The receptionist at the Bavarian drug rehabilitation clinic was suspicious and defensive. "We don't do [Osho] here!" she exclaimed when Veet Ateet, a sannyasin living in Munich, inquired whether Osho Dynamic was being used as part of the clinic's program. But later the receptionist referred Ateet to the clinic's therapists, who revealed that the clinic had, in fact, been using Osho Dynamic for the past ten years.

     Incidents like this have prompted a growing number of sannyasins to conduct a wide-ranging survey in Germany, discovering that an increasing number of acting schools, psychosomatic clinics and institutes are using Osho's meditations in their programs.
     "The meditations were being billed as bioenergetic exercises or as a chance to clear the mind and be fit," explained Deva Parigyan, a sannyasin at the Osho Tao Meditation center in Munich. "The fact that Osho had devised these techniques was not being acknowledged. As a result, sannyasins become concerned that the real purpose of Osho's meditations – the witnessing and watching of participants' experiences – was not being communicated," he added.
     It quickly became clear that of all Osho's techniques, Osho Dynamic Meditation was the one being most widely used, and so sannyasins in Munich focused their research efforts particularly on Dynamic. They were concerned not only to give Osho credit and to emphasize the witnessing aspect of meditation, but also to promote and encourage the use of Osho Dynamic among business organizations and therapy clinics. The overall effort quickly became known as the Osho Dynamic Project.
     "By creating this project at Osho Tao, we are establishing a place where anybody can get information and support about Osho's meditations, to learn how to lead them," said Arpito – author, therapist and main project coordinator.
     "In addition, we are approaching gymnasiums, bodybuilding centers – anywhere where people are already working with the body – and offering to teach them Osho Dynamic Meditation. It's very successful. Osho Tao already holds Osho Dynamic four times daily, and at least 20 people attend each session."

     As part of the project, questionnaires are sent to institutes and clinics asking how long Osho's meditations have been in use and their effects on participants. A group of doctors is researching the effects of meditation on participants over a period of time.
     Team members of the Osho Dynamic Project are planning to participate on radio and television talk shows, and professional film-makers Parived and Ulli Fischer are investigating ways to get films about meditation screened on German television.
     Project members are giving meditation demonstrations in public halls and are also approaching universities, schools and adult education centers. The use of Osho meditations in prisons is becoming more common and already has been shown to reduce the rate of violence.
     Meanwhile, Upada, a teacher, has experimented with cathartic exercises in a classroom program called "Silence in the schoolroom." The children and parents were so enthusiastic about it that the principal asked her to reach the method to other teachers.
     Anutoshi, a therapist and psychologist on the project's team, has been invited by a management training company to design a meditation program for its workers. Siddhi, who works in management training for a US company in Munich, is also a project member.
     Siegfried, one of the most prominent therapists in Bavaria, is networking with insurance companies, doctors and clinics, to introduce them to the project.
     "Osho frequently speaks about how Osho Dynamic Meditation can transform modern man's neurosis into awareness, and our team is finding that prevailing conditions in Germany are creating an atmosphere ripe for this understanding," said Parigyan.
     "Everybody is living in so much stress, trying to compete in the rat race. Since the reunification of Germany, the quality of people's lives has become worse and so has the level of frustration, anger and disappointment – especially in the empty promises of politicians," he added.
     "People are becoming aware that they can't go on living in such tension, that they need to relax – especially in Germany where the obsession with order and perfection creates such a pressure to strive for wealth and success."
     Ateet pointed out that more people are becoming aware of stress-related problems such as high blood pressure, heart problems, sexual and digestive problems. "Through these problems they become aware of their need to relax, and Osho Dynamic offers an immediate chance to transform these conditions," he explained.
     "Meditation is becoming accepted, and this acceptance is being picked up by the advertising world," Ateet continued.
     "One can see posters for a health insurance company depicting a business-suited yuppie meditating. A large cigarette company has based a sales campaign on the slogan, 'Come Together,' and followed this with a poster, 'Come and meditate with me,' which depicted a Japanese monk," he explained.
     "Another cigarette company used a picture of a young woman with closed eyes, levitating, with the caption, 'Open for easy exercise.' It has become a kind of hypnosis by association: if you smoke or meditate you will become relaxed."

     In a mail-out to insurance companies and adult education schools, Nijesh from Osho Parimal Center outlined the fact that medical practitioners now accept that 85% of all diseases are psychosomatic. He proposed the hypothesis that, since meditation heals the mind, it can be an effective alternative for many patients. As a result, the director of a major health insurance company has invited Nijesh to conduct a ten-week meditation course.
     Even radio shows have upgraded their pattern. Paraphrasing Osho, a psychologist on a Bavarian radio station recently commented, "The west has not allowed people to explore their inner world, so their whole energy goes into exploring the outside world. This has created a basic problem, and the only solution is for people to reclaim their inner world through meditation."

     Funding for the Osho Dynamic Project was boosted by a huge party at a sannyasin disco in Munich. The project now has its own logo, T-shirts, stickers and information leaflet. Members have undertaken the translation and publication of Osho's views on health titled From Medication to Meditation and, at their request, Osho Commune International is creating a ten-minute instructional video about Osho Dynamic Meditation for newcomers.
     Last year, Werner Weik and a Swiss-Italian TV company produced a film about Osho Dynamic Meditation. Filmed at Osho Tao Mediation Center, the soundtrack consists of quotes from Osho's The Orange Book. Already screened in Switzerland and shortly to be shown in Italy, France, Spain and Monacco, the film has aroused interest all over Europe.

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