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Celebration is my Message. Kranti speaks

Below is my understanding, and an expression of love for Osho. It is not for addressing any issue or ongoing conflicts…

To me , In essence Osho is about Celebration.. The core of His teaching lay in ‘ Celebration of Life ‘

To celebrate life there need to be acceptance and gratitude which comes out of meditation, awareness and understanding. This we gain by doing the meditations He gave, and listening to His beautiful & powerful discourses..

What else is Osho ? In spite of 1000s hours he spent talking to His people , the core of what He communicated is this ‘ Celebration of Life ‘.. the Rest is addressing individual questions according to the context and questioner… to me Adding more to Osho is insulting him… the very idea of adding more to Osho is a projection. I love Osho and I am so grateful to him that my heart is not allowing me to add / color Osho with what I want ..

Buddha’s essential teaching is mindfulness and realization of ‘ No self ‘. Adding anything more to Buddha is an insult.. But that is what happened.

From the issue of Why he gave a flower to Mahakashyap to what is his opinion on Non-Vegetarian food, to why he contradicted himself on the question of God… Those are things said /done in a specific context and addressed to a specific person… it is not the essence of his teaching.

So we have so many types of Buddhism / concepts around Buddha who did not even allow a single concept.. Every layer of onion was peeled and peeled and nothingness was given only to see so many concepts developing around him… there is a large religion around him now ..

So I asked myself , is the same happening to Osho ? My heart says ‘ NO ‘ as Osho did enough to stop a religion developing around Him… but how can I be sure … if it can happen to Buddha it can happen to Osho. But one advantage Osho has is whatever He said is recorded and at least people cannot add anything directly, although interpretations can always happen. Only life and time can tell …

In the preface to the book, “The Great Pilgrimage – From here to here”, Devageet puts it beautifully. “When people asked Osho questions irrespective of what the subject of that question was, the questioner always became the subject.. Osho’s answer was always on target.. he never missed..” Such a beautiful seeing.

Individually I do listen to Osho and see whether the question and answer he gave to someone applies to me also.. I do it all the time.. A question which is not at all relevant to me may or may not become relevant later.. Years later… I never know.

Similarly there cannot be a specific place where I can go and celebrate , be aware and come back to forget all about it… It has to happen right where I am… right where I live… but any place / structure which is facilitating / providing space for me to experiment with my Inner self using the meditations developed by Osho , where I can listen to Osho , Where I can free my energy by dancing is helpful because what I learned then can be carried into my daily life.

Accepting that Osho is all about ‘ Celebration of Life’ is NOT an interpretation of Osho or His vision or simplification of Osho.. Because that’s what Osho is ..Because Osho is simple. He was not complex. It is like saying a Rose Flower is beautiful . It is not an interpretation.. that is what a Rose flower is . a simple and beautiful presence.

I see Osho , wherever there is a beautiful flower , where I see a child’s laughter , wherever people are hugging and kissing each other lovingly , wherever there is Music , Wherever there is Dance , whenever someone cries deeply , whenever someone is sad , wherever superstition is questioned , wherever the past is thrown out of the window , wherever there is dew drop slipping , wherever I see someone chasing a butterfly, wherever I see gratitude , wherever I see intelligence , wherever someone choosing life instead of success.

Please share with me all the beautiful things expressed by Osho . Here is one:

“I am in tremendous love with life, hence I teach celebration. Everything has to be celebrated, everything has to be lived, loved. To me nothing is mundane and nothing is sacred. To me all is sacred, from the lowest rung of the ladder to the highest rung. It is the same ladder: from the body to the soul, from the physical to the spiritual, from sex to samadhi- everything is divine!
Celebration is the foundation of my sannyas- not renunciation but rejoicing; rejoicing in all the beauties, all the joys, all that life offers, because this whole life is a gift of God.

With Tears and Gratitude to Osho
Kranti

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I want first to talk about Osho’s movement in relation to who is and who is not a sannyasin.

To be a sannyasin is something inner; to be a sannyasin has something to do with your being and not your words and actions. Actions and words are not necessarily a reflection of your consciousness, of your being. We know that people can deceive, they can pretend. We know that it is possible to be false. So it is important to understand, that to be sannyasin has nothing to do with the outer.(what people wear, whether they wear a mala, etc).

