Notebooks Timeline Extraction

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A correspondent has shared his research into Osho's Manuscripts from the 60s, some of which have turned out to be fact-based accounts of his travels, speeches, and the events of the time. He also looked into a collection of notebooks kept by Arvind Kumar Jain, Osho's cousin and secretary in Jabalpur, which have a similar wealth of information about Osho's activities in those early days.

This page is concerned with information gathered from Arvind's notebooks, Arvind Jain Notebooks, Vol 1 , Vol 2 , Vol 3 , Vol 4 and Vol 5. Links to each are provided in the tables below, one table for each notebook. Considerations of issues that arise can be found in the Analysis section under each table. As with info from Osho's manuscripts, all info presented below is annotated, ie which page of which notebook it derives from is clearly indicated.

The research into Osho's manuscripts is presented in three other batches, corresponding to the particular groups of manuscripts where info was found. In some cases, his notes have the full text of early unpublished discourses.
They can be found at (1) Manuscripts ~ Messages Timeline Extraction , (2) Manuscripts ~ Programmes Timeline Extraction and (3) Manuscripts ~ Reports Timeline Extraction.


Notebooks, Vol 1

Dates Event Description and Notes Wiki Notes, Comments
Apr - Jul 1961 Cover -- 84 Pages Notes of Public Meetings, Addresses & Personal Meetings of Osho with Dignitaries. Last date may run into Aug 1961, see below.
Apr 14, 1961 Pages 1 - 10 -- Full Lecture given in East Ghamapur, a district of Jabalpur, on birthday of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, a prominent member of Constitution committee for preparing Draft of Constitution after independence of India in 1947. He represented the suppressed or underprivileged sections of Indian society, ie aboriginals and Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) and included safeguards for them and opportunities for social advancement. He adopted Buddhism along with 40,000 followers. More about Dr Ambedkar below
Apr 29, 1961 Pages 11 - 25 -- Full Lecture given at Navin Vidhya Bhawan (New School Building) at Jabalpur during Shikshan saptah (Education Week) to Students of the School. Subject: Steps for building character.
Apr 30, 1961 Pages 26 - 41 -- Full lecture given on Buddha Poornima (Birthday of Lord Buddha as per Moon calendar) at Mahavir Library, Jabalpur.
May 6, 1961 Pages 42 - 47 -- Talks with Shri Ram Dubey in Jabalpur about his views about Sangathan (Most probably Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangathan – a right wing Hindu ideologist group) and his message as Love, cooperation and peace only as right way to move forward. Note re having sent a copy of these talks in Oct 1961 to Jain Jagat, a magazine of Jain community, to get it published. See below re RSS.
no date Page 48 -- Second part of Talks on how things are to be seen as Objective or Subjective?
May 7 & 8, 1961 Pages 49 - 61 -- Lectures on Birth Centenary of Rabindranath Tagore at Jabalpur University and Debendra Bangali Club (Gun Carriage Factory) respectively.
May 9, 1961 Pages 62 - 63 -- Jabalpur, Talks with Shri Ram Mishra about nature of religion as breaking away the society.
May 13, 1961 Pages 64 - 65 -- Jabalpur, Talks with Devkinandanji and his wife on utility of Temples.
May 16, 1961 Pages 66 - 77 -- Lecture given at Jain Temple, Jawaharganj, Jabalpur. Topic: Birth Centenary of Rabindranath Tagore.
May 17, 1961 Pages 78 - 79 -- Jabalpur, Talks on what is worth achieving in human life, sent to “Jain Jagat”, a magazine of Jain Community, in Oct, 1961 for publication.
May 19, 1961 Pages 80 - 81 -- (Jabalpur) Meeting with Sri Ram Mishra at Railway station while going to Sirpur. Topic: On postponement of beginning/attending his meditation training.
Jul 1 - 10, 1961 Pages 82 - 85 -- (Jabalpur) Extract of talks with people came to meet with Acharya ji during this time.
Aug 7, 1961 Page 86 -- (Jabalpur) Talks with Konsa Devi, a Librarian at Jain Library established by Smt Sheelwati ji Samaiya about works of Smt Sheelwati ji (Probably on her death). Smt Sheelwati may be related to Kundan Lal Samaiya, who married Osho's father's sister. See Osho's family. More research needed.

Analysis Notebook 1

About the date range, Apr 1961 to Jul 1961, it may well be so. But there is one date outside of that range, the last one, apparently in Aug. It was actually written in the notebook as 7/8/61, which of course could be Jul 8. But a better case can be made for Aug 7 than Jul 8. It goes like this:

The date range of Apr 61 to Jul 61 on the cover was possibly written many years later. A small mistake about the date range in that scenario is easy to imagine.

If the date were Jul 8, it would have been out of order AND using a different date format than were used for other dates in the same notebook; see pages 61, 63 and 77, all having dates in May in the form x/5/61. All together, that combination of issues seems less likely than one simple mistake years later.

About Dr Ambedkar, he grew up as a member of a "low" caste, in many respects an "untouchable", and experienced first-hand the soul-crushing aspects of the Hindu caste system. He surmounted these obstacles and got PhD's from both Columbia University and London School of Economics, applying his expertise to both the political struggle for Indian independence and the social struggle on behalf of oppressed classes. This social struggle took place in the areas of constitutional protections and the building of social institutions for self-help.

