Authentic religious experience includes both meditation and celebration, according to the twentieth-century Indian guru Osho Rajneesh (1931-90). Blending Tantra, Zen, and Western psychotherapy into his teachings, Osho produced incisive commentaries on religious mysticism and devised unique, "active meditations" that elicited emotional cartharsis.

Highly unorthodox, he courted controversy and was condemned for being a "sex guru." His Oregon headquarters, Rajneeshpuram, proved to be a short-lived utopia that provoked antagonism and only added to his notoriety. But his ashram in Poona, India, continues to thrive, as do Osho centers in Europe and elsewhere. His adherents number in the thousands. His books have become bestsellers around the globe.

 

Judith M. Fox holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from the London School of Economics, University of London. She is co-author of The Way of the Heart: A Study of Rajneeshism, author of Sahaja Yoga, and editor of a series on new religious movements from Curzon Press. She recently moved from Bath, England, to Massachussetts.