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Meditation through Movement: Pankaja’s reflections on her recent visit to Song Mountain in China.

San Huang Zhai monastery at Song Mountain

This article first appeared on the UK Osho site: Omweb where there are associated articles about this visit by Veena, and more details. The article is published with permission.

Buddha Grove at seven on a chilly January morning - I’d never miss a Tai Chi class with Yogendra while I was in Pune. That’s what really turned me on to Tai Chi, tho I had been doing it casually for a few years before that. I’ve been carrying on with another teacher in London for the past few years, so the BBC episode of The Extreme Pilgrim which took place in the Shaolin temple in China was particularly fascinating for me.

I really felt for this poor middle aged English vicar, (who fronted the Extreme Pilgrim series), as he struggled to keep up with these 17 year old martial artists who’d been training since childhood as acrobats and fighters. After a week of this self torture, the vicar visited the San Huang Zhai monastery which is in the process of construction up on the mountain behind. Everything for the monastery has to be carried up several thousand steps - bricks, concrete, tiles for building, plus all food for the monks and nuns who live there. Seeing the monks carrying heavy bags of flour and vegetables on their backs while walking up with beautiful, graceful, swaying steps struck me deep in the heart.

On the way up to the monastery

Osho teased and hit me many times for being ‘in my head,’ unable to divorce myself from my ideas, and I spent long years cleaning rooms and toilets in Pune 1. I was never a very good cleaner, never enjoyed it except the time spent scrubbing the toilets with a wonderful opera singer friend, our voices echoing off the white tiles. The first time I walked through Buddha hall carrying a mop and bucket I really had no idea what to do with those implements - though later it became a wonderful game, swirling the huge mops around. I was never remotely interested in learning Tai Chi then - I just wanted to sit or lie down in discourse and disappear into Osho’s energy field, forgetting all about this irritating vehicle, the body!

Monks Training

But as I get older meditation through movement, yeah, have to admit it - tai chi rather than dynamic or kundalini - has become more important to me, and the way these monks moved was meditation in everyday life - truly tai chi. It was the same in the half constructed buildings as the monks swept the floors (lots of dust!) and the two nuns, one young, one old, planted herbs in the garden.

Speaking to Veena on the phone several months later when she said she was going and wanted someone to go with her - I had an instant ‘yes’. And through her amazing networking skills we actually found ourselves, on the very first day we arrived, climbing those very steps and meeting that very monk. I had bought a camcorder the week before leaving and was busy filming while trying to figure out how to use it as we climbed the steps and Veena interviewed Wu Nanfang that first day. The reality was different from the documentary because it was a major public holiday and there were thousands of Chinese visitors and pilgrims thronging the steps. But the mountain was as extraordinary and the Buddhist and Taoist temples a revelation - was this the country where Maoist communism had done its best to destroy any vestige of religion?

Huge Buddha in the Longmen Caves

Veena had hurt her foot, but I spent every day climbing each side of beautiful Song mountain, passing through temple after temple tucked onto the edge of higher and higher gorges and precipices. The mountain itself is a Unesco World Geopark because of its geological uniqueness, but on this holiday week there were always throngs of pilgrims, young couples carrying their infants, ancient grannies in bedroom slippers, climbing these thousand upon thousand steps to make offerings or just have a day out. It was only at the Longmen caves, where endless statues of Buddha had been carved into the mountainside during the 6th & 7th centuries AD that it was impossible to miss this legacy. Osho often spoke about Mao, along with Stalin and Hitler, as one of the greatest criminals who ever lived. The destruction of most of these images was partly due to war and the greed of collectors, but the relentless and vicious defacement is also a reminder of the Cultural Revolution - well within the lifetime of many of the visitors.

Yet there is one huge head of the Buddha still radiating meditation above all the chaos, as Osho radiates above the chaos of today.

Tags: News, The World // Add Comment »

Nepalis choose to live in a commune
by Kushal Regmi December 20, 2008

(Originally published in GroundReport and republished here at the author’s request.)

“I will not make a private house,” declares Anil Nepal, a consultant engineer, who has spent ten years of his life living in a commune.

Joint families have become a thing of the past and nuclear families are the accepted way to go as far as families are concerned in today’s Nepal, but few individuals, like Anil, are opting for alternative ways of living that suite their own lifestyle.

Anil tired of a variety of lifestyles before deciding that commune was the best form of family for him.

After finding that he was a misfit in the joint family where he grew up, he opted to live alone in a flat.

But staying alone wasn’t the solution either. He realized that a human being needs a social support system to lead a healthy life.

Staying alone in Kathmandu as a young professional meant that his circle of friends had a great influence in his lifestyle. Thus smoking and drinking in a regular basis became his way of life even if he hadn’t consciously desired it. This is when he encountered meditation and a commune lifestyle in the form of Osho Tapoban.

“I knew I had had enough of that way of life when my body started becoming allergic to drinking and smoking. I needed a more natural lifestyle, which I had found in Tapoban, but I still wasn’t ready to commit to actually staying there because my habits demanded a different lifestyle,” as he recounts a phase in his live which he has left far behind.

Anil finally had to decide which way to take, whether he wanted to continue the lifestyle of his peers or completely change his way of life.

“I moved to Tapoban, because the milieu there was what was required for my spiritual growth. I was possessed with the quest to realize who I was. Slowly I began to realize that I needed to purify my body, mind and emotions to go deeper into meditation and it was not possible without a spiritual commune and at that time, Tapoban was my only option,” Says Anil, who looks like he is very much at ease with himself.

There have been many communes of various forms around the world in the last century. Artists, poets, writers, hippies, communists all tried their hands at commune living, but hardly do we hear a success story. Either the communes were authoritarian in nature and with the fall of the system that implemented it, the commune fell as well, or it broke up due to internal feuds or external intolerance.

“The average age of most communes till today is probably only five to seven years,” says Swami Anand Arun, coordinator of Osho Tapoban and Anil’s mentor, who has been, surprisingly, running a commune for the last 18 years against all odds.

The breaking up of traditional family systems and the isolation of the individuals caused by the demands of the post modern era has meant that people are wanting a social support system that suites and aids their own priorities in life. Anil was lucky to find a space that supported the lifestyle he wanted for himself and for him, the base of the commune he lives in has to be meditation but are communes that are not spiritually inclined possible as well?

“People can come and live together if there is a uniting cause that is the most important thing in the lives of the ones who form the commune,” shares Swami Arun from his experience.

“Apart from that, it is also very important to have a uniting figure who has the capacity to keep things together despite major ego conflicts and also the commune should be able to generate its own finances,” he adds.

