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{{Short description|Indian mystic (1931–1990)}}
{{Redirect|Osho||Rajneesh (disambiguation)|and|Osho (disambiguation)}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix = 
| name             = Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
| image            = Bhagwan beweging gekwetst door reclame-affiche van het NRC met de tekst profeet, Bestanddeelnr 933-0734-cropped.jpg
| image_size       = 225px
| caption          = Rajneesh, {{circa}} 1977
| birth_name       = Chandra Mohan Jain
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|df=yes|1931|12|11}}
| birth_place      = Kuchwada, [[Bhopal State]], British Raj
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1990|01|19|1931|12|11}}
| death_place      = [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]], India
| nationality      = Indian
| education        = [[Dr. Hari Singh Gour University]]
([[Master of Arts|MA]])
| movement         = [[Neo-sannyasins]]<ref name="Chryssides 2001">{{harvnb|Chryssides|1999|pp=206–214}}</ref>
| field            = [[Spirituality]], [[mysticism]], [[anti-religion]]<ref name="Chryssides 2001"/>
| works            = 
| memorials        = Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune
| signature        = Osho signature.webp
| website          = {{URL|osho.com}}
}}

'''Rajneesh''' (born '''Chandra Mohan Jain'''; 11 December 1931{{spnd}}19 January 1990), also known as '''Acharya Rajneesh''',<ref name="Gordon26-27">{{Harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=26–27}}</ref><ref name="Chryssides 2001"/> and commonly known as '''Osho''' ({{IPA|hi|ˈoːʃoː|lang}}), was an Indian [[Godman (India)|godman]],{{sfn|Mehta|1993|pp=83–154}} [[philosopher]], [[Mysticism|mystic]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rajneesh movement {{!}} History, Beliefs, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rajneesh-movement |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> and founder of the [[Rajneesh movement]].<ref name="Chryssides 2001"/> He was a controversial [[new religious movement]] leader during his life. He [[Anti-religion|rejected institutional religions]],<ref>{{Cite web|author=Osho |title=14.&nbsp;The Only Hope: The Enlightenment of Humanity |url=https://www.osho.com/osho-online-library/osho-talks/religion-being-atheism-3f1213a0-2d0?p=789176b1b3274ece433bab8494a34af1|work=From Personality to Individuality|via=Osho.com}}</ref><ref name="Chryssides 2001"/><ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=30 April 2014|title=Commentary: Chanting 'Osho' and letting go|agency=[[Religion News Service]] |first=Chhaya |last=Nene |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/commentary-chanting-osho-and-letting-go/2014/04/30/46427bf8-d098-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html}}<!-- This is an opinion piece from the personal perspective of the author, which makes it non-authoritative unreliable personal commentary. It also does not say what this says that it says. It says he "rejected all institutionalized religion", not that he rejected all religion and was an anti-religious atheist. --></ref> insisting that spiritual experience could not be organized into any one system of religious [[dogma]].<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |title=Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhagwan-Shree-Rajneesh |website=Britannica |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref> As a [[guru]], he advocated [[meditation]] and taught a unique form called [[dynamic meditation]]. Rejecting traditional [[ascetic]] practices, he encouraged his followers to embrace life fully while remaining unattached to worldly desires.

Rajneesh experienced a [[religious experience|spiritual awakening]] in 1953 at the age of 21.<ref name="Britannica"/> Following several years in academia, in 1966 Rajneesh resigned his post at the [[University of Jabalpur]] as a lecturer in philosophy, and began traveling throughout India, becoming known for his criticism of the orthodoxy of mainstream religions,<ref name="Chryssides 2001"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/12984.ch01.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=25 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325163212/https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/12984.ch01.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=150}}</ref><ref name="Joshi 1982 pp=1–4">{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|pp=1–4}}</ref> as well as of mainstream political ideologies and of [[Mahatma Gandhi]].<ref name="FF1-77" /><ref name="LFC44" /><ref name="JSG26-27" /> In 1970, Rajneesh spent time in [[Mumbai]] initiating followers referred to as "[[Rajneesh movement|neo-sannyasins]]".<ref name="Chryssides 2001"/> During this period, he expanded his spiritual teachings and commented extensively in discourses on the writings of religious traditions, mystics, [[Bhakti movement#Key figures|bhakti poets]], and philosophers from around the world. In 1974, Rajneesh relocated to [[Pune]], where an [[ashram]] was established and a variety of therapies, incorporating methods first developed by the [[Human Potential Movement]], were offered to a growing Western following.<ref name=Joshi123>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=123}}</ref><ref name="BM26">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=26}}</ref> By the late 1970s, the tension{{clarify|date=April 2025}} between the ruling [[Janata Party]] government of [[Morarji Desai]] and the movement led to a curbing of the ashram's development and a back tax claim estimated at $5&nbsp;million.<ref name="LFC6364">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|pp=63–64}}</ref>

In 1981, the Rajneesh movement shifted its focus to the United States, where Rajneesh established a commune called [[Rajneeshpuram]] in [[Wasco County, Oregon]]. The movement ran into conflict with county residents and the [[State governments of the United States|state government]], and a succession of legal battles concerning the ashram's construction and continued development curtailed its success. In 1985, Rajneesh publicly asked local authorities to investigate his personal secretary [[Ma Anand Sheela]] and her close supporters for a number of crimes, including [[1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack|a 1984 mass food-poisoning attack]] intended to influence county elections, [[1985 Rajneeshee assassination plot|an aborted assassination plot]] on U.S. attorney [[Charles H. Turner (attorney)|Charles H. Turner]], the attempted murder of Rajneesh's personal physician, and the [[bugging]] of his own living quarters; authorities later convicted several members of the ashram, including Sheela.<ref name="FF2-108" /> That year, Rajneesh was [[Deportation and removal from the United States|deported]] from the United States on separate immigration-related charges in accordance with an [[Alford plea|''Alford'' plea]].<ref name=Latkin342 /><ref>{{Cite news|title =Wasco County History|work=Oregon Historical County Records Guide|publisher =Oregon State Archives|url=https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/records/county/Pages/wasco-history.aspx|access-date=22 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184622/https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/records/county/Pages/wasco-history.aspx|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh|work=Newsmakers 1990|pages=Issue 2|publisher=Gale Research|year=1990 }}</ref> After his deportation, 21 countries denied him entry.<ref>{{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=xxii}}</ref>

Rajneesh returned to Mumbai in 1986 and, after a period of public discourse, moved back to Pune in January 1987 to revive his ashram, where he died in 1990.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Joshi|first=Vasant|title=Osho, the luminous rebel: life story of a maverick mystic|publisher=Wisdom Tree|year=2010|isbn=978-81-8328-154-6|location=New Delhi|pages=210|language=English|oclc=496597032}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Appleton|first=Sue|title=Was Bhagwan Poisoned by Ronald Reagan's America?|publisher=Rebel Publishing House|year=1988|isbn=3-89338-041-8|location=Germany|pages=60|language=English}}</ref> Rajneesh's ashram, now known as OSHO International Meditation Resort,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/sex-robes-and-gurus-299/|title=I Charged My Sexual Energies at the OSHO Meditation Resort in India|website=Vice|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912191809/https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/xd7qp4/sex-robes-and-gurus-299|archive-date=12 September 2017|url-status=live|date=19 April 2015}}</ref> and all associated intellectual property, is managed by the registered Osho International Foundation (formerly Rajneesh International Foundation).<ref name="osho.com">[http://www.osho.com/trademarks Trademarks of Osho International Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619140511/http://www.osho.com/trademarks |date=19 June 2018 }}. Retrieved 20 June 2018.</ref><ref>[http://www.osho.com/oshointernationalfoundation OSHO International Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620232417/http://www.osho.com/oshointernationalfoundation |date=20 June 2018 }} "is a registered foundation of Switzerland, founded in 1984 and is the owner of all the intellectual property of the contemporary mystic Osho (1931–1990) and the sole and registered owner of all of the copyrights ..."</ref> Rajneesh's teachings have had an impact on Western [[New Age]] thought,<ref>{{harvnb|Heelas|1996|pp=22, 40, 68, 72, 77, 95–96}}</ref><ref name=GIA177>{{harvnb|Forsthoefel|Humes|2005|p=177}}</ref> and their popularity increased after his death.<ref name="HBU-TSSP" /><ref name=GIA182-183>{{harvnb|Forsthoefel|Humes|2005|pp=182–183}}</ref>

== Life ==

===Childhood and adolescence: 1931–1950===
Rajneesh (a childhood nickname from the [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|रजनी}}, {{Transliteration|sa|rajanee}}, "night", and {{lang|sa|ईश}}, {{Transliteration|sa|isha}}, "lord") was born Chandra Mohan Jain into a [[Jain]] family to ''Babulal'' and ''Saraswati Jain''. He was the eldest of eleven children of a cloth merchant. He was born at his maternal grandparents’ home in Kuchwada, a small village in the [[Raisen District]] of [[Madhya Pradesh]] state in India.<ref name=Mullan10-11>{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=10–11}}</ref><ref name=Mangalwadi88>{{harvnb|Mangalwadi|1992|p=88}}</ref><ref name="JSG21">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=21}}</ref> His parents were followers of the Digambar Jain monk [[Taran Svami]]. They arranged for him to live with his maternal grandparents until the age of eight.<ref name="BM11">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=11}}</ref> According to Rajneesh, this profoundly influenced his development, as his grandmother gave him complete freedom from imposed education or restrictions.<ref>{{harvnb|Osho|1985|p=''passim''}}</ref>

When he was seven years old, his grandfather died, and he went to [[Gadarwara]] to live with his parents.<ref name=Mullan10-11 /><ref name=Joshi22-48 /> Rajneesh was profoundly affected by his grandfather's death, and again by the death of his childhood girlfriend Shashi from [[typhoid]] when he was 15, leading to a preoccupation with death that lasted throughout much of his childhood and youth.<ref name=Joshi22-48>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|pp=22–25, 31, 45–48}}</ref><ref name="JSG22">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=22}}</ref> In his school years, he was a gifted and rebellious student, and gained a reputation as a formidable debater.<ref name="FF1-77">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=77}}</ref> Rajneesh became critical of traditional religion, took an interest in many methods to expand consciousness, including [[Pranayama|breath control]], [[Yoga|yogic]] exercises, meditation, [[fasting]], [[Occult|the occult]], and [[hypnosis]]. According to Vasant Joshi, Rajneesh read widely from an early age; although he played sports as a young boy, reading was his primary interest.<ref name=":5" /> After showing an interest in the writings of [[Marx]] and [[Engels]], he was branded a [[communist]] and was threatened with expulsion from school. According to Joshi, with the help of friends, he built a small library containing mostly communist literature. Rajneesh, according to his uncle Amritlal, also formed a group of young people that regularly discussed communist ideology and their opposition to religion.<ref name=":5" />

Rajneesh was later to say, "I have been interested in communism from my very childhood...communist literature — perhaps there is no book that is missing from my library. I have signed and dated each book before 1950. Small details are so vivid before me, because that was my first entry into the intellectual world. First I was deeply interested in communism, but finding that it is a corpse I became interested in [[anarchism]] — that was also a Russian phenomenon — [[Prince Kropotkin]], [[Mikhail Bakunin|Bakunin]], [[Leo Tolstoy]]. All three were anarchists: no state, no government in the world."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Anand Urmila|first=Ma|title=Osho: Call of the Ocean|publisher=Zorba Designs, Hotel Surya Villa, Koregaon Park, Pune|year=2007|location=India|pages=101}}</ref>

He became briefly associated with [[socialism]] and two Indian nationalist organisations: the [[Indian National Army]] and the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]].<ref name="FF1-77" /><ref name="JSG23">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=23}}</ref><ref name="Joshi38">{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=38}}</ref> However, his membership in the organisations was short-lived as he could not submit to any external discipline, ideology, or system.<ref>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=11}}</ref>

=== University years and public speaker: 1951–1970 ===
In 1951, aged 19, Rajneesh began his studies at [[Hitkarini College of Engineering and Technology|Hitkarini College]] in [[Jabalpur]].<ref>{{harvnb|Süss|1996|p=29}}</ref> Asked to leave after conflicts with an instructor, he transferred to D. N. Jain College, also in Jabalpur.<ref name=Carter43>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=43}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Joshi50>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=50}}</ref> 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.<ref>Smarika, ''Sarva Dharma Sammelan'', 1974, ''[[Taran Panth|Taran Taran Samaj]]'', Jabalpur</ref> He resisted his parents' pressure to marry.<ref name="LT15">(1985) Interview with Howard Sattler, 6PR Radio, Australia, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ocbZhRQS9I video available here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130174649/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ocbZhRQS9I |date=30 November 2016 }}. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref> 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.<ref name="BM12">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=12}}</ref>

Having completed his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in philosophy at D. N. Jain College in 1955, he joined the [[University of Sagar]], where in 1957, he earned his [[Master of Arts (postgraduate)|MA]] in philosophy (with distinction).<ref name=Joshi185>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=185}}</ref> 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.<ref name="LFC44" /> From 1958, he taught philosophy as a lecturer at [[Jabalpur University]], being promoted to professor in 1960.<ref name="LFC44" /> 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.<ref name="JSG25">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=25}}</ref>

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.<ref name="FF1-77" /><ref name="LFC44" /><ref name="JSG26-27">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=26–27}}</ref> He travelled 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Prashant|first=Acharya|title=What do you think of Osho?|url=https://library.acharyaprashant.org/english/read/50dbae|access-date=23 August 2021|website=library.acharyaprashant.org|language=en}}</ref>

According to a speech given by Rajneesh in 1969, socialism is the ultimate result of capitalism, and capitalism itself, of revolution that brings about socialism.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|first=Satya |last=Vedant |title=The awakened one : the life and work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh|date=1982|publisher=Harper & Row|isbn=0-06-064205-X |location=San Francisco|oclc=8194778}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Satya |last=Vedant|title=The awakened one : the life and work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh|date=1982|publisher=Harper & Row|isbn=0-06-064205-X |location=San Francisco|page=89|oclc=8194778}}</ref> He said that socialism would socialise only poverty, and he described Gandhi as a [[self-defeating personality disorder|masochist]] reactionary who worshipped poverty.<ref name="FF1-77" /><ref name="JSG26-27" /> What India needed to escape its backwardness was [[capitalism]], science, modern technology, and [[birth control]].<ref name="FF1-77" /> 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.<ref name=":5" /> He criticised orthodox [[Indian religions]] as dead, filled with empty rituals, oppressing their followers with fears of damnation and promises of blessings.<ref name="FF1-77" /><ref name="JSG26-27" /> Such statements made him controversial, but also gained him a loyal following that included a number of wealthy merchants and businessmen.<ref name="FF1-77" /><ref name="Lewis122">{{harvnb|Goldman|2004|p=122}}</ref> These people sought individual consultations from him about their spiritual development and transforming their daily lives, in return for donations and his practice snowballed.<ref name="Lewis122" /> 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).<ref name="ASIMA">{{harvnb|Osho|2000|p=224}}</ref> After a controversial speaking tour in 1966, he resigned from his teaching post at the request of the university.<ref name="LFC44">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=44}}</ref>

In a 1968 lecture series, later published under the title ''Sex Matters: 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.<ref name="Carter45">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=45}}</ref><ref name="Joshi 1982 pp=1–4" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Osho|title=Sex Matters: From Sex to Superconsciousness |date=11 July 2003 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-31630-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ifHHR7Fba30C |language=en}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Joshi88">{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=88}}</ref> He compared the treatment of lower caste [[shudra]]s and women with the treatment of animals.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s-XbBB3bOn4C&q=osho+patna+second+world+hindu+conference&pg=PA271|title=The Rebellious Enlightened Master Osho|last=Bhed|first=Gyan|year=2006|publisher=Fusion books|pages=273|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-8419-047-6}}</ref> He characterised [[brahmin]] as being motivated by self-interest, provoking the ''[[Shankaracharya]]'' of [[Puri]], who tried in vain to have his lecture stopped.<ref name="Joshi88" />

=== Mumbai: 1971–1974 ===
[[File:Osho Rajneesh 3.jpg|thumb|right|Rajneesh during his birthday celebrations at his residence in Bombay, on 11 December 1972]]
At a public meditation event in early 1970, Rajneesh presented his [[Dynamic meditation|Dynamic Meditation]] method for the first time.<ref name=LFC46>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=46}}</ref> Dynamic Meditation involved breathing very fast and celebrating with music and dance.<ref name="Handa 2020">{{cite web |last=Handa |first=Mohini |title=Orangebook Osho Discourses |website=Internet Archive |date=10 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/orangebookoshodiscourses_517_Y |access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> He left Jabalpur for [[Mumbai]] at the end of June.<ref name="Joshi94103">{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|pp=94–103}}</ref> On 26 September 1970, he initiated his first group of disciples or [[neo-sannyasins]].<ref name="LFC47">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=47}}</ref> Becoming a disciple apparently meant assuming a new name and wearing the traditional saffron dress of [[asceticism|ascetic]] Hindu holy men, including a [[Hindu prayer beads|''mala'']] (beaded necklace) carrying a locket with his picture.<ref name="FF1-78" /> However, his sannyasins were encouraged to follow a celebratory rather than ascetic lifestyle.<ref name="JSG32-33">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=32–33}}</ref> He himself was not to be worshipped but regarded as a [[catalyst|catalytic agent]], "a sun encouraging the flower to open".<ref name="JSG32-33" />

