Editing Rajneesh (section)

=== Mumbai: 1971–1974 ===
[[File:Osho Rajneesh 3.jpg|thumb|right|Rajneesh during his birthday celebrations at his residence in Bombay, on 11 December 1972]]
At a public meditation event in early 1970, Rajneesh presented his [[Dynamic meditation|Dynamic Meditation]] method for the first time.<ref name=LFC46>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=46}}</ref> Dynamic Meditation involved breathing very fast and celebrating with music and dance.<ref name="Handa 2020">{{cite web |last=Handa |first=Mohini |title=Orangebook Osho Discourses |website=Internet Archive |date=10 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/orangebookoshodiscourses_517_Y |access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> He left Jabalpur for [[Mumbai]] at the end of June.<ref name="Joshi94103">{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|pp=94–103}}</ref> On 26 September 1970, he initiated his first group of disciples or [[neo-sannyasins]].<ref name="LFC47">{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=47}}</ref> Becoming a disciple apparently meant assuming a new name and wearing the traditional saffron dress of [[asceticism|ascetic]] Hindu holy men, including a [[Hindu prayer beads|''mala'']] (beaded necklace) carrying a locket with his picture.<ref name="FF1-78" /> However, his sannyasins were encouraged to follow a celebratory rather than ascetic lifestyle.<ref name="JSG32-33">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|pp=32–33}}</ref> He himself was not to be worshipped but regarded as a [[catalyst|catalytic agent]], "a sun encouraging the flower to open".<ref name="JSG32-33" />

He had by then, acquired a secretary, Laxmi Thakarsi Kuruwa, who as his first disciple had taken the name [[Ma Yoga Laxmi]].<ref name="FF1-77"/> Laxmi was the daughter of one of his early followers, a wealthy Jain, who had been a key supporter of the [[Indian National Congress]] during the struggle for [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]], with close ties to [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]], and [[Morarji Desai]].<ref name="FF1-77"/> She raised the money that enabled Rajneesh to stop his travels and settle down.<ref name="FF1-77"/> In December 1970, he moved to the Woodlands Apartments in Mumbai, where he gave lectures and received visitors, among them his first Western visitors.<ref name="Joshi94103"/> He now traveled rarely, no longer speaking at open public meetings.<ref name="Joshi94103" />

In 1971, he adopted the title "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh".<ref name="FF1-78" />[[Shri|Shree]] is a polite form of address roughly equivalent to the English "Sir"; [[Bhagavan|Bhagwan]] means "blessed one", used in Indian tradition as a term of respect for a human being in whom the divine is no longer hidden but apparent.<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?query=bhagavan&display=simple&table=macdonell Macdonell Practical Sanskrit Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017031501/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?query=bhagavan&display=simple&table=macdonell|date=17 October 2015}} (see entry for ''bhagavat'', which includes ''Bhagavan'' as the [[vocative]] case of ''bhagavat''). Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref> In Hinduism it can also be used to signify a [[deity]] or [[avatar]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Lochtefeld|first=James G.|title=The illustrated encyclopedia of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Rosen|isbn=0-8239-2287-1|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=94|oclc=41612317}}</ref> In many parts of India and South Asia, Bhagwan represents the abstract concept of a universal God to Hindus who are spiritual and religious but do not worship a specific deity.<ref name=":0" />

Speaking about the name change from Acharya to Bhagwan, Rajneesh said in later years, "I loved the term. I said, 'At least for a few years that will do. Then we can drop it.'" Rajneesh also added, “I have chosen it for a specific purpose and it has been serving well, because people who used to come to gather knowledge, they stopped. The day I called myself Bhagwan, they stopped. It was too much for them, it was too much for their egos, someone calling himself Bhagwan...It hurts the ego. Now I've changed my function absolutely. I started working on a different level, in a different dimension. Now I give you being, not knowledge. I was an acharya and they were students; they were learning. Now I am no more a teacher and you are not here as students. I am here to impart being. I am here to make you awaken. I am not here to give knowledge, I am going to give you knowing- and that is a totally different dimension.”<blockquote>Calling myself Bhagwan was simply symbolic – that now I have taken a different dimension to work. And it has been tremendously useful. All the wrong people automatically disappeared and a totally different quality of people started arriving. It worked well. It sorted out well, only those who are ready to dissolve with me, remained. All others escaped. They created space around me. Otherwise, they were crowding too much, and it was very difficult for the real seekers to come closer to me. The crowd disappeared. The word "Bhagwan" functioned like an atomic explosion. It did well. I am happy that I chose it."<ref>{{Cite book |first=Satya |last=Vedant |title=The awakened one: the life and work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh |date=1982 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=0-06-064205-X |location=San Francisco |pages=112–113 |oclc=8194778}}</ref></blockquote>
Later, when he changed his name, he redefined the meaning of Bhagwan{{how|date=April 2025}}.<ref name="Süss29-30">{{harvnb|Süss|1996|pp=29–30}}</ref>