Osho's fake adoption
this page is under construction
This story is a big story, with many threads and involving the apparent connivance of many people. It happened at the Ranch, and in fact could only have happened there, and so of course at the center of it all is Sheela ...
The basic circumstances are:
- In 1984, Osho's legal status in the States is in jeopardy, his legal options circumscribed at every turn by the state and federal governments, acting in an atmosphere of general public hostility, which arose both from prejudice and, it must be said, from the bristling, abrasive negative PR work of Sheela and her deputies. (See Veena's article about her time as a Ranch tour guide for a good account of that.)
- Quasi-miraculously, the (Sleight-of-)Hand of Existence produces a document and accompanying testimony which will be a bullet-proof way for Osho to get permanent resident status.
- This document purports to be a legal record of Osho's adoption, at age four, by an acquaintance of Osho's father, an unmarried Gujarati man. The reason for the adoption is said to be predictions by Varanasi astrologers that Osho might not live beyond age seven unless he were to be adopted.
- And who does this adoptive father turn out to be but someone who soon marries, eventually gets permanent residence in the States (and can thus gain such status for his family) AND is the father of Ma Anand Sheela?
How convenient is that? How believable is that? This page and its discussion page will explore these questions. First, our sources. How reliable might they be?
The wiki has acquired decent-quality images of the purported adoption document from 1936, below. Images of the doc were also reproduced in the Ranch's newspaper, along with the story, but of lesser quality. These images languished in boxes of photographs from the ranch, only re-appearing in Jun 2021 (story of that to come). We are pleased to present a transcription and translation of the original handwritten Gujarati here.
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1936 adoption doc front
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1936 adoption doc back
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Ambalal / Swarupananda / "Bapuji", 1936
The central item of intrigue in this story is that the supposed adoption was kept a secret, revealed only in 1984. We'll leave for now the question of how many people were in on the secret, and follow first the public story as it unfolded.
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Rajneesh Times Feb 3 1984 front page
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Swarupa / "Ba", late 30s
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Ranch lawyer explains to Mataji as Swarupananda, Swarupa and Sheela look on, 1984
The first the public knew any of this was Feb 3 1984, on publication of Vol 2, Issue #23 of The Rajneesh Times (USA). The paper explained that Sheela's father, Sw Swarupananda Bharti was revealing for the first time in 48 years the secret of this adoption, which -- whaddya know!?! -- would help Osho in his fight to stay in the States.
(The image of the front page can be enlarged to readable quality. There is also a text version here, which has, additionally, the continuation of the story in an inner page. Missing from the wiki's coverage of the Rajneesh Times of the day so far are three other related stories on that inner page plus the follow-up stories from the next issue (#24, Feb 10), but we're working on that.)
What does Osho say about this adoption? Here we might think we can easily get to the nub of the matter, since Osho has said so much about everything, but straightforward it is not.
The problem here is that Osho has said very little about it, there being only two records of his words on the subject, and one of them appears to be inauthentic. We'll get to the inauthentic one shortly but first, the following is the only verifiable record of his words pointing to this adoption. It is part of an interview with two reporters from Der Spiegel. This interview is only the second in the newly launched series of interviews with the world's press/media. Most of these interviews have never been published except electronically in the CD-ROM. This one did make it into print, in The Last Testament, Vol 1. It is from 19 Jul 1985.
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Twice above the two journalists from Spiegel have tried to put Osho on the hook of how coincidental and convenient this story is, making it thereby improbable. He will not be put on any hooks of course, but the point is, yes, the story is improbable, and what he has to say here also undermines his other alleged words on the subject. If he was unaware that he was being adopted, it basically kills any possibility of truth in the other source, ch 29 of Glimpses of a Golden Childhood.
This part of the story is familiar to many: the first edition of Glimpses, his classic reminiscences of his earlier days, had a whole chapter on the adoption. In this chapter, Osho told the tale of how his father just up and left him with his new beloved "Bapuji" (Swarupananda), with whom he lived for three years (and with Swarupa / "Ba" after their marriage), only occasionally returning to his Nana and Nani in Kuchwada. He sang the praises of his adoptive parents and their daughter Sheela; these praises were laid on so thick that they were the greatest clangers in the whole chapter.
This chapter was removed from the second edition of Glimpses. In his introduction to the second edition, Abhinandan writes: "This is the second edition of this book. The first was changed in a few subtle and less subtle ways by its first publisher. But the original diamond remained flawless, the changes she made are gone, and it is now back in its original form.
"This edition is richer. Since the original series of talks given in 1981 Osho has spoken many times of his childhood. These stories and anecdotes have now been added in an appendix to the book -- a few extra spices for this already superb banquet".
. . . to be continued!
- see also
- Osho's fake will, another mysterioso document surfacing many years after its purported creation to serve a current perceived need