He had by then, acquired a secretary, Laxmi Thakarsi Kuruwa, who as his first disciple had taken the name [[Ma Yoga Laxmi]].<ref name="FF1-77"/> Laxmi was the daughter of one of his early followers, a wealthy Jain, who had been a key supporter of the [[Indian National Congress]] during the struggle for [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]], with close ties to [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]], and [[Morarji Desai]].<ref name="FF1-77"/> She raised the money that enabled Rajneesh to stop his travels and settle down.<ref name="FF1-77"/> In December 1970, he moved to the Woodlands Apartments in Mumbai, where he gave lectures and received visitors, among them his first Western visitors.<ref name="Joshi94103"/> He now traveled rarely, no longer speaking at open public meetings.<ref name="Joshi94103" /> 

In 1971, he adopted the title "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh".<ref name="FF1-78" />[[Shri|Shree]] is a polite form of address roughly equivalent to the English "Sir"; [[Bhagavan|Bhagwan]] means "blessed one", used in Indian tradition as a term of respect for a human being in whom the divine is no longer hidden but apparent.<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?query=bhagavan&display=simple&table=macdonell Macdonell Practical Sanskrit Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017031501/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?query=bhagavan&display=simple&table=macdonell|date=17 October 2015}} (see entry for ''bhagavat'', which includes ''Bhagavan'' as the [[vocative]] case of ''bhagavat''). Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref> In Hinduism it can also be used to signify a [[deity]] or [[avatar]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Lochtefeld|first=James G.|title=The illustrated encyclopedia of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Rosen|isbn=0-8239-2287-1|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=94|oclc=41612317}}</ref> In many parts of India and South Asia, Bhagwan represents the abstract concept of a universal God to Hindus who are spiritual and religious but do not worship a specific deity.<ref name=":0" /> 

Speaking about the name change from Acharya to Bhagwan, Rajneesh said in later years, "I loved the term. I said, 'At least for a few years that will do. Then we can drop it.'" Rajneesh also added, “I have chosen it for a specific purpose and it has been serving well, because people who used to come to gather knowledge, they stopped. The day I called myself Bhagwan, they stopped. It was too much for them, it was too much for their egos, someone calling himself Bhagwan...It hurts the ego. Now I've changed my function absolutely. I started working on a different level, in a different dimension. Now I give you being, not knowledge. I was an acharya and they were students; they were learning. Now I am no more a teacher and you are not here as students. I am here to impart being. I am here to make you awaken. I am not here to give knowledge, I am going to give you knowing- and that is a totally different dimension.”<blockquote>Calling myself Bhagwan was simply symbolic – that now I have taken a different dimension to work. And it has been tremendously useful. All the wrong people automatically disappeared and a totally different quality of people started arriving. It worked well. It sorted out well, only those who are ready to dissolve with me, remained. All others escaped. They created space around me. Otherwise, they were crowding too much, and it was very difficult for the real seekers to come closer to me. The crowd disappeared. The word "Bhagwan" functioned like an atomic explosion. It did well. I am happy that I chose it."<ref>{{Cite book |first=Satya |last=Vedant |title=The awakened one: the life and work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |date=1982 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=0-06-064205-X |location=San Francisco |pages=112–113 |oclc=8194778}}</ref></blockquote>
Later, when he changed his name, he redefined the meaning of Bhagwan{{how|date=April 2025}}.<ref name="Süss29-30">{{harvnb|Süss|1996|pp=29–30}}</ref>

=== Pune ashram: 1974–1981 ===
While living in Mumbai he developed [[diabetes]], [[asthma]], and numerous [[allergy|allergies]].<ref name="FF1-78">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=78}}</ref> In 1974, on the 21st anniversary of his experience in Jabalpur, he moved to a property in [[Koregaon Park]], Pune, purchased with the help of Ma Yoga Mukta (Catherine Venizelos), a Greek shipping heiress.<ref name="FF1-87">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=87}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|pp=48–54}}</ref> Rajneesh spoke at the Pune ashram from 1974 to 1981. The two adjoining houses and {{convert|6|acre|ha}} of land became the nucleus of an [[ashram]], and the property is still the heart of the present-day OSHO International Meditation Resort. It allowed the regular audio recording and, later, video recording and printing of his discourses for worldwide distribution, enabling him to reach far larger audiences. The number of Western visitors increased sharply.<ref name="FF1-80" /> The ashram soon featured an arts-and-crafts centre producing clothes, jewellery, ceramics, and organic cosmetics and hosted performances of theatre, music, and mime.<ref name="FF1-80">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=80}}</ref> From 1975, after the arrival of several therapists from the [[Human Potential Movement]], the ashram began to complement meditations with a growing number of therapy groups,<ref name="Joshi123"/><ref name="BM26"/> which became a major source of income for the ashram.<ref name="JMF16-17">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|pp=16–17}}</ref><ref name="FF1-82-83">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|pp=82–83}}</ref>

The Pune ashram was by all accounts an exciting and intense place to be, with an emotionally charged, madhouse-carnival atmosphere.<ref name="FF1-80" /><ref name="JMF18">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=18}}</ref><ref name="JSG76-78">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=76–78}}</ref> The day began at 6:00&nbsp;a.m. with Dynamic Meditation.<ref name="TLS192">{{harvnb|Aveling|1994|p=192}}</ref><ref name="BM24-25">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=24–25}}</ref> From 8:00&nbsp;am, Rajneesh gave a 60- to 90-minute spontaneous lecture in the ashram's "Buddha Hall" auditorium, commenting on religious writings or answering questions from visitors and disciples.<ref name="FF1-80" /><ref name="BM24-25" /> Until 1981, lecture series held in [[Hindi]] alternated with series held in English.<ref name=Mehta93>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=93}}</ref> During the day, various meditations and therapies took place, whose intensity was ascribed to the spiritual energy of Rajneesh's "buddhafield".<ref name="JMF18" /> In evening ''[[Darśana|darshans]]'', Rajneesh conversed with individual disciples or visitors and initiated disciples ("gave sannyas").<ref name="FF1-80" /><ref name="BM24-25" /> Sannyasins came for ''darshan'' when departing or returning or when they had anything they wanted to discuss.<ref name="FF1-80" /><ref name="BM24-25" />

To decide which therapies to participate in, visitors either consulted Rajneesh or selected according to their own preferences.<ref name="TLS193">{{harvnb|Aveling|1994|p=193}}</ref> Some of the early therapy groups in the ashram, such as the [[encounter group]], were experimental, allowing a degree of physical aggression as well as sexual encounters between participants.<ref name="FF1-83">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=83}}</ref><ref name="NYT131181">{{harvnb|Maslin|1981|p=}}</ref> Conflicting reports of injuries sustained in encounter group sessions began to appear in the press.<ref>Karlen, N., Abramson, P.: ''Bhagwan's realm'', ''Newsweek'', 3 December 1984. Available on [https://web.archive.org/web/20090710170848/http://www.nealkarlen.com/newsweek/bhagwan.shtml N. Karlen's own website]. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Prasad|1978|p=}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mehta|1994|pp=36–38}}</ref> [[Dick Price|Richard Price]], at the time a prominent Human Potential Movement therapist and co-founder of the [[Esalen]] Institute, found the groups encouraged participants to 'be violent' rather than 'play at being violent' (the norm in encounter groups conducted in the United States), and criticized them for "the worst mistakes of some inexperienced Esalen group leaders".<ref name=Carter62 /> Price is alleged to have exited the Pune ashram with a broken arm following a period of eight hours locked in a room with participants armed with wooden weapons.<ref name=Carter62>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=62}}</ref> Bernard Gunther, his Esalen colleague, fared better in Pune and wrote a book, ''Dying for Enlightenment'', featuring photographs and lyrical descriptions of the meditations and therapy groups.<ref name=Carter62 /> Violence in the therapy groups eventually ended in January 1979, when the ashram issued a press release stating that violence "had fulfilled its function within the overall context of the ashram as an evolving spiritual commune".<ref name="JSG84">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=84}}</ref>

[[Sannyasin]]s who had "graduated" from months of meditation and therapy could apply to work in the ashram, in an environment that was consciously modelled on the community the Russian mystic [[Gurdjieff]] led in France in the 1930s.<ref name="Clarke466">{{harvnb|Clarke|2006|p=466}}</ref> Key features incorporated from Gurdjieff were hard, unpaid labour, and supervisors chosen for their abrasive personality, both designed to provoke opportunities for self-observation and transcendence.<ref name="Clarke466" /> Many disciples chose to stay for years.<ref name="Clarke466" /> Besides the controversy around the therapies, allegations of drug use amongst sannyasin began to mar the ashram's image.<ref name="Paradise" /> Some Western sannyasins were alleged to be financing extended stays in India through prostitution and drug-running.<ref name="JSG71">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=71}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Sam|1997|pp=57–58, 80–83, 112–114}}</ref> A few people later alleged that while Rajneesh was not directly involved, they discussed such plans and activities with him in ''darshan'' and he gave his blessing.<ref name="JMF47">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=47}}</ref>

[[File:Rajneesh and disciples at Poona in 1977.jpg|thumb|Rajneesh (right) with his disciples, in 1977]]
By the latter 1970s, the Pune ashram was too small to contain the rapid growth and Rajneesh asked that somewhere larger be found.<ref name="FF1-85" /> Sannyasins from around India started looking for properties: those found included one in the province of [[Kutch]] in Gujarat and two more in India's mountainous north.<ref name="FF1-85" /> The plans were never implemented as mounting tensions{{clarify|date=April 2025}} between the ashram and the [[Janata Party]] government of [[Morarji Desai]] resulted in an impasse.<ref name="FF1-85" /> Land-use approval was denied{{why|date=April 2025}} and, more importantly, the government stopped issuing visas to foreign visitors who indicated the ashram as their main destination.<ref name="FF1-85" /><ref>{{harvnb|Goldman|1991}}</ref> Besides, Desai's government cancelled the tax-exempt status of the ashram with retrospective effect, resulting in a claim estimated at $5&nbsp;million.<ref name="LFC6364"/> Conflicts with various Indian religious leaders aggravated the situation—by 1980 the ashram had become so controversial that [[Indira Gandhi]], despite a previous association between Rajneesh and the [[Indian National Congress|Indian Congress Party]] dating back to the sixties, was unwilling to intercede for it after her return to power.<ref name="LFC6364" /> In May 1980, during one of Rajneesh's discourses, an attempt on his life was made by Vilas Tupe, a young Hindu [[fundamentalist]].<ref name="FF1-85" /><ref name="FF1-227">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=227}}</ref><ref name="retard">{{cite news
 |date=18 November 2002
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/28605046.cms
 |title=First suicide squad was set up in Pune 2 years ago
 |newspaper=[[The Times of India]]
 |access-date=10 July 2011
|url-status=unfit
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819044604/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/28605046.cms
 |archive-date=19 August 2010
}}</ref> Tupe claims that he undertook the attack because he believed Rajneesh to be an agent of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]].<ref name="retard" />

By 1981, Rajneesh's ashram hosted 30,000 visitors per year.<ref name="Paradise">Mitra, S., Draper, R., and Chengappa, R.: ''Rajneesh: Paradise lost'', in: ''India Today'', 15 December 1985</ref> Daily discourse audiences were by then predominantly European and American.<ref>{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=143}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=99}}</ref> Many observers noted that Rajneesh's lecture style changed in the late '70s, becoming less focused intellectually and featuring an increasing number of [[off-color humour|ethnic or dirty jokes]] intended to shock or amuse his audience.<ref name="FF1-85">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=85}}</ref> On 10 April 1981, having discoursed daily for nearly 15 years, Rajneesh entered a three-and-a-half-year period of self-imposed public silence, and ''[[satsang]]s''—silent sitting with music and readings from spiritual works such as [[Khalil Gibran]]'s ''[[The Prophet (book)|The Prophet]]'' or the ''[[Isha Upanishad]]''—replaced discourses.<ref name="BM30-31">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=30–31}}</ref><ref name=Joshi157-159>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|pp=157–159}}</ref> Around the same time, [[Ma Anand Sheela]] (Sheela Silverman) replaced Ma Yoga Laxmi as Rajneesh's [[secretary]].<ref name=Gordon94 />

=== United States and the Oregon commune: 1981–1985 ===
{{Further|Rajneeshpuram}}

====Arrival in the United States====
In 1981, the increased tensions{{clarify|date=April 2025}} around the Pune ashram, along with criticism of its activities and threatened punitive action by Indian authorities, provided an impetus for the ashram to consider the establishment of a new commune in the United States.<ref>{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=147}}</ref><ref name="Lewis124">{{harvnb|Goldman|2004|p=124}}</ref><ref>''Guru in Cowboy Country'', in: ''Asia Week'', 29 July 1983, pp. 26–36</ref> According to [[Susan J. Palmer]], the move to the United States was a plan from Sheela.<ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=127}}, reprinted in{{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=377}}</ref> Sheela and Rajneesh had discussed the idea of establishing a new commune in the US in late 1980, although he did not agree to travel there until May 1981.<ref name=Gordon94>{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=93–94}}</ref> On 1 June that year he travelled to the United States on a tourist visa, ostensibly for medical purposes, and spent several months at a Rajneeshee retreat centre located at [[Kip's Castle Park, New Jersey|Kip's Castle]] in [[Montclair, New Jersey]].<ref name="America" /><ref name="NYT160981">{{Cite news|last=Geist |first=William E. |title=Cult in Castle Troubling Montclair |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=16 September 1981 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/16/nyregion/cult-in-castle-troubling-montclair.html |access-date=27 November 2008 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423054925/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/16/nyregion/cult-in-castle-troubling-montclair.html |archive-date=23 April 2012 }}</ref> He had been diagnosed with a [[prolapsed disc]] in early 1981 and treated by several doctors, including [[James Cyriax]], a [[St. Thomas' Hospital]] musculoskeletal physician and expert in epidural injections flown in from London.<ref name=Gordon94 /><ref name=Meredith308309 /><ref name="FF1-86">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=86}}</ref> Rajneesh's previous secretary, Laxmi, reported to [[Frances FitzGerald (journalist)|Frances FitzGerald]] that "she had failed to find a property in India adequate to Rajneesh's needs, and thus, when the medical emergency came, the initiative had passed to Sheela".<ref name="FF1-86" /> A public statement by Sheela indicated that Rajneesh was in grave danger if he remained in India, but would receive appropriate medical treatment in America if he needed surgery.<ref name=Gordon94 /><ref name=Meredith308309>{{harvnb|Meredith|1988|pp=308–309}}</ref><ref name="JMF22">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=22}}</ref> Despite the stated serious nature of the situation, Rajneesh never sought outside medical treatment during his time in the United States, leading the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] to contend that he had a preconceived intent to remain there.<ref name="FF1-86" /> Years later, Rajneesh pleaded guilty to immigration fraud, while maintaining his innocence of the charges that he made false statements on his initial visa application about his alleged intention to remain in the US when he came from India.<ref group="nb">"His lawyers, however, were already negotiating with the United States Attorney's office and, on 14 November he returned to Portland and pleaded guilty to two felonies; making false statements to the immigration authorities in 1981 and concealing his intent to reside in the United States." ({{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986b|p=111}})</ref><ref group="nb">"The Bhagwan may also soon need his voice to defend himself on charges he lied on his original temporary-visa application: if the immigration service proves he never intended to leave, the Bhagwan could be deported." (''Newsweek'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20090710170848/http://www.nealkarlen.com/newsweek/bhagwan.shtml Bhagwan's Realm:] The Oregon cult with the leader with 90 golden Rolls-Royces, 3 December 1984, United States Edition, National Affairs Pg. 34, 1915 words, Neal Karlen with Pamela Abramson in Rajneeshpuram.)</ref><ref group="nb">"Facing 35 counts of conspiring to violate immigration laws, the guru admitted two charges: lying about his reasons for settling in the U.S. and arranging sham marriages to help foreign disciples join him." (American Notes, ''Time'', Monday, November 1985, available [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050625-2,00.html here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709072745/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050625-2,00.html |date=9 July 2009 }})</ref>

