz pointed out in another thread, there are merits to organized religions and abandoning them totally may deprive one of a lot of traditional wisdom and the systematic way to gain that. Osho was against organized religion - be it Hindu or Buddhist, and his anger at establishment always did not have a reason.

 

A few years before he passed, he was suffering with too many unholy diseases and consulted my guru's teacher, who was also a reputed Ayurvedic physician. From what I hear from my teacher, the man was a walking corpse and radiated a nauseous aura. So whatever his practices were, they did not do him a lot of good towards the end. Most of his first circle students, a few of who are good friends of mine, all left him at some point. Some moved over to other paths and the rest gave a rest to their metaphysical search.

 

And Tantra certainly got blacklisted in India after his advent.

Edited June 4, 2009 by Siliconvalley1

[steve]

When the Shoe Fits was like a touch-stone for me and really stimulated me to start looking for truth.

The Empty Boat was nearly as good.

His stuff on Christianity, Zen, and Buddhism tends to bore me.

He embodied paradox - I think it was partly intentional and partly corruption.

There are many people with worthwhile messages who are inconsistent or corrupt, some more overt than others. Towards the end of his life he was certainly a mess.

I think its worth the effort to read When the Shoe Fits.

No reason to avoid reading anything, IMO.