In his view, the Hindu religion contributed greatly to various forms of oppression, so he also advocated conversion to other religions, more or less single-handedly reviving the near-moribund practice of Buddhism in India. For way more see Dr Ambedkar in Wikipedia.

Osho's deep respect for Dr Ambedkar persisted his whole life. The only thing he criticizes him for is for not standing up to Mahatma Gandhi's fasting-unto-death extortion over a certain aspect of untouchables' voting rights.

About RSS, their name is actually Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, not Sangathan, but this may not matter much. In these six pages, Osho uses the word संगठन (sangathan, roughly "organization") 19 times, so this is a concentrated theme. And he even talks about organizations appealing to nationalism, so whether he is talking about organizations in general or RSS in particular, his words will apply.

Notebooks, Vol 2

Dates Event Description and Notes Wiki Notes, Comments
Oct 62 - Nov 62 Cover -- 40 Pages, Notes on Life Awakening Talks
Oct 16 - 23, 1962 Page 1 -- talks given in Jabalpur Date and place info looks almost like a rubber-stamp, superimposed on previous material on Page 1.
Oct 26 - 31, 1962 Page 1 -- talks given in Gadarwara
Pages 2 - 42 -- no more info about the talks, just the talks themselves, with no indication of particular dates

Notebooks, Vol 3

Dates Event Description and Notes Wiki Notes, Comments
Oct 1 - 14, 1962 Cover -- First Fortnight of Oct 62 at Chanda [now called Chandrapur]
Oct 7, 1962 Pages 1 - 12 -- Chanda, Talks about his 15 days meditation training and with other peoples on Philosophy of Life This date entry found on Page 9, may apply to Pages 1 to 12. See also below re "Parakh".
Oct 7, 1962 pm Pages 12 - 17 -- Chanda, Q and A: 1) “Why everyone is in search of happiness? What are the ways to achieve a state of happiness? 2) Rebirth a reality? Date, night and Chanda appear on Pages 12 and 17
Oct 8, 1962 Page 18 -- Chanda, Q and A on Gender Equality
Oct 9, 1962 om Page 26 -- Chanda, four themes: 1) Awakening the powers of the mind ... 2) Fixing the disease ... 3) Correcting the Mind ... 4) Going out of the mind
Oct 9, 1962 pm Page 30 -- Chanda, Q and A session with Mr Parakh. More about Parakh below
Oct 9, 1962 am Page 35 -- Chanda, at the home of Smt Yashodaji
Oct 10, 1962 am Page 38 -- Chanda, Q and A: 1) Difference between sleep and meditation? Mr Appalwar, an employee at local bank. Date appears to apply to Pages 38 to 46
Oct 11, 1962 pm Page 47 -- Chanda, Q and A: 1) Practical utility of practicing your meditation? Smt Yashodabai asked.
no date Page 56 -- Acharyaji informed all present for talks about activities and development of congenial atmosphere by adopting meditation practice developed by him at Chanda, Buldhana, Jaipur and Digras. Two public meetings and a small gathering were held in Digras. Digras and Buldhana are both in NE Maharashtra, like Chanda.
Oct 15, 1962 Page 66 -- Nagpur, Lecture at Sanj Abhyankar Bhawan, Nagpur in presence of prominent persons like Shri Moolchandji Deshlahara, Shri Bhikamchand ji Deshlahara and Shri Poonamchandji Ranka. About date, see below.

Analysis Notebook 3

About Shree Parakh: he is named five times in this collection of material about Oct '62 in Chanda. Chances seem good, though at this point unconfirmed, that this is the same person as Osho's host in Chanda, known elsewhere as Rekhchand Parekh. He and his wife Madan Kunwar Parekh, who became Ma Anandmayee, were a wealthy couple who ran an orphanage in Chanda and were early supporters of Osho and his work.

About the date of the last entry, the event in Nagpur, our correspondent pegged it as Oct 15 or 16, though this seems to come from an interpretation of text rather than an explicit entry. If correct, then it must be Oct 15, since dates in Notebook 2 indicate Osho is in Jabalpur the 16th to 23rd.

Notebooks, Vol 4

Dates Event Description and Notes Wiki Notes, Comments
May 16 - 23, 1963 Cover -- 9 pages, Notes of Gadarwara Visit Regarding Osho - Life Philosophy, discourse material in Pages 1 to 9 is Q&A

Notebooks, Vol 5

Dates Event Description and Notes Wiki Notes, Comments
Jan - Jun 1963 Cover -- consisting apparently of 250 pages, of which only 73 pages are in the wiki. Notes on Osho's Life Analysis, over Different Subjects, Meetings with Different Personalities & Group Discussions
Jan 1 - 14, 1963 Pages 1 - 15 -- (First Fortnight of January 1963) Any locations?
Jan 17, 1963 Pages 16 - 21 -- Jabalpur, Extract of lectures given at 1) Government Girls Home Science College and 2) Mahakoshal Arts College on Birth Centenary of Swami Vivekananda. Date and place info on Page 21
Jan 18, 1963
onwards
Pages 22 - 33 --Jabalpur, Talks and Q&A with persons visiting Acharya ji. Date is apparently inferred, not explicit. "First week in Feb 63" note in Page 29
Mar – Apr 1963 ? Page 34 onwards -- (Jabalpur), transcription not done Date range source is not clear.