Rajneesh movement

The Osho movement is a new religious movement founded and inspired by the Indian guru and philosopher Osho (formerly known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) (1931 – 1990) that has survived the guru's death. Centers, groups and individuals inspired by his teachings can be found all over the world, but the movement is most visible in India and Nepal, where it has entered the mainstream of society.

The movement's syncretic teachings combine elements of Western philosophy, Hinduism, Zen and several other religious sources, with an admixture of Western psychotherapeutic approaches.

In the 1980s it had an intentional community near Antelope, Oregon, United States, called Rajneeshpuram. The movement was very controversial when Osho was alive, both in India and in Western Europe and the United States. Its notoriety was mainly due to the provocative and iconoclastic speeches of its founder, its very open attitude towards sex, and later the conflicts and scandals surrounding the establishment and collapse of the Rajneeshpuram commune.

The Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune attracts 200,000 visitors annually.

The movement's main center today is the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune, India.

Participants in the Osho movement are called neo-sannyasins, the prefix "neo" being used to distinguish them from traditional Hindu sannyasins, or renunciants, though that prefix is usually omitted in casual parlance. In the past, neo-sannyasins were also known as Rajneeshees and sometimes as "Orange People" because of the orange clothes they used to wear. The press in India tends to refer to them as "Oshoites".

Literature

• Judith M. Fox, Osho Rajneesh. Studies in Contemporary Religion Series, No. 4 (Signature Books) 2002 ISBN 1-56085-156-2 (Excerpts available here)

External links

• Osho International Meditation Resort
• Considering Controversy and Stagnation in the Osho Rajneesh Movement
• Article The Rise and Fall of Rajneeshpuram in Ashé Journal