Osho: Zorba the Buddha

Osho, also known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, was and is a controversial Indian mystic. There are three popular views of his teachings. One is that they comprise the words of a deranged cult leader. Another is that his early teachings on love became antiquated with the focus on Zen in his later years. From this perspective, Zorba the Buddha reflects his contemporary interpretation of Zen. The third view is that his teachings are so inconsistent that nothing concrete can be said about them at all.I have been constantly inconsistent so that you will never be able to make a dogma out of me. You will simply go nuts if you try. I am leaving something really terrible for scholars; they will not be able to make any sense out of it. They will go nuts — and they deserve it, they should go nuts! [Osho]Later on, when I have spoken my whole life, those who will study them, and those who will try to sort out what I meant will go simply mad; they will not be able. [Osho]Is it not possible to study Osho’s words, and to make sense of them, or sort out what he meant? Is the inevitable result both failure and madness? If this is so, in the least it means it cannot be said that the path of love is an antiquated part of his teachings. Nor can it be said who exactly is Zorba the Buddha. At least that much can be said by a rational mind before madness sets in, upon diving into the threatening sea of his words! This work is a scholarly attempt to defy Osho, and make sense of his teachings, seeking and teasing out order beneath the chaos. In doing so, it is also an attempt to reject the historic notion that Osho is a madman not a mystic. Read more