Was Resort Reaction to Terrorist Attack hard-hearted?
Dear Reader of Sannyas News,
Underneath you find an open letter to the newspapers (today 12th of March) about the attitude of the management team of the Osho Resort in response to what happened after the German Bakery terrorist blast (tomorrow it is now exactly one month ago).
Warm regards,
Drs. Michiel Dorenbosch (Vigyano), Netherlands
OPEN LETTER:
Osho Resort: much hugging but where is the heart
Just one month after the German Bakery blast, as a witness of what happened there it was heartbreaking to read that the numbers of killed kept growing for so many days. Gladly there were also sparks for pride. For example - because of all those including sannyasins who risked their lives to help the injured of the blast to nearby hospitals (knowing there might be a second blast). Two, pride because of the doctors and nurses and all others, some sannyasins, who helped tending the injured and those who died.
At the same time I got more and more shocked about the way the management of the Osho Resort reacted to all this. Still they haven’t shown any sign of compassion or tribute to the grief of so many. The only public statements made were about their own interests and safety. In contrast to many others there was no warmth, no compassion, not even a minute of silence to give space to what happened outside.
It becomes even worse. An Italian sannyasin who asked on the evening of the blast to turn down the disco music to inform the crowd about the disaster that was happening, was expelled from the resort on the authority of the Chairman on the grounds of “violating the rules”. There is so much hugging in this resort, but I wonder where is the heart when it really matters? .
A member of the Resort Board when asked about this, answered: “What is it about? … It is a little café on the corner which was hit because it was not protected. Well, we were not hit as resort because we were well protected.” And a comparable attitude came across from another board member, the former physician of Osho, when questioned about the administrative systems of the resort. A Taiwanese sannyasin badly injured in the blast explicitly asked us to call his wife at home. That night the reply at the resort-gate was: “We won’t interrupt the video of Osho or disturb the White Robe meditation for this” According to the physician, the next day, there hadn’t been any hurry to that call because at that moment it was in the middle of the night in Taiwan. “We are not going to phone Granny when a bomb explodes” he stated.
As a sannyasin I am ashamed about this team (“the inner circle”). Are these the men and women, “the chosen few”, to guard Osho’s heritage? Not able to share emotions and grieve when it happens in the real world, just along the road, but outside of their world of courses, trainings and meditations?
Looking back it may be less astonishing to some. I understand, the Chairman, the Canadian Jayesh (Michael) O’Byrne, never appeared in public during the 20 years he is in this position to be a leader. Is he and his crew capable at all, to stand for the love and all the other things that visitors, sannyasins and workers invest in this resort?
I feel ashamed to see this team, self locked and lame when normal human emotions are called for. An inner circle which seemingly forgets that the resort is a guest in this young and proud nation of India, and whose people are so hit and disturbed by this terrible event.
That’s maybe why I feel the urge to apologize publicly on behalf of this “Inner circle”, the caretakers of Osho’s heritage, who apparently get lost in their businesses, personal fights and interests, meanwhile loosing the most precious thing they had…their heart. The only thing that really can keep this heritage alive, spiritual, humane and even economical.
I think this team has to learn again and freshen up its ranks. If not, this story will end up by itself. Probably as an empty heavily armed fortress, an unsafe place to be, physically, and not only that, an unsafe place for the soul also.
Drs. Michiel Dorenbosch (Vigyano) Netherlands