A
STUDY ON OSHO’S PARABLES IN KANNADA TRANSLATED BOOKS
Osho (11 December 1931 – 19 January, 1990), born
Chandramohan Jain, in Kuchwada village
in Madhya Pradesh and also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s
onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian mystic,
guru, and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following. Osho is a
contracted form of ‘ocean’ and to his followers, Rajneesh was verily an ocean
of knowledge.
A
professor of Philosophy, Osho travelled worldwide; gave hundreds of discourses.
His discourses have already been published in book forms. It is estimated that around 650 books have
been published. The books are mainly in
English and Hindi languages. Among
these, some important titles have been translated into around
30 other languages all of which have become immensely popular. These translations are available in Kannada
also and their number is estimated to be 30.
Osho’s teachings, delivered through his discourses, were
not presented in an academic setting, but were interspersed with jokes and
delivered with a rhetoric that many found spellbinding. The emphasis was not static but changed over
time. Osho revelled in paradox and
contradiction, making his work difficult to summarize. He delighted in engaging in behavior that
seemed entirely at odds with traditional images of enlightened individuals; his
early lectures in particular were famous for their humour and their refusal to
take anything seriously. All such behavior,
however capricious and difficult to accept, was explained as “a technique for
transformation” to push people “beyond the mind.”
The key attraction of Osho’s discourses is beautifully narrated
parables. The main purpose of this
technique is to help common people understand ideas enshrined in books on
philosophy and theology that are otherwise unintelligible to them. One can find many parables of this kind in
Osho’s works. Osho had this to say about
parables: As the navel shows something about the past, a parable shows
something about the future. It shows
that there is a possibility of growing, of being connected with existence. Right now that is only a possibility, it is not
actual. If you just dissect the parable it becomes an ordinary story. If you
don’t dissect it but just drink the meaning of it, the poetry of it, the music
of it – forget the story and just carry the significance of it – soon you will
see that it indicates towards a future, towards something which can be but is
not yet. It is transcendental. A theory can be dissected – its meaning is in
it, it has no transcendence, the meaning is immanent. A parable cannot be dissected; dissect, and
it will die. The meaning is
transcendental; it is not in it, it is
somewhere else – it has to be, you
have to live a parable, then you will come to its meaning. It has to become your heart, your breathing;
it has to become your inner rhythm. So
these parables are tremendously artistic but not mere art: great religion is
contained in them.
The
main topic selected for the present research work is Parables in the works of
Osho that have been translated into Kannada.
About 116 parables narrated by Osho that are found in his
Kannada-translated works are taken up for study in this research report.
Uniqueness
of Osho’s Parables
Osho
has strived to put across his thoughts to the common people through these
parables. In Osho’s parables there are
thoughts culled from Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Bhagavad
Gita. Some instances from these sources
are quoted as illustrations. Events
associated with the lives of saints and sages of India have also been made the subject
of Osho’s parables. Besides Bhagawn
Buddha, Mahavira, great sages of the Himalayas, and Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa, wonderful events in the lives of fakirs and saints whose
contributions to the enrichment of Indian spirituality deserve acknowledgement
find place in his works. The courageous
events associated with naked sages like Dandani and Diogenes attract attention
of the readers.
Osho
was not inspired by Indian thought only.
He studied the biographies of many Western thinkers. Extensive reading was his forte. Mohammed Pygambar, Jesus Christ, Einstein,
Thomas Alva Edison, Mao-Tse-Tung, George Gurdjieff, Confucius, Albert Camus,
Sufi saints, Zen teachers – thoughts of all these accomplishers are there in
Osho’s works.
One
special feature of Osho’s parables is that these contain extensive debate on
education, psychology, music, ayurveda, yoga, science, meditation, nature, environment
etc., and the analysis of desirability
or otherwise of these subjects in the background of scientific outlook.
Though
Osho made an in-depth study of both Indian and Western philosophies, he did not
accept either of these blindly. He denounced all kinds of superstitions and
his radical ideas ran counter to traditional beliefs and naturally incurred the
wrath of the orthodox people. So he had
both followers and detractors in almost equal number. Especially, his
unorthodox views on sex created a storm and made him a villain in the eyes of
many religious heads. He spoke publicly
about many subjects that were prone to be suppressed in the name of orthodoxy. One of
these subjects is sex which was almost a proscribed subject for children. He advocated a more open attitude towards
sexuality which included dissemination of sex-related matters to children. In
his discourses, Osho reinterpreted writings of religious traditions, mystics,
and philosophers from around the world
His teachings emphasize the importance of meditation, awareness, love,
celebration, courage, creativity and humor – qualities that he viewed as being
suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and
socialization.
Chapters in the Research Report:
The
Research Report is divided into the following chapters:
1. Parables:
origin and development.
2. Special
features of Osho’s parables
3. Stories
concerning lives of achievers in the spiritual path
4. Didactic
stories
5. Humorous
stories.
In
Osho’s didactic stories values occupy the central position. There are about 73
stories of this nature. These values are
subjected to analysis and discussion regarding their relevance today. Osho’s
thoughts can be identified in these parables.
·
God is not a person, but a force
·
Experiencing every minute of the present
should be our goal
·
Education is not just a collection of information
·
Projecting sexuality as immoral or
obscene is not a healthy sign
·
Nothing should be suppressed,
suppression leads to unrest
·
Meditation is a science which is beyond
religious boundaries. Meditation improves human relations.
·
Enforced detachment is temporal.
Benefits
of the Research Project:
·
Hundreds of parables are scattered over Osho’s works. An attempt is made here to put them together
in a single paper.
·
We are not acquainted with many unknown spiritual achievers of our ancient
culture. Osho has narrated in his
parables many events associated with the lives of these achievers which should
help us know about them.
·
Osho
reveals in his discourses information regarding many books which are generally
not available to common readers. In his discourses he includes lines and
parables from these books which he liked.
·
He explains through parables values
embedded in Indian and Western thoughts.
There are explanations about the relevance and degeneration of these
values. These stories will be like beacon
for us in personality development. The
study of these parables acquaints us with different thought streams of Western thinkers.
·
Especially,
the stories make even common people happy.
They will be resource subjects for students and orators.
·
Through these parables one can have a peep
into Osho’s thoughts.
