Name-Dropping Bhagwan Reveals His True Colors

No longer will Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh answer to the polysyllabic moniker by which the world knows him. Instead, the self-described “rich man’s guru” is changing his name to Osho, a Japanese word that means “the whole man, the fully awakened one and respectfully symbolizes a man of peace, grace and love upon whom existence is showering all its blessings from every direction,” said a statement from the sect’s press service, based in Lake Oswego, Ore. And in reaction to the hue and cry that the guru believes has followed his disciples, the sect will drop its distinctive red robes and adopt maroon wear for daytime and white for night. The 58-year-old sect leader says his followers have been the targets of harassment since his ouster from the United States four years ago on immigration charges. Osho currently resides with his faithful at a commune in Pune, India.

--Mick, meet Mike. Rolling Stones leader Mick Jagger paid a visit to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis at the Statehouse in Boston, apparently to lend his sympathy for Boston’s gun control efforts. The turquoise green-suited Jagger, clutching a folder, looked surprised to find about 160 people crowding the hall outside the governor’s office to catch a glimpse of him. Asked what he and Dukakis talked about, Jagger replied: “A little about gun control.” The state House on Monday gave overwhelming approval to a home-rule petition that would ban assault weapons from the city of Boston. Dukakis’ reaction to meeting the rock hero? “He asked me what I thought of his stuff, and I told him it’s only rock ‘n’ roll and I like it,” the governor said.

--Television newsman Walter Cronkite and U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. are among the honorees named to receive the 1989 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom Medals. The F.D.R. medals are awarded annually to “extraordinary” individuals whose lives exemplify the ideals of freedom of worship, freedom of speech and freedom from fear described by Roosevelt in a speech before Congress on Jan. 6, 1941, said William vanden Heuvel, president of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.