Culture and Life Style Magazine

N 723

Chile, 11 June 2004

Highlights from a recent article about Osho and

his books by Chiles largest Life Style magazine.

Trends

THE OSHO PHENOMENON

Incredible. His books are all over the shops, his maxims are recited by actresses,
models and TV animators. The man once known as the "Sex Guru" or "Guru of the
Rich", is today read by hundreds of people who don't know who he was or the
history of the movement that he led in the '80s. Fashion? Self-Help? Massive
Enlightenment? Oshomania?
Hey Egghead! Kenita Larrain (Chilean model)
reads Osho! With an air of surprise and without
judgments, that is the conversation that takes
place between one sannyasin and another in the
Tavelli Ice Cream Store. And it is true -- the way
Kenita found to get through her crisis after
breaking up with "Bam Bam" Zamorano (Chilean
soccer world star) was not talking with her girl
friends. Neither was it going to a spiritual retreat, or
lying on the couch of some fashionable
psychologist. The magic formula she used to find
her inner peace was to read Osho.
The same recipe was used by Ingrid Cruz (Chilean
TV actress) to get out of the depression brought
upon her by family members. Beyond Los Andes,
Natalia Oreiro credits her happiness to this guru,

as do Nacha Guevara and Ludovica Squirru (an

Argentinean writer of a yearly Chinese Horoscope)
who confessed: "Osho has blown my mind":
In between the manicures, pedicures, Pilates classes,
and hair-do sessions, the national show biz elite read
Osho. They recite his teachings on TV programs and
slip his words into newspapers and magazines that
nowadays have seen themselves flooded with phrases
like "the mind is the enemy of man," "intuition is a
leap," or "the essence of wisdom is being in harmony
with the natural rhythm of the universe." His books are
selling like hotcakes not only in bookstores but also in
shopping malls and superstores (Multitiendas) between
the aisles of clothes and domestic electrical
appliances. What is this phenomenon all about?

That Osho has been a Master with thousands of

followers worldwide is nothing new.
What is
astonishing is to hear his name--and his teachings-uttered by many who until recently knew nothing of
the existence of this long-bearded guru with the
profound eyes, who died in India in 1990. Now,
among his well known followers are Angela Contreras
(Chilean movie actress) and her husband, Roy Burns;
Francisca Merino (Chilean TV actress), Mario Azocar
(Actor), Katyna Huberman (TV star of many
successful programs) and Alejandro Tonda.
But Oshos message has expanded in the last two
years. Many of his discourses have been compiled
under titles such as Creatividad, Intuicion, Intimidad,
with covers in pastel tones and designs that shout out
loud that they are spiritual self-help texts. They say
that this expansion and mainstream appeal was
something Osho foresaw on his death bed. "Before
leaving his body, one of the messages that Osho sent
to the sannyasins (his disciples) was that we would
be surprised by the number of people that would
come, says Baula, daughter and sister of
sannyasins, who has followed his teaching since she
was 21 years old. "And the old man was not wrong".

OSHO Inc.
In Chile, the movement of Osho has deep roots. His
following dates back to the beginning of the 80's,
when he was not yet called Osho, but Bhagwan
Shree Rajneesh. The first echoes of his message
arrived from India, where the Master had founded an
ashram of six acres in Poona. Now the "Commune"
has changed to "Osho Meditation Resort".
Fascinated with the teachings of this Master which
proposed a path of syncretism between Hinduism,
Zen
Buddhism,
Christianity,
Classic
Greek
Philosophy, many other traditional philosophies,
psychology and new forms of therapies and
meditation, many members of the so called "elite of
Santiago became sannyasins, which at the time
involved dressing in red from head to toe, Their
choice had a cost for many, including being
disinherited by their families. "My mother discovered
Osho when she was 40 and my dad 45, says
Ananta, Baulas sister. They had everything in the
world, but they couldn't find a way to live their
spirituality. For them it was suicide or becoming a
sannyasin.
"It's the same thing that is going on now: The world is
so crazy -- people realize that whats available
doesn't work and they are looking for other ways to
be happy. They know that just being a consumer has
no meaning. Osho used to say that people who had
money knew they would not be happy because of it,
but the poor still had hopes. That's why they called
him "The Guru of the Rich," says Baula.

