Osho: The Donald Trump of philosophy

For the unversed, Osho was a globally recognized highly controversial spiritual leader in the 70’s and 80’s. The West lapped up his idea of embracing sex and material goods while the East was simply drawn to his magnetic personality.

So, what was the controversy all about? When most religions asked people to shun sex and live like hermits, Osho’s advice was quite the opposite.

There are stories galore about his followers dancing and sleeping naked in his ashram in Pune. These kind of activities had been unheard of in India which was yet to be exposed to Western ideas through media such as films and music.

Just like Trump, Osho quite simply didn’t give a damn about what people thought of him. While he never wrote anything, he spoke extensively on various topics even as he experimented with drugs of all kinds. He also spoke mostly extempore and contradicted himself often.

The two personalities are similar in more ways than one. Both of them had this unwavering belief that they would conquer all obstacles and make comebacks if required. Osho even started Rajneeshpuram, a township in the USA, wherein his followers were armed with guns in case the government came for them.

There is no doubt that Osho was a complex personality. While he encouraged people to have sex, he stressed that sex is a transcendental experience. Many people have not gone deep enough in to his teachings to have uncovered this fact. They think that Osho simply stood for the idea that there was no purpose in life and all you were here for was to work, make money and have children.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

For Osho, sex was simply the tip of the iceberg of self-realization. The challenge was to go beyond the pleasures of sex and treat it like a meditative experience. This is far from easy. But then, self-realization isn’t some apple which you can bite into after plucking it from a tree.

Eventually, Osho and his followers realized that their ideas were too dangerous to be propagated in conservative India and they set up an armed township in the USA as mentioned earlier. There are various versions of what kind of activities took place here. But, it is safe to assume that many of them were illegal.

There have been accusations of wire tapping, Osho’s paranoia and blatant use of drugs on the campus of this township. Osho himself is said to have been on a complex mix of drugs pretty much through his experiences as a spiritual leader. It is easy to confirm this by simply looking at videos of Osho on YouTube; those large, drooping and almost unblinking eyes.

Thankfully, unlike Osho, Trump is a teetotaler and never done drugs in his life. However, this is where the differences end.

Just like Osho, Trump too jumps from one topic to another in his speeches as he carefully gauges the impact that his words are having on the audience. He is fearless in his approach and never backs down from a verbal argument with reporters. Trump has also been pilloried for his policies on illegal immigration and MAGA. But, any self-respecting large economy would like to clamp down on illegals entering the country and try to be as self-sustaining as possible.

It is far better to understand Osho through various books which you will find in bookstores rather than through his speeches on YouTube. The books present a far more coherent understanding of his ideas rather than his rambling monologues on YouTube.

One of Osho’s ideas that has resonated with me over time: Happiness is like a current, you to have to allow it to flow through you and be comfortable with its ups and downs. ?

However, I certainly don’t agree with Osho’s overdependence on chemicals and his acceptance of material gifts from the rich because they believed that they had found a saviour in him. It would have been far better for them to realize that their donations to Osho wouldn’t make them more spiritual. Instead, it made them look foolish.

While Trump is among the richest men in the world and leader of the free world, Osho was the richest philosopher that the world has seen and was a global phenomenon. Both of them love speaking off the bat and contradict themselves through their speeches.

Make no mistake, Trump is no spiritualist. He is a hard-core businessman who saw an opportunity and jumped into politics.

Osho, on the other hand, was a personality where materialism met spirituality. Some of his ideas were way ahead of his time and he has also been quite misunderstood because he wanted people to live freely but with dedication to spiritual values. His open acceptance of sex and renegade ideas made the West feel that here was an Eastern philosopher they could identify with and they showered him with gifts.

Notwithstanding these gifts, Osho died a poor man in ignominy and controversy. He was arrested and deported from America because of illegal activities being done in his township of Rajneeshpuram.

Time will tell what fate befalls Trump. He official becomes President for a second term in a few weeks from now with the world on tenterhooks. Will he be able to placate the waters? Or, will he be like Osho and leave the stage as an underwhelming figure?

Both have however left their mark on the world and will be remembered for generations.

Another quote which I recently heard ascribed to Osho is: Life is a long distance race with no finish line.

It’s a brilliant thought and perhaps a post on that soon.

Meanwhile, we can keep tracking Trump and his activities as he seeks to avoid the world going up in flames.