I read this quote in the email signature of a colleague. Nice, I thought. Intrigued, I searched for "Osho" in google. I mean, who's Osho? A poet? A songwriter? A band?
I stumbled into www.osho.com, and found out from the site that Osho is a person. Or was. He died in 1990, and derived his name from "oceanic". "It is not my name," he had said, "it is a healing sound." Uh...okay. A bit weird, but cool. Osho...osho...osho...is this guy real?
"Jesus had his parables, Buddha his sutras, Mohammed his fantasies of the Arabian night. Osho has something more appropriate for a species crippled by greed, fear, ignorance and superstition: he has cosmic comedy."
Yes, we do need a laugh now and then. Osho offers "The Osho Experience", and as far as I can tell, Osho the movement verges on meditation and yoga. But with a website that has as one of its meditation techniques "Gibberish & Let-Go", I guess this would not be the silent, serious yoga that we are (at least I am) familiar with.
“Remember, the first step of the meditation is Gibberish. Gibberish simply means throwing out your craziness, which is already there in the mind, piled up for centuries. As you throw it out you will find yourself becoming light, becoming more alive, just within two minutes."
This, according to what I understand, is dynamic meditation. I guess the best description for that would be from this link: Dynamic Meditation ...often starts with strenuous physical activity followed by silence and celebration. These were expected to lead the individual to overcome repression, lower their personal inhibitions, develop a "state of emptiness", and attain enlightenment. The person then would have "no past, no future, no attachment, no mind, no ego, no self."
Ahh...I am, therefore I am not?
Osho the person had been accused as a cultist, and though most members lived frugally, he himself was extravagant. He died of heart failure in 1990, but was also rumored poisoned by the CIA. Yet, his words are intriguing, and they remind me of the feeling I had when I read Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. There is wisdom there somewhere, and if I seek to understand it, I will find peace.
"And to me, seriousness is a sickness; and the sense of humor makes you more human, more humble. The sense of humor ― according to me ― is one of the most essential parts of religiousness."
A guru that advocates cosmic comedy and jokes. That's a bit different from the seriousness that we usually equate with religiosity.
"Wherever you are, remember yourself, that you are. This consciousness that you are should become a continuity. Not your name, your caste, your nationality — those are futile things, absolutely useless. Just remember that: I am. This must not be forgotten. Walking, sitting, eating, talking, remember that: I am."
And I am...just killing time by researching on the web. =p Who knows the surprising things you can find out from the information superhighway? As my Osho horoscope mentions, "The search for truth need not be a serious affair." It can start by typing www.google.com.
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**Disclaimer: Quotes and information regarding Osho were read from www.osho.com and www.religioustolerance.org. Research for, and writing this blog entry took under thirty minutes, so the author (that's me), gives no guarantee that the information presented here is true and correct (in other words, have a sense of humor, please don't sue me.)
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