Rajneesh Movement - Beginnings

Beginnings

University of Jabalpur officials forced Osho to resign in 1966, and he shifted his attention to his role as a spiritual teacher, supporting himself through lectures, meditation camps and, for his wealthier followers, private counselling (Darśana or Darshan—meaning "sight"). In 1971 he initiated 6 sannyasins, which led to the emergence of the Neo-Sannyas International Movement. Osho differentiated his sannyas from the traditional practice, admitting women and viewing renunciation as a process of renouncing ego rather than the world. Disciples nevertheless adopted the traditional ochre robe, mala and change of name. At this time, Osho adopted the title "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh".

By 1972, there were already 3,800 sannyasins in India. The total for the rest of the world at that time was 134, including 56 from the United States, 16 each from Britain and Germany, 12 each from Italy and the Philippines, 8 in Canada, 4 in Kenya, 2 in Denmark and 1 each from France, Holland, Australia, Greece, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland. After a house was purchased for Osho in Poona in 1974, an ashram was founded, and membership of the movement grew. More western seekers began to visit, including therapists from the Human Potential Movement, who began to run group therapy at the ashram. Osho became the first Eastern guru to embrace modern psychotherapy. He discoursed daily upon religious scriptures, combining elements of Western philosophy, jokes and personal anecdotes. He commented on Hinduism, Zen and other religious sources and Western psychotherapeutic approaches.

Swami Prem Amitabh (Robert Birnbaum), one of the therapists in the Poona ashram, estimates that there were about 100,000 sannyasins by 1979. Bob Mullan, a sociologist from the University of East Anglia, states that "at any one time there were about 6,000 Rajneeshees in Poona, some visiting for weeks or months to do groups or meditations, with about two thousand working and living on a permanent basis in and around the ashram." Lewis F. Carter, a sociologist from the Washington State University, estimates that 2,000 sannyasins resided at Rajneeshpuram at its height.

The ashram in Poona became the Osho International Meditation Resort, one of India's main tourist attractions. 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. According to press reports, it attracts some 200,000 people from all over the world each year; prominent visitors have included politicians, media personalities and the Dalai Lama.