Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh or Osha,as he later called himself,was one of the few Indain Philosophers who had followers from all over the world.A man of extraordinary intelligence and knowledge,Osha has made a difference in the lives of thousands of people who follow his reachings.

Osha was born as Chandra Mohan Jain,in Kuchwada,a small village in Madhya Pradesh,on December 11,1931.The son of a cloth merchant,Osho was raised to follow the religion and pratices of Jainism.Till the age of 7,he lived with his grandparents,who gave him a complete freedom to do whatever he liked.As a child he was always curious to know more about life and was forever questioning everyone.By the age of 14,he was deeply involved in meditation,which alarmed his parents greatly.

He Studied philosophy at the university of Saugar and graduated with honours in the 1956.While a student,he won the All-India Debating Championship.When he was 21 years old,he attained self-realization (enlightenment).

One year after graduation,he became a Professor of Philosophy at the University Of Jabalpur.Over the next few years,he travelled far and wide,lecturing on philosophy and religion.He became known as the speaker with outrageous views and crowds thronged to see him.

But he soon realized that not everyone who came to him was being transformed and so he decided to concenrate on a smaller group of dedicated disciples.The group was ready to experiment with their lives and immersed themselves in meditation as taught by Osho.

He settled down in Bombay,learnt English and started to teach Westerners as well.He used to read several books a day on a wide variety of subjects like religion,philosophy,literature,psychology,etc., He was a highly learned and intelligent man with an equally thorough knowledge of both the East,as well as the West.Whether it was Buddha or Jesus,Zen or Sufi,Yoga or Tantra,he could clearly point out the Pros and cons of each method.He had the unique gift of teaching religion to others in such a way that people,who had been following a religion for years,suddenly understood it better.

He popularized what he called "Neo Sannyas"-the way to reach self-awareness and meditation in daily life.Osho gave himself the name "Bhagwan" that meant the "Enlightened One" in Sanskrit.And soon this name became known everywhere - in Europe,America,Australia and Japan.His popularity growing,the meditation camps in Bombay became very crowded,with visitors from different corners of the world coming to see him.

For lack of space,he decided to move to Pune,where he now started his ashram.The  ashram welcomed all kinds of people without demanding even a name or identity.There were no distinctions based on caste,creed,religion,status or sex.Everyone who stayed in the ashram had an experience that was philosophical, scientific,psychoanalytical and religious-all combined.

Many felt that his ideas were too scandalizing and immoral.He aws accused of corrupting young minds.The Government of India also became unfriendly,thanks to US pressure and demanded 5 millions Swiss francs as income tax from Osho.Soon he left Pune and suddenly went to America.

In the Oregon desert,he kick-started a large-scale experiment - the Rajneeshpuram ranch.It was a 65,000-acre city in the middle of the desert.Millions of dollars wrer pumped into the project.At Rajneeshpuram,the system was close to that of communism.Everything was shared and everyone worked without payment.They grew fruit trees and involved themselves in different kinds of projects.They also published Osho's speeches and distributed them worldwide.

Osho believed that self-realisation could happen anywhere,but it was easier in what he called the "Buddhafield",which is an energy field that forms around an enlightened person.

Osho wrote several books,many of which explain Hindu and Buddhist scriptures in very simple,clear English.Some of his famous writings are "The Book of secrets:The Science of Meditation","Meditation:The First and Last Freedom","In Search of the Miraculous:Chakras,Kundalini and the Seven Bodies","The Only Meditation There is:Watching" and "The day I Got Enlightened".

By now his health had started deteriorating,which many sttributed to the thallium poisoning.In the last year of his life,he changed his name several times and refused to be called Bhagwan anymore.He decided to call himself Osho which means "Oceanic".On January 19,1990,he passed away.He was 58.