So according to Swami Arun, dancers can live together in a commune but their passion for dance has to surpass all else and they must have a mentor who is mature enough to gain the trust of the lot and keep them united.

For this evolving humanity, which is getting even more individualistic by the moment, this type of living might be a plausible option. People who prize their freedom tend to go astray in life and end up as social misfits because they don’t get a support system that respects their individual freedom. But Swami Arun, after a lifetime of experience with running communes knows of the difficulties that come along with the task.

“Communes are bound to fail, because humans can neither live alone nor can they live together. To keep a commune running has been the greatest challenge of my life,” he states pensively.

It seems that only when civilization matures to a certain degree, can communes that respect and aid individual freedom be possible. As for Anil, who doesn’t live in Tapoban anymore and doesn’t want to live in a private house either, life presents a challenge, and that too a difficult one. Currently, apart from his consultancy work at Ithari, in eastern Nepal, he is running weekend meditation camps in various towns in the area. We can only wait and see what plans existence has for him in the coming years.

Tags: News // 45 Comments »

An Account from the Edmonton Sun of Jayesh’s lucky escape at the Oberoi.

Former Edmontonian Michael O’Byrne (Jayesh), one of the late Judge Michael O’Byrne and his wife Eileen’s 11 children (Eileen now lives in Victoria), is counting multiple blessings.

In 1984 Michael left Edmonton to follow Osho. Today, with his brother D’Arcy, he runs the Osho Resort in Pune and Osho International.

Jayesh had just left the restaurant of Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel in India on Wednesday to return to his room when terrorists attacked the restaurant.

Almost everybody in the dining room was killed.

According to a family member’s report, Jayesh then heard the hotel fire alarm.

People started walking down from the 17th floor. The elevator was locked.

Michael, fresh off knee surgery, couldn’t take the stairs. He returned to his room.

The fire alarm was thought to be set off by the terrorists. They shot hotel guests as they appeared in the stairwell.

The terrorists ended up on Michael’s floor, stayed there for hours. Again, luck intervened. They did not burst into his room.

The hotel contacted Jayesh before the phone went dead, advising him to stay in his room, stay in the safest place, the bathtub.

And so he waited, some 50 to 60 hours through smoke and drifting gunpowder residue until Indian special forces rescued him and other surviving guests.

“We are all so blessed and happy that Jayesh made it outside,” says his last remaining brother in Edmonton, lawyer and businessman Casey O’Byrne.

Tags: News // 3 Comments »

Being the Master of My Life

After all these years, I have learned to be the master of my life, of who I am. Never do I want to be the master of someone else. You see, I have discovered the art of how to love and to be loved in return. This makes me complete. (From the CD Compassion: The Way of the Master by Veeresh)

The first time I met Osho, in 1974, I expected Him, as a Master, to have superhuman powers. In fact He was totally human, warm, enjoying everybody. I fell in love with Him – His way of laughing, His way of moving, the answers He was giving. As I was leaving He gave me a white robe and said, “Dye it deep red; that will be good for your meditation.” That was His first gift to me.
One Guru Purnima Day in Pune, as Osho was sitting at the front gate He said to me, “Veeresh, come sit next to me.” I was shocked. I wasn’t open to the invitation and said, “No, thank you.”
Another time, I had a toothache and went to the best dentist available in Pune, who was also Osho’s dentist. He hit a nerve, and I jumped because it hurt. He did an Indian head-shake and said, “It hurts Osho too!” That made me realize He’s not somebody who’s above pain.
As one of Osho’s guards died of a brain hemorrhage, He said that if He had known of his weakness He would not have put him in such a stressful situation. Then I got it again: He’s just like all of us; He needs information. The more Osho revealed His humanness, His fallibility, the more I started to appreciate Him as a person.
Over the years He was constantly offering me his friendship, and I would feel that it was too much, that I wasn’t worthy; I needed to prove something first. Then I would be given the right to sit next to Him, or be in the front row, or I would be able to receive His gifts.
Once in Rajneeshpuram I got called into Sheela’s office. She said, “Osho has declared you a Sambuddha. That means you’re enlightened.” All this recognition… He was just saying over and over, “I love you.” That was so difficult for me to accept.
Slowly, with His overwhelming love, I started to appreciate Him and what He was giving me. He looked to me like a superhuman being, but He was the most beautiful man that I ever met, and He demonstrated constantly that He loved me.
One day I wrote a letter saying that I wanted to interview Him because the Humaniversity had a newspaper. That was just an excuse to be close to Him. He sent back a message that He wasn’t talking any more because He had had all His teeth removed, but I could have a photo session. During the session I was so happy; I was overwhelmed. When they were changing the cameras, He asked about my health. I looked incredulously at Him and said, “My health? I’m doing very well. How are you?” I had heard He was not well, and He looked pale.
I was standing next to Him, and He reached out with His left hand. I held it and thought to myself. “Here’s my opportunity.” I took the risk and started to kiss His hand over and over. My tears were all over it, so I grabbed a sleeve of my robe and tried to clean them off. He started to laugh, and I laughed, and He laughed and…wow! I had an experience of what they call shaktipat: He overwhelmed me with His love and His laughter. I got completely lost. I had never felt so much bliss, looking into His eyes.

