Basho is one of the greatest poets in the world. His greatness is not in his poetry – there are far greater poets as far as the composition of the poetry is concerned. His greatness is that his poetry is not just verbiage, is not just putting words together according to a certain pattern, his poetry is an experience. Hyakujo never wrote any poetry. His approach is very prose and direct, and the haikus supplement what is missing in the prose. Basho expressed himself very graphically. His experiences are more paintings than poetry. And his understanding is – and I agree with him – that where prose fails, poetry may succeed. Poetry has a more feminine way, more subtle, more graceful, of entering into the heart. I have put together two great masters. Both are Himalayan peaks, and together they are going to create a tremendous harmony.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Osho Rajneesh
Osho was born in Kuchwada, Madhya Pradesh, on 11 December 1931. Rebellious and independent from childhood, he insisted on experiencing the truth for himself rather than acquiring knowledge and beliefs given by others. He attained ‘enlightenment’ at 21 and went on to complete his academic studies. He spent several years teaching philosophy at the University of Jabalpur. Meanwhile, he travelled throughout India delivering talks and meeting people from all walks of life. By the 1960s, Osho had begun to develop his unique dynamic meditation techniques. He felt that modern man is so burdened with the archaic traditions of the past as well as the anxieties of modern-day living that he must go through a deep cleansing process before he can hope to discover the thought-less, relaxed state of meditation. In the early 1970s, the West first began to hear of Osho. By 1974, a commune had been established around him in Pune, and the trickle of visitors from the West soon became a flood. Osho spoke of every aspect of life and on the development of human consciousness. Based on his own existential experience rather than on intellectual understanding, he distilled the essence of what is significant to the spiritual quest of contemporary man. Osho left his body on 19 January 1990. His commune in India continues to attract thousands of international visitors who come to participate in its meditation, therapy and creative programmes or to simply experience being in a ‘Buddhafield’. Osho’s talks have been published in more than 600 volumes and translated into over thirty languages.
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