Talk:The Goose Is Out: Osho Letters

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Osho and Kranti go way back. Sources are in major disagreement about how far back, however. This book, which was published by Kranti and her husband Kabeer, says she is his sister. Neeten's Osho Source Book has her as Osho's cousin, or the perhaps more culturally correct "cousin-sister"(?), the daughter of his father's sister. This disagreement could be a big stumbling block in the study of this book, so we'll put it aside for now. At any rate, a long time.

Neeten has collected many stories involving Kranti, not least of which are about Osho's living with her and her brother Arvind in Jabalpur in his early days there, her caring for him when he was going through his hard time before becoming enlightened, and so on. She was his caregiver more or less the whole time in Jabalpur, and Arvind was his secretary. It is said that she had a hard time with the transitions that resulted from Osho's move to Mumbai, and that Osho wrote these letters to her to help her through that. So these might be considered "special" letters.

About the dates, they are clearly after Osho's move to Mumbai, mid-1970, with the additional clue of Woodlands stationery. Osho did not settle immediately in Woodlands, so any letters on such stationery would have to be late 1970 at the earliest. And they probably wouldn't go much into 1972, so "around 1971" seems pretty close and likely.

A few words about the Hindi title, Tera Tujhko Arpan: It seems to derive from a traditional aarti, or bhajan sung at the end of a puja session and representing its climax. Along with the bhajan, a flame/lamp is offered, burning camphor or ghee, which have no sooty residue and signify the disappearance of an ego with no trace. This aarti goes:

  Tan, man, dhan, sab kuch hi tera  

Swami sab kuch hi tera
Tera tujh ko arpan
Tera tujh ko arpan
Kya lage mera

Om Jai Jagadhisha Hare
  My body, mind, wealth, everything is Yours,  

Everything is Yours
I offer what is Yours to You,
I offer what is Yours to You,
What is there that is mine?"

   

-- updated doofus-9 18:20, 23 January 2018 (UTC)