Origins
Osho began speaking in public in 1958, while still a lecturer (later professor) in philosophy at Jabalpur University. He lectured throughout India during the 1960s, promoting meditation and the ideals of free love, a social movement based on a civil libertarian philosophy that rejects state regulation and religious interference in personal relationships; he also denounced marriage as a form of social bondage, especially for women. He criticised socialism and Gandhi, but championed capitalism, science, technology and birth control; warning against over-population and criticising religious teachings that promote poverty and subjection.
He became known as Acharya Rajneesh, Acharya meaning "teacher or professor" and "Rajneesh" being a childhood nickname (from Sanskrit रजनि rajani, night and ईश isha, lord). By 1964 a group of wealthy backers had initiated an educational trust to support Osho and aid in the running of meditation retreats. The association formed at this time was known as Jivan Jagruti Andolan (Hindi: Life Awakening Movement). As Goldman expresses it, his rapidly growing clientele suggested "that he was an unusually talented spiritual therapist". Around this time he "acquired a business manager" from the upper echelons of Indian society, Laxmi Thakarsi Kuruwa, a politically well-connected woman who would function as his personal secretary and organisational chief and would become Osho's first sannyasin, taking the name Ma Yoga Laxmi. Laxmi, the daughter of a key supporter of the Nationalist Congress Party, with close ties to Gandhi, Nehru and Morarji Desai, would retain this role for almost 15 years.
Read more about this topic: Osho Movement
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