Showing posts with label SWAMI ANAND ARUN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SWAMI ANAND ARUN. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Four New Osho Communes birthed in Nepal.

By Swami Aatmo Neerav.

When Osho visited Nepal in 1986 he seemed to see much behind the smiles and welcoming eyes of the simple people of the country. For he was later to say that in just a few years the whole country would be colored red, and its streets would run over with the colours of his sannyasins. It seems that this prophesy is taking life.

With the already existing four active communes and 67 meditation centres, one is bound to meet a maroon clad, freely swanking his mala, and flowing around the cities of Nepal. Now the chance of meeting these maroon clad is only to grow as four more communes are to be added.

Local sannyasins have initiated four commune projects in different cities under the patronage of Swami Anand Arun, an old Osho disciple, and the Co-ordinator of Osho Tapoban.

In Lumbini, the birth place of Gautama Buddha 10.6 acre land has been purchased by sannyasins to build an international village known as Osho Chetban International Village. The purchased plot is at a distance of 1 km from Gautama Buddha’s birth place. Bordered by a river the purchased land has been divided into three units; meditation unit, residential unit and a community unit. The village will have 100 residential houses with the facility of a community hall and centre, a meditation hall and a forest area. As the land is protected by the Lord Buddha Trust, no commercial activities or structures can be built around this area. Foreign sannyasins can also acquire land on a lease basis of 99 years.

In the city of lakes, Pokhara, sannyasins have already purchased the half of the purposed 3.8 acre for an Osho International Commune. Bordered by two huge white water rivers the purchased island overlooks a green forest and is situated very close to the Himalayan ranges of Pokhara. The plot is at 4kms distance from the Pokhara airport.

In Eastern Nepal, the Dharan municipality has granted 5 acres of land to Osho Nirvana Centre for developing it into a full fledged active and residential Osho commune. With a river boundary on one side, the land also has a dense forest and an already existing small hall which can be used for immediate meditation. A committee of local sannyasins has been formed for developing the land. In Southern Nepal also; an Osho lover has donated 8 acres land near the East West Highway in Lahan for developing it into an Osho commune. Sannyasins have already started planting trees and a plan has been passed to build a house for twenty people.

The patron of these projects Swami Anand Arun said; “It will be very difficult for people to believe in such big news. But it is all true. The finance and the plans have already been developed for building these communes. Soon we will have four more Osho communes in Nepal.”
All the four communes are spiritually affiliated to Osho Tapoban.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

My First Meditation Camp with Osho, Swami Anand Arun

On the evening of 29th March, 1969, Acharya (Osho) returned to Jabalpur (from Patna) by the Toofan Mail Express where I had first met him, and heard him lecture. I started writing letters to him. My life was filled with questions and was full of problems; and I started writing about my personal situation to Acharya. He used to reply back at that time with beautiful handwritten letters. They used to be short, but filled with guidance and messages for me. In one of his letters, he wrote “Meditation is the only solution to your problem. From meditation, you will get spiritual energy and when this energy overflows, it will clear all the obstacles and solve your problems. There will be a meditation camp at Dwarika in October, if you can manage it then come so that you can meditate and we can talk in detail."

Traveling long distances alone at that time was a difficult thing. So I requested some of my friends to go with me, but nobody was ready for that. So I half-heartedly returned back home to Kathmandu. Still there was a strong force that was pulling me towards Osho. I could not enjoy the festivals at home, rather I seemed to become more anxious. Finally I decided to travel to Dwarika alone. As soon as I decided this, I felt a strong energy arising within me. As usual at festival times, it is very difficult get a reservation on the trains, but for some reason I easily got a reservation! I was surprised to find many people on the journey who were very helpful and friendly towards me. After a long journey, I reached Dwarika. It was the month of October 1969.

The Ocean is both my delight and weakness. Even today whenever I go near it, I feel a certain mysterious aloneness and inner bliss. My futile ego surrenders in front of the widespread-endless ocean and I feel inner silence, peace and elevatation. Many thousands of years ago, Dwarika was ruled by Krishna and it was his favourite place for his pastimes. The background of the Arabian Sea, and above all the mystical presence of Osho took my consciousness to newer realms. The meditations on the sandy beaches of the sea, triggered a deep transformation within me, and turned the whole course of my life. Osho’s presence, his discourses and meditations on the art of dying took us within to a deep inner awareness of undying. Later the discourses given in that camp were published as a book called “Mein Mrityu Sikhata Hu (In Hindi)”.

Most of the participants in the camp were from Gujarat and Maharastra. I was the only one who was from outside India. For the first time I found myself in the company of open, friendly and happy meditators, free from all hypocrisies.

