‘De-Oshoization in full swing at Osho Resorts’
Pune, 17th August 2022: As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of our independence, one controversy which is refusing to die down is related to Osho Ashram now called Osho Resorts. We talked to a few disciples to sense the pulse of this controversy. Once again a group of Osho disciples protested by distributing an informative leaflet to all the participants of the Monsoon Festival in Koregaon Park on the 13th-15th of August. It is an expose of what the (mis)-management has been doing shamelessly.
Swami Chetan Arup, an Osho’s disciple said,”Without the freedom of spirit, mere physical independence has not much value. We wish to draw the attention of the Government of Maharashtra that article 25 to article 28 of our Constitution allows us freedom of religion which means we have the right to freely practice and propagate our religion. Unfortunately, we are being denied these very rights.”
OIF( Osho International Foundation) has been denying the existence of Osho’s Samadhi and insisting on calling it Chuang-tzu Hall. In its affidavit before the charity commissioner, Mumbai in 2012, it denied the existence of Osho’s Samadhi. Many disciples allege that OIF is trying to create a narrative that the disciples who are debunking its claim belong to a group of superstitious people who are out of sync with Osho’s vision and that this debasing of a sacred place into a mere real estate is being systematically done to remove the legal hurdles in selling it off.
Swami Chaitanya Keerti, an ex-trustee of Osho Ashram added ”Last month Osho lovers from different parts of India gathered in Pune to celebrate Guru Purnima and be in Osho’s samadhi. The management of OIF in its characteristic high-handedness initially denied entry to many ‘banned’ disciples but later, after the intervention of the police, allowed them in for 10 minutes. A month later, the ashram management decided to celebrate the Monsoon Festival from 11 August to 15 August. While Osho Centres across the world celebrate Osho’s birthday and Gurupurnima, they are not celebrated at Osho’s Ashram, Pune where Osho lived for more than ten years and left his body. It is a sad irony that all the festivals related to Osho have been ostracized by OIF but New Year and Monsoon festivals are celebrated with fanfare. The standard line maintained by the OIF is that Osho was opposed to customs and traditions. This is a classic case of how a devil can cite scripture for his purpose! The New York Times in its edition of 10 December 10 2002 had called such developments, de-Oshoization.”
