Was Osho Enlightened?

Casual conversation between friends. Anything goes (almost).
duffster
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:14 pm

Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by duffster »

Hi

Was Osho enlightened?i know he wasn't teaching traditional strutcured Dharma,but seems he had realization.Was it the Dalai lama who said he was an Enlightened master?Was he teaching the same message as the Buddha just a different approach?
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21906
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by Grigoris »

duffster wrote:Was Osho enlightened?
Who knows? He was a good business man though. That's for sure!
i know he wasn't teaching traditional strutcured Dharma,but seems he had realization.
"Seems" according to what/who?
Was it the Dalai lama who said he was an Enlightened master?
I doubt it. Osho would have liked that the Dalai Lama said something like this but...
Was he teaching the same message as the Buddha just a different approach?
How can something be the same and different too?
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
DGA
Former staff member
Posts: 9466
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by DGA »

duffster wrote:Hi

Was Osho enlightened?i know he wasn't teaching traditional strutcured Dharma,but seems he had realization.Was it the Dalai lama who said he was an Enlightened master?Was he teaching the same message as the Buddha just a different approach?

Probably not, no.


http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/
duffster
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:14 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by duffster »

gregkavarnos wrote:
duffster wrote:Was Osho enlightened?
Who knows? He was a good business man though. That's for sure!
i know he wasn't teaching traditional strutcured Dharma,but seems he had realization.
Seems according to what/who?
Was it the Dalai lama who said he was an Enlightened master?
I doubt it. Osho would have liked that the Dalai Lama said something like this but...
Was he teaching the same message as the Buddha just a different approach?
How can something be the same and different too?
Thanks for picking my post apart and making me feel like a christmas turkey!
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21906
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by Grigoris »

Sorry? You were not looking for answers? :shrug:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
duffster
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:14 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by duffster »

Jikan wrote:
duffster wrote:Hi

Was Osho enlightened?i know he wasn't teaching traditional strutcured Dharma,but seems he had realization.Was it the Dalai lama who said he was an Enlightened master?Was he teaching the same message as the Buddha just a different approach?

Probably not, no.


http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/
Thanks for the link,wasn't Sheela the culprit regarding a lot of the craziness?
duffster
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:14 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by duffster »

gregkavarnos wrote:Sorry? You were not looking for answers? :shrug:
yes i was but take it easy on me please,im a newbie...
DGA
Former staff member
Posts: 9466
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by DGA »

duffster wrote:Thanks for the link,wasn't Sheela the culprit regarding a lot of the craziness?
I have no idea how to attribute responsibility for whose actions in that context. I do think the documents and other historical records speak for themselves.

:anjali:
duffster
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:14 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by duffster »

There is a article online about one of Osho's students who visited the 16th Karmapa.he said the Karmapa told him Osho was a very important reincarnated master.is article pure fantasy?i can find the link,but im sure people has heard about it?
User avatar
PadmaVonSamba
Posts: 9397
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

So-so.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21906
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by Grigoris »

duffster wrote:There is a article online about one of Osho's students who visited the 16th Karmapa.he said the Karmapa told him Osho was a very important reincarnated master.is article pure fantasy?i can find the link,but im sure people has heard about it?
I heard (from good sources) that Osho went to the Karmapa to ask for the Chenrezig initiation and the 16th Karmapa just looked at him whereupon Osho got up and left. :shrug:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
duffster
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:14 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by duffster »

gregkavarnos wrote:
duffster wrote:There is a article online about one of Osho's students who visited the 16th Karmapa.he said the Karmapa told him Osho was a very important reincarnated master.is article pure fantasy?i can find the link,but im sure people has heard about it?
I heard (from good sources) that Osho went to the Karmapa to ask for the Chenrezig initiation and the 16th Karmapa just looked at him whereupon Osho got up and left. :shrug:
I see..
User avatar
oushi
Posts: 1596
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:18 am

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by oushi »

duffster wrote:Hi

Was Osho enlightened?i know he wasn't teaching traditional strutcured Dharma,but seems he had realization.Was it the Dalai lama who said he was an Enlightened master?Was he teaching the same message as the Buddha just a different approach?
Depends on how you define enlightenment. :smile:
If you like his teachings, why ask others?
Say what you think about me here.
dyanaprajna2011
Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 6:26 pm
Location: Midwest US
Contact:

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by dyanaprajna2011 »

Personally, I'm not a fan. His anti-Semitism and condoning of euthanasia bothers me. He is also against homosexuality, which is a topic debatable by itself, but I personally don't have any issues with homosexuals. He spoke out against Gandhi, which I have no idea why someone would have done that. He was against socialism, which I consider myself a socialist. He was against 'institutionalized' religion, which could be either good or bad. He was also a hippy about sex, advocating for open sexuality. Basically what he did was he took teachings from all the wisdom and mystical traditions, and repackaged them as his own unique teachings. So I don't, personally, believe he was enlightened.
"If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing." -Dogen
User avatar
Nosta
Posts: 930
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:28 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by Nosta »

I think Osho is not enlightened. he is just a guy mixing Dharma themes with personal ideas.

Wandering monks on Thailand (just to give an example) have more elightenment than him. They really live the Dharma and are not selling books as an objective by itself.
User avatar
dzogchungpa
Posts: 6333
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 10:50 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by dzogchungpa »

gregkavarnos wrote:I heard (from good sources) that Osho went to the Karmapa to ask for the Chenrezig initiation and the 16th Karmapa just looked at him whereupon Osho got up and left. :shrug:
Thats an interesting story. May I ask what your sources thought the meaning of that was?
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21906
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by Grigoris »

Basically that the Karmapa saw why Osho was asking this from him and decided it was not such a good idea to give it to him.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
User avatar
Dronma
Posts: 718
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:29 pm

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by Dronma »

dyanaprajna2011 wrote:Basically what he did was he took teachings from all the wisdom and mystical traditions, and repackaged them as his own unique teachings. So I don't, personally, believe he was enlightened.
It is what I also think about Osho. I am not impressed at all by his "fruit-salad" teachings. Maybe it was something new for '60s and '70s, but I cannot see why people could be interested in his ideas nowadays..... :shrug:
The sound of s i l e n c e.....
greentara
Posts: 933
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:03 am

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by greentara »

Indeed people are still interested in Osho's teachings. Wandering through India I met people who had come from the ashram in Puna. Alot of them were pleasure seekers, talking about the different events at the ashram, meditation 'wild dancing' swimming pool etc and you had to pay all the way...nothing was free.
We shouldn't be surprised as Osho himself stated that he was there for the rich. The devotees lapped it up, the 99 RollsRoyces, the hedonism, everything was excessive.
Sheila was just a reflection of what was going on, she had too much power and not the wisdom to handle it. Osho didn't appear to have his finger on the pulse nor the insight to handle it....the rest is history.
In retrospect some of his early books were of interest but he didn't live the teaching, he was articulate but just talked the talk. He had a few people behind the scenes who wrote humorous material for him so some of his jokes were ok and lots of material on Nasruddin.
User avatar
Wayfarer
Former staff member
Posts: 5150
Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 8:31 am
Location: AU

Re: Was Osho Enlightened?

Post by Wayfarer »

I encountered Rajneesh before he became famous (or notorious) via one of his early books, in the University Library, whilst I was studying comparative religion and other texts on enlightenment. I learned he had been a lecturer at an Indian university, and as a result, was very learned and a good writer and speaker. I thought he was extremely clever in the literary sense, in terms of being able to express subtle ideas, and very well versed in Eastern lore.

Nevertheless I suspected he was a phony. A few years later the whole Orange People thing began to happen. It was big here in Sydney. Then the Oregon debacle with the Rolls Royces and that obnoxious Indian female lieutenant of his who became infamous for saying 'tough titties' in a Sixty Minutes interview.

At that stage I thought he was worse than a phony. I thought he was real disappointment, and also a menace. But on the other hand there were plenty of people willing to be taken in by him.

Since then I have read a few excerpts of his talks and books. Again, I observed that he was definitely very knowledgeable and has some experience of what he's talking about. He made some acute observations. But overall for putting himself forward as a 'great guru' and bringing the notion of the spiritual search into disrepute, he was definitely a phony. That's my two cents.
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
Locked

Return to “Lounge”