Osho Rajneesh and His Disciples: Some Western Perceptions

Osho Never Born Never Died. Only visited this Planet Earth between December 11, 1931-Janurary 19, 1990. As this final inscription suggests, Osho Rajneesh was a paradox: an individual with no claims to being an individual a Master with thousands of disciples who refused to be a Master. He has variously been seen as “the god that failed”,the most dangerous man since Jesus Christ” and “the Buddha for the future”.

This book brings together some of the best short writings in English on Osho and neo-Sannyasa. Some of the pieces are celebratory, some inquisitive but uncommitted, some scholarly, and some frankly sceptical. The book is divided into four parts, dealing with Osho himself, his Community, Meditation and Therapy, and the Decline and Renewal of his movement, with a postscript on the present commune. Together the papers provide a full picture of a complex man and a vibrant, if turbulent, religious movement.

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About the Author(s)

HARRY AVELING Ph.D. (National University of Singapore), also of La Trobe University, served as Visiting Associate Professor of English in Creative Writing at the University of Maryland.