====Establishing Rajneeshpuram====
On 13 June 1981, Sheela's husband, John Shelfer, signed a purchase contract to buy property in [[Oregon]] for [[United States dollar|US$]]5.75&nbsp;million, and a few days later assigned the property to the US foundation. The property was a {{convert|64229|acre|km2|-1|adj=on}} ranch, previously known as "The Big Muddy Ranch" and located across two counties ([[Wasco County, Oregon|Wasco]] and [[Jefferson County, Oregon|Jefferson]]).<ref name=Carter133>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=133}}</ref> It was renamed "Rancho Rajneesh" and Rajneesh moved there on 29 August.<ref name=Carter136138>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|pp=136–138}}</ref> Initial local community reactions ranged from hostility to tolerance, depending on distance from the ranch.<ref>{{harvnb|Abbott|1990|p=79}}</ref> The press reported, and another study found, that the development met almost immediately with intense local, state, and federal opposition from the government, press, and citizenry. Within months a series of legal battles ensued, principally over land use.<ref name="CL339341" /> Within a year of arriving, Rajneesh and his followers had become embroiled in a series of legal battles with their neighbours, the principal conflict relating to land use.<ref name="CL339341"/> The commune [[leadership]] was uncompromising and behaved impatiently in dealing with the locals.<ref name=Abbot78 /> They were also insistent upon having demands met, and engaged in implicitly threatening and directly confrontational behaviour.<ref name=Abbot78 /> Whatever the true intention, the repeated changes in their stated plans looked to many like conscious deception.<ref name=Abbot78>{{harvnb|Abbott|1990|p=78}}</ref>

In May 1982 the residents of Rancho Rajneesh voted to incorporate it as the city of [[Rajneeshpuram, Oregon|Rajneeshpuram]].<ref name="CL339341">{{harvnb|Latkin|1992|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=339–341}}</ref> The conflict with local residents escalated, with increasingly bitter hostility on both sides, and over the following years, the commune was subject to constant and coordinated pressures from various coalitions of Oregon residents.<ref name="CL339341"/><ref name="CNR215">{{harvnb|Carter|1987|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=215}}</ref> [[1000 Friends of Oregon]] immediately commenced and then prosecuted over the next six years numerous court and administrative actions to void the incorporation and cause buildings and improvement to be removed.<ref name="CL339341" /><ref name=bend>{{cite web | url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/301352730/Grote-25-Dec-81-Bnd-Bull | title = 1000 Friends Challenges Rajneeshpuram Incorporation | publisher = Bend Bulletin | access-date = 6 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307115032/https://www.scribd.com/doc/301352730/Grote-25-Dec-81-Bnd-Bull | archive-date = 7 March 2016 | url-status=live | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="CNR215"/> 1000 Friends publicly called for the city to be "dismantled". A 1000 Friends Attorney stated that if 1000 Friends won, the Foundation would be "forced to remove their sewer system and tear down many of the buildings.<ref name = marshall>{{cite journal |last= Sullivan |first= Edward|title= The Quiet Revolution Goes West: The Oregon Planning Program 1961–2011 |journal= Marshall Law Review |publisher= Marshall University|volume= 45 |pages= 362–364}}</ref><ref name="Abbot78"/> At one point, the commune imported large numbers of homeless people from various US cities in a failed attempt to affect the outcome of an election, before releasing them into surrounding towns and leaving some to the State of Oregon to return to their home cities at the state's expense.<ref name=Zaitz4>(15 April 2011) Les Zaitz. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110419014650/http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_four_paranoia_takes_hold.html Rajneeshee leaders see enemies everywhere as questions compound&nbsp;– Part 4 of 5], ''[[The Oregonian]]''. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref><ref name=Zaitz5 /> In March 1982, local residents formed a group called Citizens for Constitutional Cities to oppose the Ranch development.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Fearing 'religious cities' group forms to monitor activities of commune |last=Hortsch |first=Dan |date=18 March 1982 |work=The Oregonian}}</ref> An initiative petition was filed that would order the governor {{"'}}to contain, control and remove' the threat of invasion by an 'alien cult{{'"}}.<ref name = bend />

The Oregon legislature passed several bills that sought to slow or stop the development and the City of Rajneeshpuram—including HB 3080, which stopped distribution of revenue sharing funds for any city whose legal status had been challenged. Rajneeshpuram was the only city impacted.<ref name=shay>{{cite news  | url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/301342590/Shay-TL-1985-Rjprm-Abuse-of-Power  | title = Rajneeshpuram and the Abuse of Power  | author = Theodore Shay  | publisher = Scout Creek Press  | access-date = 6 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307115939/https://www.scribd.com/doc/301342590/Shay-TL-1985-Rjprm-Abuse-of-Power  | archive-date = 7 March 2016 | url-status=live  | df = dmy-all  }}</ref> The [[Governor of Oregon]], [[Vic Atiyeh]], stated in 1982 that since their neighbors did not like them, they should leave Oregon.<ref name=church>{{cite web| url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/301353732/Church-13-Mar-1982-Oregonian| title = Atiyeh Picks Antelopers over Interlopers| publisher = Bend Bulletin| access-date = 6 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307114001/https://www.scribd.com/doc/301353732/Church-13-Mar-1982-Oregonian| archive-date = 7 March 2016| url-status=live| df = dmy-all}}</ref> In May 1982, [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] [[Mark Hatfield]] called the INS in Portland. An INS memo stated that the Senator was "very concerned" about how this "religious cult" is "endangering the way of life for a small agricultural town ... and is a threat to public safety".<ref name="FF1-89">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=89}}</ref> Such actions "often do have influence on immigration decisions". In 1983 the [[Oregon Attorney General]] filed a lawsuit seeking to declare the City void because of an alleged violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The Court found that the City property was owned and controlled by the Foundation, and entered judgement for the State.<ref name=Zaitz1 /> The court disregarded the controlling US constitutional cases requiring that a violation be redressed by the "least intrusive means" necessary to correct the violation, which it had earlier cited. The city was forced to "acquiesce" in the decision, as part of a settlement of Rajneesh's immigration case.<ref name = Richardson>{{cite book | last= Richardson |first= James T. |date= 2004 |title= Regulating Religion, Case Studies from Around the Globe|page= 486 }}</ref>

[[File:Osho Drive By.jpg|thumb|Rajneesh greeted by sannyasins on one of his daily "drive-bys" in Rajneeshpuram, circa 1982]]
While the various legal battles ensued Rajneesh remained behind the scenes, having withdrawn from a public facing role in what commune leadership referred to as a period of "silence." During this time, which lasted until November 1984, in lieu of Rajneesh speaking publicly, videos of his discourses were played to commune audiences.<ref name="America" /> His time was allegedly spent mostly in seclusion and he communicated only with a few key disciples, including Ma Anand Sheela and his caretaker girlfriend Ma Yoga Vivek (Christine Woolf).<ref name="America">{{harvnb|Mistlberger|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=C6nUWy4UYocC&pg=PA88 88]}}</ref> He lived in a [[Mobile home|trailer]] next to a covered swimming pool and other amenities. At this time he did not lecture and interacted with followers via a [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls-Royce]] 'drive-by' ceremony.<ref name="JMF26" /> He also gained public notoriety for amassing a large collection of Rolls-Royce cars, eventually numbering 93 vehicles.<ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=128}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=380}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=14 May 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/us/15bcintel.html|title=The Bay Citizen: Red Rock Island |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=10 July 2011 |first=Hank |last=Pellissier |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116231633/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/us/15bcintel.html?_r=1 |archive-date=16 November 2016 }}</ref> In 1981 he had given Sheela limited [[power of attorney]], removing any remaining limits the following year.<ref name="SJP378">{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=127}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=378}}</ref> In 1983, Sheela announced that he would henceforth speak only with her.<ref name="FF1-94">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=94}}</ref> He later said that she kept him in ignorance.<ref name="SJP378" /> Many sannyasins expressed doubts about whether Sheela properly represented Rajneesh and many dissidents left Rajneeshpuram in protest of its autocratic leadership.<ref name="FF1-93">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=93}}</ref> Resident sannyasins without US citizenship experienced visa difficulties that some tried to overcome by marriages of convenience.<ref name="JMF25">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=25}}</ref> Commune administrators tried to resolve Rajneesh's own difficulty in this respect by declaring him the head of a religion, "Rajneeshism".<ref name="JMF26">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=26}}</ref><ref name="Mullan135">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=135}}</ref>

During the Oregon years there was an increased emphasis on Rajneesh's prediction that the world might be destroyed by [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] or other disasters in the 1990s.<ref name="Wallis156">{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=156}}</ref> Rajneesh had said as early as 1964 that "the third and last war is now on the way" and frequently spoke of the need to create a "new humanity" to avoid global suicide.<ref name="Wallis157" /> This now became the basis for a new exclusivity, and a 1983 article in the Rajneesh Foundation Newsletter, announcing that "Rajneeshism is creating a Noah's Ark of consciousness&nbsp;... I say to you that except this there is no other way", increased the sense of urgency in building the Oregon commune.<ref name="Wallis157" /> In March 1984, Sheela announced that Rajneesh had predicted the death of two-thirds of humanity from AIDS.<ref name="Wallis157">{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=157}}</ref><ref name="JSG131">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=131}}</ref> Sannyasins were required to wear rubber gloves and [[condom]]s if they had sex, and to refrain from kissing, measures widely represented in the press as an extreme over-reaction since condoms were not usually recommended for [[AIDS#Prevention|AIDS prevention]] because AIDS was considered a homosexual disease at that stage.<ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=129}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=382}}</ref><ref name="RP155-158">{{harvnb|Palmer|Sharma|1993|pp=155–158}}</ref> During his residence in Rajneeshpuram, Rajneesh also dictated three books under the influence of [[nitrous oxide]] administered to him by his private dentist: ''Glimpses of a Golden Childhood'', ''Notes of a Madman'' and ''Books I Have Loved''.<ref>{{harvnb|Shunyo|1993|p=74}}</ref> Sheela later stated that Rajneesh took sixty milligrams of [[valium]] each day and was addicted to [[nitrous oxide]].<ref name=Spiegel>{{cite news|work=Sri Prakash Von Sinha |date=9 December 1985 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13515651.html |title=Ich denke nie an die Zukunft |access-date=10 July 2011 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202041230/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13515651.html |archive-date=2 February 2012 |language=de}}</ref><ref name=Storr59>{{harvnb|Storr|1996|p=59}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=4 November 1985|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CO&s_site=charlotte&p_multi=CO&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB6BFB58F61E687&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Rajneesh, Ex-secretary attack each other on TV|newspaper=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|access-date=10 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015081536/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CO&s_site=charlotte&p_multi=CO&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB6BFB58F61E687&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=15 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Rajneesh denied these charges when questioned about them by journalists.<ref name=Spiegel /><ref>Osho: ''The Last Testament'', Vol. 4, Chapter 19 (transcript of an interview with German magazine, ''[[Der Spiegel]]'')</ref>

At the peak of the Rajneeshpuram era, Rajneesh, assisted by a sophisticated legal and business infrastructure, had created a corporate machine consisting of various front companies and subsidiaries.<ref name="urban179">{{Harvnb|Urban|2005|p=179}}</ref> At this time, the three main identifiable entities within his organisation were: the Ranch Church, or Rajneesh International Foundation (RIF); the Rajneesh Investment Corporation (RIC), through which the RIF was managed; and the Rajneesh Neo-Sannyasin International Commune (RNSIC). The umbrella organisation that oversaw all investment activities was Rajneesh Services International Ltd., a company incorporated in the UK but based in [[Zürich]]. There were also smaller organisations, such as Rajneesh Travel Corp, Rajneesh Community Holdings, and the Rajneesh Modern Car Collection Trust, whose sole purpose was to deal with the acquisition and rental of Rolls-Royces.<ref name="urban180">{{Harvnb|Urban|2005|p=180}}</ref><ref name="WRIGHT141-146">{{harvnb|Wright|1985|pp=141–146}}</ref>

==== 1984 bioterror attack ====
{{Further|1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack}}
[[File:Osho Rajneesh.jpg|thumb|Rajneesh in 1983|left]]
Rajneesh had coached Sheela in using media coverage to her advantage and during his period of public silence he privately stated that when Sheela spoke, she was speaking on his behalf.<ref name=Zaitz1 /> He had also supported her when disputes about her behaviour arose within the commune leadership, but in early 1984, as tension amongst the inner circle peaked, a private meeting was convened with Sheela and his personal house staff.<ref name=Zaitz1 /> According to the testimony of Rajneesh's dentist, Swami Devageet (Charles Harvey Newman),<ref name=DevageetTest>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/73832-03-swami-devageet-testimony.html#document/p33/a14388 Transcript] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117085409/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/73832-03-swami-devageet-testimony.html#document/p33/a14388 |date=17 January 2013 }} of state grand jury testimony of the guru's dentist about life inside the guru's home and dealings with Sheela. Contributed by: Ed Madrid, The Oregonian.</ref> she was admonished during a meeting, with Rajneesh declaring that his house, and not hers, was the centre of the commune.<ref name=Zaitz1 /> Devageet claimed Rajneesh warned that Sheela's jealousy of anyone close to him would inevitably make them a target.<ref name=Zaitz1>{{cite news|work=[[The Oregonian]] |date=14 April 2011 |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_one_it_was_worse_than_we.html |title=5 years after Rajneeshee commune collapsed, truth spills out&nbsp;– Part 1 of 5 |publisher=Oregon Live |access-date=10 July 2011 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423142622/http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_one_it_was_worse_than_we.html |archive-date=23 April 2012 }}</ref>

Several months later, on 30 October 1984, he ended his period of public silence, announcing that it was time to "speak his own truths".<ref name="JMF27">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=27}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=209}}</ref> On 19 December,<!-- 1984--> Rajneesh was asked if organisation was necessary for a religion to survive.<ref name=":1" /> Disciples present during the talk remember Rajneesh stating that "I will not leave you under a fascist regime".<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Foreman|first=Juliet|title=Bhagwan: The Buddha for the Future|publisher=Rebel Publishing House GmbH|year=1988|isbn=9783907757185|location=Cologne, Germany|pages=413–415}}</ref><ref name="DevageetTest" /> According to the testimony of Rajneesh's dentist, Swami Devageet, this statement seemed directly aimed at Sheela – or to be directly against the present organisational structure.<ref name="DevageetTest" /> The next day, sannyasins usually responsible for the editing and transcribing of the talks into book form were told by the management that the tapes of the discourse had been irreparably damaged by technical trouble and were unavailable.<ref name="DevageetTest" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Foreman|first=Juliet|title=Bhagwan:The Buddha for the Future|publisher=Rebel Publishing House GmbH|year=1988|isbn=9783907757185|location=Cologne, Germany|pages=413–416}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Subhuti|first=Anand|title=My Dance with a Madman|publisher=Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd|year=2014|isbn=9789350835173|location=India|pages=99}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> After rumours that Sheela had suppressed the discourse grew, Sheela created a transcription of the talk, which was reproduced in The Rajneesh Times.<ref name="DevageetTest" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> All suggestions that Rajneeshpuram itself had become a fascist state and Sheela was, in the words of Ma Prem Sangeet, "[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] in a red dress", had been deleted.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

Rajneesh spoke almost daily, except for a three-month gap between April and July 1985.<ref name=":1" />
In July, he resumed daily public discourses; on 16 September, a few days after Sheela and her entire management team had suddenly left the commune for Europe, Rajneesh held a press conference in which he labelled Sheela and her associates a "gang of fascists".<ref name="FF2-108" /> He accused them of having committed serious crimes, most dating back to 1984, and invited the authorities to investigate.<ref name="FF2-108" />

The alleged crimes, which he claimed were committed without his knowledge, included attempted murder of his personal physician, poisoning of public officials, [[wiretapping]] and [[bugging]] within the commune and his residence, and a [[1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack|bioterror attack]] that sickened 751 citizens of [[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]] using ''[[Salmonella]]'' to influence [[Wasco County, Oregon|county]] elections.<ref name="FF2-108">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986b|p=108}}</ref> While his allegations were initially greeted with scepticism by outside observers,<ref name="nytimesroiled">{{cite news|last=Martin |first=Douglas |title=Guru's Commune Roiled As Key Leader Departs |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 September 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/22/us/guru-s-commune-roiled-as-key-leader-departs.html |access-date=15 March 2008 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106122031/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/22/us/guru-s-commune-roiled-as-key-leader-departs.html |archive-date=6 January 2014 }}</ref> the subsequent investigation by U.S. authorities confirmed these accusations and resulted in the conviction of Sheela and several of her lieutenants.<ref name="LFC233238" />
On 30 September 1985, Rajneesh denied that he was a religious teacher.<ref name="sc85">{{Cite news
| title = Guru's arrest not imminent
| agency = Associated Press
| newspaper = Spokane Chronicle
| location = Washington
| date = 2 October 1985
| page = D6
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9_pLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tfkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7015%2C441056
 }}</ref> His disciples burned 5,000 copies of the book ''Rajneeshism: An Introduction to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and His Religion'', a 78-page compilation of his teachings that defined "Rajneeshism" as "a religionless religion".<ref>{{cite book|title = Rajneeshism: An Introduction to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and His Religion|date = June 1983|publisher = Rajneesh Foundation International|isbn = 0-88050-699-7|editor = Academy of Rajneeshism}}</ref><ref name="sc85" /><ref name="tl85">{{Cite news
| title = Rajneesh renouncing his cult's religion
| author = Sally Carpenter Hale, Associated Press
| newspaper = [[The Ledger]]
| date = 1 October 1985
| page = 8A
 }}</ref> He said he ordered the book-burning to rid the sect of the last traces of the influence of Sheela, whose robes were also "added to the bonfire".<ref name="sc85" />