There are currently 1 billion or more Muslims on this earth. The majority of them are Muslims because they were born in a Muslim family. The majority of them are Muslims in name and in form. They fulfill all the prescribed rituals of their religion. The read the words of Mohammad etc. etc. etc.

There is only one problem though. The majority of them do not have the experience which Mohammad had, so how can they be sure that their being is truly Muslim? The actions and words of Mohammad were a response from his being to the situation that he encountered in the 8th century. There is nothing fixed about his response, because his response was a living now response.

But the current response of Muslims is not a living response. They are not encountering the present situation and responding out of awareness. To know the being of Mohammad, something else is necessary. What people call Sadhana is necessary. A Master is necessary, an enlightened one. What Rumi calls the fountainhead, the source. Someone who can help you enter the stream, as Buddha says. A living proof, a living testament.

The majority of people who are calling themselves sannyasins, are not necessarily sannyasins. It is not words that mean anything, it is not actions which have some significance. It is the being that is meaningful and significant. Once a person’s being is a sannyasin, once a person’s being has come to the same enlightenment to which Osho came, then the words and actions of such a person will reflect the being that is within. And this being’s response to the present time may not be the same as Osho’s response. His words and actions may not be consistent with Osho’s words and actions, because times change, the situation changes, and devices will also have to be changed. The response cannot remain the same, it will have to change, it will have to be fresh, living.

Now those people who judge persons calling themselves enlightened based on some past standard, perhaps the words and actions of Jesus, of Mohammad, of Buddha, of Mahavira will not be able to encounter the present moment. They will not be able to come into contact with a living buddha, a living enlightened one. Because their prejudice, their expectations work as a barrier to their ability to come into contact with an enlightened one who is living, who is in the body. Now an enlightened one has no obligation to fulfill expectations, the actions of such a one cannot be judged by your standards because you do not understand the being of such a one. You only see from the outside. Just as during Osho’s lifetime, people would come as spectators and they would try to find out what is happening without becoming a participant, and that is just not possible. Otherwise enlightenment would be observable in a laboratory, we could have bottles with love, beauty, joy, truth, freedom, enlightenment and they could all be given labels. But that is not the nature of such things. That is not the way it works.

For example, Maitreya Ishwara, (someone who was an Osho sannyasin for many years in Osho’s lifetime) He may be enlightened, he may not be enlightened. There is no way to judge from the outside. It is better to go to him, without prejudice, without judgment, with openness, just as Buddha went to the teachers in his area. Because if he is enlightened and you are rejecting him, this is going to be detrimental to you, not to him. He is not going to lose anything by your rejection, but you are going to lose an opportunity which you could have used for your own transformation. And there is no way to know from the outside. The only way to know with certainty is through direct knowledge. Knowledge without the use of a medium, whether it is the mind, or the senses, but since there are very few people with such a capacity, there is no way to judge or to reject someone. Because there is every possibility that they are enlightened…and you are not enlightened so how can you know? How can you judge? It would not be in your best interest to judge. All you can do is to be sincere, authentic, and an intense seeker.

There have always been enlightened masters, so to say that the reason “I am not enlightened is because there are no enlightened masters around” is to deceive oneself. The truth is that there has always been a lack of disciples, and not masters, there has always been a lack of seekers who are willing to risk. For those who are authentic seekers, there are many opportunities available but they remain unseen. Zen masters have often been mistaken for unenlightened individuals because they appeared very ordinary.

If there was any way to know who is enlightened or not, do you think Jesus would have been crucified, do you think Mansur-al-Hallaj would have been murdered? Do you think Buddha would have been rejected by the Hindus, and Jesus by the Jews? Why were these people rejected? Because the people during those times had expectations, they judged, based on words and actions. The Pope appears to be Christian, a devout Christian, but do you think that this means that he is? Maitreya may appear strange to some people, but we all know how Gurdjieff would change his appearance to send away people that he did not want wasting his time. So how can we judge?

The real tradition of Osho is the conscious tradition which he has created, just like Sufism, just like Zen, Yoga, Tantra etc. etc. etc. Now this conscious tradition is a tradition of enlightened masters. The exoteric tradition has the words, the actions of Osho, but the esoteric has his being. And that is the real thing. So we have to understand that all this recent debate (as it often appears in sannyasnews) is over the outward tradition and it has nothing to do with inner transformation. Something to remember is that orthodox Muslims have rejected the Sufis as heretics and many of them have been killed. But we know who the real inheritors of Mohammad are. Zen is not recognized by the orthodox Buddhists, but you and I know to whom Buddha gave the flower.

