SPIRITUALITY - THE GURUS OF COOL

Among the cult Indian gurus, no one had a bigger hold on western minds than 'Osho' Rajneesh. He's also perhaps the role model for the enterprise-building gurus of today

- BY SONALI ACHARJEE

Bhagwan 'Osho' Rajneesh was the original anti-guru, a rebel who seemed to enjoy taking down many of the shibboleths that India of the 1960s and '70s held sacred. For his western followers, he pointed out a path that for them seemed a release from the guilt and burden of living the permissive, consumerist life. Osho was one of the first sanyasis to advocate a shedding of inhibitions, melding eastern and western philosophies to create a lifestyle spirituality cult. Often dissed as the “sex guru” for his views on free love, there were also many who thought, like the late Khushwant Singh, that he was “one of India’s most original thinkers”. Indeed, he set the template for today’s high-profile spiritual entrepreneurs such as Sri Sri Ravishankar, Sadhguru and Ramdev.