I realized I was squeezing His hand, and yet He just kept looking at me with so much love. That was such a treasure, such a gift in my life to be so close to Him and tell Him I love Him. He was my Master – He’ll always be my Master – and at that moment He also became my friend. I wanted to say, “If you’re not all right, stay with me. You don’t have to go out there and play Superman for everybody.” I wanted to take care of Him too, to thank Him for taking care of me.
I have come to love and appreciate Osho more and more. I once told Him, “When I grow up, I want to be just like you.” I didn’t mean a carbon copy of Him; I was talking about His unconditional love, His care, His awareness, His constant efforts to free up all of us, insisting that we find our own way. He begs us to be aware, telling us that we have to see who we really are. He asks us to use Him up to a point, but then to do our own trip. The whole process is an incredible journey.
I feel nobody has ever cared so much for me, in that special way that He has. He has always wanted the best for me. As a result, today I am the best in my heart. Despite all my doubts, all my fears, all those things that happened, I’m home, I’m free. You can call it being the master of my life… I do my thing.
He once told me, ”If anything or anybody gets in the way of what you in your heart believe, don’t compromise. Be willing to die for your position.” So I’m ready to give everything, but if I feel in my heart that it’s wrong for me, I won’t do it! That’s another way of looking at freedom.
I once asked myself, “What do I want to be written on my gravestone?” The only thing I could come up with was: Veeresh: A Man of Osho. He loved and was loved by many. I thought that would be really cool. It’s true also. I think He’d say, “Very good, Veeresh.”
Now that Osho is not in the body anymore I feel a greater sense of responsibility. I’ve been listening to Him talk for years, and now I feel I have to carry out what He was talking about. That’s what He expected of all His sannyasins. I feel a deep necessity to really give in my work; there’s no time to waste.
I want everybody I work with, also the Tan-Jus, the teenagers here (at the Humaniversity), to change, to grow up and be beautiful. I give them what I think, what I feel, who I am. As a teacher I have a great responsibility to share my heart with them, so they can find their own Master inside one day.
I remember a beautiful story Osho told: When Buddha died he went to heaven, and he stopped at the front gate. All the angels were ready to welcome him, to jubilate and celebrate that he was coming in, and God was waiting… And he said, “I can’t go in now. I have to first wait until everyone else has passed through these gates.” All the angels cried because they were overwhelmed with his compassion. I see Osho like that: He wants all His people to go through. I also want the same thing.
Osho has this vision that 200 years from now, everyone will be able to appreciate what He’s been doing. When people walk in the main gate of the Resort, immediately they will move into the vertical plane, and the energy of the place will enlighten everybody. I see the same thing happening at the Humaniversity. I see us as the support team for the Resort, and that in two hundred years time we’ll still be supporting them, still be doing Osho’s work, making sure everyone goes through that gate: “Come on, you can do it: Hurry up!”
Osho said He wanted the Humaniversity to be officially affiliated with the Resort – not for us to feel restricted, but that He wanted us to be connected. I thought to myself, “If I were in His position and had to choose someone to support the work in Pune, of course it would be me!” I’ll do all I can to promote His work and accomplish what He wanted.
Osho Humaniversity is a School for Masters.. In the beginning we have to do a lot of therapy, change the negative behavior first. But finally, we are a meditation school: Who are you? When you look deep inside, you will find that you are a lovable human being. “Your behavior might be strange; your judgments and mental mind-fucks get in the way; your relationships can be improved; your sexuality is a little bit dysfunctional; you wish you could have had other parents…” But your foundation as a human being is: you are perfect just the way you are. Everyone is a master. It is just that a lot of doubts and conditioning gets in the way.
Our job here is to free people up to be themselves. I want everyone to develop their total human ability - everyone is unique. That’s the basis of being a Master. Once your awareness has grown enough, then give and share your love!” The world needs that!.
http://www.humaniversity.nl

This article first appeared in Viha Connection magazine

Tags: Discussion, Meditation/Spiritual // 73 Comments »

Film in Israel with Holacaust survivor daughter
decimates the past

Bettina Goering ran away from home at 13, lived in the early Osho Ashram in Poona, India, and later in the Osho communes.

Her great-uncle, her father’s beloved godfather, was the infamous Nazi leader Hermann Goering. Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command, he headed the vaunted Luftwaffe airforce and was a leading architect of the “Final Solution” to exterminate Europe’s Jews.

His grandniece’s impressive odyssey to cleanse herself of the family’s tarnished past brought her recently to Israel, where a documentary about her relationship with a child of Holocaust survivors is being featured at the Jewish Eye film festival.

The film, “Bloodlines” records Bettina’s emotional encounters with Ruth Rich, an Australian artist whose brother was murdered by the Nazis and whose parents emerged broken from the Holocaust. The film has been aired on Australian television and will next be screened at the Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Bettina, in an interview, said it was only thanks to her meetings with Ruth Rich, where she faced the pain of an angry victim, that she was finally able to break through from a guilt-ridden life. “I looked into the darkest darkness and there is nothing left to fear. I finally released it,” she said. “It was the deepest kind of therapy you could do.”

Bettina is now 52 and a Doctor of oriental medicine, but has struggled with her identity. Her father, Heinz, was adopted by his infamous uncle, after his own father died, and followed in his footsteps to become a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe. Heinz was shot down in WW2 over the Soviet Union and only returned from captivity in 1952, to find that his two brothers had killed themselves and the family’s fortunes were gone.

Hermann Goering was sentenced to death along with 11 others at the Nuremberg trials in 1946, but he committed suicide by swallowing a poison pill in his cell the night before his scheduled execution.

Bettina said her father, who died in 1981, never spoke about the Holocaust, or about his notorious uncle. Bettina was baffled at how the systematic killing of 6 million Jews had occurred, and rebelled. At 13, she ran away and cut ties with the family. She became a hippie and then a communist, and travelled the world. Her journey took her to India where she become a disciple of Osho. Still, she says she couldn’t shake the ghost of her great-uncle. It was there every time she looked in the mirror. “The eyes, the cheekbones, the profile,” she said. “I look just like him. I look more like him than his own daughter.”
The most drastic step she took was to have her tubes tied at age 30. She said she feared she would create another monster. “It’s my bloodline and I didn’t want to continue it,” she said. “I didn’t want any more Goerings.” Her only brother independently decided to have a vasectomy. She is now close with him, but disconnected from the rest of the family. “It’s all a part of this guilt,” she said.

Through a common friend, she was introduced a couple of years ago to Rich who was struggling with her own baggage of victimized parents and the ghost of a brother she never knew. Rich went through years of intensive therapy and escaped to art, where she painted dark troubling images of the demons lurking inside her. Together, the two women began to heal.

In their first meetings, Rich said she felt contempt for Bettina. “It was very intense and I definitely projected this on Bettina,” she said. But ultimately, she said they have formed a “great sisterhood.”
Bettina credits Rich for letting her finally shed a burden. The newfound inner peace gave her enough confidence to come to Israel for the first time. At a screening this week of “Bloodlines”, she faced tough questions from survivors at the film festival. Later, in a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, she watched the famous footage of Hermann Goering from the Nuremberg trials with less pain than ever before. “The hardest part is admitting that I could have liked him. I was so shocked by that,” she said. “Now I am accepting myself more for who I am, whatever that encompasses — the good, the bad and the ugly.”

On the Net: http://www.bloodlinesfilm.com

Tags: Discussion, News // 1 Comment »

Sw Vasanto and Ma Abhiru are scientist couples from France who came to Tapoban this October to participate in the seven days intense silence meditation camp. While Swami Vasanto has already filed two major patents and has forty three of his designs on the space shuttle, ISS (International Space Station), Ma Abhiru is a holder of two PhDs and works on molecular biology in the R&D center of a private company. We sat down with these science inventors to know more about their experiences as spiritual seekers.

Vasanto, Abhiru was telling me that you have interesting incidents about how you came in contact with Osho. Tell us about it.

Vasanto:- I was born in France in 1938 in a catholic family. Probably when I was 14 years old, I was having dreams about eastern countries that I had never been to. I used to receive impressions coming from a culture born in India during 8th-12th century about Shiva and Tantric practices. When I was 30 years old, the new age flowed from America into Northern Europe like flu. I was running after things like rebirth in order to meet higher beings, or probably a master but I found nothing.

