Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
@Kerome said:
Interestingly, Osho often taught the need to think for yourself, to be intelligent and not follow the crowd blindly. Although the scandals around his Oregon time have gotten a lot of publicity, I do think that the net balance of his teachings and legacy is a positive one...
Well, I was there in the 1970's and 1980's, and all the negative publicity that I see does not gell with what I saw. I think some kind of backlash was inevitable, given that there is money to be made from salacious books and click-inducing websites, but much of it seems to be mixtures of half-truths, lies and projection of the writers. Things like
Calder has also written: "Ask yourself this question. What does the average Mafia crime boss or corrupt dictator want most? The answer is millions of dollars, absolute power, a harem of women, and a daily supply of booze or drugs. Now ask yourself what did Rajneesh want and get? The answer is millions of dollars, absolute power, a harem of women, and a daily supply of drugs.
Is a perfect case in point. Rajneesh was not wealthy, he left the management of the communes almost entirely to others. The exceptions were the gifts. He did not have absolute power, he taught people to think for themselves. As far as I know he did not have anything even slightly like a harem, and I think that would have been noticed. The nitrous oxide episode is true, but so what? Many people do a lot worse, and taking ecstasy in clubs is close to the norm these days.
It's hard to see the truth about Osho because there is a natural inclination to want to know the worst, and if you look there are some loud voices talking about the problems. What you don't see is the overwhelmingly positive effect on hundreds of thousands of people who are quietly doing their thing.
0
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Thank you for the link. I found it an interesting read in the end, there was quite a lot of it and there was much convincing testimony there that I hadn't seen before, even if it was mixed in with a lot of sensationalist quotes and was obviously written by someone looking for the worst and ready to discard much of the best.
In the end I feel that for a lot of people who joined, Osho's movement did not result in bad things. Neo-sannyasins largely went in with their eyes open - around 75% were educated to high school level, 64% had a university education, the average age was in the early 30's. They were not dewy-eyed school leavers, and most got a fair amount out of the experience.
The fact that the heart of the movement was not unsullied and pure is a pity, but starting on a spiritual path with enlightenment in mind, as well as meditation, and a good grounding in other religious approaches, is not a bad place. And the experience of a guru who has actually achieved, the energy field of that, is pretty unique, even if he did not manage the ethical achievement to go with that.
But there comes a time when you move beyond where you start, and I have found much in Buddhism that complements and completes what I gained from the time with Osho. The paramita, the N8FP, the meditations, the three poisons, the ten fetters, these have all been great. Where I notice the clash the most is in the focus of the 4NT on dhukka compared to Osho's stance of celebrating life - these are diametrically opposed. It's going to be interesting
Comments
Well, I was there in the 1970's and 1980's, and all the negative publicity that I see does not gell with what I saw. I think some kind of backlash was inevitable, given that there is money to be made from salacious books and click-inducing websites, but much of it seems to be mixtures of half-truths, lies and projection of the writers. Things like
Is a perfect case in point. Rajneesh was not wealthy, he left the management of the communes almost entirely to others. The exceptions were the gifts. He did not have absolute power, he taught people to think for themselves. As far as I know he did not have anything even slightly like a harem, and I think that would have been noticed. The nitrous oxide episode is true, but so what? Many people do a lot worse, and taking ecstasy in clubs is close to the norm these days.
It's hard to see the truth about Osho because there is a natural inclination to want to know the worst, and if you look there are some loud voices talking about the problems. What you don't see is the overwhelmingly positive effect on hundreds of thousands of people who are quietly doing their thing.
Thank you for the link. I found it an interesting read in the end, there was quite a lot of it and there was much convincing testimony there that I hadn't seen before, even if it was mixed in with a lot of sensationalist quotes and was obviously written by someone looking for the worst and ready to discard much of the best.
In the end I feel that for a lot of people who joined, Osho's movement did not result in bad things. Neo-sannyasins largely went in with their eyes open - around 75% were educated to high school level, 64% had a university education, the average age was in the early 30's. They were not dewy-eyed school leavers, and most got a fair amount out of the experience.
The fact that the heart of the movement was not unsullied and pure is a pity, but starting on a spiritual path with enlightenment in mind, as well as meditation, and a good grounding in other religious approaches, is not a bad place. And the experience of a guru who has actually achieved, the energy field of that, is pretty unique, even if he did not manage the ethical achievement to go with that.
But there comes a time when you move beyond where you start, and I have found much in Buddhism that complements and completes what I gained from the time with Osho. The paramita, the N8FP, the meditations, the three poisons, the ten fetters, these have all been great. Where I notice the clash the most is in the focus of the 4NT on dhukka compared to Osho's stance of celebrating life - these are diametrically opposed. It's going to be interesting