[close] also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, calling himself Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and taking the name Osho in 1989, was an Indian mystic, guru and philosopher.

A professor of philosophy, he travelled throughout India in the 1960s as a public speaker, raising controversy by speaking against socialism, Mahatma Gandhi and institutionalised religion. He advocated a more open attitude towards sexuality, a stance that earned him the sobriquet "sex guru" in the Indian and later the international press. In 1970, he settled for a while in Mumbai (Bombay). He began initiating disciples (known as neo-sannyasins) and took on the role of a spiritual teacher. In his discourses, he reinterpreted writings of religious traditions, mystics and philosophers from around the world. Moving to Pune (Poona) in 1974, he established an Ashram that attracted increasing numbers of Westerners. The Ashram offered therapies derived from the Human Potential Movement to its Western audience and made news in India and abroad, chiefly because of its permissive climate and Osho's provocative lectures.

In 1981, Osho moved to the United States. His followers established an intentional community in Oregon, incorporated as the City of Rajneeshpuram. In this period, Osho attracted media attention for his large and ever-expanding collection of Rolls-Royce motorcars. Subject to intense hostility and coordinated pressures from many sections of the Oregon population, the Oregon commune collapsed in 1985, when Osho revealed that the commune leadership had committed a number of serious crimes, including a salmonella attack on the citizens of The Dalles. Shortly after, Osho himself was arrested and charged with immigration violations. He left the United States in accordance with a plea bargain. After a world tour during which twenty-one countries denied him entry, Osho returned to Pune, where he died in 1990. His Ashram is today known as the Osho International Meditation Resort.

Osho's syncretic teachings emphasise the importance of meditation, awareness, love, celebration, creativity and humour – qualities that in his view are suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialisation. His teachings have had a considerable impact on Western New Age thought; in his home country, India, he is regarded by some as one of the most significant philosophers and mystics of the 20th century [close]