oshoviha

Swami Anand Ashubodha

2011-08-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

We are sharing with you the special edition of Rama Prem’s newsletter, August 2011.

Swami Anand Ashubodha
December 31, 1950 – August 23, 2011 6:05 PM

How is it that I know the time of Ashubodha’s death?
Well, there’s a story there.

Many years ago, Ashu asked my opinion about something. He wanted to move into one of two new areas: fast cars or fast women. Since–at the time–the only car that I had ever owned was a Volkswagen Beetle, I wasn’t terribly helpful in the car department. But fast women? I had been into them for many years, and I could highly recommend them.

Ashu, however–as was his wont–chose the path less-traveled. On the night of September 20, 2000, he and his fast car had an accident on an autobahn (no speed limit) outside Munich–where he had been living and working for some years. There were no other cars involved; Ashu’s car spun out on a slick portion of road, and crashed. The speed was great enough to crumple his car; he had to be cut out by the fire brigade.

He spent days in surgery, and in a coma. He spent nine months in the hospital. He came out paralyzed from the chest down, and confined to a wheelchair. It was how he was to live for his remaining years. And he made the most and best of them. He was able to maintain a very pleasant apartment on the outskirts of Munich. He required 24-hour-a-day care, and it was his job–and his alone–to manage/schedule that care. It was very difficult to do this; he needed someone with him at all times–not being able to do anything for himself. He had to find someone for every hour of every day; he had to manage days off, vacations (every care-giver wanted a summer vacation), illness… And this he did for ten years.

When Sneh and I visited with him two years ago, he told us that he would never go into a “home” or other institution. His experience of them, after the accident, left no doubt in his mind about what he wanted–and what he didn’t want. He recounted to us, in detail, the way people were treated in such institutions. If only some of what he told us was true, it was a horror story. He made it clear that–should the time come when he could no longer schedule full-time care-givers–he would choose suicide.

We got a telephone call from Ashu a couple of months ago. It began with, “I’ve made a decision.” He was doing the enormous amount of paperwork needed to be a client of an “assisted-suicide” facility in Switzerland. It is legal there, but its very legality makes jumping hurdles and through hoops necessary. On top of that, he was an American, living in Germany.

For almost all of the time since that conversation, this has been a closely guarded secret; Germany, to say the least, frowns upon suicide–assisted or otherwise. It was very important that people in the health professions not know of this. Had they found out, he would have been confined to an institution, drugged, and lived out his life under those conditions. That represented all that he wished to avoid–no matter what.

And his condition had worsened. He now had “bed-sores”, and was in constant pain. It was time “to be freed of this ailing body. It’s time to hang up my coat and return it to the physical world.” With his inability to schedule care-givers for the entire month of August, the date of his suicide was set for August 23rd. Sneh and I traveled to Munich ten days earlier, and spent two days with him. We had a wonderful time. He was really alive (again). If he had had a step, there would have been a spring back in it. We laughed, joked, spoke of “serious” and important matters; none of it mattered. He had made a decision–the right decision–and was enjoying it and his last days.

His BIG passion was pottery. In Pune Two, he started the pottery studio; he was its Mom. He loved it; he did beautiful work. Graceful pieces that put a smile on a bookshelf or dining room table. Two-piece works that had a lid that fit perfectly on the base.
A few days before our visit (yes, only days before his departure!), he had arranged that the last of his work from before his accident get glazed (his own unique glazes) and fired. They arrived while we were with him.

He was fully alive, present; living in the moment. He had his care-giver make lunch for us, which included noodles without any sauce–which I left on my plate, uneaten. He apologized profusely, and I, of course, said, “Hey man, not to worry.” (In my mind, I’m going, “Jesus, Ashu, you’ll be dead in a few days; don’t sweat the small stuff . It’s only noodles, for Christ’s sake. In the grand/cosmic scheme of things, it won’t amount to a hill of beans.”)

But he was fully alive, present; living in the moment. And noodles were happening in the moment. I suspect that being Jewish had something to do with it, but–hey–what do I know? It was a bit difficult to leave, and we all knew it. We stood at the door, trying to leave, while Ashu told jokes in order to keep us there.
We knew that the next time that we would see him would be the last: August 23rd, outside Zurich, Switzerland.

On the Ranch, Ashu had the job of garbage-truck driver. Being Jewish, his parents never felt that this was the chosen profession for their boy. A doctor, a lawyer? Yes. But a garbage-truck driver?

Ashu:
My mother visited me once and asked while I was picking up some trash if there was anything that I was learning that was preparing me to make a living outside the commune, as I guess mothers will. I answered that I’d become able to enjoy any work I was doing, no matter what it was, and that’s the truth.

From a message sent not long ago to high school friends:
Through meditation, I’ve found a space within myself where my happiness, for lack of a better word, or “feeling of well-being” doesn’t depend on what happens on the outside… (The hospitalization) was the most difficult time of my life, and I easily could’ve gone insane–lost in completely–if I hadn’t been able to relax, breathe and stay centered and enjoy the moment.

A message sent to friends on August 19th:
beloveds, this is going to be much shorter than i had planned it to be, because time is running short. as you must know I had a car accident almost eleven years ago that left me paralyzed from the chest down and in a wheelchair. I’ve been keeping things going here successfully all these years at great effort, and now my health has taken a turn for the worse. there is so much pain and I’ve become so weak, that I’ve decided to be freed of this ailing body on tuesday, august 23rd. I’ll make the transition at the dignitas apartment in switzerland at 4 pm local time. it’s time to hang up my coat and return it to the physical world. i’ve been dancing so close to the edge these past months, risking being placed in a hospital, where I’d probably end up drugged and on life support until I expire. living wills (patientenverfügungen) are not respected here. I’d rather go in a relaxed and joyous way, as osho says.

from the moment I got everything arranged with the loving, beautiful people at dignitas, so much light has entered my life. I’ve found a way out, and as my lovers around me know, my humor and lovingness have broken through the surface again as nothing stands in the way from me jumping out of the frying pan and into the holy fire. what a relief. the lightness has returned, and I can enjoy life again.

carina, my partner, sneh and ramaprem, miten, garimo and swiss ma viramano will all be there to give me a good send-off . (the lengths I have to go to to get my friends all together in one place!) I don’t feel as though i’m really going anywhere, that nothing dies, and I feel we’ll continue to be together, you and i. I’ve been so blessed to have spent so many years in osho’s physical presence, and to have learned to still be feeling his presence.

this will not change. you too, remain in my heart and that will continue to be. I go in love and gratefulness.

i’m joyfully jumping into the holy fire, and choosing to do so among some who have a healthy attitude towards death and dying.

nothing more to say.

love

swami anand ashubodha

August 23rd:
It was very much an A-list group that was present: Carina (his partner); Garimo; Viramano; Miten; Sneh and I. Ashu wanted it small, intimate.

We arrived hours “in advance”, in order to spend some quality time with Ashu.
Well, there wasn’t much that we didn’t do: we took care of some last-minute business (he distributed Osho marble to each of us; I got his computer’s hard disk that I was lusting after…); we laughed a lot; we cried; we sang a lot of songs; we played children’s games; we played adult games; we had rehearsals for the Big Moment; we had Big Moments for rehearsals.

And, we impressed the hell out of the people at the facility. They told us that they never had a departure like ours. Tell me about it!

Ashu finally tired, and it was…time.
We took him from his wheelchair, and placed him in bed. We made him comfortable, and exchanged some last words. With us sitting around him, we listened to a question-and-answer from The Razor’s Edge.

At the conclusion of the discourse, Ashubodha called for the medicine that would quickly put him to sleep and eventually stop his heart. He looked joyful, years younger, and at peace. With total trust, in serenity, with dignity, with bravery that made me weep – he took the drug.

As he lay there, watching his breath, we sang softly songs that have carried us high and higher for many years. Perhaps “Fly High” was the last he heard.
His being took on a lightness; he was finally free.

And the seasons, they go ’round and ’round,
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We’re captive on the carousel of time.
We can’t return, we can only look behind from where we came,
And go ‘round and ‘round and ‘round in the circle game.

Perhaps Ashubodha is no longer a captive of the circle game.
I hope so.

Where you have come from and where you are going is the same place. – Osho

(There are, perhaps, events in my account that did not actually happen. No matter.
They should have.)

You can contact Rama Prem at ramaprem.rp (at) gmail.com and visit him at: http://picasaweb.google.com/ramaprem.rp

Osho Meditation Camp with Swami Arun in Amsterdam

2011-06-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

Paripurn wrote from Amsterdam:

Beloved Friends,

I feel a strong urge to share my experiences and my feelings, my joy and my emotion about the meditation camp we just had, here in Holland, with Swami Arun from Nepal. Last year I could join Arun’s group for just one evening and when I heard he would come back to Holland this year, I was determined to try and attend the complete three days camp this time. And YES, this happened! And it happened in the most beautiful surroundings possible, ancient woods and lush gardens...

I feel like the luckiest person in the world. The group was so beautiful. Arun is a very sweet and funny man – he is so totally devoted to Osho (since he met Him 42 years ago!). He emphasizes that the only thing he wants to do is share Osho’s love with us. I am just Osho’s postman, he said, delivering Osho’s love-letters. And he talks about the importance of meditation, as Osho has told us thousands of times. So...yes, we did a lot of different meditations, and we danced a lot, and we shared a lot, and we laughed a lot, and we cried a lot, and we hugged a lot, and oh yes, sometimes we were just silent. And we saw and heard many fragments of Osho’s lectures.

Each day Arun shared stories of his own life with Osho, how he met Osho, about Osho’s guidance for him, Osho’s request to him to start a center in Nepal and how this center came to be realized and grew enormously after Osho left His body. Arun is a gifted storyteller, I assure you! Also Arun answers questions, and his answers are so kind and fascinating and always based on his own experiences and his love for Osho. I had to cry often, when Arun was telling his stories. And sometimes we all roared with laughter about his original observations.

He told about the many, many Sannyasins in Nepal (almost 60.000), a number that keeps growing fast! About the many Osho centers (some 80!) and the big communes, of which Osho Tapoban is the most important one. We saw a film about Tapoban – it’s so beautiful, I hope I can go there next year, perhaps together with some sannyasins of our group!
Arun has been travelling around the world for six months per year (for some five years), and in every country where he gives meditation camps, lots of sannyasins appear and celebrate, and many new sannyasins are being initiated in each camp. I realized that I have been longing to experience a happening like this for years, I have been yearning for it. I have been yearning for a man who could re-assure my trust in myself, someone who has the authority to do so, because of his unconditional love for Osho and his long life with our Master. Someone who could make me feel that yes! – my feelings toward my Master Osho and my attitude toward the world around me and toward other sannyasins also, have been okay all the time. Arun dedicated a special talk to that: about the uncertainty and doubts and questions among many sannyasins since the end of Rasjneeshpuram and Osho’s leaving His body. About the many strange things that have been happening with sannyasins, about the choices many sannyasins made, choices that I often could not understand at all. But which often made me feel so sad. Now I know, again, that my sadness and my not-understanding some people’s decisions, have been genuine. That it was okay to continue doing things in my own way, that my continuing love for Osho has been the only possible way for me to go on living.

Arun was guided by Osho until the very end of Osho’s life. Osho has also very specifically guided him in how to give sannyas to people. And Arun is still receiving Osho’s guidance each day.

I have been in a warm bath of Osho’s love, these three days. My heart has been touched again and again – I cried a lot. I have been amidst beautiful people, who all opened their heart.

I am extremely grateful to Arun, that he is doing this “work!” That he is sharing Osho’s love with so many people. That he is making things clear for us. That he is giving us a renewed trust in ourselves.
I am extremely grateful to Osho, for His never-ending love and wisdom.

Beloved friends, if you have the chance, don’t miss the opportunity when Arun is in your country, to plunge in Osho’s bath of love, which Arun is making available to you, or, in Arun’s words, to accept Osho’s love-letter.

More photos are available at http://www.tapoban.com/
Swami Antar Paripurn, Holland

Sourced from the Viha Connection Osho magazine.

Is There a Scrap of Enlightenment?

2011-05-17T17:06:00.001-07:00

Swami Prem Oscar sent an interesting note and we invite our readers to join the discussion:

I have been struck by a question and, in my usual fashion, just cough it out, despite its maybe being sinful or whatever!
We/I say we are/I am unenlightened, but how would we/I know? How? Will there be a very obvious change, a knowing, a happening – trumpets from the sky and all that.

I am “merged” with my natural surroundings here, spend most of my time happily alone, often following my breath, and constantly very aware of all the astounding beauty around me...and also of how very lucky I am.
But how would I know if there's even a scrap of enlightenment present here?

Thanks, Oscar – Nairobi, Kenya

Sourced from the Viha Connection Osho magazine

Osho’s World Tour 1985 – 1986

2011-03-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

After leaving his commune in Oregon in November 1985 Osho returns to India, but in December of 1985  Osho's new secretary, his companion, his doctor, and other western disciples accompanying him are ordered out of India, their visas canceled. No reason is given by the Indian government for this unprecedented action except, "You are not wanted here." Osho leaves to join them in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he resumed his daily discourses. The discourses Osho gives during his time were published under the titles Light on the Path and The Sword and the Lotus.

However, the Nepalese government soon refuses visas for his visitors and closest attendance, so  Osho leaves and embarks on his world tour. His first stop is Greece where he is granted a 30-days tourist visa. He lives in the villa of a Greek film producer in Crete and starts to speak twice daily. Disciples arrive from around the world to hear him. The Greek Orthodox clergy threatens the Greek government that blood will flow unless Osho is thrown out of the country. Osho titles the series of discourses he gives while in Crete Socrates Poisoned Again After 25 Centuries.

