A letter of invitation from the team behind this vital source of information on ‘everything Osho’.
Four years ago, in his review of Sannyas Wiki, Kaiyum described the site as “one of the most successful platforms for information relevant to the World of Osho”. Since then, it has continued to grow and develop.
Way back in the last millennium, Rudra, a computer programmer from Germany resident in Australia, got the ball rolling with Friends of Osho, an early form of social media. This was followed, using a totally new format, by the database of Friends and Osho’s bibliography. Then came the Music pages, compiled by Sugit, based on Tobias’ extensive music collection, discovered when they were tracking down music for Osho Radio. Sarlo’s music website, including his chord sheets, was then integrated into the Wiki pages.
In his article, Kaiyum indicated that a Timeline was in the works: a list of events covering every day of Osho’s public life. Now it’s there! It includes Hindi and English discourses, darshans, satsangs, letters and articles written by Osho, journeys and meditation camps. (Recently, we had a request to identify a sannyas darshan. We knew the date but neither the book title nor chapter number. Thanks to this list it took just a few minutes to find the relevant quote – which was published leaving out the sannyas names.)
As everyone says: “It’s a momentous endeavour! Such a huge body of work!” The entry for each book features a photo of the cover (of each edition), together with names of editors, designers, publisher, etc, as well as possible changes to the title. Clicking on the ISBN number will direct you towards purchasing the book, or once you have chosen the chapter number you can identify the relevant audio file. (For example, check this out: The Mystic Experience.) There is now a total of listed 9000 events, including 5000 book entries (as well as any translations that have so far been detected).
Kaiyum concluded his article with an appeal for help and donations to keep the Sannyas Wiki website running. Now, four years later, the crew of volunteers has expanded: veterans Rudra, Sarlo and Sugit have been joined by new members such as Anuragi, Sarjo and Antar. And we are once again at a crossroads, where more volunteers are needed, not just to replace the ‘slowly but surely’ ageing founders, but also to bring projects to fruition or start on something new.
One of those emergent developments is to be a Chronology of external events: a listing of the main dates in Osho’s life and his communes. A start has been made with the Chronology for Rajneeshpuram which was put together by Roshani Shay and needs completing.
There are also gaps in the ever-expanding list of books written about Osho by sannyasins and researchers. This is the pet project of one of the new volunteers in the team, Antar (help@sannyas.wiki), who recently incorporated the five lists Bhagawati had painstakingly assembled for Osho News over more than a decade. Every week, more or less, there are new titles to add – as long as he gets the information!
There are still gaping holes in the sections Press clippings and Films/Videos (Filmography) (produced either by the commune or by the Media), in all languages. Maybe your own archives can help in filling any gaps you notice.
Friends who may have letters and manuscripts by Osho can contact Anuragi (satya.anuragi@pm.me) so that these can be scanned, transcribed, (maybe translated!) and added to the database. Are there any Hindi translators out there with good written English? Anuragi’s organization also has a place near New Delhi where, in a controlled environment, Osho memorabilia are being safely preserved for posterity.
On the programming front, there is a plan to render the website responsive so that it can be more easily accessed on smartphones and tablets, as well as a new search facility for easy access (currently, when searching, capital letters need to be avoided).
If you want to contribute in any way, even just a few hours a week, Sarlo would be the person to go to (help@sannyas.wiki). He has a good overview of the jobs that need either completing or getting off the ground. He is also happy to hear about any omissions, possible improvements and new ideas – it’s an open project! Some jobs do require highly technical skills, such as those of new team member Sarjo, others just very general IT knowledge.
Welcome to the team!
Related articles
Sannyas Wiki – Kaiyum presents one of the most successful platforms for information relevant to the World of Osho (March 2018)
To collect and protect – Rashid addresses the issue how to go about protecting Osho memorabilia once a sannyasin who had been gifted with a present, leaves their body (May 2019)
Osho Source Book: A bio-bibliography – Neeten introduces his updates on this momentous body of work (July 2022)
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