The salmonella attack is considered the first confirmed instance of chemical or biological terrorism to have occurred in the United States.<ref>{{harvnb|Carus|2002|p=50}}</ref> Rajneesh stated that because he was in silence and isolation, meeting only with Sheela, he was unaware of the crimes committed by the Rajneeshpuram leadership until Sheela and her "gang" left and sannyasins came forward to inform him.<ref name="UM118">{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=118}}</ref> A number of commentators have stated that they believe that Sheela was being used as a convenient scapegoat.<ref name="UM118" /><ref name="TLS205">{{harvnb|Aveling|1994|p=205}}</ref><ref name="FF2-109">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986b|p=109}}</ref> Others have pointed to the fact that although Sheela had bugged Rajneesh's living quarters and made her tapes available to the U.S. authorities as part of her own plea bargain, no evidence has ever come to light that Rajneesh had any part in her crimes.<ref>{{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=17}}</ref><ref name="JMF50">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=50}}</ref><ref name="JSG210">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=210}}</ref> It was, however, reported that Charles Turner, [[David Frohnmayer]], and other law enforcement officials, who had surveyed affidavits never released publicly and who listened to hundreds of hours of tape recordings, insinuated to him that Rajneesh was guilty of more crimes than those for which he was eventually prosecuted.<ref name=Gordon210241>{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=210, 241}}</ref> Frohnmayer asserted that Rajneesh's philosophy was not "disapproving of poisoning" and that he felt he and Sheela had been "genuinely evil".<ref name=Gordon210241 />

Nonetheless, U.S. Attorney Turner and [[Oregon Attorney General]] Frohnmeyer acknowledged that "they had little evidence of (Rajneesh) being involved in any of the criminal activities that unfolded at the ranch".<ref name = dalles1>{{cite news |author=King, Elroy |title=Plea bargain said best deal possible |newspaper= Dalles Chronicle |date= 23 July 1985}}</ref> According to court testimony by Ma Ava (Ava Avalos), a prominent disciple, Sheela played associates a tape recording of a meeting she had with Rajneesh about the "need to kill people" to strengthen wavering sannyasins' resolve in participating in her murderous plots, but it was difficult to hear, so Sheela produced a transcript of the tape. "She came back to the meeting and ... began to play the tape. It was a little hard to hear what he was saying. ... But Param Bodhi, assisted her, and went and transcribed it. And the gist of Bhagwan's response, yes, it was going to be necessary to kill people to stay in Oregon. And that actually killing people wasn't such a bad thing. And actually Hitler was a great man, although he could not say that publicly because nobody would understand that. Hitler had great vision."<ref name=Zaitz5>Les Zaitz. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110419004032/http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_five_utopian_dreams_die_i.html "Rajneeshees' Utopian dreams collapse as talks turn to murder&nbsp;– Part 5 of 5"], ''[[The Oregonian]]'', 14 April 2011.</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Criminal_trial_testimony_of_Rajneesh_member_Ava_Avalos.pdf|date=May 1990|title=Ava Avalos' court testimony|author=United States District Court for the District of Oregon|access-date=3 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907045639/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Criminal_trial_testimony_of_Rajneesh_member_Ava_Avalos.pdf|archive-date=7 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Rajneesh's personal attorney Philip Niren Toelkes, wrote in 2021 that, "As is fully supported in the testimony of Ava Avalos, an admitted co-conspirator, Sheela presented Osho with a general question about whether people would have to die if the Community was attacked and used his general response that it would perhaps be necessary. Sheela then took an edited recording and 'transcript' of the recording, prepared under her control, back to a meeting to justify her planned criminal actions and overcome the reservations of her co-conspirators."<ref>{{Cite web|title=1.1 Toelkes Declaration {{!}} PDF|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/518006058/1-1-Toelkes-Declaration|access-date=30 July 2021|website=Scribd|language=en}}</ref> Ava Avalos also said in her testimony to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] investigators that "Sheela informed them that Bhagwan was not to know what was going on, and that if Bhagwan were to ask them about anything that would occur, 'they would have to lie to Bhagwan'."<ref name="AVA AVALOS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/73830-01-ava-avalos-fbi-statement.html |title=Statement to investigators: Ava Avalos |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819141428/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/73830-01-ava-avalos-fbi-statement.html |archive-date=19 August 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sheela initiated attempts to murder Rajneesh's caretaker and girlfriend, Ma Yoga Vivek, and his personal physician, Swami Devaraj (George Meredith), because she thought that they were a threat to Rajneesh. She had secretly recorded a conversation between Devaraj and Rajneesh "in which the doctor agreed to obtain drugs the guru wanted to ensure a peaceful death if he decided to take his own life".<ref name=Zaitz5 /> When asked if he was targeted because of a plan to give the guru euthanasia in a 2018 interview with ‘The Cut’, Rajneesh's doctor denied this and claimed that "She attacked his household and everybody in it and found any excuse she could to do that. She constantly hated the fact that we had access to Osho. We were a constant threat to her total monopoly on power. "<ref>{{Cite web|last=Silman|first=Anna|date=24 April 2018|title=Bhagwan's Doctor Gives His Take on Wild Wild Country|url=https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/bhagwans-doctor-gives-his-take-on-wild-wild-country.html|access-date=18 December 2021|website=The Cut|language=en-us}}</ref>

On 23 October 1985, a federal grand jury indicted Rajneesh and several other disciples with conspiracy to evade immigration laws.<ref name="FF2-110">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986b|p=110}}</ref> The indictment was returned [[in camera]], but word was leaked to Rajneesh's lawyer.<ref name="FF2-110" /> Negotiations to allow Rajneesh to surrender to authorities in Portland if a warrant were issued failed.<ref name="FF2-110" /><ref name="LFC232">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=232}}</ref> Rumours of a [[Oregon Military Department|national guard]] takeover and a planned violent arrest of Rajneesh led to tension and fears of shooting.<ref name="PalSha52">{{harvnb|Palmer|Sharma|1993|p=52}}</ref> On the strength of Sheela's tape recordings, authorities later said they believed that there had been a plan that sannyasin women and children would have been asked to create a [[human shield]] if authorities tried to arrest Rajneesh at the commune.<ref name="Gordon210241" /> On 28&nbsp;October<!-- 1985-->, Rajneesh and a small number of sannyasins accompanying him were arrested aboard two rented [[Learjet]]s in [[North Carolina]] at [[Charlotte Douglas International Airport]];<ref name=miavice>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X1lWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MO8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6935%2C8084467 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Guru's pilots played 'Miami Vice' |date=29 October 1985 |page=A8}}</ref> according to federal authorities the group was en route to [[Bermuda]] to avoid prosecution.<ref name=ergjld>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yOZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c-EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5322%2C7203778 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=Oregon |agency=Associated Press |title=Rajneesh jailed on immigration charges |date=29 October 1985 |page=1A}}</ref><ref name=ranarr>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X1lWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MO8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3424%2C8075560 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=The Associated Press |last=Carpenter Hale |first=Sally |title=Rajneesh anticipated arrest |date=29 October 1985 |page=A6}}</ref><ref name=lmtadplif>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iWtfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6i4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=3980%2C4266378 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=Associated Press |title=Baghwan adapting to life in jail |date=31 October 1985 |page=2A}}</ref><ref name=okcty>{{Cite news
| title = Transfer delayed&nbsp;– Rajneesh to stay for another night in Oklahoma City
| agency = The Associated Press
| newspaper = Spokane Chronicle
| location= Washington
| date = 5 November 1985
| page = A2
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Kf5LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4198%2C571451
}}</ref> Cash amounting to $58,000, as well as 35 watches and bracelets worth a combined $1&nbsp;million, were found on the aircraft.<ref name="PalSha52" /><ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|pp=232, 233, 238}}</ref><ref name="FF2-111">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986b|p=111}}</ref> Rajneesh had by all accounts been informed neither of the impending arrest nor the reason for the journey.<ref name="LFC232" /> Officials took the full ten days legally available to transfer him from North Carolina to Portland for [[arraignment]],<ref name="LFC234-235">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|pp=234–235}}</ref> which included three nights near [[Oklahoma City]].<ref name=okcty/><ref name=dliokl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cQ8pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6671%2C1340956 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=Oregon |agency=Associated Press |title=Rajneesh delayed in Oklahoma |date=6 November 1985 |page=5A}}</ref><ref name=arrvor>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cw8pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6038%2C1786911 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=Oregon |agency=Associated Press |title=Guru arrives in Oregon |date=8 November 1985 |page=1A}}</ref>

In Portland on 8 November before [[United States District Court for the District of Oregon|U.S. District Court]] Judge [[Edward Leavy]], Rajneesh<!--initially--> pleaded "not guilty" to all 34 charges, was released on $500,000 bail, and returned to the commune at Rajneeshpuram.<ref name=pginnp>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YWcPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pYYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3668%2C1036636 |work=The Bulletin |location=Bend, Oregon |agency=UPI |last=Gillins |first=Peter |title=Guru enters innocent plea |date=8 November 1985 |page=A1}}</ref><ref name=bailrj>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dA8pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6212%2C1994563 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=Oregon |agency=Associated Press |title=Guru freed on $500,000 bond |date=9 November 1985 |page=1A}}</ref><ref name=trundt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dA8pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6791%2C2492012 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=Oregon |agency=Associated Press |title=Disciples say guru tired, underweight |date=10 November 1985 |page=7A}}</ref><ref name=seclun>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lo9TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pYYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5063%2C1375717 |work=The Bulletin |location=Bend, Oregon |agency=UPI |title=Rajneesh in seclusion at commune |date=10 November 1985 |page=A1}}</ref> On&nbsp;the advice of his lawyers, he later entered an "[[Alford plea]]"—a type of [[guilty plea]] through which a suspect does not admit guilt, but does concede there is enough evidence to convict him—to one count of having a concealed intent to remain permanently in the U.S. at the time of his original visa application in 1981 and one count of having conspired to have sannyasins enter into a [[sham marriage]] to acquire U.S. residency.<ref name="JSG201">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=199–201}}</ref> Under the deal his lawyers made with the U.S. Attorney's office he was given a ten-year suspended sentence, five years' probation, and a $400,000 penalty in fines and prosecution costs and agreed to leave the United States, not returning for at least five years without the permission of the [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]].<ref name=Latkin342>{{harvnb|Latkin|1992|p=}}, reprinted in{{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=342}}</ref><ref name="LFC233238">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|pp=233–238}}</ref><ref name="FF2-111" /><ref>{{Cite news|title=Around the Nation; Guru's Disciples to Sell Some Commune Assets |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=16 November 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/16/us/around-the-nation-guru-s-disciples-to-sell-some-commune-assets.html |access-date=9 November 2008 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524170632/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/16/us/around-the-nation-guru-s-disciples-to-sell-some-commune-assets.html |archive-date=24 May 2015 }}</ref>

As to "preconceived intent", at the time of the investigation and prosecution, federal court appellate cases and the INS regulations permitted "dual intent", a desire to stay, but a willingness to comply with the law if denied permanent residence. Further, the relevant intent is that of the employer, not the employee.<ref name = immigration>{{cite journal |last= Bell |first= Steven |year= 1986 |title= Recent Judicial, Legislative and Administrative Developments Relating to Immigration and Nationality Law |journal= Immigr. & Nat'lity L. Rev. |publisher= Immigration & Nationality |pages= xiii–xiv, xxxi }}</ref> Given the public nature of Rajneesh's arrival and stay, and the aggressive scrutiny by the INS, Rajneesh would appear to have had to be willing to leave the U.S. if denied benefits. The government nonetheless prosecuted him based on preconceived intent. As to arranging a marriage, the government only claimed that Rajneesh told someone who lived in his house that they should marry to stay.<ref name = immigration /> Such encouragement appears to constitute [[incitement]], a crime in the United States, but not a [[conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]], which requires the formation of a plan and acts in furtherance.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

=== Travels and return to Pune: 1985–1990 ===
[[File:Osho Rajneesh 1.jpg|thumb|Rajneesh in 1985|left]]
Following his exit from the US, Rajneesh returned to India, landing in Delhi on 17 November 1985. He was given a hero's welcome by his Indian disciples and denounced the United States, saying the world must "put the monster America in its place" and that "Either America must be hushed up or America will be the end of the world."<ref>{{Cite news
| title = World must put U.S. 'monster' in its place, guru says
| newspaper = [[Chicago Tribune]]
| date = 18 November 1985
| page = 5
 }}</ref> He then stayed for six weeks in [[Manali, Himachal Pradesh]]. In Manali, Rajneesh said that he was interested in buying, for use as a possible new commune site, an atoll in the South Pacific that [[Marlon Brando]] was trying to sell. According to Rajneesh, the island could be made much bigger by the addition of [[houseboat]]s and Japanese style [[Chinampa|floating garden]]s.<ref>{{harv|Sam|1997|page=194}}</ref> Sannyasins visited the island, but it was deemed unsuitable after they realised the area was prone to hurricanes.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Prem Shunyo, Ma|title=My diamond days with Osho|date=1999|publisher=Full Circle|isbn=81-7621-036-6|pages=163|oclc=45025699}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title='Wild, Wild Country': Meet the Holocaust Survivor and archnemesis of Ma Anand Sheela|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/MAGAZINE-wild-wild-country-how-holocaust-survivor-became-osho-s-right-hand-1.6096496|access-date=13 August 2021|newspaper=Haaretz|language=en}}</ref> When non-Indians in his party had their visas revoked, he moved on to [[Kathmandu]], Nepal, and then, a few weeks later, to [[Crete]]. Arrested after a few days by the [[National Intelligence Service (Greece)|Greek National Intelligence Service]] (KYP), he flew to [[Geneva]], then to [[Stockholm]] and London, but was in each case refused entry. Next Canada refused landing permission, so his plane returned to [[Shannon, County Clare|Shannon]] airport, Ireland, to refuel. There he was allowed to stay for two weeks at a hotel in [[Limerick]], on condition that he did not go out or give talks. He had been granted a Uruguayan identity card, one-year provisional residency and a possibility of permanent residency, so the party set out, stopping at [[Madrid]], where the plane was surrounded by the ''[[Guardia Civil (Spain)|Guardia Civil]]''. He was allowed to spend one night at [[Dakar]], then continued to [[Recife]] and [[Montevideo]]. In Uruguay, the group moved to a house at [[Punta del Este]] where Rajneesh began speaking publicly until 19 June, after which he was "invited to leave" for no official reason. A two-week visa was arranged for Jamaica, but on arrival in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]] police gave the group 12 hours to leave. Refuelling in [[Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador|Gander]] and in Madrid, Rajneesh returned to Bombay, India, on 30 July 1986.<ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=241}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Shunyo|1993|pp=121, 131, 151}}</ref>

In January 1987, Rajneesh returned to the ashram in Pune<ref name="JMF29">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=29}}</ref><ref name="JSG223">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=223}}</ref> where he held evening discourses each day, except when interrupted by intermittent ill health.<ref name="JMF34"/><ref name="TLS197-198" /> Publishing and therapy resumed and the ashram underwent expansion,<ref name="JMF34">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=34}}</ref><ref name="TLS197-198">{{harvnb|Aveling|1994|pp=197–198}}</ref> now as a "Multiversity" where therapy was to function as a bridge to meditation.<ref name="TLS197-198" /> Rajneesh devised new "meditation therapy" methods such as the "Mystic Rose" and began to lead meditations in his discourses after a gap of more than ten years.<ref name="JMF34"/><ref name="TLS197-198" /> His western disciples formed no large communes, mostly preferring ordinary independent living.<ref name="JMF3233">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|pp=32–33}}</ref> Red/orange dress and the ''mala'' were largely abandoned, having been optional since 1985.<ref name="TLS197-198" /> The wearing of maroon robes—only while on ''ashram'' premises—was reintroduced in the summer of 1989, along with white robes worn for evening meditation and black robes for group leaders.<ref name="TLS197-198" />

In November 1987, Rajneesh expressed his belief that his deteriorating health (nausea, fatigue, pain in extremities, and lack of resistance to infection) was due to poisoning by the US authorities while in prison.<ref name="JMF35-36">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|pp=35–36}}</ref> His doctors and former attorney, [[Philip Toelkes]] (Swami Prem Niren), hypothesised [[radiation]] and [[thallium]] in a deliberately irradiated mattress, since his symptoms were concentrated on the right side of his body,<ref name="JMF35-36" /> but presented no hard evidence.<ref name="PalSha148">{{harvnb|Palmer|Sharma|1993|p=148}}</ref> US attorney Charles H. Hunter described this as "complete fiction", while others suggested exposure to HIV or chronic diabetes and stress.<ref name="JMF35-36" /><ref>Akre B. S.: [https://web.archive.org/web/20030518225656/http://skepticfiles.org/cultinfo/gurupois.htm ''Rajneesh Conspiracy''], Associated Press Writer, Portland (APwa 12/15 1455)</ref>

