Osho’s birthday is celebrated by his followers across the world on Dec.11. He we publish a brief write-up on Osho Rajneesh by C.P. Ramasesh, former Librarian, University of Mysore.—Ed

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh or Acharya Rajneesh was born as Chandra Mohan Jain but was popularly known as Osho. When he was a boy of 8 years, he started collecting books one after the other for his personal library.

As a schoolboy, he skipped lunch many days and saved money. Out of his saved money, he started buying books. His grandfather used to tell his friends, there is a small library at home but in later days he used to mutter that he is living in a small room located in a huge library.

Friends and disciples of Osho coming from various countries of the world used to present books on various topics of interest. These books are classified, systematically arranged and  carefully preserved at his Poona residence. Except the dressing room and bedroom, rest of the two-storied building has been filled with books.

Osho’s residence has been converted into the personal library called ‘Lao Tzu’ Library. The library was kept at 16 degree Celsius to keep the book collections free from dust and insect attack. A computerised catalogue is also maintained to identify the availability and location of books.

Journalists have interviewed him in relation to his love for books. How many books have you read so far? Perhaps 1,65,000 books; some I have read thoroughly and a few I have glanced here and there.

Which is the best book according to you? The book entitled “Thus Spake Zarathustra” by the German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is the best one.

Further says, I am not happy while quoting just one book. I would like to mention 10 books rather,

which includes “The Way of Tao” by Lao Tzu, “ Isha Upanishad”, “Bhagavadgita”, “Gitanjali” and “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky. Finally, Osho felt satisfied when he quoted one best book out of every 1,000 books he has read.

A big list of 165 best books of the world is projected and a series of lectures were delivered for a fortnight, wherein he explained the contents of these books along with the biographical details of the authors and under what circumstances the authors wrote these books. The  narration is given in the book entitled “The Books I Have Loved.”

Osho has written only two books: “Cup of Tea” and “Seeds of Wisdom.” In fact they are his personal diaries. The content of the rest of the books are captured from his morning and evening discourses. There are more than 650 books in English and Hindi. They have been translated  into 29 major languages of the world.

The books of Osho have been widely read by people interested in philosophy and spirituality. The books carry more than 200 parables narrated by Osho during the discourses.

When he was a boy,  he never demanded toys. In fact, he asked for money to buy books. People at home encouraged his reading habit and his personal collection of books at home. He never tolerated friends and relatives marking / underlining text and smudging of the pages or leaving dog-ear in his books. For many years he used to read 12 to 16 hours a day. He says, “ to me a book is not just a book, it is a love affair. I have loved books my whole life. They helped me when nothing else was shining in the dark days.”

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