The truth is that Osho always surrounded himself

with luxury. At his 65-thousand acre ranch in
Oregon, USA --where he lived between 1981 and
1987- his 27 white Rolls Royces were famous.
"Osho always proclaimed that luxuries and the inner
life had to be enjoyed, he saw no contradiction
between the two." says a sannyasin.
"Osho's message was for humanity. He settled
down in USA and bought the Rolls Royces to attract
attention and make himself known. Today, it's a fact;
he is by far the most famous guru in the world,"
says Ananta. And he is absolutely right: the 750
Osho Meditation Centers that are spread in 80
counties across the world testify to the fact, as does
the publication in six languages of the Osho Times
International, which is distributed all over planet
Earth. And celebrities over the entire world pay
homage to his memory.
The fact that in Chile many are just beginning to
know him is surprising, but it has a reason.
Today, 14 years after his death, Osho's legacy is
handled by the "Inner Circle" which has transformed
the former "Commune" into a resort with hotel
included, where tourists from all over the world can
participate through "package tours" including
meditation. This, along with the fact that many major
publishers now have Osho book programs, are
some of the measures that have worked. The
number of visitors has gone up 50 per cent , and 88
per cent of the increase are people who are not
sannyasins. Osho books in Spanish have sold more
than 500 thousand copies in two years.. "If today's
handling of his legacy his very commercial, that is
very Osho-like: he told us that there is no
contradiction between the spirit and the world. It
can be Osho Inc. and still be very spiritual", reveals
a disciple who lived with him in Poona.

SAMMASATI
Uptown Providencia (a well known sector in
Santiago) in the Dehesa Mall, where purses made
by Louis Vuitton are sold along with backpacks, it is
possible to find the guru's books. "The increase of
public interest in Osho is due to his unprejudiced
and courageous vision that presents solutions,
guidance and counsel for the modern man, affirms
Luis Martin Santos, agent for Osho in Spain. This is
a view confirmed by Jimena Pizarro, owner of the
bookshop "LILA" where the old books of Osho can
still be found, with their panoramic covers.
Many of the people who have recently
discovered the teachings of the guru are women that
feel an emptiness in their inner life. "In Osho I found
the peace I was looking for. He has shown me that I
must not search outside for what I have inside of
me, that I must put aside the wrapping and
concentrate on the content", says a young
professional woman who, after reading Osho has
began to meditate.

"Osho is totally open, and that is why he reaches

everyone.
People of different races, social
classes,
nationalities,
beliefs,
types
of
personalities, show business people, or very
mystical people who spend their time meditating 24
hours a day....." says Baula.
Whether it is just a fashion or not, thats not a
concern for the sannyasins: The last thing I could
have imagined is that Osho would become a
fashion, says Vikrant. He was one of the most
iconoclastic masters that have ever existed.
Since Oshos words are not the same as that of
Jesus, those of Socrates or those of Mohammad,
since his philosophy took something of all currents,
his message is well received in all parts of society.
"Now Osho seems to be in fashion and probably
many people read him because of that. But it
doesnt matter if somebody gets something good
out of it, so much the better, says Katyna
Huberman.
Today, even the most devoted followers of Osho
are choosing their individual way.
Which is
something their own guru taught them. His last
words were "Sammasati, Be a light unto
yourself," says a sannyasin. "That's what many of
us are doing.
"What I feel now is that each Osho disciple carries
his message. He said it when he left his body:
"Now, when I die, I will dissolve in my people and
as you can taste the ocean anywhere it is salty,
you will be able to taste any of my sannyasins and
you feel the same taste. Exactly that.

Alejandra Parada Escribano

Tom Robbins & Osho on Wikipedia screen shot, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7IUM4lCrs

Tom Robbins & Osho on Wikipedia screen shot, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7IUM4lCrs

KANSAI SCENE, Osaka, Japan

July 2007
A free summer travel guide distributed in Japan

Article published in The Library of Analysis, (Biblioteka Analiz) bi-weekly,

May 22nd 2007-06-12
Arranged through Bo Jurkevich [bo@nowyhoryzont.com.pl]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 3:36 PM
highlights of the article

The Earth and the Skies United.