Now do you deny that orthodox sannyasins reject enlightened masters, because they judge based on outward signs and symbols? We all know the rumours spread about Osho in his very own lifetime. Isn’t it possible that the same thing is happening to Osho’s enlightened inheritors? If you are an authentic seeker, you will not reject someone based on words and actions, based on rumors by others that he is unhinged for example, because we know that people said about Gurdjieff that he was wicked, evil, a murderer etc. etc. etc.

So do not be deceived, because Jews rejected Jesus and Hindus rejected Buddha. Do you think that sannyasins are exceptional and that they cannot commit unconscious mistakes and reject an enlightened one? There is every possibility that some Osho sannyasins are enlightened, and to reject them because of prejudice or some sort of preconceived notion can be very harmful, especially if it turns out that they are, in fact, enlightened. Beware, meaning: be aware.

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Dancing in Oregon videos/ Background
Recently certain Osho videos originally located at http://www.vimeo.com/5771061 and http://www.vimeo.com/5771124 were removed by Vimeo because they had received information from Osho International Foundation (OIF) that they trespassed upon copyright, etc.
Devopama here in England challenged this view and made a counter notification, letters detailing this below. We are told by Devopama today (October 7th) that no such notice of legal proceeding from OIF mentioned as a possibility by Vimeo in their initial letter has been received, and Vimeo will now reinstate the videos.
(Sannyasnews Reporters)

Exchange of Letters detailing the dispute

from Devopama to Vimeo:
1. This is in relation to your notification suspending access
to the following URL: http://www.vimeo.com/5771061
http://www.vimeo.com/5771124

2. I, Stewart Edwards, (Devopama)
do hereby consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court in San Francisco County, California and agree that I will accept service of process from the person who provided notification
under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.

3. I swear under penalty of perjury that each search result, message or other item of content identified in the notification is non-infringing. Osho International Foundation (OIF) does not own now, or ever before, the copyrights in the work of the mystic Osho.
The findings against OIF in a domain name dispute in 2000 (Claim Number: FA0006000094990) and before the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in 2009 both demonstrate that OIF’s claims to own all rights in Osho and His work are unfounded.
4. You are accordingly requested to reinstate the suspension directive and permit access to the aforesaid Dancing in Oregon videos
http://www.vimeo.com/5771061

http://www.vimeo.com/5771124

Look forward to receive your confirmation of having revoked the suspension.
Regards,
Devopama (Stewart Edwards) M.A.,Ph.D.

From Vimeo to Devopama:
Dear Stewart (Devopama)
We are in receipt of your counter notification.
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”) provision located at 17 U.S.C. §512(g)(2)(B), we have informed Osho International Foundation (”OIF”) that a counter notification claiming that the material originally located at http://www.vimeo.com/5771061 and http://www.vimeo.com/5771124 has been erroneously removed from Vimeo. Within ten days, VIMEO may receive notice that OIF has filed a court action regarding this matter. If such notice is received, VIMEO will be unable to restore your material. If no notice is received, VIMEO will endeavor to restore your material 10 - 14 days after the date of this notice.
Sincerely,
Vimeo, LLC

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In the tradition now of over 20 years of being even handed in all the various disputes in that time between sannyasins, Sannyasnews is very happy to publish this exchange of points between Shantam Prem and Amrito. Amrito’s points certainly need to be carefully considered by those who quickly condemn the Resort Authorities.

Shantam Prem:
Jayesh and Amrito you both can have the alibi of being Osho’s closet disciples, so how it is granted to dismantle the Buddha Hall, the only place on this earth where on every square metre maximum number of seekers saw their inner journey taking wings.


Amrito’s reply:
I think the key to all these misunderstandings is one question I never hear asked: What was Osho’s wishes in this regard? As it happens the new auditorium was Osho’s request, first mooted by him in the 1960’s by the way, because the old one was illegal and unsafe and would need to be taken down. His decision. Not ours. And for your information, the place where he spoke the most, where he gave sannyas to thousands of seekers was Chuang Tzu which he himself redesigned, and the spot where he sat, one that most people would want to preserve, in the same way people want to preserve Buddha Hall, Osho had turned into a cleaning cupboard. Similarly when asked by Laxmi whether to preserve his Woodlands flat as some kind of dedicated space, he said no. And when asked if the sannyasins could turn his birthplace into some kind of dedicated space, he also said no. So please try and understand that the job we were given was to implement his wishes, not the wishes of others.