On March 5, 1986  police breaks into the villa and arrests Osho without warrant, staking him to Athens where only a 25-thousand dollar bribery moves the authorities not to put him on the boat to India.
In the next two weeks numerous countries refuse to let Osho enter: Switzerland, Sweden, England, Ireland, Canada, Antigua, Holland, Germany, and Italy.

On March 19, 1986 Uruguay extends an invitation, and so Osho and his attendants fly to Montevideo.
Uruguay even mentions the possibility of permanent residence. However, in Uruguay it is discovered why Osho has been denied access to every country he tried to enter: Telexes with "diplomatic secret information" (all from NATO government sources) mentioning Interpol rumors of "smuggling charges, drug dealing and prostitution" concerning Osho's circle preceded them to their prospective host countries. The source of these stories is found to be the USA. Soon Uruguay comes under the same pressure, but on May 14 the government decides to announce at a press conference that Osho has been granted permanent residence in Uruguay.

That night Sanguinetti, the President of Uruguay, receives a call from Washington, DC, saying that if Osho stays in Uruguay, current US loans of six billion dollars will be called in, and no future loans given. Osho is requested to leave Uruguay by June 18. A day after Osho leaves Uruguay, Sanguinetti and Reagan announce from Washington a new US loan to Uruguay of 150 million dollars.

The talks Osho gives during his two months in Uruguay are among Osho’s most esoteric discourses. They were published under the following titles: Beyond Psychology, The Path of the Mystic, and The Transmission of the Lamp.

On June 19, 1986  Jamaica grants Osho a 10-day visa. Moments after he lands there, a US navy jet lands next to Osho's private jet, and two civilians descend. The next morning, the visas of Osho and his group are canceled, "for reasons of national security."

Osho flies on to Lisbon via Madrid, and remains "undiscovered" for some time. A few weeks later policemen are placed around the villa where he is resting. Osho decides to return back to India the next day, on July 28.
Altogether 21 countries either deported him or denied him entry.

July 29, 1986  Osho arrives in Mumbai, India, where he settles for six months as a personal guest of an Indian friend. In the privacy of his host's home, he starts giving daily discourses and disciples from around the world arrive. These discourses were published as The Osho Upanishad, Beyond Enlightenment, and Sermons in Stone.

On January 4, 1987  Osho moves into the house at the ashram in Pune where he lived for the major part of the seventies. He stays there until his death on January 19, 1990.

Several of the printed discourse series covering his World Tour are no longer available. Osho Viha is happy to be able to offer all the series on MP3 CDs.

Our March/April Viha Connection

2011-03-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

Our March/April Viha Connection has only just hit the streets (or cyberspace) but is already getting rave reviews. Not only is the cover stunning, but folks are also loving the contents.

The Special Section, titled More Lives in Orange, focuses on folks who grew up in Osho's communes. In 2004 Tim Guest, aka Yogesh, published his memoir, My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru. The book received a lot of attention, almost all of it negative about Osho and the sannyas community. There were talks of movie deals, until Yogesh died suddenly in 2009 at the age of 34. Critics claimed that Yogesh blamed his mother’s parenting behavior on Osho and the community, when, if fact, he lived most of his childhood with her outside of the community. In an article about her son’s death, his mother also seemed to blame her behavior on the community.

For our two-part series we asked Yogesh’s contemporaries for an honest look at their own experiences growing up in the sannyas community as children. It’s possible that only people who enjoyed their experiences were motivated to respond, but our contributors have both honest criticism and deep-felt gratitude to share about their unusual upbringings. Many of them are now parents themselves, and they share how growing up in the community has influenced their own parenting experiences.

Writers are Arvind, now a visual journalism instructor at the University of the West of England; Melania, a mother, social worker, and doula in Bodrum, Turkey; Madhav, an electrical engineer working in DVR technology in Los Angeles; Viyogini, a singer and event coordinator in France; and Urja, a devoted mother on the path toward freedom who lives in a satsang monastery in Germany.

Other feature articles include a report by Nirdosha about his recent enlightenment, and a piece by Aneesha titled "The Alchemy of Celebration."

There is also a review of Madhuri's book Love at Dancing Leaves by Prartho, obituaries for Navyo, Melissa and Rupesh, Bhagawati's very popular gossip column from Bali, Deepak's famous astrology column – and of course lots of wonderful Osho quotes.

Does this sound tempting? You can subscribe for the printed or the online version on our website.

Osho Talks on Zen

2011-02-21T17:21:00.000-08:00

On no other topic has Osho talked more than on Zen, from early discourse series like Roots and Wings (1974) to his final talks in The Zen Manifesto in early 1989.

Even though throughout his 30 years of talking Osho commented on just about any religion or teaching, he would always return to Zen.

In the beloved series, The Goose Is Out, Osho says, “Zen is not a religion, not a dogma, not a creed, Zen is not even a quest, an inquiry; it is non-philosophical. The fundamental of the Zen approach is that all is as it should be, nothing is missing. This very moment everything is perfect. The goal is not somewhere else, it is here, it is now. Tomorrows don't exist. This very moment is the only reality. Hence in Zen there is no distinction between methods and goals, means and goals.”

Unfortunately many of the books are out of print although they are very much in demand. Here at Viha we keep getting requests for them. So it is with great joy that we can announce that we now have all 20 Poona-One Zen discourse series available in MP3 format.

We continue to expand our MP3 selection and are now working on the Poona-Two Zen series. Stay tuned!

Sourced from Viha Connection Osho magazine.

Jayapal on His Father's Passing

2011-01-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

HAROLD SHERMAN (1910—2011)

“Jay (his tongue had an easier time with jay than jayapal), I have to do things my way.” And this was his mantra until the very end. He renewed his automobile insurance the day before the fatal heart attack at age 100. Yes, he was still driving. “His way” meant no cane, no walker, no wheelchair and just maybe an occasional aspirin. He lived alone in his small apartment-cum-artist studio until the very end and antagonized every doctor in Kalamazoo where he resided for over 35 years. He thought they were all charlatans “out to make a buck.”

When he came to Pune in 1978, hauling an electric typewriter across the ghats as requested by the ashram, I took him to M.G. Road to have an orange outfit made with which he could come to discourse. When he picked it up from the tailor he wore it proudly. Unfortunately, when he took the orange “pajamas” off at the end of the day his entire body had become orange with the bleeding dye. He did not take this as a mystical sign that he was meant to take sannyas. Rather it unleashed his considerable wrath on the unlucky tailor.

In 1984 Sheela had the idea of inviting parents of sannyasins to come live and work at the Ranch. I believe Harold was the first to take up this invitation, and, at age 74, was given half a trailer for accommodations and was put to work at Dadu as a gentleman farmer. He thrived as a target for many flirtatious lovelies and enjoyed his unique status in the commune. When he was about to be transferred to the publications department to use his artistic talents (his lifelong profession was as an artist and illustrator) Sheela and her posse left the Ranch, threw things into turmoil, sending Harold scurrying back to Kalamazoo.

He was proud of the fact that, in May of 2001, he created the first non-photographic cover for the Viha Connection with his painting of Osho. He also illustrated a hilarious series of ads for Viha, promoting my investment advisory business. Any chance he got to connect in some way with the world of sannyas he jumped at.

Few people who had contact with Harold could forget him. He could be cantankerous, stubborn, loyal and loving. As his kid I dealt with all of these moods and then some. At his core was a very fragile, delicate being who had grown up in horrendous conditions of poverty and lived a life of solitude among his paints and canvasses. I write this a few days after his passing and already I miss this bittersweet, bigger-than-life character.

May he fly weightless above the clouds.

Osho the Most Prolific Author of All Times

2010-11-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

by Dhanyam

I am always a bit amused when I see this label attached to Osho. Although there are more than 650 Osho books to his name, Osho, of course, did not “write” any of them, apart from A Cup of Tea, a beautiful collection of early letters. Those familiar with Osho know that he spoke – or gave “discourses” – for about 30 years and that the books are transcripts of recordings made from these spontaneous talks. The earliest recordings, on audio, were made around 1974, and video recording started in 1978.

Although I love Osho’s books and do my best to make available as many as possible by importing them from all over the world, I think that hearing and seeing Osho are powerful ways to experience him. That’s why here at Osho Viha we continue to expand our selection of Osho DVDs and, now that audiotapes and CDs are old technology, Osho MP3s. I am also glad that we have more and more DVDs and MP3s available because more and more books are going out of print.

Just these past few days, we added to our MP3 selection all of Osho’s discourse series on Jesus: The Mustard Seed, Come Follow Me, and I Say Unto You, and a beautiful Zen discourse series: This Very Body the Buddha: Discourses on Haikun’s Song of Meditation. This series starts out with the much-loved “birthday discourse,” given on December 11, 1977: “My beloved ones, I love you all. Love is my message – let it be your message too. Love is my color and climate. To me, love is the only religion.”

With Osho’s birthday just a month away, I wanted to make this treasure available.

Sourced from the Viha Connection, our Osho magazine.

Osho's Copyrights

2010-10-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

The recent interview of Ramateertha by Harideva in the Viha Connection and Ramateertha’s open letter to the Inner Circle have stirred up fresh interest in the topic of intellectual property rights: copyrights and trademarks. We’ve received comments from several people about Zurich-based OIF’s claim to own Osho’s interests in His copyrights, along with requests to open this topic for discussion in the community.

We’ve also had questions about the difference between copyrights and trademarks. Copyrights protect the use of the content of creative works that have been “fixed” by digitalizing, printing, writing down, drawing or painting, recording, and so on. A copyright applies to creative works like writing, audio, video, photographs, and artwork. The copyright attaches automatically at the time the work is fixed and belongs to the person who created the work.

Trademarks are what they sound like. They protect the mark used to market goods or services in the marketplace. A mark can be a word, phrase, or symbol. The only connection between trademarks and content is that the person who controls a mark can control what content is marketed under that mark. The same content can be marketed under a different name.

One writer raised the question of using money from copyrights to support operations in Pune. He had heard a person involved with management there complain that audio copies of Osho’s discourses are being distributed for free (apparently the new cost price in this techie age). He wanted to know what people thought about this. Since OIF doesn’t run the center in Pune, it isn’t clear what the financial connection actually is. Other commentators are concerned that Osho’s work can’t be protected without a copyright. Others argue that with all the compilation books published by OIF or with their blessings, OIF does not protect Osho’s work at all. Some of these books, as well as books published by the “official” Pune publishers, are heavily edited.

Osho clearly owned the copyrights to His work during His lifetime, since copyrights automatically attach to creative works at the time they are “fixed” (written down, recorded, and so on). The relevant question today is whether Osho transferred those rights to someone else. Many people are convinced, from the documents on file at the US Copyright Office (available at www.OshoFriendsInternational.com), that Osho did not transfer His rights to OIF. This raises several questions. If Osho did indeed not transfer copyright interests, should anyone try to pretend He did, in the interest of protecting the work or making money? Could pretending that someone owns Osho’s copyrights ever be successful? Will attempts to do so bring on more coercion (banning, shunning, threatening lawsuits), in an effort to bring people in line behind a questionable claim? What effects would this coercion have on the community?

Osho had some interesting things to say about owning, distributing, and protecting His work. One was a request to have His work distributed at cost price. Here are a few others:

I am utterly empty.
If there is any truth in my words, that truth comes out of my emptiness. It does not belong to me, I am just a passage. I allow existence to connect with you – and it is possible only if I am absolutely empty. (Sermons in Stone, Chapter 15)

Just now there is an exhibition going on in the Soviet Union. I have sannyasins in the Soviet Union; of course, they have to remain underground – they cannot declare that they are sannyasins – but there are a large number of sannyasins. Our stall of books is overcrowded; it is the most successful stall even in Russia. But the people don't have money, so they are stealing books. I have informed my people, "Don't pay any attention – let them steal. At least those books will reach to millions of people, and if you catch somebody red-handed, just tell him, ‘I'm not against stealing; what can you do if you don't have any money? Just keep one thing in mind: When you have read it, pass it on. That is the price.” (The Great Pilgrimage: From Here to Here, Chapter 12)

“Beloved Osho,
The commune is no more; or, every sannyasin is the commune. But what about such institutions as the Academy, or Friends, which takes care of the publication and distribution of your words? Do they still have a function, and how can they function?”

They still have a function – and they will continue to function – but their function is not dictatorial. Their function is to serve the whole world of sannyasins and the people who love me. So their function is not to govern you, their function is to serve you.
And they are not organizations, they are simply institutes. And their function has become more important now, because for all the languages that books are being translated into, it has to be seen to it that they are not mistranslated – that the translation is right, that it does not harm the spirit of the message.

So it is a great work to take care of all the languages – we need the publication institute to check all the language publications before they are published.

Now there are many countries... Just yesterday, a Korean woman was here, and she informed us that more than thirty of my books are translated into Korean, and thousands of copies are available in all the bookstalls all over the country. We have to take care of things. There are countries that are not members of the Bern Convention: they do not believe in copyright. Korea is one of those that do not believe in copyright, so they can translate any book, publish any book.

But we can at least keep an eye that the translation is done rightly, that the person who is doing the translation understands me. It is not only a question of copyright; it is a question that I should not be presented in a wrong way – which is possible. Because if they are just earning money, who cares whether the translation is right or wrong?

