Kul Bhushan remembers the former Prime Minister’s appreciation of Osho

“In his own way, Osho captured the essence of ancient wisdom, related it to contemporary needs, tempered it with the modern times and became a powerful messenger of eternal Indian thought and Indian wisdom,” wrote the late Dr. Manmohan Singh in the guest book when, in 1997, he inaugurated an exhibition of Osho’s books at a five-star hotel, The Lalit, in New Delhi. The event was also the launch of a premium compendium of Osho’s vision, entitled India My Love.
India was celebrating that year India’s independence from Britain for half a century. And to mark this historic landmark Osho’s disciples and lovers organised similar exhibitions all over the country while promoting the book.
“This book, India My Love by Osho, brings together some of the choicest selections of the writings and discourses of a great Indian, a great mystic, a great philosopher,” he added as the then Finance Minister of India.
The second time Dr. Manmohan Singh was invited by Osho’s disciples was, according to Swami Chaitanya Keerti, in 2000 on the occasion of the inauguration of Nanak Week at Osho Galleria (closed now) in Ansal Plaza, New Delhi. He was then the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.
Nanak Week was celebrated at Osho Galleria to pay homage to Osho’s discourses dedicated to Guru Nanak. Dr. Singh paid a glowing tribute in his speech to the founder and first guru of the Sikhs, and referring to Osho’s discourse series Ek Omkar Satnam, later translated into English as The True Name, he said that in those discourses Osho touched the core of Nanak’s spirituality and that they were revered by Sikhs all over the world.
“The depth and clarity in which Osho explains Nanak in very simple terms have made these discourses shed a new light on the great guru’s teachings. New and deeper meanings of Nanak’s teachings have emerged from them,” he added. “These discourses are a real treasure not only for Sikhs but for everyone who wants to delve in spirituality.” He commended these discourses to everyone who wanted to learn about Guru Nanak’s true message.
After listening to Dr. Singh’s speech, it was amply clear that he was not only an esteemed economist and scholar, but also a deeply religious person and a dedicated follower of Guru Nanak.
After his death, on 26 December 2024, at the age of 92, he was hailed as two-time Prime Minister of India and more so as a path-breaking Finance Minister, who had started opening up the Indian economy. Moreover, he was lauded as an outstanding academician during his studies at Punjab University; Nuffield College, Oxford; and St. John’s College, Cambridge. Before reaching the top post, he had worked as Chief Economic Advisor, governor of Reserve Bank of India and as head of the planning Commission.
Among all the shining tributes by Indian and global leaders, no mention was made of his spiritual dimension, which revealed itself whenever he spoke about Osho.
Comments are closed.