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“The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is whether you are alive before death.” – Osho
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931 – 1990) was an Indian spiritual teacher and mystic. Bhagwan Shree means “The Blessed Master”. Two years before his death, he changed his name to “Osho”. He earned a Masters Degree in Philosophy and taught in a university. Despite his spiritual teachings, he never claimed to be a part of a specific religion. He instead combined beliefs in his spiritual teachings and believed that all souls are one with the universe.
Osho lived a controversial life filled with negative publicity, but he contributed vast knowledge on spiritual enlightenment. He developed “Dynamic Meditation”, a practice to develop a state of emptiness. He also taught Monism to his followers, the belief that God is in everything and in everyone. According to his followers, he was an active advocate against all kinds of prejudice.
Osho believed that meditation is important in keeping one’s mind in the present. In his quote above, he broke other religions’ perception of afterlife, believing instead that life is more important than the supposed rewards after death. This clearly illustrates the presence of scientific and Eastern influences in his spiritual beliefs.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the author of “On Death and Dying”, stated a similar belief on being alive: “It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive—to release our inner selves from our spiritual death that comes with living behind a façade designed to conform our external definitions of who and what we are.”
