Osho (born Chandra Mohan Jain), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, was an Indian mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement. He is one of the most provocative, and inspiring spiritual leaders of the twentieth century.
Osho rejected institutional religions and stressed the importance of free-thinking, meditation, mindfulness, love, celebration, courage, creativity, and humor — qualities he felt were suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious dogmas and traditions, and socialization. Advocating a more open attitude toward human sexuality, he sparked controversy in India in the late 1960s and gained a reputation as a "sex guru", and as the "Rolls-Royce guru" in the United States.
Osho has found more acclaim in his homeland since his death than he did while alive. In 1991, an Indian newspaper counted Rajneesh the ten people who had most changed India's destiny, along with figures such as Gautama Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi. Osho also has been described by the Sunday Times in London as one of the "1000 Makers of the 20th Century". His teachings have had an impact on Western New Age thought.
Osho's entire works have been placed in the Library of India's National Parliament in New Delhi. Over 650 books are credited to Rajneesh, expressing his views on all facets of human existence. Virtually all of them are renderings of his taped discourses.
Rajneesh continues to be known and published worldwide in the area of meditation and his work also includes social and political commentary. The Osho International Foundation runs stress management seminars for corporate clients such as IBM and BMW.
The Osho phenomenon continues to live its own life. In Italy, a satirical Facebook page called Le più belle frasi di Osho featured photos of Osho with humorous captions about national politics. The page was launched in 2016 and quickly reached one million followers, becoming a cultural anomaly in the country.