I informed the woman, "You send..." Because we don't even know: it may be happening in other countries. There are many countries that are not under the copyright convention. But we can help them, we can suggest to them, "We don't want any money from you, any royalty from you, but we would like you to represent every book exactly, without any distortion." And in many countries we will have to take publication into our own hands. (Light on the Path, Chapter 28)

We would like to invite our readers to discuss these issues. We ask everyone to be respectful (no insults, sarcasm, personal attacks, psychological evaluations…) so that we can hold a space for all points of view. Posts that do not follow these guidelines will be removed.

In the meantime, some lawyers from around the world have written in with a few helpful comments. An American attorney points out that even if OIF, Zurich did have a legitimate claim to copyrights, it would still be legal to use Osho quotes:

As I understand the situation, many requests have gone to OIF over the years, asking to use Osho quotes in various kinds of publications: books, memoirs, people’s personal stories about meeting Osho, etc. Almost invariably, OIF wants to see the proposal, assess its worth, and give or withhold permission.

The reality is that your right to Osho’ s words is safeguarded by the legal framework of “fair use” that has been adopted in the United States and in most other countries. […]

One of the key issues in permitting “fair use” is public interest.

For example, Osho is a public and controversial figure. He might well be described as one of the most radical philosophers of the twentieth century. Therefore, it greatly benefits the public to understand him from as many different perspectives as possible.

Let’s say, I’m totally opposed to Osho’s teachings and regard him as a danger to society. I want to write a book showing how immoral and subversive are his teachings.

Now, clearly, OIF is never going to give permission for a book like that. But, equally clearly, it is in the public interest to have access to my views, since it broadens the public’s general understanding about Osho and his work. It encourages debate and discussion. It widens the public’s knowledge about a controversial figure.

So, with full legal protection, I can use long quotations from Osho in my book, refuting each of his statements as I go along, and OIF cannot do anything about it. If they take me to court, they are certain to lose.

Similarly, if you have personal stories about Osho, or if you want to use Osho quotes in your book, you do not need permission to do so. Why? Because your use of Osho, in your particular context, is broadening public understanding about this controversial mystic.

You’re adding to the body of knowledge that is available to the public about Osho. The chat you had with him, over a cup of tea in Woodlands in 1973, or the relevance of his vision to your book on quantum physics, deepens the public’s understanding of this extraordinary man.

If Osho had been a very private man, things would be different. But he was not. On the contrary, he made every effort during his life to become as widely known and as notorious as possible. Parodying Dale Carnegie, Osho once said that his biography should be called “How To Make Enemies And Influence People.”

Osho’s public stature is your protection.

If you want to play safe, then keep each quotation under 300 words, because this has been adopted as a general “fair use” guideline. But longer quotes will also be okay, especially if you break them up into short sections of direct quotations, while paraphrasing in between.

But for those of you who just want to write about their personal memories, or use a quote here and there, or talk about Osho’s views on various subjects, have no fear. Feel free to quote the Great Rebel. He’s public property and your right to comment will be protected under the law.

Another writer points out that if there is a legitimate copyright holder, and if you are relying on the fair-use rule for protection, you need to make sure you attribute material by Osho to Him to avoid claims of plagiarism. You can’t take a quote or close paraphrase of Osho and use it as your own work.

An attorney in Australia suggests that a new approach to handing copyright, called Creative Commons, might be the solution. Here are links to a comic book description of Creative Commons that explains what it is: www.law.duke.edu/cspd/comics/digital.php;
and information on an author who increased sales using this approach:
www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b46f5a58-aa2e-11db-83b0-0000779e2340.html
Let us know what you think.

Sourced from our Osho magazine, the Viha Connection.

Without Freedom Love Is Not Possible: An Interview of Ramateertha by Harideva

2010-09-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

This past winter in Goa Harideva of the editorial board of the Viha Connection interviewed Ramateertha of the Osho Uta Institute in Cologne. A sannyasin for 34 years, Ramateerth has been an integral part of Osho Uta for all that time. We are happy to present to you here part of what Ramateertha shared.

HD: How and when did you decide to return to Germany to start a meditation center for Osho?

RT: When I was returning to Germany in ’76 I had a leaving darshan, and Osho asked me, “Where are you going?” I said, “Back to Cologne.” He said, “Go and help my people there.” I told Him there were no people there; I was the only one. [Laughter]

So He said, “Oh, you can open up a center there.” I said “No, no, no, I can’t do that.” He asked, “Why?” and I replied, “Well, I can’t do it, and I have no money.” He explained to me, and actually took some time to explain, why I should go back and open up a center. Even then it took four years before I started the Uta center in 1980. In the beginning I was the center leader, but I had no idea how the center should be. The only idea I had was that I wanted to live in the place where I worked, and out of that grew a center, which was always based simply on meditation and personal growth and on sharing love and energy.

HD: Do you have a position on the attempts to trademark the name Osho, and what are your insights about these controversies?

RT: It was a decisive point for me when I heard that the US Board ruled that the trademark in America had never existed. I was deeply touched and relieved, because I can see in how many places and in how many ways the fiction of a trademark was being used to try and control people. I have opposed the idea that “Osho” might be a trademark for a long time. In the very beginning, when the idea that “Osho” might be a trademark first came up, I think I was a bit naïve about this question. I didn’t know what a trademark was, and I didn’t see the implications of what this idea really meant.

I also think that the way Vatayana got the centers to sign a document called a Letter of Understanding was very, very misleading and manipulative. The paper was not presented as a legal document, but a year after some people had signed it Vatayana began to claim it was one. I was upset about this dishonesty, and I started seeing the strategy involved.

I knew that “Osho” had never been used as a trademark while Osho was in the body or in the years since then, but only to describe content that refers to Osho’s teachings. The reason is simply that it is, by its nature, not a trademark, but just a personal name of Osho that is also a description of the content of His teachings and vision. So when the idea that there was such a thing as an “Osho trademark” slowly, slowly started being put into the field, it was done in a very devious way, as I see it, very misleading. It was as if an outside enemy was being created that we needed a fictional trademark to defend against. Out of fear, people were encouraged to pretend that “Osho” could be, was, and had been used as a trademark. Eventually that kind of defense turns into a means to control those who are within the field. Every fascist regime has created outer enemies to control people inside. And when I started seeing the whole game and the lying and cheating that was connected to it, I saw how harmful to the community this pretense had become.

At a certain point Vatayana tried to take over center meetings in Germany and to become the one who organizes them. She made it clear that she wanted to invite only people who had signed the Letter of Understanding. At some point during a meeting she said, “This is not a democracy.” The person who was in charge of inviting for that meeting said, “Well, and it is not a dictatorship either.” And the whole room was silent. During the argument a young woman said, “I don’t understand what this argument is about. It’s just only about power, isn’t it?” A pin-drop silence occurred, and Vatayana dropped the project of taking control of that meeting.

Osho once said, “This is not a democracy,” but the Master makes certain decisions or confronts people in certain situations with certain ways of working; that’s one thing. When disciples are dealing with each other, you can’t adopt the same attitude that the Master had and then say, “That’s the way the Master works.” He comes from a completely different level of consciousness. As a disciple, to start imitating this way of working and pose as a successor is not only stupid but also harmful. I think in the world of sannyas we sometimes adopt attitudes that are not healthy. They don’t allow communication and respect to arise, and I saw a lot of that in Sheela’s time.

So in the 2009 German center meeting there was a confrontation about the trademark issue, and I made it a point that the reality of this situation is reflected in clear guidance from Osho that nobody disputes. Osho said the centers are all independent – not only by their legal structure but also in their use of Osho’s name as a reference to His teachings and vision. The centers are at the most “spiritually affiliated.” That has always been Osho’s relationship with individuals and centers, and the pretense of a trademark stands in direct opposition to the reality of this relationship. Vatayana argued that Osho wanted trademarks. She even went so far as to say that whenever someone received a center from Osho a license was given at that moment. This is bullshit and an appalling insult to the moments when Osho gave people the name for a center. Osho respected the centers’ complete freedom; there was no signature on a contract on any side. It was never a question of a legal relationship. And then Vatayana tried to say, “Well, maybe there is a way we can reconsider the whole thing, in the sense we will try to maintain the centers’ independence and still have a trademark.”

Of course, that is just deceptive. Independence means both that the centers have always been legally independent and that they’ve been independent in their use of Osho’s name as a reference to His teachings. “Osho” is not, and has never been, a trademark; it simply does not qualify to be a trademark, because, as I already said, it’s just the name of Osho as a person and is also a description of the content of His teachings and vision.

The cunning thing, though, was that while we were in that meeting in 2009 arguing about the trademark issue, Vatayana was sending “updated agreements” about this fictional trademark to all the centers that were not present in the meeting, without telling anyone at the meeting.

I also had a dispute with Yogendra about this in 2009, and he completely agreed that Osho had acknowledged that the centers were independent, but he said, “Well, you know, with certain situations, we asked the lawyers how we should handle them and what we should do, and they suggested to us that we should create a trademark.” How can they claim on the one hand that Osho wanted a trademark and on the other hand say something like this?

In December I wrote a letter to Global Connections that we would not sign any agreement with them and that we would do anything necessary to oppose any attempt to change legally independent centers into some kind of “franchise system.” If OIF insists that there is a trademark “Osho” in Europe, then we will bring a case to establish that there is no trademark in the European Union, just as it has been proven in the US. In this process I follow my heart, and I follow my own understanding. I know that without freedom love is not possible. It’s very simple. And it is not freedom if you force people or if you bind people with legal contracts. It’s just like marriage. It destroys freedom, and it destroys any possibility to really flower. This was Osho’s wisdom when He refused to create any kind of organization.

In my understanding nobody can give you the right to use the name Osho, as nobody can own Osho’s name, and, therefore, nobody needs to ask anybody for a “right” to use the Osho name. It describes content but does not mean that it originates from somebody who is entitled to or in the position to control content. Osho Himself asked everyone involved in His work to use His name, and we have all used it for 21 years. It’s just ridiculous to pretend it’s a trademark for anyone.

But I’m not a crusader; that much is certain. I don’t judge what others should do. For some person it may be right to say, “I don’t want to have anything to do with it.” I don’t know what their lives look like, but from my situation, from my own experience I can’t just stand by and do nothing. I am doing what I am doing because my heart tells me so. I don’t want to point my finger at anybody else and say, “You should do it also.”

For me this is exactly the same situation as we faced with Sheela. And I tell you I don’t know where I would be in all of this without the experience of the Ranch. Some say the Ranch was a failure, but to be honest, I don’t think it was a failure. I think it was the one of the most incredible experiences and teachings about organized religion that Osho has given. Without that experience – which was painful, very painful – I would not have the guts or the spine to say no. Osho was in silence, and Sheela was the only person seeing Him. That gave her an incredible influence over people who loved and respected Osho. I think Osho first kept quiet when the house was on fire, and He even put more fuel on it to make the house burn down completely – the house of organized religion and all that comes with it. But the basic message for me is that I have to trust and to risk everything within myself. I think of what happened on the Ranch as a vaccination against religion. The experience taught me about fascism in the name of religion and in the name of spirituality. He pulled the plug in time then. There is no one there to pull the plug now. It’s now the responsibility of each of us to speak up.

And, of course, it is a completely childish attitude to point the finger at Sheela. We are all Sheela; it is in every one of us. The same way she was or is blaming Osho for everything she has done, we give away responsibility to outer “authorities” and lose our freedom. This is especially strong for Germans who had the experience of Hitler in the last century to teach us that we all have this potential. Maybe it’s not by accident that opposition to the trademark registration in the EU is coming from Germany.
It’s so clear to me that the legal thing that’s happening is just a joke. The name Osho stands for this amazing Master and His teachings and His vision. It cannot be separated: here the person and there the teaching. And it is not possible to monopolize the name Osho. The ® some people would like to add to “Osho” is deceptive. For me, it really stands for “Religion” – a “Trademark Religion,” as that is what these people are trying to achieve. They want to establish a new authority and make a religion out of a vision. To pretend that Osho’s name is a trademark – the name of the man who has always been an advocate for total freedom without religion − is as intelligent as someone who does not want the death penalty saying, “I will shoot everybody who is for the death penalty!”

For me it is important not to get too serious about this. I’m German, you know; I can be very serious. Then I get almost righteous myself, and that is not the point.

People will certainly be confronted by the question, “Where do I stand in this?” as they are confronted with demands that they submit to outer control. And that will be beneficial, because they will have to look for themselves, or play the same game that has been played for millennia.

Sourced from our Osho magazine, the Viha Connection.

The Osho Digital Audio Library

2010-09-11T17:27:00.001-07:00

As everyone knows, audio tapes and CDs are old technology and have been replaced by MP3 CDs.

We have been selling many Osho discourses MP3s for $16 to $20 each MP3.

Now we are selling the Osho Digital Audio Library: a small, portable hard drive containing about 170 full Osho books; a total of approximately 4800 hours of Osho talks, from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra lectures and the entire Yoga: The Alpha & the Omega series to his final discourse on April 10, 1989. The sound quality is very good.

The price is $890 (net) plus shipping.

The hard drive is compatible with both PCs and Macs. The files are in audio book format.

How this hard drive can be used:

1. You can attach this hard drive to a recent Mac or PC computer and listen to any of the Osho discourses on your computer, or through any speakers or stereo system attached to your computer.

2. You can also sync these discourses (not all at once, as many as will fit at a time) to an iPod or iPhone (or any iTunes-compatible MP3 player), which will allow you to take them with you and listen with headphones, earbuds, or connected to a home or car stereo.

