According to Osho, Western interest in Indian religions arises because religion is the "last luxury": only when a society’s basic physical needs are satisfied does the search for the beyond become meaningful. With material struggle largely resolved, a higher quest begins - the struggle to awaken consciousness. Affluent Western societies naturally turn to mature spiritual traditions like India’s to nourish this inner flowering once outer needs no longer dominate.
When people have enough food and comfort, they start asking deeper questions, so many rich Westerners look to India’s old spiritual ways for answers.