Later in my professional life when I was inventing, I always felt that some one was watching me over my shoulder while I was designing my inventions. The repetitive occurrence of this feeling made me paranoid but it was real. These were the most creative years of my life. Now I have clearly come to know that it was Osho who was guiding me in my designs. Its been three years since I met Osho through a woman, Ma Anand Marga and I am more aware today about how he is helping me.

And your new work?

Vasanto:- This new work was a secret until today. I have come to know that sometimes when our body is silent, our biology works better and can work as a medium for energetic healing. I am working on how to bring this phenomenon to use. I am preparing a text about this and Osho has helped me a lot in it. When we met Swami Arun it was a great time. After a lot of discussion we have come to know that the people in Europe don’t know that most of their problems are in the mind and the only solution is meditation. So we also have plans to open a Osho commune in near future where people can come and meditate. It will happen gradually and the first step has already been taken.

I have seen that it’s very difficult for scientists or people from a science background to bend towards spirituality or religion. But today it is a different story………

Abhiru:- Scientists have to be convinced by a demonstration like a+b=c. They have to understand through logic. So the difficulty is to bring them to the heart. But today there is a lot of stress in France like in Europe and people have slowly begun to realize that there is something wrong in their lives. So I think that the right way to explain it to them is by allowing them to experiment it on themselves. Then its ok. They are narrow minded and at the same time they are not narrow minded. When I said to my colleagues that I was going to Nepal for meditation camp, they were very happy for me. So they can understand that it will help me but they are not ready to accept that it could help them too.

But today most of the European people need help. There is a lot of sadness and depression in the West especially in the professional world and many are seeking help from different practices, therapies and spiritual teachers. Nature can also be very therapeutic. I think that meditation is actually the true way for scientists to make their life lighter and happier and today people from Europe can easily understand why. These problems can be easily solve by introducing them to meditation and gradually to Osho when their heart is more open.

Vasanto:- Its difficult in France because most of the people are Catholics and anything other than Christian is considered as a cult. They are wrong but it’s not their fault because they don’t know. People need to experiment inside themselves and this is the only way to know.

Before Osho, religion was not accepted into science and science was not welcomed by religion. As scientists what would you say to that?

Abhiru:- Osho is a bridge between these two worlds, science and spirituality. Osho made it easier especially for the occident people to understand spirituality and helped them to come to their hearts. He also gave these rules during his early days, the five principles that Swami Arun talks about. It’s important to have guidelines. You are right about the difference between science and religion before Osho. And for me Osho’s meditation is a crossroad between these two worlds. Through Osho it became easier for us, people in the mind to understand, because he gave us the privilege of experimenting.

These five principles have raised a lot of controversy in the Osho community. Could you talk about your experience with these five principles?

Abhiru:- I think that its important for us to pass through these disciplines. In France I did try to meditate but I realized that I do need some guidelines. It is a step by step process for me and has helped me to be on the line. I realized that I can’t reach the finish line without passing through the first point. And the first point is purification and then the discipline that I have to meditate at least twice a day. And then the life will do the rest. Its like a demonstration, a man who climbs the Mt Everest has to start from the base camp. He also needs to make sure that he takes each of his steps carefully. I think the five principles are in fact the right way for us, the Occident people. I have understood the importance of purification, meditation, company, silence retreat through my own experience.

Vasanto:- The reality is very clear and there is nothing to be said about it.

I would like to know about your experience during this camp.

Abhiru:- It was like Oh my God! Hey Bhagwan! It was wonderful. For me I have been touched by the love of Osho. Its something that I hadn’t experienced before and I was really impressed by all this love, this goodness of everybody. We are very lucky first to know Osho, to know Arun. It was really an honor, a privilege to attend this camp. The camp has been a transformation for both of us. Now I have come to know that through discipline, through meditation I can be, I can be another woman. From here I have also learnt how to celebrate life and I am very thankful. I am sure that one day our joy will spread like an epidemic. That’s my scientific word.

Vasanto:- We are the 2nd generation sannyasins and its a great time. Arun is working perfectly. I speak about my deep feeling that when u meet Arun, when u see the light in his eyes, when u hear the love in his words, when u feel the love overflowing from his heart, phewww……. We have seen that he gives time to everybody and all the 250 people in this camp feel his love. And the beauty of the people here, they are always taking care for your comfort and are always smiling. You are like our examples and we would love to be like you, always laughing even at work.

What was your favorite session during the camp?

Vasanto:- I liked the prayer meditation because I felt a very strong presence of energy. It really spoke deeply in my heart, my body and my brains. The energy was growing more and more everyday during the day and it was a great experiment for us.

Abhiru:- In the beginning I didn’t feel anything when Swami Arun said feel Osho because I was not so connected. But from the middle of the camp I really felt his love and it was a new feeling for me. Then of course the sharing sessions with Swami Arun and the Sannyas celebration on the last day. I also liked the prayer meditation because it made me feel that cosmic energy does exist. I really liked how we receive from the sky and then give it back to Earth.

In the end do you have anything to say?

Vasanto:- Many Many thanks to everyone, to Arun, to Osho, to life for the love that we received.

Abhiru:- A lot of gratitude to you people, to Osho and Swami Arun. Tapoban is a message of hope for the Occidental people because we have come to know that there is a way to change our lives. We all became one during the camp and it’s an example that this can happen on a larger scale through out the world. So my message to the French people is that if you want to transform your lives we know the way and we know the place. We have Osho and we have meditation. It’s a small thing to say but Arun is doing a job really important for the humanity.

Interview by- Swami Aatmo Neerav

Tags: News // 33 Comments »

A present day visit to Rancho Rajneesh!
A letter from Niten

Hello y’all,
I happen to be in Portland Oregon for a training in Somatic Experiencing, a trauma healing modality. Having arrived here about two weeks before the start of the training I decided to go for a trip down memory lane….

Started out from Portland at about 9:00 am and found my way quite easily to route 26 in the direction of Madras, via Mt Hood. This was a beautiful drive with fresh snow on the mountain. I arrived in Madras at about mid-day, did some shopping at Safeway and had lunch before travelling on to Antelope. Before lunch I was cool as a cucumber about my visit to The Ranch. After lunch, as I made the turn off Highway 97 onto the road to Antelope my mood changed, I felt quite emotional. Like I was on a pilgrimage and not feeling comfortable because I expected not to be welcome where I was going.

My first view into the valleys

In Antelope itself I felt definitely quite self conscious, going into the Antelope store and café and seeing a booklet for sale about the good bad old days of when the Rajneeshies were in town, cost: $20.-. I didn’t buy it but did have a flick through, just a reprint of stuff that is available on the net, all negative.