3. You can burn CDs and listen to these discourses in any CD player that will play CDs created by a computer.

Please contact us at oshoviha@oshoviha.org if you are interested.

Sourced from the Viha Connection, the Osho magazine.

Special Sale! Osho's "After Middle Age"

2010-09-11T17:13:00.001-07:00

This little jewel of a book is a must-read for everyone, not just those approaching middle age (or leaving that period behind).

Osho says: To me, maturity is another name for realization. You have come to the fulfillment of your potential.
It has become actual. The seed has come on the long journey, and it has blossomed. Maturity has a fragrance. It gives a tremendous beauty to the individual. It gives intelligence, the sharpest possible intelligence.

Old age has given the last touches to the painting of its own life. And when one has given the last touches,
one is ready to die joyously, dancingly. One is ready to welcome death.

The discourses collected in this book are compiled from different Osho books. Chapter titles include:

Time for Change • Love & Alchemy • Natural is Beautiful • A New Beginning • Nothing Ends • Gracefully Surrendering the Things of Youth • The Beauty of It! • Becoming Free • The Eternal Life Within You • Laughter Brings Strength • The Sheer Delight • Maturity: The Seed that Has Blossomed

For a limited time, we are offering this book for $6.95 (regularly $9.95). You can buy it online at http://www.oshoviha.org/index.php?show_category=133

Sourced from the Viha Connection, the Osho magazine.

Osho: Sex Guru or Tantra Master?

2010-08-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Again and again Osho has been called “Sex Guru” by the media, both in India and the West. Is this really true? He certainly dared to address the topic of sex more than any spiritual teacher, which – especially in his native India – shocked many people. But a closer look at his talks on sex and Tantra, which are published in many Tantra books, show that the label “Sex Guru” is not much more than cheap journalistic sensationalism.

In this answer to a seeker’s question, Osho himself explains how he wants to take his sannyasins beyond sex so that they can move, as one of his books is titled From Sex to Superconsciousness:

Yes, I teach you how to go deep in love. I teach you how to go deep in sex too, because that is the only way to go beyond. To go through it is the only way to go beyond it – but my goal is to take you beyond. Now this is a problem, and I am going to be misunderstood again and again, all over the world.

People have become accustomed: They think religious people have to be against sex; and those who are not against sex, how can they be religious? […]

I can only be understood by a NEW kind of being who has seen this totality: that man is both body and soul, and that life matures only through experiences.

Sex can become a stepping-stone towards SAMADHI. If you understand it deeply, if you experience it deeply, you will be free of it – but that freedom will have a totally different quality I It will not be a repressed sex. A repressed sex continues underground, goes on in your unconscious, on and on, and goes on affecting your life. […]

If you can make love consciously, you will be surprised: Love has all the keys to SAMADHI. If you go deeply into love with full consciousness, alert and aware, you will see that it is not love that attracts you; but in the highest peak of love, in the orgasmic explosion, your mind disappears, your thoughts stop, and that is from where the nectar flows into you. It is not really sex that gives you that beautiful experience. Sex simply helps you, in a natural way, to come to a point where mind is dissolved – of course, for a moment. The clouds disperse, and you can see the sun. Again those clouds will be there and the sun will be lost, and again you will start fantasizing about sex. If you go unconscious, then you will miss this whole secret again and again.
It is not sex that is keeping you tethered to the world; it is unconsciousness! So the question is not how to drop sex; the question is how to drop unconsciousness. Be conscious and let your natural being have its whole flow.

From: The Secret of Secrets, Vol. 2, Chapter 6

(This and many other of his discourses are available on Osho discourses MP3s.)

For anyone familiar with Osho books it is clear that Osho was probably the greatest Tantra master ever. So it is no surprise that Osho sannyasins, many of whom work as therapists, have published the results of their research in a host of Tantra books.

Sourced from Osho Viha Connection magazine

A Collection of Coming-to-Osho Stories

2010-08-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Over the past years that has been a great crop of books by Osho sannyasins. Bhagawati, who lives in Bali and is a columnist for our Osho magazine, recently published a collection of coming-to-Osho stories.

This wonderful book has been flying off our shelves ever since its arrival here, and we have a hard time keeping it in stock. No wonder, considering that in this book 44 Osho sannyasins share how they found the Master and eventually received their Osho mala from him.

These are amazing stories of people who left behind their past to be in the presence of an enlightened Master. Many of them went on to live in the Ashram in Pune, India, where they were able to listen to Osho discourses, many of which are available on DVDs today. They also did Osho meditations on a regular basis during their stay in India. Their lives were transformed forever.

Thanks to modern technology, we are still able to experience the magic of an enlightened Master today, in the form of Osho books, Osho DVDs, and now Osho MP3s. We are hoping to soon be able to offer a HUGE selection of Osho MP3s – almost all his talks. Stay tuned!

Summertime at Osho Viha

2010-07-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I haven’t been into blogging lately. My apologies to whatever readers there may be.

Yesterday I delivered the September/October Viha Connection to Shanti Poona for the design. We are still receiving enthusiastic feedback to our July/August issue with many stories from people who came to Osho after he left his body. Amazing how our Master keeps touching folks 20 years later! Some came to him through Osho books they found somewhere, others just saw some Osho photos, and many of course found Osho through Osho’s sannyasins. In recent years many people took sannyas while attending Osho meditation retreats conducted by Swami Arun from Nepal (www.tapoban.com). After these events there is always an increased demand for Osho malas, which we are happy to supply.

Talking of malas, just in the past few weeks we have shipped malas all over the world: Israel, Brazil, Australia, and pretty much every European country (almost 30 to Italy!). We really enjoy the contact with these Osho lovers all over the globe.

IS AN ENLIGHTENED PERSON SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE WORLD?

2010-03-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

CAN ONE LIVE AND FUNCTION IN THE WORLD IN A STATE OF ENLIGHTENMENT OR NO-MIND? IS AN ENLIGHTENED PERSON SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE WORLD?

The state of enlightenment is not the state of individuality. There is no person in it. One who is enlightened is enlightened only because he is not; there is nobody to function. Activity continues, but there is nobody to do it. Functioning continues, but there is nobody to function it. Then it continues on its own... just as stars go on moving and the seasons move, and the sun rises, and the moon comes, and the tide, and the seas, and the rivers.

An enlightened person is one with the whole; the whole functions through him. His activity is perfect because he is not there to distort it. He is just like a hollow bamboo -- whatsoever song the whole chooses to sing through him, it is sung. There is nobody to hinder, there is nobody to obstruct.

An enlightened person is an enlightened emptiness... Luminous emptiness. He has disappeared. If you believe in the concept of god, if you use that term, then you can say god functions through him. If you don't like that term, then you can say the whole functions through him. But he is not to function there.

When you function you create anxiety. All your functioning is in some way a sort of conflict with the whole. It is a struggle; there is motive, there is desire, there is ambition. When you are there, all illnesses are there. When you are there, neurosis is there -- the ego is neurotic. It tries to impose its own goals on the whole -- which is impossible. It tries to do that which cannot be done, hence gets more and more frustrated, enters deeper and deeper into hell and misery.

An enlightened person simply allows; whatsoever happens is a happening. It is very difficult to conceive it because it is not of the mind. It is very difficult to understand it because there is no experience. You can understand it only when you have dissolved, when you have become that.

There is no way to understand a Buddha unless you become a Buddha -- because it is such a totally different dimension of existence. We have never tasted of it. It is simply impossible for the mind to conceive, because the mind functions through motive: there has to be a desire, there has to be a goal, there has to be the doer. The mind says if you don't do, how is it going to happen?

But millions of things are happening without anybody doing them. Who is doing the movement of the stars? Is not their functioning absolutely perfect? What is missing? What is lacking? Who is rushing these rivers to the ocean? Who goes on controlling the tide and the ebb? Who goes on maintaining this infinity, this immenseness? There is nobody. Because there is nobody, that's why it is so beautiful. Because there is nobody, that's why it is so absolutely perfect. If somebody is there, there is a possibility of error. If somebody is there, then there is a possibility of mistakes.
There is nobody -- it is out of emptiness.

The seed goes on sprouting. Each moment is a miracle, because each moment existence comes out of nothingness. Each moment the flower happens out of the blue. Nobody is forcing it, nobody is pulling it up. There is nobody to open the bud; it opens on its own accord. This is what Buddha calls the dhamma, the law, the ultimate law of life.
The enlightened person is no more in any conflict with the ultimate law; he has surrendered. He floats, he flows with the river. He has almost become a wave in the river, he does not exist separately.

CAN ONE LIVE AND FUNCTION IN THE WORLD IN A STATE OF ENLIGHTENMENT OR NO-MIND?

Yes, one can function. One has functioned. Buddha lived forty-two years after he became enlightened. Mahavir lived forty years after he became enlightened. They functioned perfectly well. And yet, the beauty is, the grandeur is, that there was nobody doing it.

It is a moment to moment miracle. It is absolutely unbelievable, it is incredible to function out of nothingness, to function out of no-motive, to function out of no-mind. Just to function without having a center, without having a self.

An enlightened person is natural, spontaneous. He has no explanation why he is functioning. He will shrug his shoulders if you ask the question 'Why?' He cannot explain it, he can at the most say, 'It is how it is. It is how it is happening.' He will say, 'I don't know, because there is nobody to know it.' It is a mysterious functioning.

Of course the functioning is going to be totally different than your functioning. Out of your activity, anxiety arises, tension. Out of your activity, fear arises. Fear -- are you going to succeed or not? Tension -- because there is competition, conflict; others are also rushing towards the same goal. Will you be able to become rich? Will you be able to become that which you want? It doesn't seem to be easy. [...]

So there are only two types of people in the world. One, who have private goals -- they feel they are being dragged; they feel man proposes, god disposes. Then there is another type of people in the world -- very few, rare, far, far and few between, very few -- who have dropped all their propositions. They don't drag, they dance. They dance, because whatsoever god proposes they accept. And they have no private propositions, they don't have any desire of their own.

That's what Jesus says on the cross, that is his last message to the world -- 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done'. Just a moment before he has hesitated a little, just a moment before he shouted and said, 'Why have you forsaken me? Why? Why are you showing me all this?'
You cannot complain against Jesus -- that too is natural and human. He was only thirty-three, he was not yet old, he was just young, he had not seen the whole life yet, he had not tasted, he had not lived yet -- and suddenly he finds himself on the Cross, ridiculed, insulted, rejected by his own people. And it is natural that he shouts at god, 'Why have you forsaken me? Why are you showing me all this?' -- human, very human.

But immediately he became aware of it. It must have escaped -- this shouting against god -- in a moment of unawareness. The pain may have been too much, the misery was too much. Death was just close by; he was shocked. But he regained balance. He was going to propose something. He simply said, 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.' He surrendered. He died as Christ.

In a single moment he was no more Jesus, he was Christ. In a single moment he was no more human, he was superhuman. The gap is very small. That's why Buddha says, 'Miss it by a single inch, or by a single moment and you are thrown millions of miles away.' Just a single inch was the difference between these two sentences -- there was not much gap, maybe a single breath. But he was just ordinary when he shouted against god -- human, weak. Just a moment later on he was reconciled; there was no problem then. If this is the way god wants it to happen, then this is the way it has to happen. He accepted.

A smile must have come to his face, and not only to his face but to his heart also. In that moment he must have expanded. Now there was nothing to shrink, to remain closed. Even death was accepted. When you accept death, you have accepted god. Everybody desires for life. When you accept life you don't accept much. When you accept death you have accepted all.

An enlightened person is one who has not only accepted death, who has really died. He is no more there, the house is absolutely empty. Or he is that emptiness. That emptiness is luminous, full of light. Now he moves hand and hand with god. Now wherever god takes him, to whatsoever land -- uncharted, unmapped -- he runs along, dancing. He is not dragged.

If you are dragged by life, then you must be fighting with it. If you are bored by life, then you must be fighting with it. If you are frustrated by life, you must be fighting with it. These are indications that you are not reconciled to life, that you have not yet become mature enough to surrender; you are childish, you are in a childish tantrum.

A man who is really mature has no will of his own. He says, 'Thy will be done.' It is only immature minds who go on carrying their own will, and of course they suffer. Will brings suffering, will is the way to hell. You bring suffering, you are the way to hell. You create suffering.

Of course, an enlightened person functions totally differently. He himself does not know where he is going, and he is not worried about it either. He does not think about it -- where he is going. He trusts: wherever he is going, it is good. His trust is total and infinite.

He trusts life, you trust yourself. He trusts the whole, you trust a tiny part. He trusts the immense, the infinite, you trust the mediocre human mind. His trust makes him wise, your trust makes you stupid. You doubt the whole and you trust yourself. He has dropped himself and he trusts the whole. He is never to be frustrated, he has no regrets. He never looks back, because whatsoever was, was -- and whatsoever was, was good.

And it is not just only a mind thing. He feels it, his whole existence is radiated with 'yes!' He says 'yes' to life, you go on saying 'no'. No-saying creates ego, yea-saying drops the ego, helps the ego to drop and disappear.

he enlightened person is an absolute, unconditional 'yes'. It is very difficult to understand it unless you have tasted something of it. That is the only way to know about it.

IS AN ENLIGHTENED PERSON SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE WORLD?

That's why I say you can understand it only if you have known it, if you have become it. Otherwise you will go on asking questions which are irrelevant. For example: IS AN ENLIGHTENED PERSON SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE WORLD?

