8/16/2019 Elle Italy 2005

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8/16/2019 Elle Italy 2005

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8/16/2019 Elle Italy 2005

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ELLE MAGAZINE  – ITALY 10/97By: Rita Stucchi Pedrini. Selected text excerpts

Osho:Master of FreedomIn the eighties, young people from all over the world went to Pune to listen to histeachings on meditation. The long-bearded guru fascinated them with his words ofpeace and spiritual harmony. A graduate in philosophy, he was accused of getting richfrom his disciples. A controversial person, who still, seven years after his death, arousesinterest.

"He led his disciples on paths, which were philosophical, scientific, psychoanalytical, andreligious. "

"His kno wledge of the West was as formidable as his kn owledge of the East. From Buddh a

to Jesus, from Heracl i tus to Marx, from the Indian myst ic , Ti lopa to Jung, from Zen to th e

Suf is , from Yoga to Tantra, he would point ou t the strengths and weaknesses of each

doctr ine."

"His bottom line was always: "From now on, do whatsoever you want, but do it withawareness. Easy and natural are the keys. Don't repress anything, be your own self."

"B hagwan was the Master who w ould not give solut ions, but sim ply provide a space to let

go of the madness caused by l iv ing a l i fe where the body, mind, being and s oul were not

connected."

"In Pune, things like asceticism, renunciation, dieting, and sitting like a Buddha, wereperipheral. The important thing was to free yourself from the neurotic energies inside, togenerate an inner explosion, to transform your inner world."

" In the ashram could be heard the rumb l ing of the thunder of a revolut ion which could

spread al l over the wor ld . And th is unarmed rum bl ing star ted to w orry those ins ide and

outs ide India who were contro l l ing the d est iny of the wo r ld . In Pune, agents began to

arr ive from governments fearful of these teachings against the vested interests.

"Democracy wi l l be possib le only w hen pol i t ic ians d isappear."

"Like Socrates he was considered a corrupter of the morals of young people, like all truephilosophers he demolished a belief system that produced only unhappiness, not joy."

"His greatness was that he didn ' t g ive solut ions, only too ls for people to real ize

themselves. "The answer is in yourse l f . I just te l l you the po tent ial of yo ur being."