The phenomenon of growing interest in the spiritual literature based on
example of OSHO books.

For several years now I visit quite frequently American bookstores. For a couple of years
it is clearly noticeable that the amount of books that represent Spiritual Literature is
growing rapidly. This trend starts also picking up in Poland.
There are numerous new categories and sub-categories created within this group. The
same tendency can be seen in Internet bookstores. For example the Internet Bookstore
Science and Religion has doubled the quantity of the offered spiritual bestsellers from
500 in 2001 to over 1040 in 2007.
Sera Beak, the Author of The Red Book (planned by Nowy Horyzont in 2008) forecasts
in her book that in the next couple of years there will be more spiritual books sold than
fiction.
More and more often books from the spiritual group are being placed on the bestselling
lists. More and more often people are seeking the spiritual websites.
One of the examples is the Osho.com website (and here I provide statistics regarding
rapidly growing quantity of visitors from the article about Osho Publishing). On this
website you can find variety of subjects from information about Osho Meditation
Resort in Puna to Osho Library where you can read any chosen Osho book.
There is over 700 titles of Osho books published and they are being translated to over 50
languages.
Osho teachings are bridging Eastern and Western ways of living. In his opinion the ideal
man should not only know how to enjoy pleasures of life but also how to meditate for
pleasure of your spirit.
Tom Robbins wrote about Osho (excerpt from the cover of Leonard Cohen songs: The
Tower of Song). Shortly - about Zorba the Budda concept.
Osho books are being published by well-known Publishers (Random House, Penguin,
Mondadori.) In Poland there are currently over 20 Osho titles on the market published
by KOS, Santorski, Ravi, Garmond and Nowy Horyzont.

Each book of the popular series New Horizon published by Garmond/Nowy Horyzont
faces one important problem of the contemporary person. It provides diagnosis and leads
the reader toward finding his own way to solve it.
The growing popularity of the spiritual literature has many reasons. The most important
seem to be related to our fear of commercialization, growing consumption, ecological
catastrophe, genetic experiments, war and massive destruction.
The spiritualization of life seems to be a proper way to help ourselves in order to be
able to help the World.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/commentary-chanting-osho-and-letting-go/2014/04/30/46427bf8-d098-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html

Religion

COMMENTARY: Chanting Osho and letting go

By Chhaya Nene | Religion News Service, Updated: Wednesday, April 30, 2:50 PM

PUNE, India The large crowd of followers shouted, Osho! Osho! Osho! as Kundalini meditation
started. For me, Osho became Oh-no!
If I chanted his name would I betray my faith?
Hindus believe prayers can reach God in
whatever form, be it Allah or Jesus or Shiva.
Osho wasnt God, so was chanting his name
OK? I decided against it. I wasnt quite ready
to let go of everything I knew.
I was dressed head to toe in the mandatory
floor-length maroon robes, like the more than
100 spiritual seekers from Russia to South
America and from Japan to the U.S. who were
also there that day. Yet I felt I didnt blend in.
My brown skin stuck out against the paler
shades in the room. I was reminded of
something I had known all along. I have
always had one foot in the American world,
and the other firmly entrenched in my Indian
roots.
I had no idea whether I was ready for the
Osho International Meditation Resort. But
chanting a name other than the divine ones I
believe in felt wrong.
The resort is tucked away in Koregaon Park,
one of the most prestigious residential areas
in the city. Wealth is evident in the elegant
white houses that nestle among trees, fields
and peacocks strutting on the grounds.
This wasnt the Pune I had spent time visiting
as a child. This felt opulent, and even
ostentatious.
In 1974 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a
philosophy professor turned mystic and sex
guru, founded an ashram in Pune that
attracted thousands of spiritual seekers. After
trouble with the local authorities, Rajneesh