From early 1988, Rajneesh's discourses focused exclusively on [[Zen]].<ref name="JMF34"/> In early 1989, Rajneesh gave a series of some of the longest lectures he had given, titled "Communism and Zen Fire, Zen Wind", in which he criticised capitalism and spoke of the possibilities of sannyas in Russia. In these talks he stated that communism could evolve into spiritualism, and spiritualism into anarchism.<ref name=":6">{{harv|Sam|1997|page=247}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> "I have always been very scientific in my approach, either outside or inside. Communism can be the base. Then spirituality has to be its growth, to provide what is missing."<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Anand Urmila|first=Ma|title=Osho: Call of the Ocean|publisher=Zorba Designs, Hotel Surya Villa, Koregaon Park, Pune|year=2006|location=India|page=101}}</ref> In late December, he said he no longer wished to be referred to as "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh", and in February 1989 took the name "Osho Rajneesh", shortened to "Osho" in September.<ref name="JMF34"/><ref name="Süss30">{{harvnb|Süss|1996|p=30}}</ref> He also requested that all trademarks previously branded with "Rajneesh" be rebranded "OSHO".<ref>{{cite web|title=OSHO: Background Information |url=http://www.osho.info/trademark_information.asp |format=[[etext]] |access-date=10 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220235038/http://www.osho.info/trademark_information.asp |archive-date=20 February 2012 }}</ref><ref name="osho.com"/> The Buddhist honorific "[[Oshō]]", which literally means "on whom the heavens shower flowers", was borrowed from [[William James]]' "oceanic [experience]" as in "[[Moksha|dissolving into the ocean]]".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=1990-01-20 |title=Baghwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian Guru, Dies at 58 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/20/obituaries/baghwan-shree-rajneesh-indian-guru-dies-at-58.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331143122/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/20/obituaries/baghwan-shree-rajneesh-indian-guru-dies-at-58.html |archive-date=2009-03-31 |access-date=2025-09-08 |work=The New York Times |pages=30 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rajneesh, Osho |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rajneesh-osho |access-date=2025-09-08 |website=Encyclopedia.com |series=Encyclopedia of India}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sarlo |first=Deva |date=2015-07-09 |title=The Name of the Story is the Story of a Name |url=https://www.oshonews.com/2015/07/09/the-name-of-the-story-is-the-story-of-a-name/ |access-date=2025-09-08 |website=Osho News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

His health continued to weaken. He delivered his last public discourse in April 1989, from then on simply sitting in silence with his followers.<ref name="JMF35-36" /> Shortly before his death, Rajneesh suggested that one or more audience members at evening meetings (now referred to as the ''White Robe Brotherhood'') were subjecting him to some form of evil magic.<ref name="JMF37">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=37}}</ref><ref name="Shunyo252253">{{harvnb|Shunyo|1993|pp=252–253}}</ref> A search for the perpetrators was undertaken, but none could be found.<ref name="JMF37" /><ref name="Shunyo252253" />

=== Death ===
At age 58, Rajneesh died on 19 January 1990 at the ashram in [[Pune]], India.<ref name=bbobt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N1UPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eIYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6330%2C4444331 |work=The Bulletin |location=Bend, Oregon |agency=Associated Press |title=Deported guru Rajneesh dies |date=19 January 1990 |page=A1}}</ref><ref name=thcel>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N1UPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eIYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5213%2C4511895 |work=The Bulletin |location=Bend, Oregon |agency=wire services |title=Meanwhile in India, thousands celebrate |date=19 January 1990 |page=B1}}</ref> The official cause of death was heart failure, but a statement released by his commune said that he died because "living in the body had become a hell" after an alleged poisoning in U.S. jails.<ref>[[Associated Press|AP]] (20 January 1990). [https://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=k4AiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wakFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2100,3636170&dq=rajneesh+heart-failure&hl=en "Rajneesh Mourned in India"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306141407/https://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=k4AiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wakFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2100,3636170&dq=rajneesh+heart-failure&hl=en |date=6 March 2016}}, ''[[The Item]]''. Retrieved 5 July 2010.</ref> His ashes were placed in his newly built bedroom in Lao Tzu House at the ashram in Pune. The [[epitaph]] reads, "Never Born – Never Died Only visited this planet Earth between December 11, 1931 and January 19, 1990".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/deccan-chronicle/20180119/282428464601535|title=Art of conscious birth and death|first=Chaitanya|last=Keerti|date=19 January 2018|work=[[Deccan Chronicle]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817062252/https://www.pressreader.com/india/deccan-chronicle/20180119/282428464601535|archive-date=17 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Teachings ==
Rajneesh's teachings, delivered through his discourses, were not presented in an academic setting, but interspersed with jokes.<ref name="JMF1-2">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|pp=1–2}}</ref><ref name="BM1">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=1}}</ref> The emphasis was not static but changed over time: Rajneesh revelled in paradox and contradiction, making his work difficult to summarise.<ref name="JMF2">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=1}}</ref> He delighted in engaging in behaviour that seemed entirely at odds with traditional images of enlightened individuals; his early lectures in particular were famous for their humour and their refusal to take anything seriously.<ref name="JMF6" /><ref name="HBU-ZTB169" /> All such behaviour, however capricious and difficult to accept, was explained as "a technique for transformation" to push people "beyond the mind".<ref name="JMF6" />

He spoke on major spiritual traditions including [[Jainism]], [[Hinduism]], [[Hassidism]], [[Tantrism]], [[Taoism]], [[Sikhism]], [[Sufism]], [[Christianity]], [[Buddhism]], on a variety of Eastern and Western mystics and on sacred scriptures such as the ''[[Upanishads]]'' and the ''[[Guru Granth Sahib]]''.<ref name="BM33" /> The sociologist Lewis F. Carter saw his ideas as rooted in Hindu [[advaita]], in which the human experiences of separateness, duality and temporality are held to be a kind of dance or play of cosmic consciousness in which everything is sacred, has absolute worth and is an end in itself.<ref name=Carter267>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=267}}</ref> While his contemporary [[Jiddu Krishnamurti]] did not approve of Rajneesh, there are clear similarities between their respective teachings.<ref name="JMF2"/>

Rajneesh also drew on a wide range of Western ideas.<ref name="BM33">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=33}}</ref> His belief in the [[unity of opposites]] recalls [[Heraclitus]], while his description of man as a machine, condemned to the helpless acting out of unconscious, neurotic patterns, has much in common with [[Sigmund Freud]] and [[George Gurdjieff]].<ref name="JMF2"/><ref>{{harvnb|Prasad|1978|pp=14–17}}</ref> His vision of the "new man" transcending constraints of convention is reminiscent of [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'s ''[[Beyond Good and Evil]]'';<ref name="CLFNR">{{harvnb|Carter|1987|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=209}}</ref> his promotion of [[sexual liberation]] bears comparison to [[D. H. Lawrence]];<ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=50}}</ref> and his "dynamic" meditations owe a debt to [[Wilhelm Reich]].<ref name="Clarke433">{{harvnb|Clarke|2006|p=433}}</ref>

=== Ego and the mind ===
According to Rajneesh every human being is a ''[[Buddha]]'' with the capacity for [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]], capable of unconditional love and of responding rather than reacting to life, although the ego usually prevents this, identifying with social conditioning and creating false needs and conflicts and an illusory sense of identity that is nothing but a barrier of dreams.<ref name="JMF3">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=3}}</ref><ref name="HBU-ZTB171">{{harvnb|Urban|1996|p=171}}</ref><ref name=Wallis131>{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=130–133}}</ref> Otherwise man's innate being can flower in a move from the periphery to the centre.<ref name="JMF3"/><ref name=Wallis131 />

Rajneesh viewed the mind first and foremost as a mechanism for survival, replicating behavioural strategies that have proven successful.<ref name="JMF3"/><ref name="Wallis131" /> However, the mind's appeal to the past, he said, deprives human beings of the ability to live authentically in the present, causing them to repress genuine emotions and to shut themselves off from joyful experiences that arise naturally when embracing the present moment: "The mind has no inherent capacity for joy.{{nbsp}}[...] It only thinks about joy."<ref name=Wallis131 /><ref name="JMF3-4">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|pp=3–4}}</ref> The result is that people poison themselves with all manner of [[neurosis|neuroses]], [[jealousy|jealousies]], and insecurities.<ref name="JMF4" /> He argued that [[psychological repression]], often advocated by religious leaders, makes suppressed feelings re-emerge in another guise, and that sexual repression resulted in societies obsessed with sex.<ref name="JMF4">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=4}}</ref> Instead of suppressing, people should trust and accept themselves unconditionally.<ref name=Wallis131 /><ref name="JMF3-4" /> This should not merely be understood intellectually, as the mind could only assimilate it as one more piece of information: instead [[meditation]] was needed.<ref name="JMF4" />

=== Meditation ===
Rajneesh presented meditation not just as a practice, but as a state of awareness to be maintained in every moment, a total awareness that awakens the individual from the sleep of mechanical responses conditioned by beliefs and expectations.<ref name=Wallis131 /><ref name="JMF4" /> He employed Western [[psychotherapy]] in the preparatory stages of meditation to create awareness of mental and emotional patterns.<ref name="JMF5" />

He suggested more than a hundred meditation techniques in total.<ref name="JMF5" /><ref name="HBU-ZTB172" /> His own "active meditation" techniques are characterised by stages of physical activity leading to silence.<ref name="JMF5">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=5}}</ref> The most famous of these remains [[dynamic meditation]],<ref name="JMF5" /><ref name="HBU-ZTB172" /> which has been described as a kind of microcosm of his outlook.<ref name="HBU-ZTB172">{{harvnb|Urban|1996|p=172}}</ref> Performed with closed or blindfolded eyes, it comprises five stages, four of which are accompanied by music.<ref name="Gordon3-8">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=3–8}}</ref> First the meditator engages in ten minutes of rapid breathing through the nose.<ref name="Gordon3-8" /> The second ten minutes are for [[catharsis]]: "Let whatever is happening happen.{{nbsp}}[...] Laugh, shout, scream, jump, shake—whatever you feel to do, do it!"<ref name="JMF5" /><ref name="Gordon3-8" /> Next, for ten minutes one jumps up and down with arms raised, shouting "Hoo!" each time one lands on the flat of the feet.<ref name="Gordon3-8" /><ref name="MFLM35">{{harvnb|Osho|2004|p=35}}</ref> At the fourth, silent stage, the meditator stops moving suddenly and totally, remaining completely motionless for fifteen minutes, witnessing everything that is happening.<ref name="Gordon3-8" /><ref name="MFLM35" /> The last stage of the meditation consists of fifteen minutes of dancing and celebration.<ref name="Gordon3-8" /><ref name="MFLM35" />

Rajneesh developed other active meditation techniques, such as the [[Kundalini]] "shaking" meditation and the Nadabrahma "humming" meditation, which are less animated, although they also include physical activity of one sort or another.<ref name="JMF5" /> He also used to organise [[Gibberish]] sessions in which disciples were asked to just blabber meaningless sounds, which according to him clears out garbage from mind and relaxes it.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 October 2010 |first=Chaitanya|last=Keerti|title=It's all gibberish|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/speaking-tree/its-all-gibberish/articleshow/6836508.cms |access-date=1 May 2022 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=OSHO Gibberish Meditation |url=https://www.osho.com/meditation/osho-active-meditations/osho-gibberish-meditation |access-date=1 May 2022 |website=OSHO – Transform Yourself through the Science of Meditation}}</ref> His later "meditative therapies" require sessions for several days, OSHO Mystic Rose comprising three hours of laughing every day for a week, three hours of weeping each day for a second week, and a third week with three hours of silent meditation.<ref name="TLS198">{{harvnb|Aveling|1994|p=198}}</ref> These processes of "witnessing" enable a "jump into awareness".<ref name="JMF5" /> Rajneesh believed such cathartic methods were necessary because it was difficult for modern people to just sit and enter meditation. Once these methods had provided a glimpse of meditation, then people would be able to use other methods without difficulty.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

=== ''Sannyas'' ===
Another key ingredient was his own presence as a [[Guru|master]]: "A Master shares his being with you, not his philosophy{{nbsp}}[...] He never does anything to the disciple."<ref name="JMF6">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=6}}</ref> The initiation he offered was another such device: "if your being can communicate with me, it becomes a communion{{nbsp}}[...] It is the highest form of communication possible: a transmission without words. Our beings merge. This is possible only if you become a disciple."<ref name="JMF6" /> Ultimately though, as an explicitly "self-parodying" guru, Rajneesh even deconstructed his own authority, declaring his teaching to be nothing more than a "game" or a joke.<ref name="HBU-ZTB169" /><ref name="HBU-ZTB170">{{harvnb|Urban|1996|p=170}}</ref> He emphasised that anything and everything could become an opportunity for meditation.<ref name="JMF6" />

=== Renunciation and the "New Man" ===
Rajneesh saw his "neo-sannyas" as a totally new form of spiritual discipline, or one that had once existed but since been forgotten.<ref name="Aveling94-86">{{harvnb|Aveling|1994|p=86}}</ref> He thought that the traditional Hindu [[sannyas]] had turned into a mere system of social renunciation and imitation.<ref name="Aveling94-86" /> He emphasised complete inner freedom and the responsibility to oneself, not demanding superficial behavioural changes, but a deeper, inner transformation.<ref name="Aveling94-86" /> Desires were to be accepted and surpassed rather than denied.<ref name="Aveling94-86" /> Once this inner flowering had taken place, desires such as that for sex would be left behind.<ref name="Aveling94-86" />

Rajneesh said that he was "the rich man's guru" and that material poverty was not a genuine spiritual value.<ref name="Gordon114">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=114}}</ref> He had himself photographed wearing sumptuous clothing and hand-made watches<ref name="TOI3104">{{cite news|author=Neil Pate |date=3 January 2004 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/403145.cms |title=Celluloid Rajneesh, quite a hit |work=The Times of India |access-date=11 July 2011 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429204538/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/403145.cms |archive-date=29 April 2012 }}</ref> and, while in [[Oregon]], drove a different [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls-Royce]] each day – his followers reportedly wanted to buy him 365 of them, one for each day of the year.<ref name="Hindu">Ranjit Lal, (16 May 2004). [https://web.archive.org/web/20040907145444/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/05/16/stories/2004051600330800.htm A hundred years of solitude]. ''The Hindu''. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref> Publicity shots of the Rolls-Royces were sent to the press.<ref name="Gordon114" /><ref name="FF1-47">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=47}}</ref> They may have reflected both his advocacy of wealth and his desire to provoke American sensibilities, much as he had enjoyed offending Indian sensibilities earlier.<ref name="Gordon114" /><ref name=Lewis129>{{harvnb|Goldman|2004|p=129}}</ref>

Rajneesh aimed to create a "new man" combining the spirituality of [[Gautama Buddha]] with the zest for life embodied by [[Nikos Kazantzakis]]' ''[[Zorba the Greek]]'': "He should be as accurate and objective as a scientist{{nbsp}}[...] as sensitive, as full of heart, as a poet{{nbsp}}[...] [and as] rooted deep down in his being as the mystic."<ref name="JMF6" /><ref name="HBU-ZTB175">{{harvnb|Urban|1996|p=175}}</ref> His term the ''new man'' applied to men and women equally, whose roles he saw as complementary; most of his movement's leadership positions were held by women.<ref name="JMF7">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=7}}</ref> This new man, "Zorba the Buddha", should reject neither science nor spirituality but embrace both.<ref name="JMF6" /> Rajneesh believed humanity was threatened with extinction due to over-population, impending [[nuclear holocaust]] and diseases such as AIDS, and thought many of society's ills could be remedied by scientific means.<ref name="JMF6" /> The new man would no longer be trapped in institutions such as family, marriage, political ideologies and religions.<ref name="HBU-ZTB169" /><ref name="JMF7"/> In this respect Rajneesh is similar to other counter-culture gurus, and perhaps even certain [[Postmodernism|postmodern]] and [[Deconstructionism|deconstructional]] thinkers.<ref name="HBU-ZTB169">{{harvnb|Urban|1996|p=169}}</ref> Rajneesh said that the new man had to be "utterly ambitionless", as opposed to a life that depended on ambition. The new man, he said, "is not necessarily the better man. He will be livelier. He will be more joyous. He will be more alert. But who knows whether he will be better or not? As far as politicians are concerned, he will not be better, because he will not be a better soldier. He will not be ready to be a soldier at all. He will not be competitive, and the whole competitive economy will collapse."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Brecher|first=Max|url=https://ildspor.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/159239659-a-passage-to-america.pdf|title=A Passage to America: A Radically New Look at Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and a Controversial American Commune|year=2013|pages=237, 238|access-date=30 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430142314/https://ildspor.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/159239659-a-passage-to-america.pdf|archive-date=30 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Theologica Mystica. Discourses on the treatise of st Dionysius|last=Rajneesh|first=Bhagwan Shree|publisher=Rajneesh Foundation International|year=1983|isbn=0-88050-655-5|location=Rajneeshpuram, Oregon, USA|pages=Chapter 2}}</ref>

==="Heart to heart communion"===
In April 1981, Rajneesh had sent a message that he was entering the ultimate stage of his work, and would now speak only through silence.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Joshi|first=Vasant|title=The Luminous Rebel|publisher=Wisdom Tree|year=2010|isbn=978-81-8328-154-6|location=India|pages=150–151|language=English}}</ref> On 1 May 1981, Rajneesh stopped speaking publicly and entered a phase of "silent heart to heart communion".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Appleton|first=Sue|title=Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh the Most Dangerous Man since Jesus Christ|publisher=Rebel Publishing House Gmbh|year=1987|isbn=3-89338-001-9|location=West Germany|pages=85}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Joshi|first=Vasant|title=OSHO The Luminous Rebel|publisher=Wisdom Tree|year=2010|isbn=978-81-8328-154-6|location=India|pages=150|language=English}}</ref>

Rajneesh stated in the first talk he gave after ending three years of public silence on 30 October 1984, that he had gone into silence partly to put off those who were only intellectually following him.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rajneesh Bible|date=c. 1985|publisher=Rajneesh Foundational International|isbn=0880502002|location=Rajneeshpuram, Or., U.S.A.|oclc=11813128}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last=Joshi|first=Vasant|title=OSHO The Luminous Rebel|publisher=Wisdom Tree|year=2010|isbn=978-81-8328-154-6|location=India|pages=170–171|language=English}}</ref>

{{blockquote|First, my silence was not because I have said everything. My silence was because I wanted to drop those people who were hanging around my words. I wanted people who can be with me even if I am silent. I sorted out all those people without any trouble. They simply dropped out.

