The commune, a critique?
http://www.gurdjieff-con.net/2013/11/05/3814/
This post, and the one before on departing from the Osho fringe might be subject to misunderstanding.
Acutally, I have been here before: I walked away from the Osho affair in 1991, not really having been a part of it. Since 2008 I have been considering it again, and now again moving away. I have often felt that Osho found his own movement mediocre and wanted to recruit fringe people as a failsafe or as future guides. But his hidden authoritarian manner tends to alienate such people.Such is the dilemma of ashsrams. Gurus will entrap people they need for their work. You must escape if you wish to find realiztion. Moral: gurus don’t liberate. They take you half way…(maybe) But sticking with a spiritual commune may be the best option that you have. But be forewarned that thousands and thousands of budddhist followed that route, straight into the path of the bodhissatwas (which means you never get out), only to be dumped in the new age cycle of modernity, as the old religion begins to dissolve.
Osho’s work was a bit weak in certain ways. Sannyasins with some initiative might take up what I couldn’t qualify to do: a sane critique, and some wish to contribute help. It won’t produce any gratitude, so beware.
Let me express some of the problems (out of fifty) I see in the Commune, that I would be forced to try and remedy:
1. the Commune used ‘tantra’ to attract followers, and succeeded beyond its wildest dreams, but the result is useless.
2. The Commune was a free free gift to feminists, and the sannyasin mas copntrol the ashram totally. Now a reversal has taken place: the men need liberation from female dominstion. They can’t reac enlightenment in this context, for many other reasons tht the above.
3. The Commune is too commercial, and too expenseive, and this erodes trust…
4. The Commune is authoritarian, and can’t allow criticisms from such as I, so goodbye, and mutual good riddance.
Easy to fix, but not by me.
There’s more, but that’s my take. I think the whole Commune is so chaotic that these flaws will drop easily, in more chaos. The basic thrust of the Commune has a great future. But maybe tear it to pieces and start over, often.
Note: a movement as rich in potential as Osho’s deserves such considerattion.
New Man, New Age, New Socialism 