After Antelope down to the business end of my journey, onto county road 218 direction Fossil, then a right turn into Cold Camp Rd. So far it all looked familiar, at the bottom of Cold Camp Rd a left turn into Muddy Rd and on to The Ranch. Then there was a big surprise: at the entrance to the property the road went from a dirt road, the way it used to be, to a paved road! Still, I went down gingerly, both to take in the view (and many photo¹s) and because I was still a little worried about what kind of people I would meet. My last visit in 1993 had been very unpleasant in that regard….

I stopped at Krishna Murti Lake and admired the view and reminisced about the time I spent there in 1993 camping under the Pine trees with a perfect view of the lake. My next stop was at the first building of the Ranch I encountered as I entered what used the be the city of Rajneesh, or Rajneeshpuram: The fire station and peace force head quarters. I was a good place to stop, as I was taking some pictures a van pulled up with a man in it, dressed in camouflage clothing and a rifle on the passenger seat. Needless to say I was a little nervous as he called me over…. He asked me who I was and what I was doing here. I told him my name is Bruno and I am having a visit because I used to live here 25 years ago. The man was very friendly, introduced himself as Jay, and told me that the building I was looking at used to be the fire station. I told him that I knew that because I had been on the fire fighting team at the time. The he lit up because Jay happens to be the fire chief of the nearby town of Madras and he consults for the new owners of The Ranch.

Krishnamurti Lake

Jay took me in his van to see first the new fire station, located in our bus repair garage. Then as he warmed up more and more he took me all over the place, into RBG (Rajneesh Buddhafield Garage) where I used to work. There I met Terry who is now the sole occupant of that huge place that used have at least 20 mechanics and spare parts people working in it! Still, the place was packed with tools and works in progress, from car and truck repair jobs to the manufacturing of three and four wheel dirt buggies. Terry looked like a very happy 50 something year old kid in a huge sand box. Both Jay and Terry expressed their appreciation of how well everything on the Ranch had been built, specially the infra structure and the more industrial buildings.

Distant view of RBG

After RBG we went to the more central part of the Ranch, which is now being used as a holiday and education centre for teenagers. It is owned by the ‘Washington Family Ranch’, a Christian Foundation (See: http://sites. younglife. org/camps/ Wildhorse/ default.aspx ). I must say I was extremely impressed and happy to feel how beautiful the place is becoming, they have been there for nine years now and are running these weekend and also week long camps for kids. See: http://sites.younglife.org/camps/ Wildhorse/default.aspx

The vibe is relaxed and happy. The kids I saw looked great! They have complete renovated the original Ranch house and what used to be Jesus Grove, as well as the Hotel. The Ranch house and Jesus grove are used in much the same way we used to and the Hotel house up to 650 kids in dorm style. Next stop a new complex built between the Hotel and our Rajneesh Mandir: Multi Media entertainment centre, cafeteria and swimming pool, all surrounded by beautiful lawns and gardens. Then on to the Mandir, which is now a huge indoor sports complex consisting of: rock climbing wails, table tennis, pool tables, basket ball courts, tennis courts, skating ramps and more I can’t remember. It was truly amazing… both because of the sheer size of the hall (I had forgotten how big it was) as well as the feeling of joy the place exuded.

The whole Ranch is there for camps for teen-agers, this sculpture reflects the mood and vibe of the place. I have to say it warmed my heart....

After our visit to the sports complex Jay brought me back to my car as he had to get back to work. I drove slowly along the county road through the Ranch, taking some more pictures along the way and went right to the end of the area we used inhabit: Pythagoras grove. I managed to find the location where the trailer used to be that I had lived in, the steps to the front door where still there but not much else (a skeleton of a cow, that¹s all…). Just before Pythagoras there was also the road Osho used to drive, ‘Mevlana Bhagwan Drive’, it was closed off and I could not go there.

The Mandeer, now with Basket ball courts, volley ball and many other sporting facilities, including an indoor skate-board park. I had forgotten how big this building is and how awesome the view is from the end windows...

Now I had a choice to make: turn around and go back the way I came or continue on the county road to Mitchell. I chose the latter and I very happy I did. What a beautiful drive…. I am amazed I had never done it yet. Please have a look at the photo’s and you will see what I mean. Just before getting to Mitchell I stumbled across the ‘Painted Hills Unit’ of the ‘John Day Fossil Beds National Monument’. Again, have a look at the pictures to see the amazing natural beauty of this landscape. Many times on my drive I had the sentence ‘This is Gods country’ running through my mind. (I am not talking of the Christian God here of course, it just was so beautiful that I felt full of gratitude for being there).

At the Painted Hills I met a guy who was there as a member of a photography club and I asked him where I might find a hotel to spend the night as it was nearing sunset. I directed me to a town about 30 miles past Mitchell. As I came close to Mitchell I was amazed to see that Mitchell is actually quite a cute and active little town, although it only has a 160 in habitants (according the owner of the hotel, who knows them all), it has a hotel, general store, restaurant, petrol station and farm supply store. I had dinner at the restaurant and listed in amusement to the conversations going on around me (there were at least ten other diners). Most were to do with hunting and one conversation I followed in particular which was a youngish women telling her story of shooting a deer that morning and dragging it back to her horse, carving it up in four pieces, bagging it, and hanging it on
the horse to ride home…. Oh yeah! They got some real women left out here…!

After dinner back to my hotel next door, a cute little place with about six or eight rooms, half up stairs and half down stairs just off the lounge room. And now to bed…

With love,
Niten

More Photo’s at: http://picasaweb.google.com/NitenCoral/RanchoRajneeshOct2008#

Tags: News, Osho, The World // 11 Comments »

Prologue

I first looked at Unmani’s website back in the spring while she was in Australia. Despite having looked at the websites of lots of non-duality teachers, I noticed an immediate, inexplicably magnetic ‘familiarity’ in this one. I just knew I was to go to one of the London meetings as soon as she returned. It couldn’t happen soon enough. Parallel to this knowing, there was fear. Something beyond the mind’s control was going to pierce its shell of defences. That fear resurfaced upon meeting Unmani - even though she herself is perfectly unassuming, without affectation and has a great sense of humour.

Not long afterwards, the following interview took place at a girls’ grammar school in September 2008, where Unmani does her ‘day job’ as a Projects Coordinator.

‘You are already that’- but is an existential crisis useful?

