Kranti I seem to recall you went to a wedding where there was a connection with a blind religious following. If say everyone is strongly encouraged or even required to perform all kinds of great religious duties (such as toe-nail kissing), then this would be one aspect of a blind following. A physical act or acts would become engrained in each follower’s mind-set. They would also presumably have a little bible from the guru that gets them to think a certain way. This would typically be called a cult. If it gets big enough you might like to call it a religion.
If a religious group offers the opportunity to bow in gratitude to a living Master (or perhaps a symbol of some kind), that is not necessarily associated with your idea of blind following. So long as it is clear that you are free to choose otherwise, that there are other things to do (say sitting in lotus position and staring at a wall), then it is not imposing anything on the individual. Of course it is assumed that whatever is on offer is somehow from a source….say a guru or a Master.
It is the same in the case of offering certain views on any particular subject. If you do not give people the opportunity to create thoughts (and understanding) for themselves, but rather there is a guru that tells them the way it is, then a common set of beliefs becomes created (a blind following).
With Osho, on any given subject you will find contradictions. Of course sheep like being sheep, or as Fresch would say, the evidence is what you would like it to be. So people will like to believe in a few special quotes of Osho, and live there life accordingly. Trouble is with Osho, someone else can always find a few special quotes to contradict the ones that are so important to you. Hence in theory you cannot create a pattern of thoughts (a belief system). Of course people do, and if it becomes organised (and the subject matter is spiritual) it becomes a religion.
This creation of a certain set of thoughts and way of thinking (a belief system) is what, as the most senior figures in the Inner-Circle, Jayesh and Amrito are doing as a matter of policy for the entire Osho movement. Yes you are not actively encouraged to bow down to this or that like other blind followings. Actually, you are actively encouraged not to do these things. This seeks to take away freedom of choice and is plain and simple part of creating a blind following. What is different is that it looks ‘normal’ to Westerners. Everyone looks ‘normal’. No one is doing weird things like kissing marble and the like. What is missed is that people are conditioned to act this way.
Ask anyone deeply connected to the current resort. They may not be doing anything that looks like worship, but they will tell you forcefully that such things are not what Osho is about. They are conditioned (and condition others) to act in a way that appears normal. Even though devotion is deeply part of Osho’s offerings, it has been in general removed, and is deeply patronized. As a visitor to the Osho Resort, you are no longer free to choose from the devotional dimension of Osho (with a few glaring exceptions of course). At the resort you have to not be devotional (in general), you have to behave in a ‘normal’ way, and you have to think like Jayesh and Amrito. It is called blind following or blind worship.
It is the same with mental conditioning. At the resort, it is all about Zen, and devotion is part of the dead religions. Read what Jayesh and Amrito say about Osho. In justifying their decisions they choose the text that they like, and they present this, whilst ignoring or criticising other viewpoints of Osho’s.
Osho uniquely offers so much of differing perspectives that it encourages people to open their closed minds and think more widely and freely, so long as you get to see all of what is on the menu. The menu has been taken away and a cheap fake concoction is all that is on offer. Either you accept this concoction or you are out. Either you adopt the concocted set of religious beliefs or you are out. Either you are part of this religion/cult or you are out. It is called blind following. Yes it is difficult to detect from the outside. The resort has such nice facilities, and the clientele look so normal. Look a little deeper and you might have an unpleasant surprise.
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