He has no self, so how can he be self-sufficient? He has no self, so how can he be in any way self-sufficient? I am not saying that he is discontented. I am not saying that he is unsatisfied, and I am not saying that he is not sufficient. I am simply saying that he cannot be self-sufficient because he has no self.

An enlightened person comes to know that independence is impossible, dependence also impossible. The reality is neither dependent nor independent; the reality is interdependent. We exist together. And when I say 'we', the trees are included, the mountains are included, the skies are included. When I say 'we', everything is included, nothing is excluded. We exist together. We are together. Our very being is togetherness. Nobody is self-sufficient.

That's what ordinarily we are trying to become -- self-sufficient. That is our whole struggle -- so that we are no more dependent on anybody. But just think: is it possible to be self-sufficient? And if it is possible for a man to become self-sufficient, will he be alive? He will be dead. Only when you are in your grave are you self-sufficient. Otherwise you will have to breathe -- and you cannot be self-sufficient about it. You will have to take in the breath, the vitality, the PRANA. You will have to wait for the sun to make you warm. You will have to eat the fruit of the trees so their juice becomes your blood. You will need billions of things. How can you be self-sufficient? The very idea is foolish.

But there are people, the so-called saints -- who go on teaching you 'become self-sufficient'. That is an ego trip. It is not possible in the nature of things to be self-sufficient because self is a falsity. Self is just an idea, it has no reality, so how can you create sufficiency around a false idea? Self in itself is non-existential, so how can you create sufficiency around something which does not exist?

The enlightened person is one who looks into life and comes to know that 'I am not, only god is, truth is. Truth is self-sufficient, the whole is self-sufficient. How can I be self-sufficient?' We are linked with everything else, and this linking is really complex. I am not only linked to you, you are not only linked to these trees, you are not only linked to the sun today -- you are linked to ALL the people who have ever lived on the earth. If your parents were not there you would not have been here. If your grandparents were not there you would not have been here. Just go back, go back -- if Adam and Eve were not there you would not have been here.

So not only are we linked with the contemporary existence, we are linked with the whole past -- not only of humanity, but of the whole universe. This is easy to understand -- that we are linked with the whole past -- otherwise how can we be? We are part of a procession, part of a river, an ongoing river. You are also linked with the future. It is a little more difficult because we think that maybe it is right -- we are linked with the past -- but how are we linked with the future?

A river has two banks. It cannot flow with only one bank, otherwise it will never reach the ocean. The other bank may be hidden in deep mist, you may not be able to see it, it may be very far away. You cannot see it -- it is beyond the horizon -- but still you can think that it has to be there. The past is one bank of the river of time, the future is another bank. Without the future the past cannot exist; and without the past and the future the present cannot exist. The present is the river, the past is one bank, the future is another bank.

We are not only linked with the past, we are linked with the future also. You are not only linked with your parents, you are linked with your children also -- children who are not born yet. You are not only one with the past that has been here, but with the future that is going to be here. You are linked with the yesterday and the tomorrow -- otherwise the today cannot exist. It has to exist between yesterday and the tomorrow -- yesterdays and tomorrows. The today is just a middle turn.

If you look that way, then in space we are linked with everything. If the sun dies today we all will die. It is so far; the light takes ten minutes to reach to us. Ten minutes doesn't look such a big time, but for light to travel that much it is really big, because the light travels so fast -- one hundred and eighty-six thousand miles per second.

The sun is ten minutes away. But if it dies, suddenly you will see these trees dying, suddenly you will see yourself shrinking and dying. Suddenly you will see the whole beauty disappears from the earth, because the whole warmth disappears from the earth. Warmth is life. The very throb of the heart is connected with the sun. But the scientists say the sun itself is connected to some source of light, yet not discovered. Somewhere at the very center of the whole existence there must be a source the sun is connected with.

Everything is connected. Have you watched a spider's web? Just touch it anywhere and the whole web trembles. Exactly that way is life. Touch it anywhere... touch a leaf of grass and you have touched all the stars, because everything is so interconnected. There are no boundaries -- we are not islands, we are a continent. Nothing defines you. All definitions are manmade. All definitions are just like the fence around your house -- it does not divide the earth. All boundaries are like lines on the map -- it does not divide the earth, it does not divide the ocean, it does not divide the sky. It is only on the map.

An enlightened person is one who has dropped all demarcations; who is not a Christian, who is not a Hindu, who is not a Mohammedan, who is not a Buddhist, who is not a communist, who is not a fascist, who is not man, who is not woman, who is not young, who is not old -- who has dropped all lines of demarcation, who lives without definition. To live without definition is to live infinitely, because all definition is a finitude. To define means to make finite.

An enlightened person is indefinable, infinite. He has no lines.

Somebody asked Bokuju, a zen master, 'Master, you say everything is one. Then is a dog also a Buddha?' That is a zen way of asking, 'Is a dog also god?' Bokuju did not answer verbally; he jumped on his fours and started barking. He was a Buddha, an enlightened being. He simply showed that, 'Yes. Look -- here is a dog barking, and here is a Buddha too.' A dog is nothing but god in reverse. Just read it backwards; that is the only difference.

Everything is divine and everything is one.

The enlightened person is not self-sufficient. He is sufficient, certainly -- but not self-sufficient. Sufficient because there is no problem for him -- the whole is there available for him. The whole goes on supplying him even without asking. The whole takes care. He has dissolved into the whole; now the whole is responsible. The whole takes care of him. He is protected by the whole, he is sheltered by the whole. He is at home in the whole. Whatsoever happens is welcome, because it is happening through the whole. How can it be wrong? 'Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come.' He is just a zero.

So I cannot say he is self-sufficient. He is tremendously sufficient, but not self-sufficient. His sufficiency comes not from his self, his sufficiency comes because he has dropped his self. He is sufficient because he is with the whole -- now how can he lack anything? It is impossible to lack anything. The sun is with him, the moon is with him, the trees, the rivers, the oceans -- he is no more poor.
An enlightened person is the richest person possible, but his richness comes from surrender, not from fight. He does not... he has not any conflict with the whole. He has fallen in harmony, he is in a harmonia.

The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol 2, Chapter #10

Sourced from Viha Connection

Extensive Coverage of the Bombing of the German Bakery

2010-02-20T07:55:00.001-08:00

This morning Dhanyam found extensive coverage of the bombing on one of his favorite websites: http://www.intelligentpune.org/IntelligentPune/index.htm

The long article has many photos, lists of the dead and injured, and details of the history of the German Bakery. We haven't seen anything that detailed in any other article. Have a look!

Sourced from Viha Connection magazine

Celebration for Nadia

2010-02-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

The first picture shows Nadia, the second one Eshana.

Here is an article from the Pune Mirror, February 17:

Rejoice! Nadia is no more!

Oshoites celebrate the death of their Italian associate, killed in the blast, in keeping with their master’s ideals. After all, she is free from this world and starting out in the next

By Chaitraly Deshmukh and Payal Banerjee
Posted On Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 12:13:14 AM

Eshana (Top), a close friend of Italian Oshoite Nadia Mercerini (Above)Living upto Osho’s teaching “Celebrate life! Celebrate death!” and tradition of Osho followers, the friends and associates of Italian Oshoite Nadia Mercerini, who died in the 13/2 German Bakery bombing, came together and ‘celebrated’ her death on Sunday evening.

Strange it may sound to many, but Oshoites have a tradition of ‘celebrating’ death. There had been similar ‘celebrations’ when Osho himself passed away. And the tradition comes from Osho’s teachings. Osho had said, “Death is always close by. It is almost like your shadow.

You may be aware, you may not be aware, but it follows you from the first moment of your life to the very last moment.

Death is a process just as life is a process, and they are almost together, just like two wheels of a bullock cart. Life cannot exist without death; neither can death exist without life.”

He had also said, “And existence gives so abundantly, it is not miserly. You are just not alert enough to use the opportunity to transform yourself into something immortal, eternal, into some experience which will make you beyond the reach of death. Just fearing death is not of any help.

If you see that death is following you, it is time to start searching deeper into yourself for that point which is beyond death. We have been calling that point satchitanand: the truth of your being, the ultimate consciousness of your life and the tremendous blessing of your coming to flower.”

“Nadia was on a spiritual path and a diehard Osho follower. That is why we decided to stick to Osho’s teachings and celebrate her death,” says Eshana (50), a close associate of the deceased.

Sitting quietly on a bench outside the mortuary of the Sassoon Hospital after seeking Nadia’s body and waiting for the formalities to be completed prior to receiving the body and ncessary for sending her mortal remains to her motherland, Eshana vividly recalled how they ‘celebrated’ Nadia’s death.

Eshana remembered,“On Sunday evening, we got together at my house in Koregaon park. We were about 25 people, all close to Nadia.

We played the music she loved and danced. This ‘celebration’ went on till late evening.” Clutching a purse gifted to her by Nadia, Eshana says Nadia was a yoga instructor and frequented Pune for the last seven to eight years.

“She had returned to Pune from a Thailand tour, just three weeks ago and her first words on reaching here were “home is where home is”. I had purchased a new dress for her. I want her to return to her motherland wearing it.”

HUMMING BIRD FLEW AWAY
She remembered Nadia as a lively person. “Nadia was a humming bird. She would always hum old melodies. She loved Bollywood movies and Ai Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan was her favorite song.”

She said, “Nadia was a pure vegeterian and loved to cook. But she savoured restaurant food also. She liked Pizza from La-Pizzeria. She was an enviornment lover and used bicycle to move about whenever she went to teach yoga or to anywhere else. She could talk in Marathi and Hindi.”

Eshana recalled, “Like me she too always wore a smile. That was what attracted us to each other. Just hours before the blast, we had lunch together on Saturday.

Then we were discussing about quitting smoking. We parted ways after promising each other to meet again at a function.

After the blast, I could not contact her. I came to know about her death only when a friend from Mumbai called up the next day. I then went to the hospital and identified Nadia.”

http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?page=article§id=2&contentid=20100217201002170013140782725e34§xslt=

Sourced from Viha Connection magazine

Memories of the German Bakery

2010-02-16T18:02:00.001-08:00

Our dear friend and astrologer Deepak sent us this lovely piece. We invite you to share your memories of the German Bakery here with us.

Memories of German Bakery
by Deepak

The German Bakery was my first and second and last home in Pune. It was the first place I stopped when I got there in 1991, and it was the last place I saw when I left Pune for the last time in 2006. It was the first place I went to in the morning to have a cappuccino and a smoke, and it was the last place at night I stayed until those early closing hours to have a cappuccino and a smoke. I usually sat around on the side where the sound of traffic was less than it was in the front.

The place was full of sannyasins in maroon robes in those early days, and that is where I got my introduction into sannyasin ways. I remember one crowded day when I asked a swami to pass me that stool next to him. He looked over at it, looked at me, looked at the stool again, and said, “Sorry man, but I don’t feel like it”.

“Wow, you can do things like that?” I thought.

Another time I walked in and saw a Westerner in street clothes talking on his cell phone. It was the first cell phone I had ever seen. The idea of talking on a cell phone in the midst of India in the middle of meditators was so incongruous to me that I just burst out laughing. He saw me laughing and smiled.

Another time my Italian girlfriend and I were standing out in the middle of the street in front and having argument number one thousand and fifty five. The street was still unpaved in those days, and North Main Road had no traffic after dark. She yells, and I yell, and we yell together in two languages, and she stomps her little feet and storms off to Yogi Park. I turn around and go into German Bakery to have a cappuccino and a smoke.

I sit down, and the guy next to me says, “You are Deepak?”

I know what’s coming and say with resignation, “Yeah.”

“You write that beautiful horoscope in the Osho Times, and you behave like that?”
I throw my hands up and say, “Yeah, paradox.”

I remember the little store next door where I had another expansion in consciousness. In America, customers stand in line, and then when the clerk is finished with one customer, the next customer steps up over the line. One at a time, one at a time. At this little store, all the customers would be talking to the clerk at the same time. With one hand he was giving change, with another hand he was reaching for an item on the shelves, and with the third hand he was taking money from another person. “Wow, polyphasic parallel processing,” I thought as I saw him multitasking simultaneously.

I spent thousands of hours chatting, talking, smoking, drinking cappuccinos, and eating Berliners at German Bakery. I met wise men that were older than me and could teach me things in some ways, Narendra in the morning and Purnananda in the afternoon. I met friends and lovers and strangers and newcomers and old sannyasins and ashram exiles. People were from all over the world, and ten different languages would be going on. It was a mind-expanding and heart-opening space to be. I lived in Popular Heights for a long time, and it was on the way and easy to stop. I stopped there many, many times.

The German Bakery was a home to me, and now it has been blown up and is gone. My own home where I grew up as a little boy is now an empty lot. My grandmother’s house where I would stop after school and have a piece of chocolate cake is now an empty lot. So many people I have loved and have been my guides and teachers are gone. All of this life has been maya, transitory, and shifting dreams. The wise men were right. The only place to go is to go In.

Deepak's website is http://www.astronlp.com

Sourced from Viha Connection magazine

German Bakery in Pune Bombed

2010-02-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

We are shocked to hear that the Germany Bakery, a popular hang-out spot near the Osho Resort in Pune, was bombed on Saturday, 7:30 pm local time. Below an article from the online BBC.

Pune, known as the cultural and educational capital of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, is in shock at the bombing of the German Bakery.
The restaurant is popular with students and tourists and was crowded when one of the waiters opened an unattended bag to see who it belonged to.
The following explosion destroyed the restaurant and the outdoor seating area, although the building above was left standing.