Shantam Prem:
When we look back, you both (Amrito and Jayesh) have changed the very DNA of His work. Photos, books, music, hugs, names, what not.


Amrito’s reply:
This is just not the case. We went to extensive lengths for example to find out if our habit of putting photos of Osho on every wall in the Meditation Resort was a request from him. It turns out that this was not the case. This was our doing, not his. And most often we had turned his photo in a kind of wall paper, not an opportunity for awareness. In fact such was the unawareness about this, one huge photo that was placed at the gate for six hours in 1990, was still there by default 10 years later and no one knew why. And when it was removed it took about six weeks before anybody even noticed. And every single night, as he specifically requested, we have the Osho videos playing, so anyone who wants to imbibe his spirit can, just as he has asked.
His books are more available and read around the world by a factor of about 100 plus since the time when Osho was in the body. Music? We have exactly the music Osho has asked for. Hugs? Who has ever said anything about hugging? Names, you keep the name you wish to keep, we keep the names we wish to keep. What is the issue here?

Shantam Prem:. Are you really sure about the concept of a Meditation Resort without any devotion to His energy.


Amrito’s reply: Firstly the concept of the Meditation Resort is from Osho. His choice which he articulated in public and which we have implemented. And devotion? Our only interest is to make sure that when new people come they understood Osho’s basic message that everyone has to walk the walk themselves and Osho wasn’t going to do it for them.
You are saying we have changed the very DNA of his work. Now how would you understand his statement about the evening meeting, when he very specifically told the old timers who said that they assumed he didn’t mean that they needed to go every night because they had read all his books and listened to all his talks? He answer was that these were not detective novels that you pick up read and throw away, but that “every time you go, your understanding will go deeper and deeper. So, now, after 20 years of doing exactly that, either we were asleep or our understanding has gone deeper and deeper just as he says. In which case, everything is going to change of course, with that deeper understanding.
Do you think we understood the following when we first heard it? No way:
“I want you to drop all games – worldly games, spiritual games, games that the whole of humanity has played up to now. These games keep you retarded. These games hinder you from growing into consciousness, into your own ultimate flowering. I want to cut away all this rubbish that prevents you.
 I want to leave you alone, absolutely alone, so that you cannot take anybody’s help, so you cannot cling to any prophet, so that you cannot think that Gautam Buddha is going to save you. Left alone – utterly alone – you are bound to find your innermost center.
 There is no way, nowhere to go, no advisor, no teacher, no master. It seems hard, it seems harsh, but I am doing it because I love you, and the people who have not done it have not loved you at all. They loved themselves and they loved to have a big crowd around themselves – the bigger the crowd, the more they feel nourished in their egos.
That’s why I called even enlightenment the last game. The sooner you drop it, the better. Why not just simply be? Why unnecessarily hurry here and there? You are what existence wants you to be. Just relax.”
And when this video was shown in the Osho Auditorium last week, it was received by people who really understand this. Not by the shocked audience when it was first spoken. What to do? Osho is an alive current, still moving as that understanding goes deeper. It is not some fixed thing stuck in the past. Osho? The past?

Shantam Prem:
I request you to restore the original version of His work, if not not before His 20th anniversary of leaving the body , than at least in your life time.


Amrito’s reply: Yes, the past is very attractive, but not Osho’s proposal.

Shantam Prem:
Please let the place be run by His 20 people in a transparent way.

Amrito’s reply: Again, it is your mind which mentions transparency. It was Osho’s request that this be done in secret.

Shantam Prem:
I hope once His “workshop of creating Buddhas” is run as it is mentioned in the documentary,” I leave you my dream”, it will be a spring of global spirituality in the age of ipods and face books.

Amrito’s reply
Of course it will. And that dream that Osho is leaving is only just at beginning. You will see.

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Sannyasnews are happy to post Rajneesh’s statement here, but hasten to add that it does not mean we subscribe to all his views.

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