Zorba the Buddha: Sex, Spirituality, and Capitalism in the Global Osho Movement

by Hugh B. Urban

Zorba the Buddha is the first comprehensive study of the life, teachings, and following of the controversial Indian guru known in his youth as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and in his later years as Osho (1931–1990). Most Americans today remember him only as the “sex guru” and the “Rolls Royce guru,” who built a hugely successful but scandal-ridden utopian community in central Oregon during the 1980s. Yet Osho was arguably the first truly global guru of the twentieth century, creating a large transnational movement that traced a complex global circuit from post-Independence India of the 1960s to Reagan’s America of the 1980s and back to a developing new India in the 1990s. The Osho movement embodies some of the most important economic and spiritual currents of the past forty years, emerging and adapting within an increasingly interconnected and conflicted late-capitalist world order. Based on extensive ethnographic and archival research, Hugh Urban has created a rich and powerful narrative that is a must-read for anyone interested in religion and globalization.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion, Cults

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2015

About the author

Hugh B. Urban, Ph.D. (History of Religions, University of Chicago), is a professor of religious studies in the Department of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences.

Reviews

[Georgie Laws · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an informative narrative of a piece of history a lot of people might misunderstand or romanticize. I don’t know how I feel about the author being white, and I’m not sure who he cites and if they’re also white. Regardless, such a great story was told with an immense amount of facts. I also love to read about capitalism. I think a great argument Urban makes is that not everything is started in the West and transferred to other place, but he argues that everywhere around the world there are hyphal knots that transfer information multidirectionally. A good reminder that the West does not create everything and often we take ideas from other places and commodify it immediately. I want to read the memoir written by the woman who was seen as Osho-Rajneesh’s side kick? She got blamed for the fallout in the end and I want to hear what she has to say about it.

[Apar Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the pandemic, the “bad habit” I took up was neither gluttony, an aspirational life skill nor a side hustle. It was listening to Osho lectures in Hindi, for within a deep baritone there was unparalleled storytelling. It contained wit and challenge and a re-education in sanskritized hindi. Being self-aware I found it fascinating how my initial skepticism changed into belief. At the very least they held my attention and drew me back again. Immensely sophisticated in their construction.

Each lecture was layered with a relatable narrative and the storytelling had hints of taboo, asserted contrarian values that were made plausible by off-hand references to peer reviewed scientific studies. It was difficult to resist the persuasion. But this is not what made Rajneesh, or Osho the master, he is known to be today. It was an entire movement that was organized and funded by capital.

As Hugh Urban puts it, “Yet Osho-Rajneesh, I will argue, was in many ways the first self-consciously global guru of the modern period, offering key insights not simply into contemporary spirituality but also into broader shifts in global capitalism itself over the last four decades.” In his book, “Zorba the Buddha”, he sets out an academic and critical account of the Osho movement, with all its controversies through a framework of spirituality as a service (SAAS). I believe, this book presents an important framing for understanding even more contemporary gurus that fuse community based spirituality, health and meditation practices such as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sadhguru. It may also help explain the more recent phenomenon of the social media wellness and fitness communities that focus on self-optimisation, wellness and biohacking.

So, what became of my Osho attraction? Thankfully it passed after I got Covid (again) this August. I think a large part of it had to do with my absolute fear of cults. But I do think the human mind is restless and will keep searching for meaning and the market for Gurus will keep growing. As the latest episode of Industry ends with the line, “Isn’t it lucky that no one is ever satisfied?”. Hari Om.

[Drew Tschirki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look into a “new religious” movement that I had only heard about in passing. The author does a great job at providing insights into how Osho’s anti-religion (my word) gained traction and became both a spiritual practice but a corporation and international entity. I found the first half to be more interesting than the latter half.

What is a religion? Is a religion isolated from economic concerns and ideologies? Is a religion isolated from political ideologies? Is Osho’s religious tradition (he didn’t see it as a religion, supposedly, until he reaped the tax benefits) in the end much different than different capitalist prosperity gospel groups in the west?

So while an interesting look at a specific movement, it is equally interesting in the questions raised regarding “religion” at large

[Mikayla Brehm · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book for class, it was good. So not really 4 stars but for my expectants it was good.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Hugh B. Urban for helping me understand what both fascinates and repels me regarding the Bhagwan/Osho phenomenon. I needed something more intellectual/academic than the memoirs or the Netflix documentary (although those are also really interesting). And, I can almost always rely on academia for a bracing dose of cynicism!

This critique is also really helpful in thinking about and assessing how things are advertised, what I am really buying when I buy goods and especially services. And, the tensions within the mission-driven corporations I’ve worked for in the past.