Three years was enough time. And when I saw all those people – and they were not many, but they were hanging around my words. I don't want people to just believe in my words; I want people to live my silence. In these three years it was a great time to be silent with my people, and to see their courage and their love in remaining with a man who perhaps may never speak again. I wanted people who can be with me even if I am silent.<ref name=":8"/>}}

=== Rajneesh's "Ten Commandments" ===
In his early days as Acharya Rajneesh, a correspondent once asked for his "[[Ten Commandments]]". In reply, Rajneesh said that it was a difficult matter because he was against any kind of commandment, but "just for fun", set out the following:

#Never obey anyone's command unless it is coming from within you also.
#There is no God other than life itself.
#Truth is within you, do not search for it elsewhere.
#Love is prayer.
#To become a nothingness is the door to truth. Nothingness itself is the means, the goal and attainment.
#Life is now and here.
#Live wakefully.
#Do not swim – float.
#Die each moment so that you can be new each moment.
#Do not search. That which is, is. Stop and see.

He underlined numbers 3, 7, 9 and 10. The ideas expressed in these commandments have remained constant [[leitmotif]]s in his movement.<ref name=10c>{{harvnb|Goldman|2004|pp=128–129}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
While Rajneesh's teachings were not welcomed by many in his own home country during his lifetime, there has been a change in Indian public opinion since Rajneesh's death.<ref name=GIA181-183>{{harvnb|Forsthoefel|Humes|2005|pp=181–183}}</ref><ref name="TJ">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927032356/http://law.incometaxindia.gov.in/DitTaxmann/IncomeTaxActs/2007ITAct/%5B2005%5D148TAXMAN0396(BOM).htm Bombay High Court tax judgment], sections 12–14. Retrieved 11 July 2011.</ref> In 1991, an Indian newspaper counted Rajneesh, along with figures such as [[Gautama Buddha]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]], among the ten people who had most changed India's destiny; in Rajneesh's case, by "liberating the minds of future generations from the shackles of religiosity and conformism".<ref name="JMF42">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=42}}</ref> Rajneesh has found more acclaim in his homeland since his death than he did while alive.<ref name="HBU-TSSP">{{harvnb|Urban|2003|p=242}}</ref> Writing in ''[[The Indian Express]]'', columnist Tanweer Alam stated, "The late Rajneesh was a fine interpreter of social absurdities that destroyed human happiness."<ref name="The Indian Express">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bending-towards-justice/893156/ |first=Tanweer |last=Alam |title=Bending towards justice |date=29 December 2011 |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |access-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921005125/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bending-towards-justice/893156/ |archive-date=21 September 2016 }}</ref> At a celebration in 2006, marking the 75th anniversary of Rajneesh's birth, Indian singer [[Wasifuddin Dagar]] said that Rajneesh's teachings are "more pertinent in the current milieu than they were ever before".<ref>{{cite news|date=23 September 2006 |url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/09/23/stories/2006092303060200.htm |title=In memoriam  |access-date=11 July 2011 |location=Chennai, India |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214104705/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/09/23/stories/2006092303060200.htm |work=[[The Hindu]] |archive-date=14 December 2011 }}</ref> In Nepal, there were 60 Rajneesh centres with almost 45,000 initiated disciples as of January 2008.<ref>{{cite news|work=Sudeshna Sarkar|date=19 January 2008|title=Osho rises from his ashes in Nepal|publisher=News Post India}} "Today, there are five communes in Nepal and 60 centres with almost 45,000 initiated disciples. OSHO Tapoban also runs a centre for visitors that can accommodate 150 people, a coffee shop, a magazine and an online newsletter."</ref> Rajneesh's entire works have been placed in the Library of [[Parliament of India|India's National Parliament]] in New Delhi.<ref name="TJ" /> The [[Bollywood]] actor, and former [[Indian Foreign Minister|Minister of State for External Affairs]], [[Vinod Khanna]], worked as Rajneesh's gardener in [[Rajneeshpuram]] in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news|work=Tribune News Service |date=25 July 2002 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020725/ncr1.htm |title=Vinod Khanna plays the spiritual franchiser  |access-date=11 July 2011 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102193441/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020725/ncr1.htm |archive-date=2 November 2012 }}</ref> Over 650 books<ref name="Süss45">{{harvnb|Süss|1996|p=45}}</ref> are credited to Rajneesh, expressing his views on all facets of human existence.<ref name="CNR" /> Virtually all of them are renderings of his taped discourses.<ref name="CNR">{{harvnb|Carter|1987|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=182, 189}}</ref> Many Bollywood personalities like [[Parveen Babi]] and [[Mahesh Bhatt]] were also known to be the followers of Rajneesh's philosophy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/explainers/wild-wild-country-who-was-bhagwan-rajneesh-osho|title=The Glorious Rise & Scandalous Fall of 'Sex Guru' Osho|work=The Quint|access-date=3 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803194445/https://www.thequint.com/explainers/wild-wild-country-who-was-bhagwan-rajneesh-osho|archive-date=3 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> His books are available in more than 60 languages from more than 200 publishing houses<ref>{{cite news|work=Shantanu Guha Ray |date=30 June 2007 |url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main31.asp?filename=Ne300607Business_Of_the.asp |title=Business of the Gods  |access-date=11 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419104750/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main31.asp?filename=Ne300607Business_Of_the.asp |archive-date=19 April 2012 }}</ref> and have entered best-seller lists in Italy and South Korea.<ref name="JMF42" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://theprint.in/opinion/wild-wild-country-demonises-osho-and-celebrates-his-fall-says-ex-follower-mahesh-bhatt/46845/|title=I was part of Osho's spiritual whorehouse cult & flushed his mala in disgust|work=The Print|date=4 April 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spotboye.com/bollywood/Bollywood-interviews/mahesh-bhatt-reminisces-i-was-instrumental-in-taking-vinod-khanna-to-rajneesh/5901d1658ce16f1a1ad328cb|title=Mahesh Bhatt Reminisces: I Was Instrumental In Taking Vinod Khanna To Rajneesh|work=Spotboye}}</ref>

Rajneesh continues to be known and published worldwide in the area of meditation and his work also includes social and political commentary.<ref name="Lewis120" /> Internationally, after almost two decades of controversy and a decade of accommodation, Rajneesh's movement has established itself in the market of new religions.<ref name="Lewis120">{{harvnb|Goldman|2004|p=120}}</ref> His followers have redefined his contributions, reframing central elements of his teaching so as to make them appear less controversial to outsiders.<ref name="Lewis120" /> Societies in North America and Western Europe have met them half-way, becoming more accommodating to spiritual topics such as [[yoga]] and meditation.<ref name="Lewis120" /> The Osho International Foundation (OIF) runs [[stress management]] seminars for corporate clients such as [[IBM]] and [[BMW]], with a reported (2000) revenue between $15 and $45&nbsp;million annually in the US.<ref>{{harvnb|Carrette|King|2004|p=154}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Heelas|1996|p=63}}</ref> In Italy, a satirical Facebook page titled Le più belle frasi di Osho repurposing pictures of Osho with humorous captions about national politics was launched in 2016 and quickly surpassed a million followers, becoming a cultural phenomenon in the country, with posts being republished by national papers and being shown on television.<ref>{{Cite web|date=31 December 2018|title=Interview with Federico Palmaroli at "Le più belle frasi di Osho"|url=https://the-shortlisted.co.uk/le-piu-belle-frasi-di-osho-federico-palmaroli-intervista/|access-date=11 October 2021|website=The Shortlisted|language=en-GB}}</ref>
[[File:Pune OSHO Teerth Park Preeti-Parashar 11.JPG|thumb|Statue of Rajneesh, in the Pune OSHO Teerth Park Preeti-Parashar, India]]
Rajneesh's ashram in [[Pune]] has become the OSHO International Meditation Resort<ref name="JMF41" /> Describing itself as the [[Esalen]] of the East, it teaches a variety of spiritual techniques from a broad range of traditions and promotes itself as a spiritual oasis, a "sacred space" for discovering one's self and uniting the desires of body and mind in a beautiful resort environment.<ref name=GIA182-183 /> According to press reports, prominent visitors have included politicians and media personalities.<ref name="JMF41">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=41}}</ref> In 2011, a national seminar on Rajneesh's teachings was inaugurated at the Department of Philosophy of the [[List of educational institutions in Jabalpur|Mankunwarbai College for Women]] in [[Jabalpur]].<ref name=Hitavada>"National seminar on 'Zorba the Buddha' inaugurated", ''[[The Hitavada]]'', 5 February 2011</ref> Funded by the [[Bhopal]] office of the [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]], the seminar focused on Rajneesh's "Zorba the Buddha" teaching, seeking to reconcile spirituality with the materialist and objective approach.<ref name=Hitavada /> As of 2013, the resort required all guests to be tested for [[HIV/AIDS]] at its Welcome Centre on arrival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.osho.com/medresort/faqmedresort/faqmedresort.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130804093116/http://www.osho.com/medresort/faqmedresort/faqmedresort.cfm|archive-date=4 August 2013|title=FAQ's|work=Osho International Meditation Resort|access-date=24 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Reception ==
Rajneesh is generally considered one of the most controversial spiritual leaders to have emerged from India in the twentieth century.<ref name=Mehta133>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=133}}</ref><ref name="Chryss207-208" /> His message of sexual, emotional, spiritual, and institutional liberation, as well as the pleasure he took in causing offence, ensured that his life was surrounded by controversy.<ref name="JMF7"/> Rajneesh became known as the "sex guru" in India, and as the "Rolls-Royce guru" in the United States.<ref name="Gordon114" /> He attacked traditional concepts of nationalism, openly expressed contempt for politicians, and poked fun at the leading figures of various religions, who in turn found his arrogance insufferable.<ref>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=1}}</ref><ref name=Mehta83>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=83}}</ref> His teachings on sex, marriage, family, and relationships contradicted traditional values and aroused a great deal of anger and opposition around the world.<ref name="NYT160981" /><ref>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=2}}</ref> His movement was widely considered a [[cult]]. Rajneesh was seen to live "in ostentation and offensive opulence", while his followers, most of whom had severed ties with outside friends and family and donated all or most of their money and possessions to the commune, might be at a mere "subsistence level".<ref name=Zaitz4 /><ref name=Galanter>{{harvnb|Galanter|1989|pp=95–96, 102}}</ref>

=== Appraisal by scholars of religion ===
Academic assessments of Rajneesh's work have been mixed and often directly contradictory.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} [[Uday Mehta]] saw errors in his interpretation of Zen and [[Mahayana Buddhism]], speaking of "gross contradictions and inconsistencies in his teachings" that "exploit" the "ignorance and gullibility" of his listeners.<ref name=Mehta>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=151}}</ref> The sociologist Bob Mullan wrote in 1983 of "a borrowing of truths, half-truths and occasional misrepresentations from the great traditions... often bland, inaccurate, spurious and extremely contradictory".<ref name="BM48">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=48}}</ref> American religious studies professor [[Hugh B. Urban]] also said Rajneesh's teaching was neither original nor especially profound, and concluded that most of its content had been borrowed from various Eastern and Western philosophies.<ref name="HBU-ZTB169" /> [[George Chryssides]], on the other hand, found such descriptions of Rajneesh's teaching as a "potpourri" of various religious teachings unfortunate because Rajneesh was "no amateur philosopher". Drawing attention to Rajneesh's academic background he stated that; "Whether or not one accepts his teachings, he was no charlatan when it came to expounding the ideas of others."<ref name="Chryss207-208" /> He described Rajneesh as primarily a Buddhist teacher, promoting an independent form of "Beat Zen"<ref name="Chryss207-208">{{harvnb|Chryssides|1999|pp=207–208}}</ref> and viewed the unsystematic, contradictory and outrageous aspects of Rajneesh's teachings as seeking to induce a change in people, not as philosophy lectures aimed at intellectual understanding of the subject.<ref name="Chryss207-208" />

Similarly with respect to Rajneesh's embracing of Western counter-culture and the human potential movement, though Mullan acknowledged that Rajneesh's range and imagination were second to none,<ref name="BM48" /> and that many of his statements were quite insightful and moving, perhaps even profound at times,<ref name="BM32">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=32}}</ref> he perceived "a potpourri of counter-culturalist and post-counter-culturalist ideas" focusing on love and freedom, the need to live for the moment, the importance of self, the feeling of "being okay", the mysteriousness of life, the fun ethic, the individual's responsibility for their own destiny, and the need to drop the ego, along with fear and guilt.<ref name="BM48-89-90">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=48, 89–90}}</ref> Mehta notes that Rajneesh's appeal to his Western disciples was based on his social experiments, which established a philosophical connection between the Eastern [[Guru-shishya tradition|guru tradition]] and the Western [[growth movement]].<ref name=Mehta133 /> He saw this as a [[marketing strategy]] to meet the desires of his audience.<ref name="HBU-ZTB169" /> Urban, too, viewed Rajneesh as negating a dichotomy between spiritual and material desires, reflecting the preoccupation with the body and sexuality characteristic of late [[capitalism|capitalist]] [[consumer culture]] and in tune with the socio-economic conditions of his time.<ref name=GIA183 />

The British professor of religious studies [[Peter B. Clarke]] said that most participators felt they had made progress in self-actualisation as defined by American psychologist [[Abraham Maslow]] and the [[human potential movement]].<ref name="Clarke466" /> He stated that the style of therapy Rajneesh devised, with its liberal attitude towards sexuality as a sacred part of life, had proved influential among other therapy practitioners and new age groups.<ref name="Clarke432-433" /> Yet Clarke believes that the main motivation of seekers joining the movement was "neither therapy nor sex, but the prospect of becoming enlightened, in the classical Buddhist sense".<ref name="Clarke466" />

In 2005, Urban observed that Rajneesh had undergone a "remarkable [[apotheosis]]" after his return to India, and especially in the years since his death, going on to describe him as a powerful illustration of what [[F. Max Müller]], over a century ago, called "that world-wide circle through which, like an electric current, Oriental thought could run to the West and Western thought return to the East".<ref name=GIA183>{{harvnb|Forsthoefel|Humes|2005|pp=181–185}}</ref> Clarke also said that Rajneesh has come to be "seen as an important teacher within India itself" who is "increasingly recognised as a major spiritual teacher of the twentieth century, at the forefront of the current 'world-accepting' trend of spirituality based on self-development".<ref name="Clarke432-433">{{harvnb|Clarke|2006|pp=432–433}}</ref>