decamped for the U.S., where he established a

controversial commune in Oregon. Charged
with immigration fraud and bioterrorism,
Rajneesh was deported from the U.S.
He and his followers eventually returned to
Pune. Rajneesh took on the name Osho
(Buddhist high priest), reflecting the
increased focus on Zen in his discourses. The
controversial guru, who died in 1990,
renamed the ashram the Osho International
Meditation Resort.
As my mind raced through this multicolored
history, I heard that chant, Osho! Osho!
Osho! Kundalini meditation had begun.
Shake your body, but dont will the shake. If
you will the shake you wont enjoy it, and if
you enjoy it, you wont be willing it, a young
British voice boomed out from a loudspeaker
projecting Oshos teachings.
I looked around anxiously. There they were.
My classmates, my professor and a sea of
people who had come to find their true
selves through partaking in an active
meditation. But I actively resisted.
Would joining this strange ritual mean I was
abandoning my Hindu heritage? Would it
make me some kind of an Indian freak? Was I
idolizing a bearded old man who had taken
things too far?
I saw an Indian couple who told me they had
come for a weekend escape. They were
shaking to bells and started dancing with no

patterns. Slowly I found my inhibitions

melting away.

Exams? Trying to make everyone happy?

Running five minutes behind schedule?

When the dancing stopped and silent

meditation began, I realized that I had never
been able to surrender to a religious or
spiritual experience without putting up both
emotional and mental walls.
Oshos meditations were unlike any Hindu
meditation I was taught as a child. Meditation
was always a silent act. The focus is on the
third eye and saying the word Aum. That
was my social conditioning. That was
Hinduism.

Were all
anymore?

Oshos teachings are not Hinduism; he had

rejected all institutionalized religion.
But there are echoes of religion in his system,
and if Hinduism encourages embracing all
different cultures and experiences, I was going
to do it.
I decided I would do what the voice coming
from the speakers told me. I would open my
mind and embrace the experience.

Osho wasnt brown enough for me, and maybe

I wasnt brown enough to understand why
some Indians wanted to escape to this place
and to chant his name.

The soft music coming from the speakers now

sounded like a roar. My other senses became
keener too.

those

I had taken a step into the spiritual and

religious world through meditations and
reached a higher level of consciousness. I had
come to a new level through Oshos teachings.
All of a sudden it didnt matter that I was
Indian-American or that this wasnt
Hinduism. I had tapped into a new spiritual
plane and I could see its appeal.
For the first time I was able to connect with
some part of myself where all the stressors in
my life seemed unimportant. Homework?

really

important

I had found a small nugget of peace,

something I could hold onto when life began
to spin out of control. And that was
invaluable.
Maybe Osho wasnt Hindu, and maybe his
methods were unorthodox, but my experience
was real.

But I was ready to ready to stop worrying

about shades of brown and focus on the
maroon.
(Chhaya Nene is a graduate student at the
University of Southern California and traveled
to India recently as part of a class trip.)
YS/MG END NENE

As I let my mind wander, I could see what a

drop of water looks like. I saw what happens
when water droplets make contact with the
ground and explode, the swimming path of
catfish and the slow growth of a plant.
I was so deep within this mental state that I
felt as though I was having an out-of-body
experience. It made me excited and scared at
the same time.

things

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/commentary-chanting-osho-and-letting-go/2014/04/30/46427bf8-d098-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html

Religion

COMMENTARY: Chanting Osho and letting go

By Chhaya Nene | Religion News Service, Updated: Wednesday, April 30, 2:50 PM

PUNE, India The large crowd of followers shouted, Osho! Osho! Osho! as Kundalini meditation
started. For me, Osho became Oh-no!
If I chanted his name would I betray my faith?
Hindus believe prayers can reach God in
whatever form, be it Allah or Jesus or Shiva.
Osho wasnt God, so was chanting his name
OK? I decided against it. I wasnt quite ready
to let go of everything I knew.
I was dressed head to toe in the mandatory
floor-length maroon robes, like the more than
100 spiritual seekers from Russia to South
America and from Japan to the U.S. who were
also there that day. Yet I felt I didnt blend in.
My brown skin stuck out against the paler
shades in the room. I was reminded of
something I had known all along. I have
always had one foot in the American world,
and the other firmly entrenched in my Indian
roots.
I had no idea whether I was ready for the
Osho International Meditation Resort. But
chanting a name other than the divine ones I
believe in felt wrong.
The resort is tucked away in Koregaon Park,
one of the most prestigious residential areas
in the city. Wealth is evident in the elegant
white houses that nestle among trees, fields
and peacocks strutting on the grounds.
This wasnt the Pune I had spent time visiting
as a child. This felt opulent, and even
ostentatious.
In 1974 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a
philosophy professor turned mystic and sex
guru, founded an ashram in Pune that
attracted thousands of spiritual seekers. After
trouble with the local authorities, Rajneesh