In your autobiography you speak very candidly about a degree of emotional desperation that preceded your going to see the female teacher in India, who seemed to be a catalyst for your awakening episode. Although non-duality points to the fact that we are already whole and perfect, that nothing needs to be done to achieve this, in practice a number of teachers have reported a long search ‘softening up’ the ego, including sometimes a ‘dark night of the soul.’ Would you say with hindsight that was a pivotal factor for you?

In a way I could say that my story is different from a lot of people’s. It seems that for many teachers, they were searching; went through a tragic time; then had some dramatic awakening experience. Whereas for me, it wasn’t dramatic at all.

First of all, I always knew this, even as a very young child. But I didn’t have the courage to say it - or even to think it. Instead I felt there was something wrong with me for being different. People would ask me in primary school, ‘What’s your favourite colour?’ I didn’t know, because I didn’t feel there was anyone ‘in here’ to have any preference. That was blatantly obvious to me as a child. So I felt very lost. ‘Everyone else seems to have an identity and I don’t!’ I felt very confused, depressed, and lost. This fuelled the search, looking for something - but I couldn’t have told you what. I just knew there was something wrong. You could say I was searching for the same kind of identity which everyone else seemed to have.

Having spent some time in India, eventually I went to see a female teacher – ‘D’ (who used to be with Osho for many years, and then went to Papaji and ‘woke up’). She calls herself a Zen master. At the time I found her very strong and quite scary!
First of all ‘D’ said ‘You can only come to me if you’re ready to die.’ I really sensed that this was ‘it’ for me. I wasn’t going to go to just ‘test the water.’ I was feeling pretty suicidal by that stage. Searching for an ‘identity’ that I couldn’t find. So I plucked up the courage and wrote to her and said ‘I think I’m ready to die.’ I waited several days for her response in great suspense, but when she did respond, all she wrote was, ‘ Write to me when you are sure you are ready to die.’ Ahh!! This sent me reeling and forced me to really see that I had no choice but to really jump into this totally. I couldn’t just go to her and then hold back, waiting for something more to come and save me. Finally I wrote back to her with ‘I’m sure I’m ready to die’ and so she invited me to spend a very intensive month with her. After a few days of confusion, I realized that what ‘D’ was expressing was what I have always really known, but had been too afraid to admit. This knowing (or, in fact, not-knowing) was apparently what everyone else was searching to realize, but this had always been obvious to me. Meeting ‘D’ was a terrifying but wonderful confirmation. It was such a relief, but wasn’t some kind of dramatic experience. Then after that, it was just building up more and more courage - to really admit it and live it. It took some years before I started expressing this.

Can you say something about your decision to start teaching - was it a decision made by you, by no one, suddenly or gradual?

Well, after being with ‘D’ I continued traveling around India, but didn’t know what to do anymore because I had no more motivation to seek. All motivation to ‘find myself’ was stripped away. I just travelled around having fun and had no idea that I would eventually end up teaching. I spent a couple of years in Australia, and then returned to England.
During that time I occasionally got into conversations with other seekers and tried to persuade them to agree with how I was seeing things. It just ended disastrously every time. I felt sickened by the way I was expressing it. It felt totally wrong and awful - like I was talking about some conceptual belief system. Inevitably this provoked all kinds of reactions… ranging from aggression to debate about this ‘philosophical idea’. I knew that was so far from what I was trying to express - but I didn’t know how. So after a while I got so sickened and stopped. If someone mentioned anything about ‘seeking’ I would just keep quiet or walk away.
Then a couple of years later I started writing, what would become, my first book, ‘I am Life itself’. I was writing just for myself as a kind of rebellious expression. Through writing, the courage to express beyond words became more obvious. While the book was being published, which took some time, a friend suggested I hold a satsang meeting in her living room. I laughed at the idea, thinking ‘I’ve got nothing to say!’ And another friend suggested ‘Well if you’ve got nothing to say, just sit there - don’t say anything.’ So that’s what I did.

At the first meeting there were four people - which felt ridiculous because three were my friends and the fourth was the woman whose house it was! (laughter). It felt surreal, absolutely ridiculous - I just wanted to laugh. But at the same time, it felt so right. I sat there, waiting until I had something to say, which is in fact the same thing I do now in meetings. That was the first time I noticed a certain energy happening. It’s difficult to explain, but with that intention of ‘speaking the truth’, or speaking from what is’ something settles and relaxes. People pick up on that. I’ve noticed, all the time I’ve been doing these talks - about five years now - that energy has become quite tangible. Quite a strong energy in the room - and somehow this that I point to - which doesn’t come and go like this energy does - comes through that energy as well as the words spoken, but is also beyond the energy and words.

Relationship to ‘ordinary work’.

I guess there can arise for me, a fear that without an identity I’d be lost - I wouldn’t be able to function in a world that places so much emphasis on identification with one’s status or role. How does what you’ve gone through affect the way you approach ‘the day job’?

Well, you’ve come to see me here in a workplace where I totally function - and actually it works very well. In fact I’d say you can function a lot easier than if you were identified because you’re not worrying so much about if you’re doing things right or wrong. It’s much more of a natural flow….It’s really like simply watching a 3-D movie - in fact its more than 3-D, because you’re feeling it as well. The difference now is that before, I was much more self-obsessed. ‘Have I got it right, done it right? Previously I was also looking to find fulfillment in work. Part of my earlier search wasn’t only spiritual but to find the perfect profession. My dad’s a doctor and my mother’s a headmistress - and my sister is a doctor as well. So I’ve very much been the black sheep. I finished school and went travelling - which you’re not supposed to do in my family. I did an archeology degree in Israel - only to keep my parents happy. I sold jewelry in a market. Also in India, I sold jewelry in markets while I travelled. In Israel I had a few temporary jobs. In Australia I also sold jewelry…

(Suddenly noticing her metal necklace) I can see you have good taste in jewelry.

It’s funny because then, the identity which I was hoping to maintain was as this hippie traveller of no fixed abode, job or anything. But now I don’t even need that identity, so I can work in a ‘proper job’ and it doesn’t affect who I am. It gives the freedom to work in a normal job, to do the most mundane tasks. I’m not looking for fulfillment in my job or anywhere else any more. Before this job (Project Coordinator) I was an admin person - cutting paper, sticking things, photocopying, etc.- I was very happy doing that too.

Perfection, or room for improvement? Intentional effort

A criticism I’ve sometimes heard of the ‘non-duality’ view wherein ‘there’s nothing to do- no meditation or other methods’ (not to mention the concept of Pre-destiny) is that this could encourage passivity and apathy. For a type-A, high achieving person that could be a useful re-balancing. But for someone who is already not very strong-willed, shies away from decision-making etc, isn’t there a risk of becoming a kind of Advaitan vegetable- of acquiring a false sense of security?