=== Appraisal as charismatic leader ===
A number of commentators have remarked upon Rajneesh's [[charisma]]. Comparing Rajneesh with [[Gurdjieff]], [[Anthony Storr]] wrote that Rajneesh was "personally extremely impressive", noting that "many of those who visited him for the first time felt that their most intimate feelings were instantly understood, that they were accepted and unequivocally welcomed rather than judged. [Rajneesh] seemed to radiate energy and to awaken hidden possibilities in those who came into contact with him".<ref name=Storr47>{{harvnb|Storr|1996|p=47}}</ref> Many sannyasins have stated that hearing Rajneesh speak, they "fell in love with him".<ref name="SJP122">{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=122}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=368}}</ref><ref name="BM67">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=67}}</ref> Susan J. Palmer noted that even critics attested to the power of his presence.<ref name="SJP122" /> James S. Gordon, a psychiatrist and researcher, recalls inexplicably finding himself laughing like a child, hugging strangers and having tears of gratitude in his eyes after a glance by Rajneesh from within his passing Rolls-Royce.<ref name=Gordon109>{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=109}}</ref> [[Frances FitzGerald (journalist)|Frances FitzGerald]] concluded upon listening to Rajneesh in person that he was a brilliant lecturer, and expressed surprise at his talent as a comedian, which had not been apparent from reading his books, as well as the hypnotic quality of his talks, which had a profound effect on his audience.<ref name="FF2-106">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986b|p=106}}</ref> Hugh Milne (Swami Shivamurti), an ex-devotee who between 1973 and 1982 worked closely with Rajneesh as leader of the Poona Ashram Guard<ref>{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=159}}</ref> and as his personal bodyguard,<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|1988|p=67}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Belfrage|1981|p=137}}</ref> noted that their first meeting left him with a sense that far more than words had passed between them: "There is no invasion of privacy, no alarm, but it is as if his soul is slowly slipping inside mine, and in a split second transferring vital information."<ref>{{harvnb|Milne|1986|p=48}}</ref> Milne also observed another facet of Rajneesh's charismatic ability in stating that he was "a brilliant manipulator of the unquestioning disciple".<ref>{{harvnb|Milne|1986|p=307}}</ref>

Hugh B. Urban said that Rajneesh appeared to fit with [[Max Weber]]'s classical image of [[charismatic authority|the charismatic figure]], being held to possess "an extraordinary supernatural power or 'grace', which was essentially irrational and affective".<ref name="HBU-ZTB168">{{harvnb|Urban|1996|p=168}}</ref> Rajneesh corresponded to Weber's pure charismatic type in rejecting all rational laws and institutions and claiming to subvert all hierarchical authority, though Urban said that the promise of absolute freedom inherent in this resulted in bureaucratic organisation and institutional control within larger communes.<ref name="HBU-ZTB168" />

Some scholars have suggested that Rajneesh may have had a [[narcissism|narcissistic]] personality.<ref>{{harvnb|Storr|1996|p=50}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Huth|1993|pp=204–226}}</ref><ref name=clarke /> In his paper ''The Narcissistic Guru: A Profile of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh'', Ronald O. Clarke, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at [[Oregon State University]], argued that Rajneesh exhibited all the typical features of [[narcissistic personality disorder]], such as a grandiose sense of self-importance and uniqueness; a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success; a need for constant attention and admiration; a set of characteristic responses to threats to self-esteem; disturbances in interpersonal relationships; a preoccupation with [[personal grooming]] combined with frequent resorting to prevarication or outright lying; and a lack of empathy.<ref name=clarke /> Drawing on Rajneesh's reminiscences of his childhood in his book ''Glimpses of a Golden Childhood'', he suggested that Rajneesh suffered from a fundamental lack of [[parental discipline]], due to his growing up in the care of overindulgent grandparents.<ref name=clarke /> Rajneesh's self-avowed Buddha status, he concluded, was part of a [[delusion]]al system associated with his narcissistic personality disorder; a condition of ego-inflation rather than egolessness.<ref name=clarke>{{harvnb|Clarke|1988|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=55–89}}</ref>

=== Wider appraisal as a thinker and speaker ===
There are widely divergent assessments of Rajneesh's qualities as a thinker and speaker. [[Khushwant Singh]], an eminent author, historian, and former editor of the ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', has described Rajneesh as "the most original thinker that India has produced: the most erudite, the most clearheaded and the most innovative".<ref name=Bhawuk>{{harvnb|Bhawuk|2003|p=14}}</ref> Singh believes that Rajneesh was a "free-thinking agnostic" who had the ability to explain the most abstract concepts in simple language, illustrated with witty anecdotes, who mocked gods, [[prophet]]s, scriptures, and religious practices, and gave a totally new dimension to religion.<ref>Khushwant Singh, writing in the ''[[Indian Express]]'', 25 December 1988, quoted e.g., [https://web.archive.org/web/20030523024043/http://www.indiaclub.com/Shop/SearchResults.asp?prodstock=11216 here]</ref> German philosopher [[Peter Sloterdijk]], a one-time devotee of Rajneesh's (living at the Pune ashram from 1978 to 1980), described him as a "[[Wittgenstein]] of religions", ranking him as one of the greatest figures of the 20th century; in his view, Rajneesh had performed a radical deconstruction of the word games played by the world's religions.<ref>{{harvnb|Sloterdijk|1996|p=105}}</ref><ref>[https://petersloterdijk.net/vita/ Peter Sloterdijk vita]. Retrieved 16 October 2019.</ref>

During the early 1980s, a number of commentators in the popular press were dismissive of Rajneesh.<ref name="BM8-9" /> The Australian critic [[Clive James]] scornfully referred to him as "Bagwash", likening the experience of listening to one of his discourses to sitting in a laundrette and watching "your tattered underwear revolve soggily for hours while exuding grey suds. The Bagwash talks the way that he looks."<ref name="BM8-9">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=8–9}}</ref><ref name=Bagwash /> James finished by saying that Rajneesh, though a "fairly benign example of his type", was a "rebarbative dingbat who manipulates the manipulable into manipulating one another".<ref name="BM8-9" /><ref name=Bagwash /><ref>"Adieu to God: Why Psychology Leads to Atheism" Mick Power. p114</ref> Responding to an enthusiastic review of Rajneesh's talks by [[Bernard Levin]] in ''[[The Times]]'', [[Dominik Wujastyk]], also writing in ''The Times'', similarly expressed his opinion that the talk he heard while visiting the Puna ''ashram'' was of a very low standard, wearyingly repetitive and often factually wrong, and stated that he felt disturbed by the [[personality cult]] surrounding Rajneesh.<ref name="BM8-9" /><ref>(10 August 2004) [https://web.archive.org/web/20090621002100/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1469028/Bernard-Levin.html Obituary of Bernard Levin], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref>

Writing in the ''[[Seattle Post Intelligencer]]'' in January 1990, American author [[Tom Robbins]] stated that based on his readings of Rajneesh's books, he was convinced Rajneesh was the 20th century's "greatest spiritual teacher". Robbins, while stressing that he was not a disciple, further stated that he had "read enough vicious propaganda and slanted reports to suspect that he was one of the most maligned figures in history".<ref name=Bhawuk /> Rajneesh's commentary on the [[Sikh]] scripture known as ''[[Japuji]]'' was hailed as the best available by [[Giani Zail Singh]], the former [[President of India]].<ref name="TJ" /> In 2011, author [[Farrukh Dhondy]] reported that film star [[Kabir Bedi]] was a fan of Rajneesh, and viewed Rajneesh's works as "the most sublime interpretations of Indian philosophy that he had come across". Dhondy himself said Rajneesh was "the cleverest intellectual confidence trickster that India has produced. His output of the 'interpretation' of Indian texts is specifically slanted towards a generation of disillusioned westerners who wanted (and perhaps still want) to 'have their cake, eat it' [and] claim at the same time that cake-eating is the highest virtue according to ancient-fused-with-scientific wisdom."<ref>(25 April 2011) [[Farrukh Dhondy]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022014849/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/ColumnsOthers/God-knows/Article1-689600.aspx "God Knows"], ''[[Hindustan Times]]''. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref>

=== Films about Rajneesh ===
* 1974: The first documentary film about Rajneesh was made by David M. Knipe. Program 13 of Exploring the Religions of South Asia, ''A Contemporary Guru: Rajneesh''. (Madison: [[WHA-TV]] 1974)
* 1978: The second documentary on Rajneesh called ''Bhagwan, The Movie''<ref>(1978) Bhagwan, The Movie, by Robert Hillman [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQbFtCEH-34 available here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017031502/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQbFtCEH-34 |date=17 October 2015 }}. Retrieved 6 August 2011.</ref> was made in 1978 by American filmmaker Robert Hillmann.
* 1979: In 1978 the German film maker Wolfgang Dobrowolny (Sw Veet Artho) visited the Ashram in Poona and created a unique documentary about Rajneesh, his Sannyasins and the ashram, titled ''Ashram in Poona: Bhagwans Experiment''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sannyas.wiki/index.php?title=Ashram_in_Poona:_Bhagwans_Experiment_(1979) |title=Ashram in Poona: Bhagwans Experiment (1979) |access-date=23 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323155751/http://www.sannyas.wiki/index.php?title=Ashram_in_Poona:_Bhagwans_Experiment_(1979) |archive-date=23 March 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Ashram in Poona [https://dotsub.com/view/896de5e5-4dfb-4a2e-9e48-2fe8ef03506c available here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323155602/https://dotsub.com/view/896de5e5-4dfb-4a2e-9e48-2fe8ef03506c |date=23 March 2018 }}</ref>
* 1981: In 1981, the [[BBC]] broadcast an episode in the documentary series ''[[The World About Us]]'' titled ''The God that Fled'', made by [[British American]] journalist [[Christopher Hitchens]].<ref name=Bagwash>James, Clive (9 August 1981). [https://web.archive.org/web/20101030143529/http://clivejames.com/books/glued/bagwash "The Bagwash Speaks"]. Retrieved 24 September 2011.</ref><ref>(9 June 2004). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080930104517/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mfx6 Time Shift: Gurus], [[BBC]]. Retrieved 15 July 2011.</ref>
* 1985 (3 November): CBS News' ''[[60 Minutes]]'' aired a segment about the Bhagwan in Oregon.
* 1987: In the mid-eighties [[Jeremiah Films]] produced a film ''Fear is the Master''.<ref>(1987) Fear is the Master,[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTKM1z-o-xg preview available here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911014810/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTKM1z-o-xg |date=11 September 2016 }}</ref>
* 1989: Another documentary, named ''Rajneesh: Spiritual Terrorist'', was made by Australian film maker Cynthia Connop in the late 1980s for [[ABC TV (Australian TV channel)|ABC TV]]/[[Learning Channel]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080512001600/http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm681.shtml Cynthia Connop], Women Make Movies. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref>
* 1989: UK documentary series called ''Scandal'' produced an episode entitled, "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh: The Man Who Was God".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944700/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|access-date=26 July 2018|title=Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh: The Man Who Was God|website=[[IMDb]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907045639/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944700/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|archive-date=7 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2002: ''[[Forensic Files]]'' Season 7 Episode 8 takes a look in to how forensics was used to determine the cause of the bio-attack in 1984.
* 2010: A Swiss documentary, titled ''Guru&nbsp;– Bhagwan, His Secretary & His Bodyguard'', was released in 2010.<ref>Martina Knoben (27 September 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100930040552/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/im-kino-guru-der-preis-der-hingabe-1.1004764 "Der Preis der Hingabe"], ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]''. Retrieved 9 July 2011. {{in lang|de}}</ref>
* 2012: [[Oregon Public Broadcasting]] produced the documentary titled ''Rajneeshpuram'' which aired 19 November 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rajneeshpuram|url=https://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregonexperience/segment/rajneeshpuram/|date=19 November 2012|access-date=19 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730110306/https://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregonexperience/segment/rajneeshpuram/|archive-date=30 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2016: ''[[Rebellious Flower]]'', an Indian-made biographical movie of Rajneesh's early life, based upon his own recollections and those of those who knew him, was released. It was written and produced by Jagdish Bharti and directed by Krishan Hooda, with Prince Shah and Shashank Singh playing the title role.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4659548/fullcredits|title=Rebellious Flower|date=15 January 2016|publisher=IMDb|access-date=1 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207035418/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4659548/fullcredits|archive-date=7 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2018: ''[[Wild Wild Country]]'', a [[Netflix]] documentary series on Rajneesh, focusing on [[Rajneeshpuram]] and the controversies surrounding it.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wollaston|first1=Simon|title=Wild Wild Country review – Netflix's take on the cult that threatened American life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/11/wild-wild-country-review-netflixs-take-on-the-cult-that-threatened-american-life|publisher=The Guardian Newspaper|access-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417183121/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/11/wild-wild-country-review-netflixs-take-on-the-cult-that-threatened-american-life|archive-date=17 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2023: [[Secrets of Love (web series)|''Secrets of Love'']], an Indian web series

== Selected discourses ==
{{Refbegin|colwidth=20em|}}

'''On the ''[[Upanishad]]s'':'''
* ''I am That''&nbsp;– Talks on [[Isha Upanishad]]
* ''The Supreme Doctrine''
* ''The Ultimate Alchemy'' Vols. I and II
* ''Vedanta: Seven Steps to Samadhi''

'''On [[Gautama Buddha]]:'''
* ''The [[Dhammapada]]'' (Vols. I&nbsp;– X)
* ''The Discipline of Transcendence'' (Vols. I&nbsp;– IV)
* ''The [[Heart Sutra]]''
* ''The [[Diamond Sutra]]''

'''On the sayings of Jesus:'''
* ''The Mustard Seed'' (the [[Gospel of Thomas]])
* ''Come Follow Me'' Vols. I&nbsp;– IV

'''On Buddhist [[Tantra]]:'''
* ''Tantra: The Supreme Understanding''
* ''The Tantra Vision''

'''On [[Patanjali]] and [[Yoga]]:'''
* ''Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega'' Vols. I&nbsp;– X
(reprinted as ''Yoga, the Science of the Soul'')

'''On [[Meditation]] methods:'''
* ''The Book of Secrets'', Vols. I&nbsp;– V
* ''Meditation: the Art of Inner Ecstasy''
* ''The Orange Book''
* ''Meditation: The First and Last Freedom''
* ''Learning to Silence the Mind''

'''On ''[[Tao]]'':'''
* ''Tao: The Three Treasures'' (The ''[[Tao Te Ching]]'' of [[Lao Tzu]]), Vol I&nbsp;– IV
* ''The Empty Boat'' (Stories of [[Zhuangzi (book)|Chuang Tzu]])
* ''When the Shoe Fits'' (Stories of [[Zhuangzi (book)|Chuang Tzu]])

'''On [[Zen]]:'''
* ''Neither This nor That'' (On the ''Xin Xin Ming'' of [[Jianzhi Sengcan|Sosan]])
* ''No Water, No Moon''
* ''Returning to the Source''
* ''And the Flowers Showered''
* ''The Grass Grows by Itself''
* ''Nirvana: The Last Nightmare''
* ''The Search'' (on the ''[[Ten Bulls]]'')
* ''Dang dang doko dang''
* ''Ancient Music in the Pines''
* ''A Sudden Clash of Thunder''
* ''Zen: The Path of Paradox''
* ''This Very Body the Buddha'' (on [[Hakuin]]'s ''Song of Meditation'')

'''On the [[Baul]] mystics:'''
* ''The Beloved''

'''On [[Sufi]]s:'''
* ''Until You Die''
* ''Just Like That''
* ''Unio Mystica'' Vols. I and II (on the poetry of [[Sanai]])

'''On [[Hasidic Judaism|Hassidism]]:'''
* ''The True Sage''
* ''The Art of Dying''

'''On [[Heraclitus]]:'''
* ''The Hidden Harmony''

'''On [[Kabir]]:'''
* ''Ecstasy: The Forgotten Language''
* ''The Divine Melody''
* ''The Path of Love''

'''On his childhood:'''
* ''Glimpses of a Golden Childhood''

'''On [[Guru Nanak]]'s Japji and [[Sikhism]]:'''
* ''The True Name''

'''Talks based on questions:'''
* ''I Am the Gate''
* ''The Way of the White Clouds''
* ''The Silent Explosion''
* ''Dimensions Beyond the Known''
* ''Roots and Wings''
* ''The Rebel''

'''''[[Darśana|Darshan]]'' interviews:'''
* ''Hammer on the Rock''
* ''Above All, Don't Wobble''
* ''Nothing to Lose but Your Head''
* ''Be Realistic: Plan for a Miracle''
* ''The Cypress in the Courtyard''
* ''Get Out of Your Own Way''
* ''Beloved of My Heart''
* ''A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose''
* ''Dance Your Way to God''
* ''The Passion for the Impossible''
* ''The Great Nothing''
* ''God Is Not for Sale''
* ''The Shadow of the Whip''
* ''Blessed Are the Ignorant''
* ''The Buddha Disease''
* ''Being in Love''

'''On ''[[Ashtavakra Gita]]''''':
* ''Total of 91 separate discourses''
{{Refend}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|India|Biography}}
* [[Rajneesh movement]]
* ''[[Byron v. Rajneesh Foundation International]]'', a 1985 lawsuit in Oregon that led to a $1.64 million judgment against the foundation
* ''[[Osho Times]]'', a website and former print publication of the Rajneesh movement
* [[2010 Pune bombing]], a bombing that occurred near the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune

== Notes ==
<references group="nb" />

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|20em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Citation |last=Abbott |first=Carl |title=Utopia and Bureaucracy: The Fall of Rajneeshpuram, Oregon |journal=The Pacific Historical Review |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=77–103 |year=1990 |url=http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=usp_fac |doi=10.2307/3640096 |jstor=3640096 |url-access=subscription}}.
* {{Citation |last=Aveling |first=Harry |title=The Laughing Swamis |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |location=Delhi |isbn=81-208-1118-6 |year=1994}}.
* {{Citation |editor-last=Aveling |editor-first=Harry |title=Osho Rajneesh and His Disciples: Some Western Perceptions |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |location=Delhi |isbn=81-208-1599-8 |year=1999}}. (Includes studies by Susan J. Palmer, Lewis F. Carter, Roy Wallis, Carl Latkin, Ronald O. Clarke and others previously published in various academic journals.)
* {{Citation |last=Bhawuk |first=Dharm P. S. |title=Culture's influence on creativity: the case of Indian spirituality |journal=International Journal of Intercultural Relations |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |year=2003 |doi=10.1016/S0147-1767(02)00059-7}}.
* {{Citation |last=Carter |first=Lewis F. |title=The 'New Renunciates' of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh: Observations and Identification of Problems of Interpreting New Religious Movements |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=148–172 |year=1987 |doi=10.2307/1385791 |jstor=1385791}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=175–218}}.
* {{Citation |last=Belfrage |first=Sally |title=Flowers of Emptiness: Reflections on an Ashram |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year=1981 |location=New York, NY |isbn=0-385-27162-X}}.
* {{Citation |last1=Carrette |first1=Jeremy |last2=King |first2=Richard |title=Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion |place=New York |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=0-415-30209-9}}.
* {{Citation |last=Carter |first=Lewis F. |title=Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram: A Community without Shared Values |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-38554-7 |year=1990}}.
* {{Citation |last=Carus |first=W. Seth |title=Bioterrorism and Biocrimes |publisher=The Minerva Group, Inc. |year=2002 |url=http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cbw/carus.pdf |isbn=1-4101-0023-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119231416/http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cbw/carus.pdf |archive-date=19 January 2012}}.
* {{cite book |last=Chryssides |first=George D. |author-link=George Chryssides |date=1999 |title=Exploring New Religions |chapter=New Forms of Buddhism: Osho/Rajneesh |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4_rodMYMygC&pg=PA206 |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum International]] |series=Issues in Contemporary Religion |pages=206–214 |doi=10.2307/3712544 |jstor=3712544 |isbn=9780826459596 |oclc=436090427 |s2cid=143265918}}
* {{Citation |last=Clarke |first=Peter B. |author-link=Peter B. Clarke |title=Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-45383-7 |year=2006}}.
* {{Citation |last=Clarke |first=Ronald O. |title=The Narcissistic Guru: A Profile of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |journal=Free Inquiry |issue=Spring 1988 |pages=33–35, 38–45 |year=1988}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=55–89}}.
* {{citation |editor=Forsthoefel, Thomas A. |editor2=Cynthia Ann Humes |title=Gurus in America |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7914-6573-8 |last=Urban |first=Hugh B. |contribution=Osho, From Sex Guru to Guru of the Rich: The Spiritual Logic of Late Capitalism}}.
* {{Citation |last=FitzGerald |first=Frances |author-link=Frances FitzGerald (journalist) |title=Rajneeshpuram |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=22 September 1986a |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1986/09/22/1986_09_22_046_TNY_CARDS_000347358 |access-date=12 July 2011}}.
* {{Citation |last=FitzGerald |first=Frances |author-link=Frances FitzGerald (journalist) |title=Rajneeshpuram |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=29 September 1986b |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1986/09/29/1986_09_29_083_TNY_CARDS_000345867 |access-date=12 July 2011}}.
* {{Citation |editor-last1=Forsthoefel |editor-first1=Thomas A. |editor-last2=Humes |editor-first2=Cynthia Ann |title=Gurus in America |place=Albany, NY |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-7914-6574-8}}.
* {{Citation |last=Fox |first=Judith M. |title=Osho Rajneesh&nbsp;– Studies in Contemporary Religion Series, No. 4 |publisher=[[Signature Books]] |year=2002 |location=Salt Lake City |isbn=1-56085-156-2}}.
* {{Citation |editor-last=Galanter |editor-first=Marc |author-link=Marc Galanter (psychiatrist) |title=Cults and New Religious Movements: A Report of the American Psychiatric Association |publisher=American Psychiatric Publishers |isbn=0-89042-212-5 |year=1989}}.
* {{Citation |last=Goldman |first=Marion S. |title=Reviewed Work(s): Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram: The Role of Shared Values in the Creation of a Community by Lewis F. Carter |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=557–558 |year=1991 |doi=10.2307/1387299 |jstor=1387299}}.
* {{Citation |last=Goldman |first=Marion S. |author-link=Marion Goldman |title=Controversial New Religions |title-link=Controversial New Religions |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-515682-9 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |edition=1st |location=New York |language=en |chapter=When Leaders Dissolve: Considering Controversy and Stagnation in the Osho Rajneesh Movement |editor-last2=Petersen |editor-first2=Jesper Aagaard}}
* {{Citation |last=Gordon |first=James S. |title=The Golden Guru |publisher=The Stephen Greene Press |location=Lexington, MA |isbn=0-8289-0630-0 |year=1987 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/goldengurustrang0000gord}}
* {{Citation |last=Heelas |first=Paul |title=The New Age Movement: Religion, Culture and Society in the Age of Postmodernity |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Oxford |isbn=0-631-19332-4 |year=1996}}
* {{Citation |last=Huth |first=Fritz-Reinhold |title=Das Selbstverständnis des Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in seinen Reden über Jesus |publisher=Verlag Peter Lang GmbH (Studia Irenica, vol. 36) |location=Frankfurt am Main |isbn=3-631-45987-4 |year=1993 |language=de}}
* {{Citation |last=Joshi |first=Vasant |title=The Awakened One |publisher=[[Harper and Row]] |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=0-06-064205-X |year=1982}}
* {{Citation |last=Latkin |first=Carl A. |title=Seeing Red: A Social-Psychological Analysis |journal=Sociological Analysis |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=257–271 |year=1992 |doi=10.2307/3711703 |jstor=3711703}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=337–361}}.
* {{Citation |last=Mangalwadi |first=Vishal |author-link=Vishal Mangalwadi |title=The World of Gurus |place=Chicago |publisher=Cornerstone Press |year=1992 |isbn=0-940895-03-X}}.
* {{Citation |last=Maslin |first=Janet |title=Ashram (1981) Life at an Ashram, Search for Inner Peace (movie review) |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=13 November 1981 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/13/movies/life-at-an-ashram-search-for-inner-peace.html |access-date=12 July 2011}}.
* {{Citation |last=Mehta |first=Gita |author-link=Gita Mehta |title=Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East |publisher=Vintage |location=New York |isbn=0-679-75433-4 |year=1994}}.
* {{Citation |last=Mehta |first=Uday |title=Modern Godmen in India: A Sociological Appraisal |publisher=Popular Prakashan |location=Mumbai |isbn=81-7154-708-7 |year=1993}}.
* {{Citation |last=Meredith |first=George |title=Bhagwan: The Most Godless Yet the Most Godly Man |publisher=Rebel Publishing House |year=1988 |location=Pune}}.
* {{Citation |last=Milne |first=Hugh |title=Bhagwan: The God That Failed |publisher=Caliban Books |year=1986 |location=London |isbn=1-85066-006-9}}.
* {{Citation |last=Mistlberger |first=P.T. |title=The Three Dangerous Magi: Osho, Gurdjieff, Crowley |publisher=O Books |pages=713 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6nUWy4UYocC |isbn=978-1-84694-435-2 |year=2010 |access-date=12 July 2011}}.
* {{Citation |last=Mullan |first=Bob |title=Life as Laughter: Following Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |publisher=[[Routledge]] & Kegan Paul Books Ltd |location=London, Boston, Melbourne and Henley |isbn=0-7102-0043-9 |year=1983}}.
* {{Citation |last=Osho |title=Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press|St. Martin's Griffin]] |year=2000 |location=New York, NY |isbn=0-312-25457-1}}.
* {{Citation |last=Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |title=Glimpses of a Golden Childhood |publisher=Rajneesh Foundation International |location=Rajneeshpuram |isbn=0-88050-715-2 |year=1985 |ref={{sfnref|Osho|1985}}}}.
* {{Citation |last=Osho |title=Meditation: the first and last freedom |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |isbn=978-0-312-33663-9 |year=2004}}.
* {{Citation |last=Palmer |first=Susan J. |author-link=Susan J. Palmer |title=Charisma and Abdication: A Study of the Leadership of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |journal=Sociological Analysis |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=119–135 |year=1988 |doi=10.2307/3711009 |jstor=3711009 |s2cid=67776207}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=363–394}}.
* {{Citation |editor-last1=Palmer |editor-first1=Susan J. |editor-last2=Sharma |editor-first2=Arvind |title=The Rajneesh Papers: Studies in a New Religious Movement |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |location=Delhi |isbn=81-208-1080-5 |year=1993}}.
* {{Citation |last=Prasad |first=Ram Chandra |title=Rajneesh: The Mystic of Feeling |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1978 |location=Delhi |isbn=0-89684-023-9}}.
* {{Citation |last=Sam |title=Life of Osho |publisher=Sannyas |year=1997 |location=London |url=http://www.enlightenedbeings.com/pdf/life_of_osho.pdf |access-date=12 July 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321124111/http://www.enlightenedbeings.com/pdf/life_of_osho.pdf |archive-date=21 March 2012}}.
* {{Citation |last=Shunyo |first=Ma Prem |title=My Diamond Days with Osho: The New Diamond Sutra |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |location=Delhi |isbn=81-208-1111-9 |year=1993}}.
* {{Citation |last=Sloterdijk |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Sloterdijk |title=Selbstversuch: Ein Gespräch mit Carlos Oliveira |publisher=Carl Hanser Verlag |location=München, Wien |isbn=3-446-18769-3 |year=1996 |language=de}}.
* {{Citation |last=Storr |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Storr |title=Feet of Clay&nbsp;– A Study of Gurus |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |location=London |isbn=0-00-255563-8 |year=1996}}.
* {{Citation |last=Süss |first=Joachim |title=Bhagwans Erbe: Die Osho-Bewegung heute |publisher=Claudius Verlag |location=Munich |isbn=3-532-64010-4 |year=1996 |language=de}}.
* {{Citation |last=Urban |first=Hugh B. |title=Zorba The Buddha: Capitalism, Charisma and the Cult of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |journal=Religion |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=161–182 |year=1996 |doi=10.1006/reli.1996.0013}}.
* {{Citation |last=Urban |first=Hugh B. |title=Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2003 |location=Berkeley, CA |isbn=0-520-23656-4}}.
* {{Citation |last=Wallis |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Wallis |title=Religion as Fun? The Rajneesh Movement |journal=Sociological Theory, Religion and Collective Action |pages=191–224 |publisher=Queen's University, Belfast |year=1986}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=129–161}}.
* {{cite book |title=Oranges & Lemmings: The Story Behind Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |last=Wright |first=Charles |date=1985 |publisher=Greenhouse Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ErUlOQAACAAJ |access-date=26 November 2021 |pages=166 |isbn=9780864360120}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Citation
| last =Appleton
| first =Sue
| title =Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh: The Most Dangerous Man Since Jesus Christ
| publisher =Rebel Publishing House
| location =Cologne
| isbn =3-89338-001-9
| year =1987 }}.
* {{Citation
| last =Bharti
| first =Ma Satya
| title =Death Comes Dancing: Celebrating Life With Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
| publisher =[[Routledge]]
| location =London, Boston, MA and Henley
| isbn =0-7100-0705-1
| year =1981
| url =https://archive.org/details/deathcomesdancin00saty
}}.
* {{Citation
| last =Bharti Franklin
| first =Satya
| title =The Promise of Paradise: A Woman's Intimate Story of the Perils of Life With Rajneesh
| publisher =Station Hill Press
| location =Barrytown, NY
| isbn =0-88268-136-2
| year =1992
| url =https://archive.org/details/promiseofparadis00saty
}}.
* {{Citation
| last =Braun
| first =Kirk
| title =Rajneeshpuram: The Unwelcome Society
| publisher =Scout Creek Press
| location =West Linn, OR
| isbn =0-930219-00-7
| year =1984 }}.
* {{Citation
| last =Brecher
| first =Max
| title =A Passage to America
| publisher =Book Quest Publishers
| year =1993
| location =Mumbai, India }}.
* {{Citation
| last =FitzGerald
| first =Frances
| author-link =Frances FitzGerald (journalist)
| title =Cities on a Hill: A Journey Through Contemporary American Cultures
| publisher =[[Simon & Schuster]]
| location =New York, NY
| isbn =0-671-55209-0
| year =1986 }}. (Includes a 135-page section on [[Rajneeshpuram]] previously published in two parts in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine, 22 September, and 29 September 1986 editions.)
* {{Citation
| last =Forman
| first =Juliet
| title =Bhagwan: One Man Against the Whole Ugly Past of Humanity
| publisher =Rebel Publishing House
| year =2002
| location =Cologne
| isbn =3-89338-103-1
| orig-date =1991 }}.
* {{Citation | last = Goldman  | first = Marion S.  | year = 1999  | title = Passionate Journeys&nbsp;– Why Successful Women Joined a Cult | publisher = The University of Michigan Press  | isbn = 0-472-11101-9}}
* {{Citation
| last =Guest
| first =Tim
| title =My Life in Orange: Growing up with the Guru
| publisher =Granta Books
| location =London
| isbn =1-86207-720-7
| year =2005 }}.
* {{Citation
| last =Gunther
| first =Bernard (Swami Deva Amit Prem)
| title =Dying for Enlightenment: Living with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
| publisher =[[Harper & Row]]
| location =New York, NY
| isbn =0-06-063527-4
| year =1979 }}.
* {{Citation
| last =Hamilton
| first =Rosemary
| title =Hellbent for Enlightenment: Unmasking Sex, Power, and Death With a Notorious Master
| publisher =White Cloud Press
| location =Ashland, OR
| isbn =1-883991-15-3
| year =1998 }}.
* {{Citation
 |last         = Latkin
 |first        = Carl A.
 |author2      = Sundberg, Norman D.
 |author3      = Littman, Richard A.
 |author4      = Katsikis, Melissa G.
 |author5      = Hagan, Richard A.
 |title        = Feelings after the fall: former Rajneeshpuram Commune members' perceptions of and affiliation with the Rajneeshee movement
 |journal      = Sociology of Religion
 |volume       = 55
 |issue        = 1
 |pages        = 65–74
 |doi          = 10.2307/3712176
 |year         = 1994
 |df           = dmy-all
|jstor = 3712176
 }}.
* {{Citation
| last =McCormack
| first =Win
| title =Oregon Magazine: The Rajneesh Files 1981–86
| publisher =New Oregon Publishers, Inc.
| year =1985
| location =Portland, OR
}}
* {{Citation  | last = Palmer  | first = Susan Jean  | year = 1994  | title = Moon Sisters, Krishna Mother, Rajneesh Lovers: Women's Roles in New Religions  | publisher = Syracuse University Press  | isbn = 978-0-8156-0297-2  | url = https://archive.org/details/moonsisterskrish0000palm  }}
* {{Citation
| last =Quick
| first =Donna
| title =A Place Called Antelope: The Rajneesh Story
| publisher =August Press
|  location =Ryderwood, WA
| isbn =0-9643118-0-1
| year =1995 }}.
* {{Citation
| last =Shay
| first =Theodore L.
| title =Rajneeshpuram and the Abuse of Power
| publisher =Scout Creek Press
| year =1985
| location =West Linn, OR
}}.
* {{Citation
| last1 =Thompson
| first1 =Judith
| last2 =Heelas
| first2 =Paul
| title =The Way of the Heart: The Rajneesh Movement
| publisher =The Aquarian Press (New Religious Movements Series)
| year =1986
| location =Wellingborough, UK
| isbn =0-85030-434-2}}.
* Zaitz, Les. [http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_one_it_was_worse_than_we.html 25 years after Rajneeshee commune collapsed, truth spills out.] ''The Oregonian''. 2011.

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* [https://archive.org/search.php?query=osho rajneesh on archive.org]
* [http://oshosearch.net/Convert/index_Convert_Osho.html rajneesh archive collection]
* {{cite web |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2018/03/read_the_oregonians_original_2.html |title=Rajneeshees in Oregon: The Untold Story |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]] |first=Les |last=Zaitz |date=14 April 2011 |access-date=25 April 2018 |archive-date=13 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613211525/https://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/page/post.html |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |url=https://longform.org/posts/rajneeshees-in-oregon-the-untold-story |title=Rajneeshees in Oregon: The Untold Story - 25 Years Later |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]] |first=Les |last=Zaitz |date=14 April 2011 |access-date=25 April 2018 |archive-date=13 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613211525/https://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/page/post.html |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2018/03/netflix_documentary_on_rajnees.html |title=Netflix documentary on Rajneeshees in Oregon revisits an amazing, enraging true story |date=19 March 2018 |access-date=25 April 2018 |first=Kristi |last=Turnquist |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]]}}
* [http://www.sannyas.wiki/index.php?title=Osho_Bibliography Osho bibliography]{{snd}} On Sannyas Wiki site, a site devoted to Osho's work, his discourses, his books, and the music made around him.

{{Osho movement}}
{{Authority control}}

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