Media Coverage of a Mystic in 2022

The Indian guru Bhagwan - also later known as Osho - has been one of the most widely known mystics of our time. After his death in January 1990, suddenly his media coverage seems to rise again. An investigation in numbers…

Interestingly, there has been an increase in coverage on the mystic Osho. It somehow baffles me how the media coverage on him seems to rise again in recent years, after he is now already dead for more than 30 years.

What has made Osho more interesting to the general public in the recent years, and is it really true that media coverage has surged?

Documentaries on Osho:

• ARD (german): 6 in total for “Bhagwan”, all within the years 2021-2022
• Netflix: 2 in total
  • Wild Wild Country, 2018
  • Searching for Sheela, 2021, India (Source)

Starter for this blog post was his recently increased general media coverage:

• Netflix: Wild Wild Country (16.3.2018)
• Bhagwan - Die Deutschen und der Guru (15.02.2021)
  • Trailer
  • Comment on documentary from Ramateertha
• Peter Lustig on Osho (?)
• NDR Doku: Als Bhagwan in den Norden kam (11.5.2022)

Search Queries and Trends:

• Google Trends reports a steady amount of search queries of the term “Osho” during the last 20 years, with a peak around the release of “Wild Wild Country”, and a declining trend starting in June 2020 (Source).
• Osho: The Joy of Living Dangerously / Osho: Mut: Lebe wild und gefährlich (1999) shows a steady amount of queries within the last 18 years (Source)

Book Sales & Publisher Activity:

• http://www.publishingtrends.com/2001/05/osho-guru-extraordinaire-is-long-gone-but-his-books-live-on/
  • In China in 1996 alone, 16 Osho titles sold a total of 600,000 copies.
• Osho Media proclaiming their own record numbers in 2015 Source
  • Mentions a licensing deal with Amazons Audible.com. Many audio books are available there.
• Osho Media confirming the OSHO trademark in 2017 (Source)
• Oshos Author Page on amazon.com, no numbers unfortunately
• Amazons Best Selling page (current year, 2022)
  • Not found in Esoteric Top 50 (Source)
  • Not found in Audio Books Top 50
  • Found on Top #27: The power of free thinking (Source)

Youtube numbers:

• Even only for the official youtube channel “Osho International”, youtube shows a number of 0.5-3 Million new views each month within for the last 3 years, with slight upwards trend. (Source)
• Compare that to with probably the most highly popular mystic of our time “Sadhguru”, who’s youtube channel gains 20-40 Million new views every month. (Source) For somebody who has been dead for such a long while, it seems within his category he’s still holding up well and steady.
• Compare that again a popular mainstream entertainment channel of our times “Mr. Beast”, who gains 250-750 Million new views each month. (Source) This might show in what kind of niche mystics operate in on youtube. Definitely not content that attracts the masses, comparing with the absolute leaders of the platform.

News:

• There were of course plenty of them while he was still alive. Now that he is dead for more than 30 years, what are the articles that still come out during these years?
• BBC, 2018, a showcase on one of his bodyguards https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-44300915

Activities:

• On osho.com the Osho foundation still offers Osho retreats, meditations, merchandise, etc.