When Rajneesh walked into D.N. Jain College in Jabalpur in 1951, the professors had no idea what was coming. They thought they were getting another philosophy student. What they got was a one-man revolution. At twenty years old, the boy who had questioned vil lage priests and school teachers was about to take on the entire academic establishment—and win.
Philosophy Student Turns Intellectual Force
From his very first philosophy class, it was clear that this student was different. While other students took careful notes of everything their professors said, Rajneesh would listen intently, then raise his hand with questions that would turn the entire lecture upside down.
During a class on ancient Indian philosophy, when the professor explained a traditional teaching about the nature of God, Rajneesh politely asked, "Sir, if God is perfect and complete, why would he need to create anything? A perfect being should lack nothing and desire nothing, shouldn't he?"
The professor paused, realizing he had never really thought about this obvious contradiction. The class sat in stunned silence as their teacher struggled to find an answer. This wasn't disrespect—it was pure intellectual honesty. Rajneesh had a gift for finding the logical flaws in even the most respected philosophical systems.
The Student Professors Couldn't Handle
Word quickly spread among the faculty about this extraordinary student. Some professors were fascinated by his brilliant mind. Others were terrified of him.
The professor tried to explain about divine commandments and social agreements, but Rajneesh's follow-up questions revealed the circular reasoning in every answer. His classmates began to realize they were witnessing something unprecedented—a student who could intellectually challenge any professor in the college and usually win.
The Debate Champion Who Never Lost
Rajneesh's reputation as a debater became legendary throughout the university and beyond. Students and teachers from other colleges would come just to watch him debate.
What made him unbeatable wasn't aggression or cleverness—it was his method. While his opponents would try to defend their positions with complex arguments, Rajneesh would ask simple questions that went straight to the heart of the matter.
In one famous debate about the existence of God, his opponent presented elaborate philosophical proofs for God's existence. Rajneesh listened patiently, then asked, "If God needs to be proved, doesn't that mean we're not sure he exists? And if we're not sure he exists, what value do our proofs have?"
His debate coach later said, "I never had to teach him debate techniques. He had something much more powerful—the ability to see through to the essential question that others missed."
College after college sent their best debaters to challenge him. No one ever defeated him. But more importantly, no one ever left his debates angry or humiliated. He had a way of dismantling arguments without destroying the person making them.
Professors Who Tried to Fail Him
Not all professors appreciated having their beliefs challenged by a twenty-year-old student. Some tried to use their authority to silence him. A few professors, frustrated by his constant questioning, attempted to fail him in their courses. But they faced an impossible problem: Rajneesh knew the course material better than they did.
He would memorize entire textbooks, understand every philosophical system perfectly, and then demonstrate the contradictions within them. When exam time came, he would answer every question correctly according to the prescribed syllabus—and then add his own analysis showing why the prescribed answers were incomplete or illogical.
One professor, determined to fail him, set an impossibly difficult exam question. Rajneesh not only answered it perfectly but wrote such a brilliant response that the professor had no choice but to give him the highest marks. Another professor tried a different approach, asking exam questions that weren't covered in class. Rajneesh had read so widely that he answered these too, often better than the professor could have answered them himself.
The Legend Grows
Stories about Rajneesh spread throughout the academic world of Jabalpur and beyond. Other students would sneak into his classes just to hear what questions he would ask that day.
His philosophy professors found themselves preparing more thoroughly for his classes than for their research papers. They knew that if there was any weakness in their argument, any logical flaw in their reasoning, this student would find it.
One professor confided to a colleague, "Teaching Rajneesh is like being examined every day. I have to know my subject better when he's in class than when I'm taking my own doctoral exams."
But the remarkable thing was that Rajneesh never used his intellectual gifts to humiliate anyone. His classmates later recalled that he would often approach professors after class to continue discussions privately, helping them work through the questions he had raised rather than embarrassing them publicly.
The Respectful Revolutionary
What set Rajneesh apart wasn't just his intelligence—it was his character. Despite his ability to demolish any argument, he never showed arrogance or superiority.
His classmates remembered him as friendly and approachable, always willing to help others understand difficult concepts. He would tutor struggling students without charge and never made anyone feel stupid for asking basic questions.
Teachers who initially feared him often became his greatest admirers once they recognized that his questioning came from a genuine love of truth, not from a desire to create trouble.
One professor later wrote, "In thirty years of teaching, I never met a student who challenged me more or taught me more. He forced me to become a better teacher and a clearer thinker."
The Foundation of a Revolutionary Method
Looking back, we can see that Rajneesh's university years established the teaching method that would later transform millions of lives. He learned that the right question is more powerful than a thousand answers.
He discovered that most people's beliefs—even intelligent, educated people—rest on assumptions they've never examined. And he realized that the kindest thing you can do for someone is help them see these assumptions clearly.
His professors unknowingly helped train the man who would become one of the world's most influential spiritual teachers. Every lecture they gave him was practice in seeing through conventional wisdom to deeper truths.
The Making of a Master
The young man who left D.N. Jain College in 1953 had learned something crucial: truth is not something you inherit from books or teachers. Truth is something you discover through fearless inquiry.
He had also learned that the highest intelligence is not the ability to accumulate information, but the courage to question everything you think you know.
The university "firebrand" who had made professors tremble with his questions would soon discover something that would transform him from a brilliant student into an awakened master. But the intellectual fearlessness he developed during these years would become the foundation of his entire approach to spiritual teaching.
He had learned to think without fear. Soon, he would learn to be without thought. The university taught me that knowledge is not wisdom. Knowledge is about the known; wisdom is about the unknown. A truly educated person is one who knows that he knows nothing. — Osho, reflecting on his university years
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं: