My dear friends, We need your support. This can be called the 21st century Tibet story.

I need you to spare a few seconds and sign this petition that we have filed. We have suffered long, 23 years. And now finally the right time has come when the truth can surface. From a well planned gradual erasure of an innocent mystic from his own ashram to executing his suspicious death and rushed cremation,  from forging his fake signature on his will to banning his disciples from entering their own master's ashram, from siphoning billions of Rupees belonging to thousands of Osho disciples to private bank accounts to threatening innocent disciples through fake copyright and trademarks to cruelly commercializing an abode of peace that belonged to all, the OIF management at Osho ashram in Pune has not only committed heinous crimes but has brutally killed individual dignity, freedom and rebelliousness for which Osho fought for his whole life.

Recently the same management made a huge mistake of trying to forge Osho's will  which was proven forged during investigations in Europe and India. Now a criminal FIR, a civil case, and a PIL has been filed at Pune Police station and Indian courts. But you know how things move in India, if you have money and power, you can influence anything.

So we have filed this petition at avaaz.org to create a pressure on the Indian authorities to act promptly. Your one signature could bring about a big change for us. I know it is easy to ignore a petition but it is equally easy to help and at this moment we need your help.

All you need to do is enter your name and your country and your email address on the link
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Ministry_of_Home_Affairs_Government_of_Inida_CBI_inquiry_into_irregularity_and_illegal_activites_at_Osho_Ashram_Pune/?copy  

I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART IF YOU COULD SPARE A FEW SECONDS AND SIGN THIS PETITION.

Your friend,
Neerav

It happened with his touch

Swami Anand Arun of Osho Tapoban speaks about his experience when he took sannyas from Osho.

When I joined Osho in March 1969 there was no sannyas initiation but we were fully aware that  Acharya Rajneesh is our master; we were a bunch of 100-200 who had already surrendered to him in our hearts. Osho had not given a formal initiation to anybody till then. He started initiating people in 1970, and in 1971 Osho sent me a letter and invited me to come to Mt. Abu and take sannyas; he also said that he had already decided for my new name. But I was only a student of engineering and didn’t have the money or time to go.

  

So in 1972 when I was in my final year of engineering studies, I went to Bombay to take sannyas. Osho said to me, “You are in your last year of studies and if you take sannyas, I have doubt that you will complete your studies.” And he was right. So he told me to first go and complete my studies and also asked me to build a house for my parents on the empty plot of land that I owned in Kathmandu. He knew everything about my family. So I did as he said and you would be surprised to know that as soon as we finished the house warming party or Griha Prabesh Puja, the very next morning I escaped to Pune and took sannyas from Osho. I had already surrendered to Osho in 1969 and used to call him Bhagwan even before people had started calling him with this name. And I also wrote letters to him and Osho would reply to my queries. So the master-disciple relationship was already there, yet initiation still has its own value. This I realized after taking sannyas.

Before being initiated, I had been trying to meditate in my college and at home but my meditation was never deep and I always had problems going into silence. But after initiation it became very easy. At the time of receiving sannyas I had my first satori. I went into no-mind the very moment Osho touched my third eye and gave me the mala and my new name. The moment Osho touched me, I screamed so loudly that everybody in the car porch where the initiation was happening got disturbed. There was no Chuang Tzu Auditorium then and we were only 13-15 people in the small car porch, and Osho was speaking without a microphone. I was more of a reserved person before so when he touched me and gave me the mala it felt like a dam had been broken and the river wanted to flow over; so I kept on crying. I couldn’t control the upsurge of emotions and disturbed the whole interview, and people wanted to take me outside. But Osho was kind enough to stop them and said, “Let him let go.”

 And when Osho was initiating I could see the whole atmosphere changing. I saw that everything had turned into orange including Osho’s white robe and his chair. The tile floor, the walls, the trees in the ashram garden, the casual clothes of non-sannyasins, I saw that everything had turned into orange. I rubbed my eyes and I thought I was hypnotized and tried to wake out of it. I didn’t know what had happened but everything had changed into a beautiful psychedelic color of orange. Later on I read in books that when people take LSD they have such psychedelic experiences but to me it happened with his touch! And this lasted for about half an hour. I could see the radiating beauty and grace of Osho and so many other things happened which cannot be explained in words.

 It was an experience of the heart and it seemed to me as if I knew Osho from many lives, it was a reunion. The whole incident lasted for an hour after which the initiation was over and we returned to our rooms. And I was in such ecstasy and joy that I had never experienced in my life. I was staying at the Somji state building where there was a high ceiling hall. And suddenly I saw Osho’s head appear in one corner of the ceiling and I started crying out of joy. People could not understand what was happening. The whole night I had experiences and I felt like light as a feather. It felt like I was flying high and then again coming down. Even though I couldn’t sleep even for a minute, I was still in total ecstasy, in divine madness. The next morning I realized that I was a different person.

 That’s why I insist so much on the mala and sannyas to my new friends. It is one thing to read Osho or to meditate. People say to me that they are already reading Osho and doing his meditations, what is the need to take sannyas. But I know the difference. Without initiation your meditation cannot reach that height, you cannot surrender your ego. And unless you surrender your ego you cannot go into the depths of no-mind. So initiation is a must.

 It was a ten day camp and after those ten days my friends wanted to return so they went for a leaving darshan. I did not want to return and rather stay for another four months but still I also went with them. My initiation was on 11th October and the leaving darshan was on the 20th.  On that day I was so much in bliss that the moment they opened Lao Tzu gate I rushed to sit near Osho. We had been asked to walk in a gentle pace but I started running uncontrollably. Osho was having a private talk with the famous film director Vijay Anand and his girlfriend, who had been allowed in five minutes earlier than us. So when Mukta saw me running towards Osho she wanted to prevent me from disturbing the conversation, but Osho saw it and stopped Mukta. Osho invited me to sit close to his feet and I sat near him. During that interview I touched his feet several times and he blessed me several times. I was in so much bliss and gratitude that there was nothing to say. Osho looked at me and chuckled, “Hmmm … so you are in ecstasy?”

 This was my experience after taking sannyas and for ten days I was in a different world. I tried to force myself to remember where I had come from, my parents, my job, but my mind was not ready to accept that I had any past connection. I was totally in the state of here and now. I had limited funds for ten days but I stayed for four months without a penny. I was half mad and everybody thought that I would not be able to return to the world. My parents had lost hope and thought that I would become a vegetable. I was in so much bliss and happiness that even I had lost hope that I would be able to return to my job and earn my bread.

 During the four months in Pune, I had to go through many physical hardships, using municipal latrines and slept under thatched roofs with several other people. Everything around me was uncomfortable but I was in the most comfortable state. I was so joyful then that afterwards for several years I was ready to pay any price to experience the same joy.

 Now, since last few years I feel the same joy and bliss and I don’t miss Osho anymore. Today there was sannyas initiation in the meditation hall and anyone could see how ecstatic and mad people were. People can still attain to such ecstacy. We are reliving Osho. Today he is closer than the closest person to my heart and I don’t miss him.

 From an interview by Aatmo Neerav

dissolved in my people...

CLAP! now CLAP!!! (a very outrageous discourse of Osho)

During the month that followed Sheela’s exit flight Osho talked three times a day (about seven to eight hours) to disciple and journalists. For such a self-acclaimed lazy man He was doing a tremendous amount of “work,” and was obviously getting tired.

When asked by a journalist how was it possible that He did not know everything that was going on if He was enlightened, Osho replied:

“To be enlightened means I know myself, it does not mean that I know my room is bugged.”

September 26th, 1985. It takes a diamond to cut a diamond, and I recognized that what was coming was going to hurt when in discourse Osho said:

“And today I would like to declare something immensely important – because I feel perhaps this helped Sheela and her people to exploit you, I don’t know whether tomorrow I will be here or not, so it is better to do it while I am here, and make you free from any other possibility of such a fascist regime.”

“That is, from today, you are free to use any color of clothes. If you feel like using red clothes, that is up to you. And this message has to be sent all over the world to all the communes. It will be more beautiful to have all the colors. I had always dreamed of seeing you in all the colors of the rainbow.

Today we claim the rainbow to be our colors.

The second thing: you return your malas – unless you wish otherwise. That is your choice, but it is not a necessity anymore. You return your malas to President Hasya. But if you want to keep it, it is up to you.

The third thing: from now onwasrds, anybody who wants initiation into sannyas will not be given a mala and will not be told to change to red clothes.

So, we can take over the world more easily!” (From Bondage to Freedom)

These words from Osho had an ominous feel to them, but it was the clapping and cheering that frightened me. It was like a stupid mob; like the clapping that had accompanied Sheela’s meetings. Many people left Rajneesh Mandir very happy and went to buy new color clothes in the boutique. I saw Vivek, we were both wary of the change, and she said to me, “He may disband the commune next.”

Ocotober 8th, 1985, Osho said in discourse:

“…You have been clapping because I have dropped red clothes, malas. And when you clap, you don’t know how it hurts me. That means you have been a hypocrite!”

“Why have you been wearing red clothes if dropping them brings you so much joy? Why have you been wearing the mala? The moment I say, ‘Drop,’ you rejoice. And people rushed to the boutique to change their clothes, they have dropped their malas.

“But you don’t know how much you have wounded me by your clapping and by your changing.”

“Now, I have to say one thing more, and I would like to see whether you have guts to clap or not; that is, now there is no Buddhafield. So if you want enlightenment, you have to work for it individually, the Buddhafield exists no more. You cannot depend on the energy of the Buddhafield to become enlightened.

Now clap as loudly as you can. CLAP!…”

“Now you are completely free: even for enlightenment only you are responsible. And I am completely free from you.”

“You have been behaving like idiots!…”

“And this has given a good chance to see how many people are really intimate with me. If you can drop your malas so easily… Even in my own house there is one sannyasin who immediately changed to blue clothes, with great joy. What does it show? It shows that those red clothes were a burden. She was somehow managing to be in red clothes against her will.

But I don’t want you to do anything against your will.

Now I don’t want even to help you towards your enlightenment against your will. You are absolutely free and responsible for yourself.” (From Bondage to Freedom)

When He shouted “Clap!” it was as though a bomb had exploded and we were all sitting in its fallout, frozen.

- My Diamond Days with Osho, ma prem shunyo

The Commune in the Paradise City

Almost a year ago, I had written an article here on Sannyas News about Osho Tapoban’s official announcement

of the upcoming four new communes in Nepal. Recently I made a trip to one of these communes, Osho Upaban

in Pokhara, and what I saw there has impressed me over expectations. In just a few months after its constructions started, the commune has already taken shape and is ready to welcome Osho lovers.

Perched high on the rim of the deep Seti gorge, Upaban is practically an island bordered by two huge mountain

rivers, the Seti and the Phusre. Osho Sannyasins have now changed the name of Phusre as Mandakini. Mandakini

is the tributary of Ganges, which starts from Kedarnath in North India and has the same color and water quality as Phusre.

Situated at a 10 minutes drive from the Pokhara airport, the commune is connected with a metal road and is only 4 kilometers away from the main city of Pokhara. In Sanskrit, ‘Upaban’ means garden and this commune really looks like an exquisite garden located right at the base grounds of the Annapurna Mountain range from where one can enjoy an

uninterrupted dramatic view of the whole Annapurna range and the intriguing Macchapucchre.

Apart from the rivers and mountains, the commune is also bordered by a lush green forest hill on one edge while the high rising gorges on the other side of the Seti River form dramatic scenery of almost surreal landscape. In addition to this, the commune is also connected to a turquoise colored natural swimming pool sourced by the fresh waters of the Phusre (now called Mandakini) that the visitors at the commune can enjoy at any time.

Arriving outside the commune, a driveway walled by towering cliffs overgrown with moss and long grasses leads to the main entrance of the commune. Beside the entrance is the beautiful bungalow of the semi-circular reception block that houses the spacious welcome center with its future modern audio-visual lounge. This complex is also a guesthouse with huge deluxe rooms that open to a balcony overlooking the beautiful scenery around.

Very close to the welcome centre is the three storied residential cum meditation complex with three halls on each floor, two of which are dormitories and one a multipurpose meditation and therapy room. Situated right on the brink of a cliff

overlooking the Seti River, I was impressed to see that even the bathrooms of this complex bear a five star view of

the deep gorges and the river around.This complex also houses the common bathrooms, a small kitchen for the

future Zorba Restaurant and guest rooms with attached and non attached bathroom facility. Until the construction of the main Buddha Hall is complete, all the meditation sessions are being facilitated in this building.

The other part of the commune is the adjoined long strip of flat hill where the 40 individual residential bungalows and the Buddha hall are being constructed. The construction of seven two-storied bungalows with three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen have already started and are estimated to be completed by the end of this year. A beautiful walk through garden has also been built by the residential sannyassins living in the commune that extends a long way from the

front of the welcome centre, through the residential buildings and right up to the edge of the

strip where a silent meditation pagoda cum view tower has already been constructed.

Moving towards the northern side of the commune is a vast stretch of wildly vegetated land behind the reception block, which extends from a wide flat land at the base to the highest spot in the whole commune. Right at the edge of the flat land is the first hut of the commune. This orange house can be seen from the road and looks spectacular amongst its wild background. A silent meditation temple is to be constructed at the top of the hillock here.

When asked about the amazing pace with which the work is being done in Pokhara, Swami Yogananda the President of Upaban replied, “I don’t think it is coming too fast, we could have done faster but due to our limitations, we are still lagging behind. It is all because of the continuous efforts of Swami Anand Arun that this commune has taken shape. It is all because of Osho’s grace and His blessings.”

Regarding the meditation programs at Upaban he said, “I would like to invite everyone to come and have a taste of our commune. Next meditation camp of Sw. Anand Arun has been scheduled from 19-24 Nov. For this camp, we have accommodation available only for 75 people and as we expect more bookings, we will be confirming them at a first come, first serve basis. We have also been doing weekend meditation camps when we also have sannyas celebrations. Apart from that we have 3 regular Osho meditations – Dynamic, Kundalini and Whiterobe meditations everyday so people can come for the daily sessions also.”

After meeting the sannyassins here and living in Upaban for three days meditating, taking long walks or just sitting silently looking at the river or the mountains around Upaban I had a great time and it was one of the most beautiful experiences for me. Seeing the way things are coming up in this commune, it does really seem to me that mere human efforts are not the only inspiration behind it, but also the undying love and devotion for the master that can be felt everywhere in Upaban. Well whatever it is, Upaban is one of the almost impossible masterpieces that I have come across, both naturally as well as human wise and I recommend it for everyone.

By- Swami Aatmo Neerav

thank you beloved master

As I look at you with truly open eyes,
emptiness fills me
and I remember that I am an eternal absence.
Listening to your words,
I dissolve, merge, disappear and drown in your voice
and before I know,
I know that everything has remained but me
in a million lives I haven’t experienced a sweeter death
thank you beloved master

nothing to dig, nothing to seek
a dew drop in the morning, vanishing

Neo-Sannyas - A new momentum.

A New Momentum in the Neo-sannyas Movement. By Swami Aatmo Neerav

For thousands of years the culture of sannyas was hidden in the wombs of the East and remained a privilege rare to the common world. It required great penance and unswerving self confidence, determination, honesty, sacrifice and devotion on the part of those who wished to walk this non-worldly path of spiritual enlightenment. For this, seekers had to pass through years of austerities, discipline and purification before a master would initiate them into sannyas.

Osho was not in favour of this concept. He argued that with time, the original concept of sannyas had lost its grace and honor and had become a refuge of the escapists. So in 1970 he invented a revolutionary vision of sannyas known as neo-sannyas.

His sannyas was different from the old concept of no possessions, no family and no profession. Osho did not want his sannyasins to renounce the world but practice meditation in the market, while also embracing their worldly duties. Though this looked easy, it was a bigger challenge for the sannyasins to meditate and remain aware while being in the crowd.

It came as a shock to traditional fundamentalists and priests who thought Osho’s concept of sannyas was just too easy, and they predicted that it wouldn’t work. But the consequences were quite contradictory.

Just in seven years after its establishment, the movement of neo-sannyas had gained so much momentum that every year thousands of people were being initiated at the Pune Ashram. Young sannyasins in mala and orange sprang up throughout the world. This crowd of young and educated individuals further grew when Osho went to America and established his commune, Rajneeshpuram. By 1985 the number of his sannyasins had accelerated beyond millions and the red clads in malas could be seen in all major cities of the world. It was a period of honour and glory for the neo sannyas movement.

But unfortunately the neo-sannyas movement felt a great jolt in October 1985 when the American government plotted and destroyed Rajneeshpuram. Especially after Osho left his body in 1990, the movement seemed to take the journey of a setting sun.

Furthermore, the management at the Pune Ashram formed unnecessary rules that resulted in much confusion. They instructed camp-conductors to wear black clothes and ordered them not to organize camps for more than three days. Orders were made not to celebrate Osho’s birthday, Enlightenment day, Mahaparinirvana and Master’s day. All Osho pictures were removed from the different departments of the Pune Ashram and instructions were made for others to follow the same. Songs mentioning Osho and the word, master, became banned in the Ashram. While great efforts were made to destroy sannyas, initiation was gradually discouraged and wearing Osho’s mala was seen as a “crime”.

All intimate and dedicated disciples who loved Osho were asked to leave the Ashram one after another and their entry became banned inside the Ashram premises. Committed sannyasins who were working in different departments of the Ashram since many years got replaced by paid non-sannyasin workers. Dedicated Osho disciples doing his work for many years were discouraged to continue and great threats were made on the basis of fabricated trademarks and copyrights so that people would stop working out of fear.

Despite the prevailing confusion a few devoted disciples who had been banned by the management of the Pune resort continued with Osho’s work and established communes independent from the control of Pune Resort. Old Indian sannyasins like Swami Narendra Bodhisattva, Ma Amrit Mukti, Ma Yoga Neelam, Swami Chaitanya Keerti, Ma Dharma Jyoti, Sw Anand Vijay, Sw Anand Swabhab, Swami Chaitanya Bharati, Swami Anand Vairagya, Swami Vairagya Amrit and Swami Anand Arun from Nepal started giving sannyas and spreading Osho’s message throughout the world. The newly established communes again started to work as true Osho meditation centres and the neo-sannyas movement which was almost dead regained its pace of acceleration.

Recently this movement has attained a glorious momentum in Nepal. Today there are 4 active Osho communes and 70 meditation centers spread throughout the country with 65,000 initiated sannyasins. Every month Swami Anand Arun and other camp conductors trained in Tapoban conduct several meditation camps and initiate about 3000 people from all over the world every year. During this year Swami Anand Arun is traveling to 11 different countries in Western Europe, North America, Asia and the former USSR to conduct meditation camps, facilitate sannyas and open meditation centres and communes. When asked about his pace of work he says, “This is what existence wants. Its people’s love for Osho that invites them into sannyas and its Osho’s energy and compassion that accepts them. I am just a medium.” He adds. “Osho’s neo-sannyas and his meditation techniques are the only way to create the new man and the best solution to the prevailing global crisis. In 1969 when I had my first interview with Osho, he had said to me, ‘If you work hard the whole of Nepal will plunge into my colour like Tibet has plunged into Buddhism.’ I didn’t believe him then but today I can see it manifesting.”

Seeing “the work” happening in and through this little country in the mountains proves that the concept of neo-sannyas that shook the world in the seventies has lived and is thriving with the same glory. It also ascertains that good intentions never die but manifest themselves in due time.

Becoming a rippleless lake with Ma Anand Madhu. - by Swami Aatmo Neerav

"I gave that watch to the first of my sannyasins. The name of my first sannyasin is Ma Anand Madhu -- a woman of course, because that's what I wanted. Nobody has initiated women into sannyas like me. Not only that, I wanted to initiate a woman as my first sannyasin, just to put things in balance and in order." (Glimpses of a golden childhood) -OSHO

When Osho started giving sannyas in 1970, Ma Anand Madhu was the first lady who decided to become the disciple of Acharya Rajneesh (As Osho was known in those days). A long mala and orange were a compulsion and being a professor and a lady from a renowned political family, it was a bold step for Ma Madhu to accept the controversial guru as her master.

