Rajneesh

Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain (December 11, 1931 - January 19, 1990), better known during the 1970s as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and later as Osho, lived in India and the United States and was the founder and leader of the Osho-Rajneesh movement, a controversial new religious movement.

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The Sanskrit word Bhagwan means "Blessed one" (historically, it is used to refer to a Hindu god, such as Bhagwan Ram or Bhagwan Krishna). It is also used to denote an individual who possess a great wealth of spiritual knowledge. Throughout Hindu history this name has also been used as a given or first name -- as most Hindu children are provided with the name of a god or a spiritual attribute. Shree (more commonly transliterated as Shr? or ?r?) in Sanskrit means "spiritual wealth" and is thus roughly equivalent to the English word "Lord". It derives this meaning from its use as another name Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity.

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Attempts have been made by those in charge of Osho's legacy to trademark "Osho" (and his meditations for that matter) but whether these have succeeded is not clear. It stands to reason that trademarking a name that is also commonly used in other spiritual traditions is not a matter-of-course. Osho explains it comes from a word coined by William James - "Oceanic", but "Osho" in Zen tradition is used to call a spiritual master. For example "Osho Bodhidharma".

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December 11: December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 20 days remaining....

1931: 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday....

January 19: January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 346 days remaining (347 in leap years)....