University years and public speaker: 1951–1970[edit]

In 1951, aged 19, Rajneesh began his studies at Hitkarini College in Jabalpur.[44] Asked to leave after
conflicts with an instructor, he transferred to D. N. Jain College, also in Jabalpur. [45] Having proved
himself to be disruptively argumentative, he was not required to attend college classes at D. N. Jain
College except for examinations and used his free time to work for a few months as an assistant
editor at a local newspaper. [46] He began speaking in public at the annual Sarva Dharma
Sammelan (Meeting of all faiths) held at Jabalpur, organised by the Taranpanthi Jain community into
which he was born, and participated there from 1951 to 1968. [47] He resisted his parents' pressure to
marry.[48] Rajneesh later said he became spiritually enlightened on 21 March 1953, when he was 21
years old, in a mystical experience while sitting under a tree in the Bhanvartal garden in Jabalpur. [49]
Having completed his BA in philosophy at D. N. Jain College in 1955, he joined the University of
Sagar, where in 1957 he earned his MA in philosophy (with distinction). [50] He immediately secured a
teaching position at Raipur Sanskrit College, but the vice-chancellor soon asked him to seek a
transfer as he considered him a danger to his students' morality, character, and religion. [11] From
1958, he taught philosophy as a lecturer at Jabalpur University, being promoted to professor in
1960.[11] A popular lecturer, he was acknowledged by his peers as an exceptionally intelligent man
who had been able to overcome the deficiencies of his early small-town education. [51]
In parallel to his university job, he travelled throughout India under the name Acharya Rajneesh
(Acharya means teacher or professor; Rajneesh was a nickname he had acquired in childhood),
giving lectures critical of socialism, Gandhi, and institutional religions.[10][11][12] He traveled so much that
he would find it difficult to sleep on a normal bed, because he had grown used to sleeping amid the
rocking of railway coach berths.[52]
According to a speech given by Rajneesh in 1969, socialism is the ultimate result of capitalism, and
capitalism itself revolution that brings about socialism. [39] Rajneesh stated that he believed that in
India socialism was inevitable, but fifty, sixty or seventy years hence. India should apply its efforts to
first creating wealth.[53] He said that socialism would socialise only poverty, and he described Gandhi
as a masochist reactionary who worshipped poverty.[10][12] What India needed to escape its
backwardness was capitalism, science, modern technology, and birth control.[10] He did not regard
capitalism and socialism as opposite systems, but considered it disastrous for any country to talk
about socialism without first building a capitalist economy. [39] He criticised orthodox Indian religions
as dead, filled with empty ritual, oppressing their followers with fears of damnation and promises of
blessings.[10][12] Such statements made him controversial, but also gained him a loyal following that
included a number of wealthy merchants and businessmen. [10][54] These sought individual
consultations from him about their spiritual development and daily life, in return for donations and his
practice snowballed.[54] From 1962, he began to lead 3- to 10-day meditation camps, and the first
meditation centres (Jivan Jagruti Kendra) started to emerge around his teaching, then known as the
Life Awakening Movement (Jivan Jagruti Andolan). [55] After a controversial speaking tour in 1966, he
resigned from his teaching post at the request of the university. [11]
In a 1968 lecture series, later published under the title From Sex to Superconsciousness, he
scandalised Hindu leaders by calling for freer acceptance of sex and became known as the "sex
guru" in the Indian press.[9][7] When in 1969 he was invited to speak at the Second World Hindu
Conference, despite the misgivings of some Hindu leaders, his statements raised controversy again
when he said, "Any religion which considers life meaningless and full of misery and teaches the
hatred of life, is not a true religion. Religion is an art that shows how to enjoy life." [56] He compared
the treatment of lower caste shudras and women with the treatment of animals.[57] He
characterised brahmin as being motivated by self-interest, provoking the Shankaracharya of Puri,
who tried in vain to have his lecture stopped. [56]