Santosh Bhosale: "The bakery is like our home"
"When I heard the blast it was like a earthquake tremor," said Santosh Bhosale, a shopkeeper who was nearby at the time.
"We ran to see what happened and saw bodies lying. I didn't think twice and I started to help people to take the injured to hospital.
"I knew the staff members of the bakery. We all have been here for years together now and are extremely fond of each other. This bakery is like our home," he said.
Initial reports of a second bag containing explosives have been discounted.
The German Bakery is in a plush, upmarket area of Pune, close to the Osho Ashram and the Jewish Chabad House.
There was a heavy police presence at the three Pune hospitals where the injured - most of them between 25-30 years old - were taken.
At Jehangir Hospital students gathered in anxious clusters to ask after their friends.

How did they manage to attack such a busy place in such an important area? Pune is otherwise a laidback and relaxed city but now one does not know
Pune policeman

In pictures: India restaurant blast
Thirteen of the injured were taken here. Two were later discharged after being treated for minor injuries.
"My friend Aditya Mehtra was admitted," said Yogesh, an engineering student.
"Students are always around the German Bakery - especially on a Saturday evening. We never felt anything in Pune but now it will change," he said.
He was told his friend was in the intensive care unit in a stable condition.
The government has offered compensation of about $10,700 (£6,800) for the families of those killed and has said it will pay for the treatment of all those injured.
Security fears
Outside the restaurant, a police constable said until now the citizens of Pune had felt safe and not worried about terror attacks.
"One incident is enough to alter the city. Now people will not have peace of mind. How did they manage to attack such a busy place in such an important area? Now after all these deaths it will get difficult. Pune is otherwise a laidback and relaxed city but now one does not know."
But local resident Salil Nishte said he thought security around the bakery had recently decreased.
"We used to come here for a cappuccino and pastries occasionally. In the last few days I had noticed that security was reduced," he said.
"Normally this area is very well protected because of Osho Centre and Chabad House. However, I feel that over years the population of foreigners and important dignitaries has increased, so security should be beefed up adequately at all times so that such incidents do not occur."
In the absence of anyone claiming responsibility for the attack, speculation has focused on Indian Mujahiddin, Jamat ud Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Questions are also being asked about an alert raised for Pune in October.
Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram has said David Headley, an American facing charges in the US for allegedly scouting targets for the Mumbai attack, had also surveyed Chabad House and Osho Ashram.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8514791.stm

Sourced from Viha Connection magazine

Osho: A Contemporary Mystic

2010-02-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

Osho (formerly Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) teaches meditation not as a practice but as a way of life. He is a mystic who brings the timeless wisdom of the East to bear upon the urgent questions facing men and women today. He speaks of the search for harmony, wholeness, and love that lies at the core of all religious and spiritual traditions, illuminating the essence of Christianity, Hassidism, Buddhism, Sufism, Tantra, Tao, Yoga, and Zen. Osho’s vision is of a new man.

Osho speaks on virtually every aspect of the development of human consciousness. His talks cover a staggering range – from the meaning of life and death to the struggle of power and politics, from the challenges of love and creativity to the significance of science and education. He belongs to no tradition.

To know oneself is to know all. And that is the only thing I emphasize; no belief, no dogma, no creed, no church, no religion. By a simple process of inner observation you come to realize yourself... Truth is within – seek not elsewhere.

Osho is a striking modern-day example of the millennia-old Eastern tradition of enlightened Masters. In the East, enlightenment is described as the state of ultimate and total consciousness or awareness, as attained by Gautama Buddha, Socrates, and others.

The function of a Master is to provoke consciousness in others, frequently by unexpected or apparently irrational acts and behavior; and to provide an environment in which a disciple can experience meditation for himself. It is therefore with a very different perception that we must view such a man’s life, as our standard criteria simply do not apply.

History tells of Bodhidharma entering the Emperor’s court with a show on his head or of Japanese Zen Masters planting trees upside down. Such acts can only be understood within the context of the Master’s constant efforts to bring his disciples into the Now, into meditation, and ultimately, to enlightenment. Osho is such a Master.

Osho was born December 11, 1931, in Kuchwada, a small village in the state of Madhya Pradesh, central India. He became enlightened at the age of 21 on March 21, 1953, while majoring in philosophy at D.N. Jain College in Jabalpur.

In 1966 Osho left his post as a professor of philosophy at the University of Jabalpur to devote himself to the raising of human consciousness. A powerful and passionate debater, he traveled widely in India, speaking to large audiences and challenging orthodox religious leaders in public debates and began to address gatherings of 50,000 to 100,000 in the open-air maidans of India’s major cities, using the name of Acharya Rajneesh. Four times a year he conducts intense 10-day meditation camps.

During these camps he introduced his revolutionary meditation technique, Dynamic Meditation, which begins with a period of uninhibited movement and catharsis, followed by a period of silence and stillness.

Most traditional meditation techniques require one to sit still and silent. But Osho understood that for most of us accumulated stress in our body/mind makes that difficult. Before we can enter our inner silent spaces, we need to let go of our tensions. Over the years Osho designed many more such active meditations, lie Kundalini Meditation, Nataraj Meditation, Nadabrahma Meditation, and others. These active meditation techniques have been used by psychotherapists, medical doctors, teachers, and other professionals around the world.

In 1974 Osho moved to Pune (then Poona) where an ashram was established so that Osho would be able to focus his attention on the seekers he had started to initiate. He made it clear that his Neo-Sannyas or discipleship – a path of commitment to self-exploration and meditation – does not involve renouncing the world. Seekers from around the world started arriving and Osho, who was known at this time as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, gave a 90-minute discourse nearly every morning from 1974 to 1981, alternating every month between Hindi and English. His discourses offer insights into all the major spiritual paths, including yoga, Zen, Taoism, Tantra, and Sufism, as well as word teachers such as Gautama Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, and other mystics. These discourses have been collected into over 300 volumes and translated into every major language of the world.

Additionally, the commune offered a wide variety of therapy groups combining Eastern meditation techniques with Western psychotherapy. Therapists from all over the world were attracted, and by 1980 it had become an international community with a reputation as the world’s finest growth and therapy center, with 100,000 people passing through the ashram gates each year.

In 1981, Osho traveled to the US where his American disciples purchased a 64,000-acre ranch in the central Oregonian high desert and invited him to visit. The city of Rajneeshpuram was incorporated and provided services for 5,000 residents. It became the largest and most controversial spiritual community ever pioneered in the US, and a target for many politicians who made inflammatory speeches against it.

In September 1985, Osho’s personal secretary and several members of the commune’s management suddenly left, and a whole pattern of illegal acts they had committed was exposed. Osho invited law enforcement officials to investigate the crimes committed by the group, but the authorities saw this as a golden opportunity to destroy the commune entirely. Federal and local officials arrested Osho at gunpoint without warrants and held him without bail for 12 days.

Fearing for his life, attorneys agreed to an Alford Plea on two out of 35 charges brought against him by a federal grand jury in secret session. (According to the rules of the plea, the defendant maintains innocence while saying that the prosecution could have convicted him.) Osho was fined $400,000 and deported from America. The US Attorney in Portland, Charles Turner, later publicly conceded that the government was intent on destroying Osho’s commune.

Over the next two years, the government of 21 countries denied Osho entry or deported him after arrival. In 1986 Osho returned to India and later to the ashram in Pune where he started giving discourses again. Quickly the ashram fills again with seekers from all over the world.

In early 1989 Osho stopped using the name “Bhagwan” and accepted the address “Osho,” which derived from ancient Japanese. His health declining, he stopped giving talks in August and instead began to make daily appearances for evening darshan, sitting in silence while music was played. “That which cannot be said has to be experienced. This is a geat experience of getting into an inner, meditative space.”

Osho left his body on January 19, 1990. Just before his departure from the body, he said, “Never speak of me in the past tense. My presence here will be much greater without the burden of my tortured body.”

Today, more than 20 years later, his words are proved true. Thousands upon thousands of disciples and visitors come to the Pune ashram (now called Osho International Meditation Resort) and other Osho centers around the world. His talks, spoken over 30 years, recorded on audio and video, and published in hundreds of books are more popular than ever. In 2009, for example, three and a half million of his books were sold worldwide.

Osho Viha Information Center is devoted to spreading Osho’s message through the distribution of Osho books, DVDs, MP3s, and CDs. Osho's words, spoken spontaneously over the years, and his active meditations, are recognized around the world as is his insight into meditation, Tantra, Zen, relationships, and all aspects of life. His work was not a religion but a way of life, a method of revealing and living our full potential, from birth to death.

Osho Viha Information Center is proud to supply books, DVDs, MP3s, tapes, CDs, videos, Tarot cards, and other reflections of Osho’s work, to you through our web site http://www.oshoviha.org. Please contact us at oshoviha@oshoviha.org to find the Osho material you want and contact us. We are always happy to assist you.

Sourced from Osho Viha Connection Magazine

The Sound of Running Water

2010-02-02T16:43:00.000-08:00

Many friends of Osho's will remember The Sound of Running Water, the beautiful, big photo biography that was produced in Poona One times. Many gorgeous photos of Osho, his people, and his ashram, plus numerous quotes tell the story of Osho's life and work between 1974 and 1978.

The book was printed in a limited edition and went out of print more than 20 years ago when Avirbhava bought the last (signed) copy for $14,000 in Poona Two. Over the years, many sannyasins would sadly remember the time when they snapped up a copy for $100 in Rajneeshpuram – and gave it away. Sometimes a copy would appear on ebay or Amazon, offered for several thousand dollars.

Now Swami Jagdish in Pune has reprinted the book, with the same photos and text, in almost the exact same format, and we have just received a small shipment. You can contact us at oshoviha@oshoviha.org if you would like a copy.

The “sister” book to The Sound of Running Water has also been reprinted, with a new title, The Song of the Ocean. (The earlier version of the book was titled
This Very Place: The Lotus Paradise.) This new version has some additional chapters and covers Osho’s life and work from 1979 to 1990.

Each book measures 12 1/2 by 11 inches. The Sound of Running Water weighs about 7.5 lbs, and The Song of the Ocean about 5.5 lbs.

We are offering The Sound of Running Water for $895 and The Song of the Ocean for $595.

I think the two books are must-haves for every lover of Osho.

Sourced from Osho Viha Connection Magazine

Osho's "Death: The Greatest Fiction"

2009-12-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

We just received a small shipment of this book from India. This classic Osho compilation was out of print for several years, so I am very pleased to have in back in our stock.

This is a compilation of talks in which Osho explores the myths, fictions, and fears surrounding this inevitable event. “Life and death are one...in reality there is no such thing as death – life is eternal.” The book opens on a very personal note, Osho’s recollections of witnessing his beloved grandfather’s death when he (Osho) was only seven years old.

Price: $13.95 (Californians add $1.33 sales tax); shipping $4 for the US, $8 for out of the country.

http://oshoviha.org/oshohereandnow/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=death+the+greatest&osCsid=8517e7facbc76a2b1b0b6b02646b5343&x=0&y=0

Here is a beautiful excerpt from the book:

BELOVED OSHO,
I FEEL A STRONG CONNECTION BETWEEN DEATH AND MEDITATION, A FASCINATION AND A FEAR. WHEN I SIT WITH YOU, IT IS SOMEHOW SAFE TO CLOSE MY EYES AND MEDITATE; WHEN I AM ALONE, IT IS FRIGHTENING. PLEASE COMMENT.

Dhyan Sagar, there is not only a strong connection between meditation and death, but they are almost the same thing – just two ways of looking at the same experience.

Death separates you from your body, from your mind, from all that is not you. But it separates you against your will. You are resisting, you don't want to be separated; you are not willing, you are not in a state of let-go.

Meditation also separates all that is not you from your being and reality – but the resistance is not there; that is the only difference. Instead of resistance, there is a tremendous willingness, a longing, a passionate welcome. You want it; you desire it from the very depth of your heart.

The experience is the same – the separation between the false and the real – but because of your resistance in death, you become unconscious, you fall into a coma. You cling too much in death; you don't allow it to happen, you close all the doors, all the windows. Your lust for life is at the optimum. The very idea of dying frightens you from the very roots.

But death is a natural phenomenon and absolutely necessary too – it has to happen. If the leaves don't become yellow and don't fall, the new leaves, the fresh and young will not come. If one goes on living in the old body, he will not be moving into a better house, fresher, newer, with more possibilities of a new beginning. Perhaps he may not take the same route as he has taken in his past life, getting in a desert. He may move into a new sky of consciousness.

Each death is an end and a beginning.

Don't pay too much attention to the end. It is an end to an old, rotten, miserable life style, and it is a great opportunity to begin a new life, not to commit the old mistakes. It is a beginning of an adventure. But because you cling to life and you don't want to leave it – and it has to happen by the very nature of things – you fall unconscious.

Almost everyone, except those few people who have become enlightened, dies unconsciously; hence they don't know what death is, they don't know its new beginning, the new dawn.

Meditation is your own exploration.

You are searching to know exactly what constitutes you: what is false in you and what is real in you. It is a tremendous journey from the false to the real, from the mortal to the immortal, from darkness to light. But when you come to the point of seeing the separation from the mind and the body, and yourself just as a witness, the experience of death is the same. You are not dying... a man who has meditated will die joyfully because he knows there is no death; the death was in his clinging with life.

