Thinking - and Osho

[Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian]

Dennis Waite wrote:

>I confess to having had grave suspicions about Rajneesh-Osho or 'whatever he
>calls himself this week' (in fact I gather he changed his name to 'OM'
>before he died - that should give Jaldhar some grounds for more invective!).
>However, the more I read (excepting perhaps the last year or two of his
>life), the more impressed I become with his ability to communicate the
>truths of Advaita (and other traditions). I wonder how much Jaldhar has
>actually read of him? He also defends his behaviour quite well in a number
>of articles. Accordingly, I prefer not to judge or criticise but to take
>what he says and judge it on its own merits.

Strangely enough, I can empathize with what both you and Jaldhar say. To
be honest my views on Osho Rajneesh are exactly what Jaldhar said. OTOH,
I happened to listen to a tape of Rajneesh once and the man's
description of meditation was quite similar to what texts like the
Patanjali yoga sUtra-s say. There is no doubt that he was well versed in
philosophy (he was a lecturer of philosophy in Poona Univ, I think).
However clarity of exposition of texts is hardly a criterion to judge
someone. His ideas on indulgence is hardly conducive to progress. It's
all well and good talking about spontaneity etc, however that's hardly
what happens really. Only a jnani's actions are spontaneous, the rest do
what they please and call themselves spontaneous.

IMO, this is very dangerous. The spontaneity of a jnani is not obtained
by indulging, in fact the opposite is required. Most Indians with the
traditional upbringing like Jaldhar or myself would hardly have any
sympathy for some one who talks excellently (from philosophy texts) but
behaves as he pleases. Reminds me of an incident I read a long time
back. The now late, Ramnath Goenka, the owner of Indian Express was a
deeply spiritual man and also visited Rajneesh once. He was given royal
treatment, since he was quite influential in India. As soon as he
entered the Ashram in Pune, he found a few people in the lawns
implementing Rajneesh's "philosophy". Since Goenka was an ardent devotee
of shrI chandrashekharendra sarasvatI, then the pontiff of the Kanchi
mutt, you can imagine his reaction :-). It was actually not very
different from Jaldhar's (or mine).

Ramakrishnan.