As a sannyasin Ma Madhu became very active in organizing meditation camps for Osho and she was also a member of the kirtan mandali or travelling music groups which carried Osho's message to different parts of India in the early days. Later Ma Madhu became the personal secretary of Osho and contributed much to the growth of Osho's work. Osho wanted Ma Madhu to open a commune in Gujarat and had given it the name, 'Biswa Neer' or World family, but Madhu Ma had recently taken silence camps and her love for silence had only grown over the months. So when she asked Osho if she could go to the Himalayas for a long silence retreat, the master gave his blessings and sent her with his shawl as a gift.

After fourteen years of penance and meditation on the banks of Ganges in Rishikesh, Ma Anand Madhu attained ultimate realization but still preferred to remain in silence. However after many requests of old sannyasins, Ma Madhu came out of silence and today meets only Osho sannyasins for an hour in her room at the Gujarati Ashram in Rishikesh. Here is a little story of my second meeting with her.

It was my second meeting with Ma Anand Madhu, the first initiated disciple of Osho. And this time I had the money and the heart to think of a present. When I first saw the towel in an Ashram shop, I knew this was exactly the gift. Like her it was soft and in orange and my heart said yes.So with a two dozen sannyassin caravan we started our journey to her place. Through the narrow lanes of Rishikesh, over the Ganges on a boat and finally on the same tempo ride I had taken earlier, we arrived at the gates of the Gujrati Ashram.

It was different for me. The Ashram was cool, silent and clean and it was also a place I had come earlier. With polished cemented floors the simple structure of the Ashram not only radiated physical coolness but also the nourishment that touched the heart. I was touched and I knew that I could only be silent.

I also knew that on the floor over this entrance lived a beautiful lady that I deeply loved. I hadn’t met her and I was already influenced by her overflowing presence. Maybe our love had grown over the year and had made me more receptive of her beauty. This I did not know. I looked above and admired the importance that this place so gracefully held along with its plainness.

A bald sannyassin in orange said that we could leave our bags downstairs and go up. So in a group with our own silence and gifts we all went to the upper floor where Ma Anand Madhu lived. I could already hear her soft stern voice repeating the same greeting with which she had greeted me last year. She welcomed each sannyassin with the word Osho.

As I entered I felt a thickness of an overpowering presence spread throughout the room. Though I could not see it I felt a large radius of energy surrounding her which influenced everyone that came to her presence. This was the same nourishment I had felt at the entrance of the Ashram only that this time it was stronger. My eyes were wide open, my mind was silent and I felt a tremendous well being at my heart centre. My heart guided me and I silently bowed down and touched her little feet. She softly touched my back and said, “Right”. I put my gift in her hands and after looking at it she said, "This was important."

Swami Anand Arun had come earlier in the morning and was already sitting with her. He introduced each of us with compliments bigger than ourselves. Such beautiful adjectives can only come from someone like him.

After some time it was Madhu Ma’s turn to play her games. She made fun of everyone and everything. After giving each of us some snacks and sweets she insisted that she would cut apples for Swami Arun and asked him if he liked them peeled or normal. While Swami Arun cracked jokes, Madhu Ma ridiculed him with her witty answers which only made us laugh more.

When Swami Arun told Ma Madhu that he was condemned of trying to pollute Osho for advocating the five disciplines, ‘the panchsheel’, Ma Madhu boldly replied, “These were the same disciplines Osho gave us for meditation when he was taking camps and you have not added anything. Don’t worry. Positive and negative are both needed for a balance. It’s good.”

As I was sitting right in-front of her she would look at me and ask me questions like, “How many meditations do you do in a day?” or “How many meditations do they do in Tapoban?” But every time I tried to speak I only found that I had no words or thoughts to respond to her questions and I only smiled back. She understood this and would smile back at me and somebody else would answer the questions.

Ma Anand Madhu inspires and ignites that flame of love, silence and celebration that we all carry. Her being is a living evidence of that beautiful potential that our beloved master always talks about and I feel more than blessed for having met her twice. Through words I only try to express this overflowing experience in hope that a fragment of it is carried.