Rage Against the New Age Machine: Three Days at the Osho International Meditation Resort

http://religiondispatches.org/rage-against-the-new-age-machine-three-days-at-the-osho-ashram/

BY DIANE WINSTON DECEMBER 29, 2014



I went to India searching for spiritual enlightenment. I found a neoliberal heaven that catered to my worst possible self.

That’s almost true. I took my journalism class to India this past spring to cover the role of religion in the recent election. I’d done similar trips before to Israel and Ireland, but this time I wanted the students to have more than a fleeting encounter with the religion they were covering.

During a previous trip to India, the class had visited one of Delhi’s Hanuman temples, where the synesthetic overload of traditional Hindu worship (yonis and lingams, flowers, sugary prasad, gongs and incense) had left a group of cerebral journalism students with no choice but simply to be.

On this trip, I wanted students to experience something like that before they started reporting. And for myself? I wanted a break, a chance to rest after a difficult year. My younger brother’s unexpected death had emptied me out, and desperate to fill the hole, I’d taken on too much work. A weekend retreat at an Indian ashram was my go-to fantasy, my hope for healing.

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