Perhaps the kernel is Osho’s notion that the perfect human being combines the earthy zest of Zorba the Greek and the transcendental spirituality of Buddha. Summarizing the thoughts of a man whose transcribed teachings fill an entire commune bookstore and have sold a purported 15 million volumes worldwide is not easy. He read one of Rajneesh’s books and left his wife and two children to follow his guru. “I was a fairly neurotic alcoholic suburban businessman,” said the man now known as Swami Anand Burt, clad in the ankle-length maroon robe of an Osho disciple. Many who seek succor in Rajneesh’s eclectic blend of Asian mysticism and Western pop psychology and materialism find contentment and enrichment-and confirmation that Osho was much more than a spiritual con artist.įor the last 3 1/2 years, ruddy-faced Burt Eggan, 62, a former Manhattan Beach stockbroker and restaurateur, has lived in a one-bedroom servant’s house in Pune.Ī dropout from the high-pressure world of finance, Eggan is one of the scores who perform volunteer work at the ashram, checking off visitor’s meal cards, selling them towels and booking tennis courts. Once inside the fenced-in oasis of 31 acres, the paying guest can meditate, take a class in Zen archery or get a massage at a “Multiversity"-or just play a set of what is jocularly called “Zennis.” “This is a unique place, a buddhafield,” proclaims a notice at the gate, where guards, Osho’s hirsute brother among them, verify that visitors have passed a mandatory AIDS test and bought a daily pass that costs about 66 cents. Still, the ashram, Osho Commune International, has become, in its own words, “the biggest spiritual health club in the world,” doubling in size in three years and attracting more pilgrims and enlightenment- and sun-starved holiday makers than ever. Strewn with petals, Osho’s corpse was carried to a riverside pyre from the religious teaching center, or ashram, that he founded 20 years ago in this inland city southeast of Bombay and incinerated that very evening.īut thanks to magnetic tape, inspired marketing and the spiritual hunger and curiosity of thousands of Westerners, the guru lives on-though another power struggle may be on, this time for mastery of his legacy.
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