Osho's names

From The Sannyas Wiki
(Redirected from Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

"I insisted to my parents, "i won't have any name which is the name of God, so you have to find something else." For many years they could not name me. They simply called me "Rajah": Rajah means king, it has nothing to do with God. But that was just for the time being; meanwhile they searched and found a name. It must be the first time in the whole history of man that my name, Rajneesh, is used because you will not find it anywhere else. Yes, now there are three or four children in India whose name is Rajneesh, after me, because their parents are sannyasins; otherwise, I am the first man to have this name. It is a created name. You will not find any precedent. I have looked, tried hard, but I have not found any because it was created, it was artificial. Rajni means night, and Rajneesh means the lord of the night, the moon. It was my poet-uncle's creation. I liked it." (Osho, From Personality to Individuality, ch 15)


  • He was called Rajah until the age of 7.
  • His name in school was Rajneesh Mohan Chandra Jain**
  • His name in college was Rajneesh Chandra Mohan**
  • Acharya Rajneesh - Osho's name between the early 1960's to May 1971 - also as:
Acharya Sri Rajneesh
Acharya Sri Rajaneesh
Acharya Rajaneesh
  • Bhagwan or
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh - Osho's name between May 1971 and December 1988
  • Maitreya the Buddha, Beloved Friend, Beloved Buddha and
Beloved Zorba the Buddha - between December 1988 and January 1989
  • Shree Rajneesh - between January 1989 and February 1989
  • Osho Rajneesh - Osho's transitional name between February 1989 and September 1989
  • Osho - Osho's name since September 12, 1989






From Bhagwan to Osho: The story
From Bhagwan to Osho: Prequel to Osho's name change
From Bhagwan to Osho: Publications table
From Bhagwan to Osho: What's in a name?
From Bhagwan to Osho: Website survey
see also
What is an Osho?
About early editions
From Bhagwan to Osho: Publications table - a timeline with changes in the book's author-names, salutations etc.