About the Book
In this world of ours where every religion is screaming for love, where politicians of every country go on signing the agreements of peace, a man of love and peace, Osho (formerly known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh), a contemporary mystic, was turned away from the doors of twenty-one so-called democracies.
The state of affairs depicted by the author, Juliet Forman, is a challenge to history.
She raises a profound question:
If - as was her experience, accompanying Osho on his world tour - the people of each country he visited so clearly loved him and, just as clearly, the priests and politicians of those same countries hated him, how can the latter be considered representatives, true leaders of the people?
Juliet Forman has documented the tragedy of Osho's world odyssey in 1986 with great sensitivity. Interwoven through- out the drama and uncertainty of the times are countless vignettes - touching, startling, humorous - that afford the reader a unique glimpse into the life of one of the most remarkable men to have ever lived on this Earth.
Ms. Forman's writing style is mature, and so powerful that the incidents she depicts throb in the pulse of the reader.
"I raise my hand against the whole past of mankind. It has not been civilized, it has not been human. It has been a calamity, a crime committed on a vast scale. But somebody has to stand against it.
"We disown our past, and we will start living according to our own inner being and create our own future. We will not allow the past to create our future.
"At any cost, this earth and the people of this earth have to be saved from the calamity that is coming from your whole past. An absolute discontinuity is needed.
"This is my vision."
Introduction
Maneesha called me today after I'd finished reading her new book, Bhagwan: One Man Against The Whole Ugly Past Of Humanity, the last in her trilogy that spans fifteen years with Osho. "How'd you like it?" she asked. "Silly question," I thought. "Everybody will want to read this." But the question left me momentarily at a loss for words.
After a pause I replied: "What can I say? It is a monument, an epic. By any author, in any shape, the story of Osho on the World Tour and the years after will remain an historic chronicle as long as men walk upon this planet. and maybe, even after."
This book begins as Osho boards a private jet at Portland airport and leaves America in November 1985. Within its pages is offered an array of candid glimpses of Osho in all the strange, bizarre and dangerous situations He en- countered while crisscrossing the globe. He traveled with a few sannyasins who wanted only to find a country where they could sit in peace with their Master. The story brings the reader to January 1990, a few weeks before He leaves His body, and leaves the rest of us to figure out the significance of all that He has left us. More than at any other time, in the World Tour phase of His work Osho demonstrated most graphically the rampant contradictions infecting the world's so-called civilization.
In her writing Maneesha has also included all the intimacies of life with Osho and the small group of caretaker sannyasins. It is the story of a tiny boat of hope, seemingly adrift in a surging sea churned by the world's priests and politicians, those for whom Osho never compromises, never gives even an inch.
Perhaps no one, even those close to Osho during these times, were aware of the three-dimensional implications of the drama that unfolded as Osho toured the planet. He moved, practically without pause, from country to country, from continent to continent, like a speedboat, leaving in His wake the lifeless debris of exposed politicians and our shattered fantasies of "democracy and freedom."
He trained His floodlight on the stupidity of, what those around Him came to call (with exasperation), the problem of the five "P's": the politicians, the priests, the press, the police and the people. Yes, the people, the huddled masses of timidity containing not even one person with the courage to admit that a charade of lies has been imposed upon them.
Through it all is seen the face of Osho, a face that never once grimaced at the stupidity of the world that confronted Him. His face never gave even a hint of the fear that at times gripped those around Him as they saw the planet beneath their feet shrink until there was not one spot on the Earth left where they could stand.
By any measure, the tale of what happened around Osho during these times is a classic of adventure and suspense. And seeing Osho, untouched and unperturbable throughout it all, is breathtaking. Take for example one "day" which begins quietly in a Greek villa and ends 39 hours and four countries later, in a dingy detention cell at London airport. Osho calmly advises His disciple-fellow-cellmates:
"When you're a prisoner, act like a prisoner," and then lays down on a paper sheet to sleep.
But, most of all, it is a delicate story, of one fragile man standing alone undefended, undefendable, in the face of the harsh winds of an inhuman humanity. It is the delicate story of Osho's compassion, a love bigger than the whole world of fear.
As you might have guessed by now, I liked this story. Even though I was around for some of this excitement, I could touch "only one part of the elephant." In this book one can see the many sides of each event.
And it is good that Maneesha tells it. She has packaged all the episodes and intimacies with great care. There are no "fantastics," no exclamation marks. None are needed. The story reads like the diary of a young princess. She is obviously in love with her Master and the typewriter is her way to dance with Him.
But the book is not about the author. Like a palace cat curled up on a thick rug while the master tells stories, she is seldom apparent. She remains unobtrusive, seeming to snooze, yet really just relaxing and savoring each moment, aware of every detail, remembering myriad incidents.
I am glad she was there and now is willing to share these moments with all of us. This is a feast for hearts that love the taste of Osho .... Ban appetit.
Contents
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Vedas (1407)
Upanishads (654)
Puranas (838)
Ramayana (835)
Mahabharata (275)
Dharmasastras (164)
Vedanta (286)
Gita (1005)
Goddess (443)
Bhakti (234)
Saints (1122)
Gods (1306)
Shiva (306)
Journal (132)
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