decamped for the U.S., where he established a

controversial commune in Oregon. Charged
with immigration fraud and bioterrorism,
Rajneesh was deported from the U.S.
He and his followers eventually returned to
Pune. Rajneesh took on the name Osho
(Buddhist high priest), reflecting the
increased focus on Zen in his discourses. The
controversial guru, who died in 1990,
renamed the ashram the Osho International
Meditation Resort.
As my mind raced through this multicolored
history, I heard that chant, Osho! Osho!
Osho! Kundalini meditation had begun.
Shake your body, but dont will the shake. If
you will the shake you wont enjoy it, and if
you enjoy it, you wont be willing it, a young
British voice boomed out from a loudspeaker
projecting Oshos teachings.
I looked around anxiously. There they were.
My classmates, my professor and a sea of
people who had come to find their true
selves through partaking in an active
meditation. But I actively resisted.
Would joining this strange ritual mean I was
abandoning my Hindu heritage? Would it
make me some kind of an Indian freak? Was I
idolizing a bearded old man who had taken
things too far?
I saw an Indian couple who told me they had
come for a weekend escape. They were
shaking to bells and started dancing with no

patterns. Slowly I found my inhibitions

melting away.

Exams? Trying to make everyone happy?

Running five minutes behind schedule?

When the dancing stopped and silent

meditation began, I realized that I had never
been able to surrender to a religious or
spiritual experience without putting up both
emotional and mental walls.
Oshos meditations were unlike any Hindu
meditation I was taught as a child. Meditation
was always a silent act. The focus is on the
third eye and saying the word Aum. That
was my social conditioning. That was
Hinduism.

Were all
anymore?

Oshos teachings are not Hinduism; he had

rejected all institutionalized religion.
But there are echoes of religion in his system,
and if Hinduism encourages embracing all
different cultures and experiences, I was going
to do it.
I decided I would do what the voice coming
from the speakers told me. I would open my
mind and embrace the experience.

Osho wasnt brown enough for me, and maybe

I wasnt brown enough to understand why
some Indians wanted to escape to this place
and to chant his name.

The soft music coming from the speakers now

sounded like a roar. My other senses became
keener too.

those

I had taken a step into the spiritual and

religious world through meditations and
reached a higher level of consciousness. I had
come to a new level through Oshos teachings.
All of a sudden it didnt matter that I was
Indian-American or that this wasnt
Hinduism. I had tapped into a new spiritual
plane and I could see its appeal.
For the first time I was able to connect with
some part of myself where all the stressors in
my life seemed unimportant. Homework?

really

important

I had found a small nugget of peace,

something I could hold onto when life began
to spin out of control. And that was
invaluable.
Maybe Osho wasnt Hindu, and maybe his
methods were unorthodox, but my experience
was real.

But I was ready to ready to stop worrying

about shades of brown and focus on the
maroon.
(Chhaya Nene is a graduate student at the
University of Southern California and traveled
to India recently as part of a class trip.)
YS/MG END NENE

As I let my mind wander, I could see what a

drop of water looks like. I saw what happens
when water droplets make contact with the
ground and explode, the swimming path of
catfish and the slow growth of a plant.
I was so deep within this mental state that I
felt as though I was having an out-of-body
experience. It made me excited and scared at
the same time.

things

Interview with Jaden and Willow Smith by Pharrell Williams, American singer-songwriter, rapper, and
record producer.
The full interview on
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/willow-and-jaden-smith/#_