About Osho (Acharya Rajneesh)

Osho (real name Chandra Mohan Jain) was born on 11 December 1931 in a small village called Kuchwada in the state of Madhya Pradesh, central India. He was the eldest in a family of 11 children. The family was engaged in textile trading.

Until the age of 7 he lived with his maternal grandparents. As Osho later noted, this was the most significant time in his development, as his grandmother gave him unlimited freedom, leaving him carefree and not insisting on compulsory education or any other restrictions.

1938. At the age of seven his grandfather, whom he greatly respected and admired, died and he had to move back to his parents. The death of his grandfather, and later the death of his childhood friend and cousin Shashi, profoundly affected the boy. During his school years Osho was thoroughly rebellious yet gifted. As a young man Osho became an atheist, developing an interest in hypnosis, socialism, and two Indian independence movements.

1951. At nineteen years of age Osho began studies at Hitkarini College in Jabalpur. Following a conflict with an instructor, he was transferred to D.N. Jain College, also in Jabalpur. He began giving public speeches. He stood against parental pressure to get married.

On 21 March 1953, at the age of 21, Osho experienced enlightenment at the moment when he abandoned all effort and hope. He later described the seven-day process he experienced in Bhanvartal Garden in Jabalpur, where he sat beneath a tree.

When I entered the garden everything became bright, it was beyond all - a blessing, a bliss. I looked at the trees as if multiplied - their greenness, their life, how their sap flows. The whole garden was asleep, the trees were asleep. But I could see the whole garden alive, even the tiniest blade of grass was beautiful. I looked around. One tree was particularly bright, it attracted me. I did not choose it - God chose it for me. So I came and sat beneath it. The whole universe became a blessing.

1955. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy.

1957. At Sagar University he obtained a Master of Arts degree in philosophy.

1960. From 1958 he had been lecturing at Jabalpur University and was promoted to professor.

In spring 1970 Osho presented the Dynamic Meditation method.

1970. He moved from Jabalpur to Mumbai.

On 26 September 1970 he established a meditation group and the sannyasin teaching.

In 1974, on the 21st anniversary of his enlightenment, he and his followers moved to Pune, where they established a meditation centre in Koregaon Park, which has remained famous to this day. The reason for the move was growing health problems caused by Mumbai's hot and humid climate. In 1981 the Osho Meditation Centre was receiving up to 30,000 visitors a year. Around this time Ma Anand Sheela (Sheela Silverman) became his assistant (secretary).

In 1981 an orthopaedic operation was required and Osho went to the USA. Other sources indicate that the initiator of the move was Sheela, who convinced Osho that his remaining in India was endangered due to his revolutionary views and the criticism he directed at both the existing state system and Hindu teaching.

On 13 June 1981 Sheela's husband purchased a 260 km² ranch located between two counties in Oregon. Despite disagreements with the surrounding residents, in 1982 the ranch was renamed the city of Rajneeshpuram.

Although he lived a modest life, he gained a bad reputation because his followers purchased 93 Rolls-Royce luxury cars for Osho's use.

1982. Osho, withdrawing from public life, transferred powers to Sheela.

 Due to various loud statements and prophecies, as well as various criminal acts committed by Sheela, the organisation came to the attention of law enforcement authorities.

 On 23 October 1985 he was arrested. He was released on bail of $400,000 but was deported from the country.

On 17 November 1986 he returned to Delhi, India. He changed his place of residence countless times, and several countries denied entry to Osho and his followers or did so shortly after his arrival.

In January 1987 Osho returned to Pune.

On 19 January 1990 he died. It was officially announced that heart disease was the cause of his death. Osho's ashes were buried in a specially built bedroom located at the Meditation Centre in Pune. The inscription on the grave reads: "OSHO. Never born, never died. Only visited the planet Earth from 11 December 1931 to 19 January 1990."