Osho was born in Kuchwada, at his maternal grandparents' house in Raisen district Madhya Pradesh in India on 11th December, 1931. He is the eldest of eleven children of a Jaina cloth merchant. His parents Babulal and Saraswati Jain, who were Taranpanthi Jains, let him live with his maternal grandparents until he was seven years old His parents became his disciples in later years and given name as Swami Devateertha Bharti and Ma Amrit Saraswati by OSHO. In 1951, aged nineteen, Osho began his studies at Hitkarini College in Jabalpur.[23] Asked to leave after conflicts with an instructor, he transferred to D. N. Jain College, also in Jabalpur.[24] Having proved himself to be disruptively argumentative, he was not required to attend college classes in D. N. Jain College except for examinations and used his free time to work for a few months as an assistant editor at a local newspaper He was enlightened at the age of 21 years on March 21, 1953, while he was studying philosophy at D.N. Jain College in Jabalpur. In 1956 Osho did M.A. from the University of Sagar with First Class Honors in Philosophy. He joined Sanskrit College, Raipur in 1957, but the Vice Chancellor soon asked him to seek a transfer as he considered him a danger to his students' morality, character and religion. From 1958, he taught philosophy as a lecturer at Jabalpur University, being promoted to professor in 1960 where He taught until 1966. During this period He traveled widely in India speaking to large audiences and challenging orthodox religious leaders in public debates.
In parallel to his university job, he travelled throughout India under the name Acharya Rajneesh. He criticized orthodox Indian religions as dead, filled with empty ritual, oppressing their followers with fears of damnation and the promise of blessings. From 1962, he began to lead 3- to 10-day meditation camps, and the first meditation center (Jivan Jagruti Kendra) started to emerge around his teaching, then known as the Life Awakening Movement (Jivan Jagruti Andolan). After a controversial speaking tour in 1966, he resigned from his teaching post at the request of the university.
In a 1968 lecture series, later published under the title From Sex to Super consciousness, he scandalized Hindu leaders by calling for freer acceptance of sex and became known as the "sex guru" in the Indian press. When in 1969 he was invited to speak at the Second World Hindu Conference, despite the misgivings of some Hindu leaders, he used the occasion to raise controversy again, claiming that "any religion which considers life meaningless and full of misery, and teaches the hatred of life, is not a true religion. Religion is an art that shows how to enjoy life. He characterized priests as being motivated by self-interest, provoking the shankaracharya of Puri, who tried in vain to have his lecture stopped.
In a public meditation event in spring 1970, Osho presented his Dynamic Meditation method for the first time. He left Jabalpur for Mumbai at the end of June.On 26 September 1970, he initiated his first group of disciples or neo-sannyasins Neo-Sannyas, which did not involve renouncing the world. This was a great revolutionary step since sannyas in all other traditions requires renunciation.
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In July, 1970, He moved to Mumbai. In 1971, he adopted the title "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh". He started initiating seekers into
By 1974, a commune had been established around Him in Poona, India In 1974 He moved to Poona Ashram, where He gave 90 minutes discourses nearly every morning, alternating every month between
Hindi and English. He spoke on Yoga, Zen, Taoism, Tantra and Sufism covering masters like Gautam Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, and other mystics.
In March 1981, He moved to USA, where His disciples raised city of Rajneeshpuram from the ruins of the central Oregonian high desert. In October 1984 Osho ended His three and half years of self-imposed silence, and started speaking to small groups of people. In July 1985 He resumed His public discourses each morning to thousands of seekers gathered in a two-acre meditation hall. In 1985 he was forced to leave USA by US officials.
During 1985 - 1986 He undertook a World Tour and visited many countries including Nepal, Greece, Uruguay, Jamaica and Portugal. In all, 21 countries denied Him entry or deported Him after arrival. On July 29,1986, He returned to Mumbai, India and shifted to the ashram in Poona, India, in January, 1987. During January-February 1989 He stopped using the name "Bhagwan," retaining only the name Rajneesh. Later He adopted ‘Osho’ as His new name. On 19th January 1990 Osho left His body saying “I leave you my dream." .
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