I find it’s not necessarily that, but they could get depressed by the concept of ‘non-duality’. They could hear it as, there being nothing to do, so they may as well stay at home, not go out. ‘May as well kill myself!’ It can be as dark as that. Well that’s because they’re only hearing it as a concept. Of course it’s not a concept - and that’s the problem with anything - any word that is spoken, can be misinterpreted. That word ‘non-duality’ doesn’t mean anything. Any word is wrong- you can’t actually express what we’re talking about here.

So how can people get to it then?

So there are two things I want to answer here. The first is that non-duality cannot be expressed at all - ever. No way. What happens in meetings is an expression happening in it. There is an expression, from it, of it, as it. But it’s only really heard in a recognition. It’s not heard or understood mentally. A conceptual understanding has nothing to do with this message.

So can you say something more about this recognition?

Well actually no - that’s the point! (laughter) This is recognized or not. Nothing is required of a person in order to recognize this. BUT I notice that often when people are at the end of their tether - ready to die, basically; have had enough of searching for pain relief, or for pleasure - for these experiences that come and go - they’re ready to see what is beyond all of that…

- When they’re receptive.

Yeah. If you’re still trying to put this into a conceptual box and say ‘This is it, this means that I’m now special, I’m going to have experiences of love and peace, it’s all going to be wonderful now’- it’s not going to fit into any of those boxes. It’s also not going to mean you’ll never experience pain again. It doesn’t fit into any concept of what you may think ‘enlightenment’ is. So yes, there is nothing to do to achieve this - but it is not a concept of passivity. A passive ‘doing nothing’ is a kind of ‘doing’ as well- it is an approach. You can’t just ‘do nothing.’ It’s realizing who you are- for once and for all. It’s not even a way of life. It’s an absolute death. Before that death, a seeker tries to do anything possible to get ‘it’: Whatever ‘it’ is believed to be. And great- maybe they’ll become sick and exhausted enough, to realize that the ‘it’ they’re searching for isn’t in all those things they’re chasing. So, vipassanna, other meditations, practices, therapy- all of that is great for seekers who need to tire themselves out! And there is a kind of maturing that happens. You go down one path and see for yourself that ‘it’s not that.’, then another until you get exhausted with all paths. This recognition of who You really are, is seeing that there has never been a path.

Relationship to pain
I was quite touched by the autobiographical honesty in your book, where for example, in a section entitled ‘Raw open wound,’ you write that there are now no filters blocking off painful or pleasant feelings. You seemed to be saying in the last meeting I attended, that feelings come, maybe very strongly and then go but there is no story of ‘who’ they happen to.

There are also no rules, so sometimes there’s a story that plays itself out, but still there’s no idea of this being ‘my story.’ There may be the thoughts and words of the story, but it’s never mine - never ‘my problem’. It’s just, again like watching this 3-D movie. Of a character playing out as if she’s got a problem. But I’m not even doing that watching.

You don’t feel that watching is based in any willful intention on your part?

Well, who? There’s no one in here, to have any will at all.

But- you have done quite a good job of marketing yourself. You’ve got your website, meetings, you’re going to the US, Australia. Wouldn’t you say that involves intentional effort? Or does it just happen?

It depends what we mean by these words, because ‘having an intention’ to go to Australia - just happens. At every level it all just happens. But none of it is happening to me, because there’s never any me ‘in here’. So it is all just happening- down to every thought. Getting an e-mail from someone saying ‘Great that you’re coming’; going to the travel agent… getting on the plane….It’s all just ‘watching a movie’…. It is an absolutely passive observing. If you did try to observe, this seeing which we are talking about, would be observing that.

Relationship to Others

I’ve heard other teachers state that ‘relationships don’t work.’ I once heard Osho remark that he’d never met an unhappy person, but he’d never met a happy relationship. Yet for most people, a workable bond with someone else is in their list of top priorities. So why doesn’t it work?

Obviously some people feel their relationships do work, but the nature of relationships is that they do have ups and downs and that’s what people love- the drama of the ups and downs. Having a fight and then making up is the best bit, isn’t it? But it’s based on the idea of two - two separate people coming together to meet. Being in love is another way of wanting to meet as one. So it’s a kind of an impossible paradox - a terrible paradox in a way because you are absolutely whole, absolute oneness… and yet you play as if you’re a separate, individual, separate from the one you love- and in that, you’re trying to meet and become one with the other. But you’re already one. So the idea of relationship is based in the idea of separation: that you need to ‘come together’ in order to become one. I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t have relationships. They happen and can be beautiful and playful, wonderful - and also painful - all of it. What goes up must come down! Along with beautiful experiences must come sad ones: that’s life.
The other aspect to relationships is, in the same way that being with a ‘teacher’ can be a trigger to recognise who You really are, so can a relating to another. When there is an absolute ‘falling into’ being with anothe - that’s the same as being with a ‘teacher’. If there’s an absolute surrendering to the other - a dissolving - then that’s what I would like to call true Love. It doesn’t have to be sexual love, or a motherly or fatherly type- there’s no particular type. And it’s also the kind of Love that happens in Satsang meetings. It is all about recognising the surrender that is. Then it doesn’t matter who it is that you surrender to – a lover, a ‘teacher’, the shopkeeper that you buy your milk from… This is being in love with Life.

This is a bit personal but you described some shattering experiences you had, related to being in love. Are you saying that that couldn’t happen to you now because you’re…?

-No I’m not saying that. Anything could happen. There are no rules- I’m not in some kind of ‘state’ that is beyond pain and that depends on certain conditions all being constant. So there are absolutely no rules and whatever happens to this character, Unmani, is irrelevant. There’s an absolute recognition that I’m not this character, who goes through all kinds of dramas- so it doesn’t matter. If I was to look at it in terms of a story in time, I’ve noticed that since this recognition that I’m not this character, slowly, this character has been relaxing into this, being touched by this recognition. You could put that on a time-line and say that it has deepened in time. In the years since I was in India the character has relaxed more and more… and that shows up in relationships and the way I relate to people. My relationships have become more honest and open and less dramatic but that doesn’t mean they will never be dramatic. There are no rules at all. Absolute Freedom has no conditions.

So you haven’t got an expectation about it?

No. Not at all. And if I did, that would be irrelevant. Whatever happens is irrelevant. I am anyway.

(End of interview.)

Unmani’s website where details of her biography and meetings can be found is at http://www.not-knowing.com

Tags: Meditation/Spiritual // 15 Comments »

Reality is stronger than Poetry, a rendezvous with Ma Anand Madhu. (first initiated disciple of Osho)

On the last day of our 3 days retreat in Rishikesh, my doctor friend Swami Dhyan Saurav and I found a good looking papaya from our recently discovered leisure stroll on the bank of Ganges. We decided to buy it for Arun Swami and took it to the Ashram where we were staying. When we arrived at the Ashram with the fruit, an unknown man above Swamijee’s room told us that he had left in a car with a sannyasin.