You say, Sagar, I FEEL A STRONG CONNECTION BETWEEN DEATH AND MEDITATION. There is. In the ancient scriptures of this land, even the master is defined as death because his whole function, his whole work is to teach you meditation. In other words, he is teaching you to die without dying – to pass through the experience of death, surprised that you are still alive; death was like a cloud that has passed; it has not even scratched you. Hence the fascination, and the fear. The fascination is to know the mysterious experience everybody has to pass through, has passed through many times, but became unconscious. And the fear – that perhaps death is only the end and not another beginning. […]

You say," WHEN I SIT WITH YOU, IT IS SOMEHOW SAFE." There is really no difference whether you sit with me or you sit alone – it is just a mind security, the idea that the master is present so there is no harm to take the jump. If something goes wrong, somebody is there to take care of it.

In meditation, nothing goes wrong – ever.

Without meditation, everything is going wrong.

Nothing goes right without meditation; your whole life is going wrong. You live only in hope, but your hopes are never fulfilled. Your life is a long, long tragedy. And the reason is your unawareness, your unmeditativeness.

Meditation looks like death, and the experience is exactly the same. But the attitude and the approach is different, and the difference is so vast that it can be said that meditation is life and death is just a dream.

But this is the function of a mystery school, where many people are meditating, where a master is present. You feel safe, you are not alone. If something goes wrong, help will be available immediately. But nothing goes wrong.

So meditate while you are sitting with me, and meditate in your aloneness. Meditation is the only thing with an absolute guarantee that nothing goes wrong with it. It only reveals your existence to yourself – how can anything go wrong? And you are not doing anything; you are really stopping doing everything. You are stopping thinking, feeling, doing – a full stop to all your actions. Only consciousness remains, because that is not your action, it is you.

Once you have tasted your being, all fear disappears, and life becomes a totally new dimension – no longer mundane, no longer ordinary. For the first time you see the sacredness and the divineness not only of yourself, but of all that exists. Everything becomes mysterious, and to live in this mystery is the only way to live blissfully; to live in this mystery is to live under blessings showering on you like rain. Each moment brings more and more, deeper and more profound blessings to you. Not that you deserve them, but because life gives them out of its abundance – it is burdened, it shares with whomsoever is receptive to it.

But don't get the idea that meditation is death-like, because death has no good associations in your mind. That will prevent you experiencing consciousness – "It is death-like." In fact, it is a real death. The ordinary death is not a real death, because you will be again joined with another structure, another body. The meditator dies in a great way; he never again becomes imprisoned in a body. […]

There are misunderstandings piled upon misunderstandings in you. Some misunderstandings can be tremendously harmful. Getting the association of meditation and death identified in your mind is one of the greatest harms that you can do to yourself. Although you are not wrong, your associations with the meaning of death are such that they will prevent you from getting into meditation.

That is one of the reasons I want to make death more and more associated with celebration rather than with mourning, more and more associated with a change, a new beginning, rather than just a full stop, an end. I want to change the association. That will clear the way for meditativeness.

And if you are feeling, here with me, silent and meditative – still alive, more alive than ever – then there is no need to be afraid. Try it in different situations, and you will always find it a source of great healing, a source of great well-being, a source of great wisdom...a source of great insight into life and its mysteries.

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Osho Viha News Early December 2009

2009-12-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

This has been another busy and fun week here at Osho Viha.

We just finished proofreading the January/February 2010 issue of our Viha Connection magazine. The topic of the Special Section is "Love & Aloneness: The Relationship Koan," with very juicy articles by Anasha, Avinash, Chinmaya, Devapath, Garimo & Neerava, and Tara, all discussing the ins and outs of their relationships. Definitely not to be missed!

On Saturday, the members of the editorial board came for a meeting here at Viha. It was once again time to find a topic – for the May/June issue, if you can believe it. (We have to plan much in advance!) The working title for that section is "Spreading the Fire," and we will invite some center leaders, therapists, and other folks who we feel present Osho and his message in ways that bring new people to our Master.

We also received a shipment of a new Tarot Deck, just in time for the holidays:
53 Meditations to Meet the Buddha Within
53 Meditation Cards and Booklet

The 52 cards in this deck together comprise a thoughtful guide to understanding the Buddha’s important contribution to human enlightenment. Each card contains a sutra, a commentary by Osho, and a beautiful image of a Buddha statue. Readers can first enjoy the words as poetry and allow them to evoke an intuitive, emotional response; they can then read Osho's corresponding entry in the book to create meaning. A 53rd card, called Sammasati, represents the last word spoken by the Buddha and an inspiring reminder of the reader’s own buddhahood. Individual sutras include Only Love Dispels Hate; Beyond Judgments; Neither Praise Nor Blame; Conquer Yourself; Beyond Sorrow; Awake Forever; and The Shining Way.

This will make a lovely holiday gift, either for yourself or a loved one. Please go to

http://oshoviha.org/oshohereandnow/product_info.php?cPath=142&products_id=1111&osCsid=d4a0d3920924f2bd394214eff9f9b131

to order it.

Why I Think the Resort Should Cancel the Evening Meditations in Buddha Hall

2009-11-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

by Dhanyam

Last month I read a short piece in the New York Times about a terrorist being arrested in Chicago and didn’t pay too much attention to it. But in the middle of November this terrorist story pretty much exploded, especially in the Indian media, all the way to the Osho Resort in Pune.

Turns out that the Pakistan-born terrorist David Coleman Headley (originally Daoog Gilani) traveled to India every year since 2007 – on his US passport – and not only stayed at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai before it was attacked by terrorists, but also visited the Osho Resort in Pune twice, for one day at a time.

I think it is safe to assume that Mr. Headley did not visit the Resort to meditate.

With a few thousand people going to the evening meditation in Buddha Hall every night, I have to ask whether the Resort security is adequate to protect sannyasins and other Osho lovers from a terrorist attack. To me the answer is clear: No!

I am convinced that Mr. Headley was scouting targets for future terrorist attacks, and because of this situation, I believe the only possible and responsible policy is to cancel the evening meditation in Buddha Hall until the Resort can adequately protect everyone attending.

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Deva Premal & Miten news

2009-11-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

We are always happy to receive news of our friends Deva Premal and Miten. These beloved sannyasin musicians are always traveling around the world and delighting their audiences with their wonderful singing. And they are wonderful ambassadors for Osho! I still fondly (and with goosebumps) remember their last concert in San Francisco, during which suddenly Osho's voice filled the magnificent Grace Cathedral.

Recently Nirvesha emailed us with the news that Ed and Deb Shapiro, authors of Be The Change, wrote about Deva and Miten in a new blog at the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-and-deb-shapiro/do-mantras-really-work_b_324820.html

"The room was filled with melodious voices. We were at a concert with the fabulous Deva Premal and Miten. They are masters at chanting, and at getting the audience to participate. Spending a few hours singing a foreign language (many chants are in Sanskrit) may not sound like a lot of fun, yet it has a remarkable effect. It really does uplift the spirit.

"...Apart from calming the mind and reducing friction, chanting can also be powerfully healing. Miten shared the moving story of a woman who had been deeply depressed for two years, sleeping on the couch as she could not climb the stairs, waking up each morning hoping she would die, and gaining a lot of weight. A friend played her Deva and Miten's chanting and she began to sob, followed by a huge release. She played their music constantly and one morning, when she woke up, for the first time she was able to appreciate the sun filling her room. She had thoughts of how she could share love, instead of longing to die.

"Deva and Miten hear such stories constantly, especially from people who know nothing of the meaning of the chant but who are feeling a lack of shared spirituality in their lives and who experience a deep and joyful resonance with the sound...." Read the full blog here .

Nice, huh?

Now Deva Premal's latest offering has just reached here: A CD titled "Mantras for Precarious Times."

Accompanied by Miten (voice), Manose (bansuri flute), and Kamal (keyboard drone, bells), Deva sings a selection of seven mantras chosen specifically as a support during these challenging times.

Each mantra is chanted for an entire mala – 108 beads.

The CD includes notes on useful applications for each mantra.

This CD and others by the duo are available at

http://oshoviha.org/oshohereandnow/index.php?cPath=101_105&osCsid=87a4b77545842d92a494a5b85e0a2099

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Original, unedited Osho ("Rajneeesh") books

2009-11-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

Over the past years I have noticed that the demand for original, unedited Osho books is huge. Many of our book buyers do not want the compilation books produced by mainstream publishers and request the original books, many of which are out of print.

I am always on the lookout for such books and was recently able to buy a small collection. Book collectors know that prices for such books are skyrocketing on sites like abebooks.com or on ebay.

I am excited to be able to offer the following “Rajneesh” books, all of them out of print. I have only one copy per title, so please email us soonest with your interest. oshoviha@oshoviha.org

Title publication date price
Take It Easy Vol. 2 1979 37.95
Discipline of Transcendence Vol. 2 1978 36.95
Ecstasy: The Forgotten Language 1978 36.95
Rajneesh Upanishad 1987 28.95
The Ultimate Alchemy Vol. 1 1976 37.95
The Book of Secrets Vol. 4 1976 29.95
The Book of Secrets Vol. 5 1976 35.95
Zarathustra: Laughing Prophet app.1989 36.95
Ta Hui: Great Zen Master app.1989 36.95
Gold Nuggets app.1989 22.95
More Gold Nuggets app.1989 22.95
Come Follow Me, Vol. 1 1976 37.95
Come Follow Me, Vol. 2 1976 37.95
The Razor’s Edge app. 1989 36.95
From the False to the Truth app. 1989 35.95
The Sword and the Lotus app. 1988 35.95

Books about Osho:
The Awakened One
(by Satya Vedant) 1982 22.95
The Rajneesh Papers
(by Palmer & Sharma) app. 1987 23.95

Dhanyam
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Sourced from Osho Viha Connection Magazine

Special Sale! Osho's Yaa-Hoo: The Mystic Rose

2009-11-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

Yaa-Hoo: The Mystic Rose

In March and April of 1988 Osho gave a series of discourses that have remained favorites with many of his sannyasins. This was a particular “juicy” and joyful time in Poona, with Osho delighting his people with often hilarious discourses and some of his most outrageous jokes.

Have you ever wondered how the Yaa-Hoo! mantra evolved? Or what triggered the creation of the Mystic Rose meditation? Or what made Osho walk out of discourse at the height of a monsoon storm?

“I wanted you to know that I am not an old-style Zen Master, but I also hit – in my own way, more sophisticatedly... One day suddenly I will be gone, just like the storm. Before I am gone I would like you to blossom into the biggest roses possible.”

It’s all here, in this big, elegantly designed book of questions and answers. Complete with many beautiful photos, this is a collector’s item!

This very special Osho book is now on special sale for only $14.95 plus shipping.

You can order it at http://oshoviha.org/oshohereandnow/product_info.php?products_id=1020

To get a really good taste of the electric energy in Buddha Hall during these discourses, why not also get a video or DVD at the same time. We are selling off our entire HUGE video collection for only $5.95 per video (plus shipping), and our DVDs are only $10.95. To order a video or DVD please contact us at oshoviha@oshoviha.org

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Osho's The Golden Future

2009-11-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

Osho's discourse series "The Golden Future" is the most comprehensive and explicit collection of discourses available on Osho’s vision for the future. The book was out of print for many years and has now been reprinted in two volumes:

Vol. 1: Meditation: The Only Way

In these discourses Osho indicates how many of the difficulties facing modern humanity can be traced to a simple fact: We don’t know who were are. Once we recognize our own individuality, a golden future – one in which every human being can live joyously, according to his own nature – becomes available to each and every one of us.

Vol. 2: Freedom from the Past

In these talks Osho reveals more of his vision for a new man and a new world. He shows us how the current global crisis ahs created a sense of urgency that can help usher in a totally new way of living. According to Osho, the coming of the new man and the new world is unavoidable, just as unavoidable as the demise of the old.

The two books together cost $18.95 and can be ordered at http://oshoviha.org/oshohereandnow/product_info.php?cPath=46_146&products_id=1109&osCsid=2ed1b1ad68c8db5b5b882a02c72d306d

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Meditation Is a Death

2009-11-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

Meditation Is a Death

Our Beloved Master,
Our love for music, poetry, dance, our love for love itself – doesn't that suggest an urge in us to disappear?
If that is so, why does meditation, the art of disappearing, not come more naturally to us?

Maneesha, music, poetry, dance, love are only half way. You disappear for a moment, then you are back. And the moment is so small...
Just as a great dancer, Nijinsky, said, "When my dance comes to its crescendo, I am no more. Only dance is." But that happens only for a small fragment of time; then again you are back.
According to me, all these – poetry, music, dance, love – are poor substitutes for meditation. They are good, beautiful, but they are not meditation. And meditation does not come naturally to you, because in meditation you will have to disappear forever. There is no coming back. That creates fear.
Meditation is a death – death of all that you are now. Of course there will be a resurrection, but that will be a totally new, fresh original being which you are not even aware is hidden in you.
It happens in poetry, in music, in dance, only for a small moment that you slip out of your personality and touch your individuality. But only because it happens for a small moment, you are not afraid; you always come back.
In meditation, once you are gone in, you are gone in. Then, even when you resurrect you are a totally different person. The old personality is nowhere to be found. You have to start your life again from ABC. You have to learn everything with fresh eyes, with a totally new heart. That's why meditation creates fear.
The Upanishads say that the master is a death. It is an incomplete sentence. The master is a death but also a rebirth, a resurrection. A master is nothing but meditation. A master simply gives you a meditation; he cannot do anything else. He gives you the meditation to die and to be reborn.
A meditator can play music and it will have a totally different significance. A meditator can write poetry, but then the poetry will not be only a composition of words. It will express something inexpressible. A meditator can do anything, but he will bring to it a new grace, a new beauty, a new significance.
Music, poetry, dance or love can become hindrances to meditation if you stop at them. First comes meditation, and then you can create great poetry and great music. But you will not be the creator; you will be just a hollow bamboo flute. The universe will sing songs through you, will dance dances through you. You will be only an address – c/o you. Existence will express itself, and you will be just a hollow bamboo.
Meditation makes you a hollow bamboo; then whatever happens through that hollowness, that empty heart belongs to existence itself.
Then Existence sings songs.

