The present era, led by social networks, can easily be called the era of blind assumptions and misconceptions widely copied, pasted, followed, and forwarded by unaware netizens who have neither lived nor properly read or studied the past. This has also led to the evolution of fact-check portals and in-depth investigative reporting, but that mostly remains confined to political fact-checking and timely revelations.
As a result, many non-political assumptions and misconceptions are neither written about nor responsibly cleared by anyone online. A few years ago, I wrote an article busting the ‘Stupid Myth’ of Dev Anand getting banned from wearing black, and this is about the popular misconceptions about Vinod Khanna and his spiritual relationship with the Mystic Master OSHO.
To begin with, even after three decades, post the ‘90s, I still meet people (including both young and highly educated elders) who have their own absurd assumptions about OSHO without having read even a single page of his books or hearing even 15 minutes of his discourses. Many of these have either heard something from someone (who has further heard it from somewhere else) or seen some young YouTuber's sensational videos or the infamous Netflix documentary without making any effort to read and dig further into the world of the mystic master. Almost 90% of these people (actually much more) remain stuck on the term ‘sex’ and have nothing else in their mind, either related to spirituality or even knowledge while talking about OSHO.
On the other hand, there are a few who have tried randomly reading one of his books, considering it a ‘How to the get enlightened’ kind of self-help publication, searching for some specific Do’s or Don’ts which are never there in an OSHO book, to be precise.
Moreover, the sea of so-called spiritual gurus telecasting themselves in various forms through TV channels, YouTube, and WhatsApp videos over the last two decades has seriously degraded the value of the words ‘GURU’ (Master) and ‘SHISHYA’ (Disciple) together without any second thoughts.
Anyway, how many unaware people think and assume about OSHO is not the core subject here. Still, I have to mention as it builds up the base that leads to one of the most famous misconceptions about Vinod Khanna and his spiritual relationship with the mystic master.
It is truly amazing that despite Khanna clarifying it clearly in his several interviews and speeches given at public events, the media is full of clickbait titles like “How Vinod Khanna got destroyed,” “How Vinod Khanna got fooled,” “How Vinod Khanna realised his mistake,” etc. (in both Hindi and English), mainly propagating the thought that he was not right in his decision and later regretted it after returning from Osho Ashram.
However, this is a silly myth, spread to get instant clicks and likes without knowing anything about the person or his Guru and their spiritual relationship.
It all started when, after returning to India in October 1985, many magazines published Vinod Khanna's interviews and wrote what they wished to write, giving it a negative angle. For instance, in an interview published in Star & Style magazine, the writer began by writing, “He touched the land of his birth still clutching his Rajneesh mala,” contradicting it with the title, “I was a total wreck during those days of torment” and ending it with phrases like, “It’s a phase, I don’t ever want to relive.” The only truth in those interviews was that Khanna missed his family living with the master in America and was willing to be together again after the break.
No doubt, a part of journalism survives on sensationalizing negativity, and an article saying, “I regret doing it,” gets more readers than an article announcing, “I have no regrets and still love doing it.”
As an avid reader of film magazines in the mid-80s, I, too, had the same projected impression of ‘A Regret’ related to Vinod Khanna until I started reading OSHO myself and got associated with people who had lived years with the master in both India and America during the 1970s and 80s.
It was an era of magazines, and the cable channel revolution was still 3-4 years away when OSHO said his final farewell in January 1990. In those years, OSHO TIMES, the official magazine published from Pune, was our direct contact with the commune and its weekly activities. Thankfully, the publication and our relationship continued with the same enthusiasm even after OSHO was not physically present in the world.
This magazine made us aware of the large number of celebrities reading and following OSHO, who not only frequently visited the commune but also used to write and give interviews, sharing their heartfelt expressions and spiritual experiences. The names included surprises ranging from Khushwant Singh, Amrita Pritam, Shiv Kumar Sharma, and Hari Prasad Chaurasiya to Kalyanji Anandji, Jagjit Singh, Gulzar, Gopal Das Neeraj, and many more, all towering personalities of their respective fields.
OSHO TIMES made us aware of Vinod Khanna and his continuing love affair with OSHO, enlightening us on how yellow journalism creates false perceptions about people just for some extra sales of their copies.
After the mid-90s, while the country witnessed economic liberation, the world of print media slowly started vanishing, taken over by the trend of videos and Cable TV channels. Around this time, Khanna decided to join in politics and started giving detailed video interviews about his career shift and past experiences of the spiritual world to various news channels. In one of these interviews in the late 90s, he even displayed his OSHO mala, which he was still wearing under his shirt, informing that he was always a disciple of his master and never disassociated himself from OSHO after returning from America.
Later, winning elections from Gurdaspur, Punjab, more than once, Khanna always had an OSHO poster in his office, which can be seen in a few pictures available on the internet. Besides, he frequently attended book fairs and Osho camps, releasing new books and journals, sharing his spiritual thoughts and experiences with seekers.
Around 2005, I finally met the dashing Vinod Khanna in a meditation camp at Osho World, Jhatikra, New Delhi, where he stayed for the whole day, talking to us all and meditating together wearing the maroon and white robe. In the few hours spent with him, I could feel the spiritual depth that gave him the courage to walk away from the topmost position of Hindi cinema, an achievement people keep dreaming of. The way he just smiled at the reference to his stardom of the late 70s and competition with Amitabh Bachchan had such a divine aura that is difficult to explain in writing. Yet, he conveyed it all without even saying a single word, just through his eyes. That day spent meditating along Vinod Khanna will remain a precious memory forever.
Those were the years of ORKUT, the first social networking portal, and the times when mobile phones didn’t have great cameras. Facebook and Twitter had just arrived, and the Instagram and WhatsApp world was still almost a decade away. Even in those partially innocent days, the ORKUT groups used to comment on OSHO and Vinod Khanna together in a derogatory manner without having even an iota of information about both.
Strangely, the unaware notion continues in the present, too, after two decades of vast technological developments that have created more zombie-like minds instead of thoughtful ones.
The fact alarmingly showcases how, in the past two decades, we have formed a habit of believing and following whatever is served to us in social networks and WhatsApp groups without any study and knowledge of our own. Shockingly, even the portals of reputed newspapers do not fact-check before posting reckless articles penned by interns and youngsters, carelessly lifting content from other unreliable sites following a blind chain.
On a concluding note, the purpose of this write-up is not to influence or inspire anyone to read OSHO. That is your individual choice, based on your own thought process, understanding, and blessing. The era of me compelling others to read OSHO books and meditate was over long ago before this digital revolution took over the world.
The sole purpose of this write-up is to make you aware of the relationship Vinod Khanna had with his Master right till his end, busting one of the most popular myths propagated on the internet.
The present age of the World Wide Web is both a curse and boon, entirely depending upon its use. Hope this write-up enlightens many to be the wise ones, using the internet for their mental and spiritual growth and not otherwise.
With heartfelt wishes for all the fellow seekers on the path.
HIS BLESSINGS
Bobby Sing - 29th April 2024
(BobbyTalksCinema.com)