A car on the Ashram side of the Ram jhula (the bridge) was already a rare sight and Swamijee leaving in it made us curious. We inquired of the other sannyasins, and came to know that he had left to see Ma Anand Madhu, the first initiated disciple of Osho. After waiting for hours, two Swamis arrived at the Ashram to tell us that Arun Swamijee had called us to see Madhu Ma. A 30 minutes tempo ride to the main city of Rishikesh brought us to the city chowk, where our maroon clad convoy scattered to buy their presents for this long waited meeting.

I decided to go empty hand, firstly, because I had no money and secondly, because I was too overwhelmed to think of a present. When we finally arrived at the Ashram where she resided, my pre-imaginations were satisfied with the settings of the location, very close to the Ganges and on the brink of the town. The cemented stairs took us to her room and we entered a scene where a beautiful old lady in orange Saree and shawl was waiting.

Madhu Ma portrayed divinity as a personal bearing, the innocent smile, the simple gesture and the comfortable ambience around her was plainly clear even to a bystander like me who was having his first experience with her. The way she greeted us with the word Osho, only spoke of her undying gratitude and love for the Master. The interest and joy she showed even in the minutest of things reflected her love of life. We could not help being influenced by her strong presence that embraced each of us that were present there. Looking around at the face of the sannyasins, I realized that all of us were having the same experience, overpowered by the grace of utmost simplicity.

Madhu Ma was innocence in flowering which only demands innocence in return. Her presence allowed each of us the comfort of being ourselves. She joked about everything and her laughter seemed to honour life as never before. With a childlike adoration she praised Arun Swami for his lifetime devotion in bringing Osho into the lives of many and called him her beloved son.

Like an old grandmother she told us the story about how Osho had chosen Arun to color Nepal red and repeated the words used by the Master to instruct him. And as she spoke, it seemed that Arun Swami and Madhu Ma were again living those poignant moments, giving tears and smiles to most of us watching these beautiful beings.

When the stories had been told, Madhu Ma called her caretaker and asked her to bring some sweets and snacks. She stubbornly wanted us to finish each bit and then sing a song for her. Like a child playing with her dolls, she divided us into four groups and gave us the sweets to eat and to take home, which each of us eagerly devoured and pocketed. She demanded that if we didn’t sing she would go back to sleep. We joyfully obeyed for none of us wanted to miss this beautiful opportunity of being with her. As we started singing old Osho kirtans, Madhu Ma closed her eyes as she merged into the purity of love for our beloved Master.

Mystcism lives in Madhu Ma in the most human form. So human like and yet so divine. Although grounded into the depths of life, her being lives in the open sky of boundless freedom. Ma Anand Madhu is a presence that can only be understood when one understands the absence that surrounds her. This visit has helped me understand at least a fragment of what Swami Arun frequently repeats, “reality is stronger than poetry” I also realized that it is much more beautiful!

As Madhu Ma unexpectedly ordered us to leave, she gifted each of us a memory of the most beautiful things, the simplicity in her eyes, the gratitude in her smile, and the love of her being.

Swami Aatmo Neerav

Tags: News // 14 Comments »

Review of Ma Anand Devika’s book Love Song for Osho,
by Alok John

This is a lovely book by a committed sannyasin. It is a memoir of Devika’s sannyas life, from 1976 when she first met Osho, to His death celebration in 1990.

Angela was only twenty-two in 1976 when, through a stroke of “luck,” she walked through the gateless gate in Pune to fall head over heels in love with her Master. Within a few days she took sannyas directly from Osho, in spite of her fears she would never be able to wear a white wedding dress.

Devika was from a modest background in Kent, South-East England. At the age of eleven she knew her destiny would take her to India. She had to work hard both as a teacher and in a factory to pay for her trips to her Master. She was a real worker and in the Communes she was often to be found working hard in the kitchen.

Devika never became a member of the Inner Circle. She was never a star or a big boss or a therapist, just an ordinary or perhaps extraordinary sannyasin. This makes the memoir interesting and unusual. Devika was in love with Osho when she took sannyas in 1976, was still in love with him when the book was completed in 1995, and I presume her love continues with the publication of her book in 2008. She says that one look from her Master meant more to her than all the jewels in the world.

This is the story of Devika’s adventures on the spiritual path — its peaks and valleys, sunshine and shadows. And there certainly were valleys : almost dying of hepatitis, her tree house falling to the
ground in the monsoon, a mental breakdown, collapsing with dehydration in front of Osho’s Rolls-Royce during her first trip to the Ranch. Once she had her palm read, and was told it was a miracle she was still here.

But existence obviously wanted her here. Devika kept faith with her Master and she experienced great peaks and bliss as well. Indeed in the Preface she says that if there is a heaven, she would like to live her life with Osho over and over again for the rest of eternity. Her Master sent her (or appeared to send her) an Indian husband when she needed one to recover from her breakdown.

The book includes much description of Pune 1, Devika’s sannyas initiation discourse, energy darshans, groups with Sudha and Somendra. For a little while she lived at Prem Pantha in Devon, and Medina, though she was never a Medina groupie. The book includes descriptions of her travels around India and her visit to her husband’s family in Gujarat.

My only tiny reservation is that the book contains little about her family’s reaction to the life she chose. I don’t think they could have been very happy when she returned to India after almost dying of hepatitis there. And Devika says they blamed Osho for her mental breakdown. It would be interesting to know more about all this; I expect Devika omitted it out of love for her family.

Devika was in Buddha Hall (as I was) that January evening when Osho’s death was announced and sat the whole night at the Ghats by the river as her Master’s body was burnt. There were a few hundred of us, wearing our white robes as we had come directly from the Evening Meeting. We sang Peter’s haunting song “The Universe is singing a song, the Universe is dancing along, the Universe is singing on a day like this. It’s high time to dance, it’s high time to dance, it’s high time to dance. So wake up and dance…” And as Devika walked back to the Commune at dawn to prepare breakfast the whole sky is full of Osho’s energy and she knows truly, “He never died.”

If I read this book and wasn’t already a sannyasin I’d think “You’d have to be pretty mad not to take
sannyas.”

A great book, full of love and truth, dedicated to Osho and his caretaker Nirvano (Vivek).

Love Song for Osho by Ma Anand Devika is available from Diamond Books in India, www.dpb.in/ for 200 Rs. including airmail postage, about £2.50. (Card details are only accepted by Internet Explorer or Netscape.)

Tags: Osho // 6 Comments »