Rinzai: Master of the Irrational, Discourse 1

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Vasumati's comments on: "Therapy and Meditation in the World of Osho"

2009-11-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

Here some parts from Vasumati's article, on the same topic:

"For me meditation alone has never been enough. If we take meditation to be witnessing and going beyond the ego, then I have always needed more. I’ve needed love, celebration, creativity, and different forms of expression to create the full panorama of human experience that solves life’s problems and makes its joys more profound. [...]

In my case meditation was not higher or more mature than therapy or inquiry. Both grew simultaneously. Originally my journey into meditation was a personal love affair with Osho. I was not looking to go beyond the mind or the ego. I was in love, and the Being I was in love with also happened to be my Master. It was far more than just the impersonal space of meditation. In the years after Osho left the body new ground as a seeker had to be developed that put the onus for awakening on me and not on someone who would do it for me. There was no external Master and no lover.

Therapy helped unearth the patterns, and meditation helped me be with it and find the inner space necessary to allow the shifts to take place and the understandings to integrate. Therapy has been of tremendous help to me, and I will never feel that I should not need it. Meditation is the greatest gift I have received this lifetime. I will carry it with me through all the stages of life, love, aging, and death."

website: www.creatinglove.com.au

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Sourced from Osho Viha Connection Magazine

What's new at Osho Viha in early November?

2009-11-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

Osho Viha is having a super sale of Osho discourse VHS videos:

Only $5.95 per video (plus shipping) or 10 videos for $49.95 (plus shipping).

We have more than 500 videos: discourses and documentaries from Poona One, the Ranch, Osho’s World Tour, and Poona Two. You name it, we (probably) have it!

The selection is too vast to put it up on our websites, so please contact us with your interest.

A note for our customers outside of the US: The videos are in the American NTSC format, so before placing your order, please check that your VCR can play this format.

Please email us at oshoviha@oshoviha.org with your inquiries.

Also, we have just mailed out the November/December issue of our Viha Connection http://www.oshoviha.org/connection (see the cover above) and it is getting rave reviews. Readers seem to really enjoy the Special Section on Therapy and Meditation. Now we are starting the editing of our January/February 2010 issue. The special topic of that issue is "Loving and Relating in Osho's Sangha," which promises to be very juicy. Make sure you don't miss it.

This past Sunday (November 1), we had satsang here in our house. Afterward several people mentioned that they wanted to know the "20 difficult things" that Osho spoke about in the quote that we played during satsang. So I am posting the list below. The discourse is from The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol. 2, Chapter 2. Enjoy!

THE BUDDHA SAID:

THERE ARE TWENTY DIFFICULT THINGS TO ATTAIN OR ACCOMPLISH IN THIS WORLD.

1. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THE POOR TO PRACTISE CHARITY.

2. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THE STRONG AND RICH TO OBSERVE THE WAY.

3. IT IS DIFFICULT TO DISREGARD LIFE AND GO TO CERTAIN DEATH.

4. IT IS ONLY A FAVOURED FEW THAT GET AQUAINTED WITH A BUDDHIST SUTRA.

5. IT IS BY RARE OPPORTUNITY THAT A PERSON IS BORN IN THE AGE OF A BUDDHA.

6. IT IS DIFFICULT TO CONQUER THE PASSIONS, TO SUPPRESS SELFISH DESIRES.

7. IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO HANKER AFTER THAT WHICH IS AGREEABLE.

8. IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO GET INTO A PASSION WHEN SLIGHTED.

9. IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO ABUSE ONE'S AUTHORITY.

10. IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE EVEN-MINDED AND SIMPLE-HEARTED IN ALL ONE'S DEALINGS WITH OTHERS.

11. IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE THOROUGH IN LEARNING AND EXHAUSTIVE IN INVESTIGATION.

12. IT IS DIFFICULT TO SUBDUE SELFISH PRIDE.

13. IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO FEEL CONTEMPT TOWARD THE UNLEARNED.

14. IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE ONE IN KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTISE.

15. IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO EXPRESS AN OPINION ABOUT OTHERS.

16. IT IS BY RARE OPPORTUNITY THAT ONE IS INTRODUCED TO A TRUE SPIRITUAL TEACHER.

17. IT IS DIFFICULT TO GAIN AN INSIGHT INTO THE NATURE OF BEING, AND TO PRACTISE THE WAY.

18. IT IS DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW THE STEPS OF A SAVIOUR.

19. IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE ALWAYS THE MASTER OF ONESELF.

20. IT IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND THOROUGHLY THE WAYS OF BUDDHA.

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Therapy and Meditation in the World of Osho

2009-10-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

This week here at Osho Viha, we are busy with the mailing of our Viha Connection magazine. The topic of the Special Section is "Clearing the Ground: Therapy and Meditation." Osho’s insights into our minds and beings have been an incredible gift for us all. His guidance on how to use meditation and therapy together to heal, to go deep, and ultimately to go beyond the mind has been priceless. For the November/December 2009 issue of the Viha Connection magazine we asked six writers, several of them Osho therapists, to share their unique experiences with meditation and therapy as they’ve used both to clear the ground for something precious in their lives. Below is one of the articles, followed by Osho quote on the topic.

There Is No Separation

by Satyarthi

This topic brought up many memories for me. It was 1968, and I was 16 years old, growing up in Marin County, California. Flower power was in full bloom, and Indian gurus were coming to the Bay Area, leading meditations, giving talks and shaktipat, and opening ashrams. I was meeting people who were doing Transcendental Meditation, and, with a written note from my parents (who were communists and did not want me involved in anything religious but finally said yes), I hitchhiked two hours to Berkeley and was initiated into Indian spirituality.

I did TM every day for 20 minutes in the morning and evening. I was more relaxed and had a longing to find more of myself, so I became a TM teacher, completing a nine-month retreat with Maharishi. During that retreat I was reading The Primal Scream by Janov and questioning the TM leaders. I felt that therapy was also needed for growth. They disagreed, which ended my relationship with the TM movement.

In the next three years I learned a form of deep structural bodywork called Postural Integration (P.I.), and kept studying different forms of healing, such as shiatsu and acupuncture. By 1975 I was living in San Diego and had a thriving practice. Many orange-clad people were coming to me for sessions and workshops. These were disciples of Osho – wild, fun, and wonderful dancers.

I started to read and listen to Osho. Needless to say, I fell in love with two beautiful sannyasin women, and most of all, with Osho. In a couple of months I was flying to Pune to meet the Master in His commune.

Once there I did all the group therapies that Osho told me to do. The last one was the Encounter group with Teertha, who was the top therapist in the commune at the time. This group changed my life; it was the first time I was confronted with my narcissism in a big way. I had an inflated image of myself, and at the very beginning of the group Teertha told me he was going to make me the lowest person in the group. I was shattered, but by the end of the group he found a way to put me back together. Something had shifted in me: I was more vulnerable and open.

At Osho’s suggestion I soon joined the group department, leading groups in dance and body awareness and doing P.I. sessions. At this time the ashram had one of the best group departments on the planet; there were therapist and healers from all over the world. Around 1978 Osho said that all meditators should have deep bodywork. I was one of the practitioners of such work in the ashram. We were fully booked; everyone wanted sessions. He said this because He saw that meditation could not release the deep holding pattern in the body.

The same is true with many of the deep holding patterns in our hearts and minds. Therapy can help us understand and release these patterns in ways that meditation cannot. So for me there was never any separation between therapy and meditation

Sitting with Osho every day, I was learning how to be with myself, sit still, and slow down my mind. It had always been difficult for me to contain my energy; I felt compelled to express it and was always “out.” So with meditation I was learning to contain this energy within myself. Osho was blowing our minds. He was a living example of what He was speaking about. He pointed to the spiritual core of life and embodied in truth as an example of someone living in freedom and grace. He included therapy in all its forms for a reason: He knew we needed it!

We Western seekers have problems around early childhood abuse, difficulties with relating and sexuality, to name a few of our problems, and often need outside intervention from a therapist. I never thought of choosing: I meditated and received therapy. Therapy has been valuable for me in my process of staying sane and growing. Therapy brings self-inquiry into areas I do not know how to contact on my own. My deep personal work and my spiritual work seem to unfold together.

As my body, mind, heart, and spirit open, new layers of depth and self-love appear, and new layers of resignation and ego are revealed. Just through meditation I do not see my protection so clearly. I need the eyes of a good healer to point out my subtle and not-so-subtle layers of defense, to untangle the past from the present. This can be in the form of bodywork to release the holding patterns in the body and open the pathways of energy, or through individual or group therapy to explore my old wounds of grief and abandonment, to learn how to communication better in my relationships. Here therapy seems much quicker and more successful than meditation.

It has been a belief that meditation leads us to higher truths and therapy works with our lower self, our problems and issues. Ultimately this is true, but in my day-to-day life, it seems to me that there is no separation. As I meditate I open to more consciousness and come across pain that has been stored in my body, emotional pain felt as body sensation. This pain is there because I feel frustrated with work or stuck in some pattern. Meditation can help, but in my life I have found that therapy is much more specific and supports me to move deeper into my awareness to undo these patterns.

I think this is unique for each of us. Living with Osho for many years I saw how He treated each person individually: For some He would recommend therapy, for others He would say it was not needed. I have a personal story about this. At one point I gave Osho Rebalancing sessions every day for almost three months, which was one of the most amazing times in my life. Then suddenly He was finished having sessions with me. After some time I started feeling insecure and abandoned and had the feeling that I needed to do Primal. So I wrote Osho telling Him I wanted to do the Primal group. He sent me a message saying no need to do the group. I was stubborn and wrote back that I really wanted to do it. He said, Okay, then do it. I did the group, and it was the only time I did a group that felt like I was definitely in the wrong place. I felt lost in the group and did not get much from it. It was a wake-up call to take Osho’s guidance seriously. There is a time for therapy and a time for meditation. This was a time I needed to go deeper in meditation, not therapy.

Osho saw that to have true transformation we have to practice and live in meditation. Moment to moment He formed the sangha, the spiritual community. For me, much of His teaching and my self-discovery happened while living in the community.

Now that Osho is no longer in the body giving me guidance and answering questions, I need more outside help. When I am stuck in some love story or with work, I meditate, which helps, but if I go beyond my pride I see that I need help from someone. This is where a good healer or therapist can support me finding more clarity and awareness to discover a way through my difficulty. I am also aware that to keep my longing for truth burning, which is always uncomfortable, I need outside help. Here the Path of Love work has helped me a lot. Osho was stoking the fire of my longing. Now I need to keep it burning without Him. It is too easy to get lost in the desires and survival needs in the world without a living Master and His commune. So I look for help from therapists and different healers to keep this fire burning. My name means “seeker of truth,” so for me to stay true to that name I need both therapy and meditation.

coreintegration@yahoo.com

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Sourced from Osho Viha Connection Magazine

A Synthesis Between Therapy and Meditation

Beloved Osho,

Is that true that you have declared your therapists to be the best in the world? And what makes the difference between them and the famous therapists of the Esalen Institute?

Yes, my therapists are the best in the world, for the simple reason that other therapists are only therapists; they are not meditators. My therapists are meditators too.

Therapy is a superficial thing. It can help to clean the ground, but just to have a clean ground is not to have a garden.

You will need something more. Therapy is negative; it simply takes away the weeds from the ground, removes the stones from the ground, prepares the soil for the garden. But there its work ends.

Western therapy is still in its very primitive stage. It has to go a long way. And unless it becomes associated with meditation, it may help a little bit superficially, but it cannot really help the person to grow. […]

So I repeat: My therapists are the best in the world. And any therapist in the West, if he wants to become a real therapist, has to come to me. He has to come to meditations, and he has to create a synthesis between therapy and meditation. Then only will he be a real therapist; otherwise he is just doing half a job – which is very dangerous.

It is like doing partial surgery on a person and leaving him with an open wound. It would have been better if you had not touched him. If you have opened his wound, it is better you do it completely. And that's what is happening in the West: The psychotherapists and other therapists are opening people's wounds and leaving them incomplete. They are creating a very dangerous situation for the person. He will find himself in more anguish than he had ever been.

Now is the time that psychoanalysis should come to meet with meditative methods. East and West, unless they meet and merge with each other, will remain half and half. They are not complete in themselves. Together they can be complete – and completion of anything has a beauty of its own.

Light on the Path, Chapter 16
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Sourced from Osho Viha Connection Magazine

2009-10-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new Osho Viha blog. We are excited about exploring this new way to connect with Osho's friends worldwide. We envision this blog to become a juicy mixture of Osho Viha news, discussions about anything related to Osho, inspiring Osho quotes, and much more. We will also offer excerpts from our Viha Connection, the magazine we put out every second month. This magazine started out as a one-page newsletter for the local community and has grown into a beautifully laid-out publication (usually around 36 pages) with a full-color cover. The magazine has subscribers not only all over the US but in more than 35 countries worldwide.