On the very first day Osho said “All the Hindus say that the Soul is immortal, but nobody has experienced it, it is only a concept, an idea borrowed from the Scriptures. One self-realized person is enough to enlighten a whole village. As the presence of a beautiful woman changes the vibe of the environment, as a blooming flower can change the surrounding by its fragrance, similarly a self-realized soul can change the spirit of the surrounding. There are more than 10 million traditional sannyasins and ascetics (in India) and most of them claim themselves to have realized the divine. All of them have their own ways to attract people by going through various self torturing practices and austerities. This is not meditation, but rather a religious circus. The country would not have been in such mess if there were 10 million enlightened beings. These are not sadhakas but they are all hypocrites. In fact, it’s all because of them, we are poor and loosing our morality. Ordinairy people are not to be blamed because they have been the same all the time. If there is anything wrong then it is because of so-called saints and ascetics. They go on saying that they will change everyone’s character and make people more moral, but they don't know that this is next to impossible. Common people will remain the same. If we are to change the world then a few people are enough. And they have to go through an intense transformation that can be the spotlight for society, and can guide millions of souls. That's why I only need one hundred such people. If these people can reach the heights of consciousness then the rest of the humanity will not remain the same. Gurdijeff and Vivekananda used to say, "If I get one hundred true, dedicated meditators, I will change the course of time." But they could not get hundred such people and had to die in frustration. I also need one hundred such people, but I am not going to die like them. I will travel to each and every place, I will look into the eyes of each and every one, and if I find anybody that can be a potential, I will pull him out of all the troubles of his life, and I have done the preparation to put all my effort and capacity to transform them. If you have courage and strength then come to me I will reveal to you that secret beyond life and death."

I was completely moved by the fiery words of Acharya. I could not sleep that night and was shivering due to the overflow of energy within me. The very next day, I wrote a small note to him “Acharya, now look for only 99 people, one has arrived”

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Swami Anand Arun: I am only an ardent lover of Osho. (interview)

Swami Anand Arun, a 65 year-old-engineer first saw Osho in 1969 and was tantalized by his physical grace and firing speech. He began spreading Osho’s message in Nepal in 1970 opening a meditation centre at his own residence. Today, Swami Anand Arun is the Co-ordinator of Osho Tapoban International Commune in Nepal which has been spreading Osho’s message and helping seekers throughout the world since last 18 years. Through Swami Arun’s efforts Tapoban has already opened 22 Osho centres and communes in USA, Canada, Russia, UK , Germany and five communes and 60 centres only in Nepal. We sat down and talked with Swami Arun to know more about his experience with Osho and the ever-growing neo-sannyas movement. Here is what he had to say.

Would you please say something about Osho’s life and work?

Sw Arun: It’s very difficult to talk about Osho. He cannot be defined in words. The life of mystics and enlightened masters is like an iceberg. Only a small portion of their life is visible and the major portion remains hidden. He says that first you should know who you are. You should know your centre, your soul. Then you can understand at least a fragment of somebody like Osho who has become oceanic. An easier way is also to love him madly. If you are madly in love with him and you trust him totally, then you may be able to understand some of the mysteries of his life, what he is and what he wants to do for us. So, you either become self realized or fall madly in love with him. I can talk about him and his life endlessly, but it is completely unnecessary. It does not define who he is.

It’s been almost forty years since you met Osho and have been actively working to spread his message. What inspired you to give so much of your life for this movement?

Sw Arun: When I first met Osho forty years ago I was in a totally defeated state. There was no hope or zeal in life and I didn’t want to live. Before I met Osho there was a big question in my mind; What’s the purpose of living? But after I fell in love with him I found my answer. I should live to spread his message and to share his love with the world. I should live to meditate and to celebrate. He has given me this life, its meaning and the reason to live. I have surrendered my life to him and as his disciple I just want to become his medium. It’s not my life and therefore I don’t have any plans for it. He will keep me as long as he wants and I will continue with the same madness.

You have initiated more than fifty thousand people from all over the world and seventy five
percent of them are below the age of thirty five. What attracts so many young people to Osho?

Sw Arun: I would like to correct you. I have not initiated anybody. Only a master can initiate. I only inspire people. It is their decision to take sanyass and its Osho’s energy and love that accepts them. I am just a medium. I can become an empty vessel and through me Osho initiates his disciples. You are asking why most of the people are young. Yes, when religion is alive, it attracts young people. All the great things done by great masters were done during their young age. Buddha left his palace at the age of 29 and became enlightened when he was 35. Shankaracharya became enlightened at the age of 16 and died at the age of 32. Vivekananda died at 39 and Jesus died at 33. They were young people and they have done miracles in the world. When you are young energy is alive and you are innocent. Old people become cunning and old minds become greedy. So when religion is young it always attracts young people. Only young people can create miracles. Only young people can be REALLY RELIGIOUS.

What is your opinion about the current global situation?

Sw Arun: The current global situation is very alarming. It looks like we are no more interested in life. We are heading towards total destruction. Global warming, over population, scarcity of water, rupture in the ozone layer are a few indicators to show that the world is moving towards destruction. Osho has said several times that it’s high time we corrected ourselves or we will have to vacate this beautiful planet. Enlightened masters have always been giving the indication but very few people listen to them. But now even sociologists, environmentalists and scientists have started saying that we are heading towards global suicide. It’s now very urgent to correct our mistakes. Osho is a messenger for this transformation; to show where we have made mistakes and how we can correct them.

Your efforts have culminated into numerous meditation centres and communes all over the world.How do you manage so much?

Sw Arun: People can build houses but they can’t build temples. I have been to several temples built by rich people. Architecturally, they are well planned and well decorated but most of them have no spiritual energy because this energy cannot be created by money. Our meditation centres are Buddha fields where spiritual energy is alive. I would like to give you an example of the centre (Osho Sambodhi) that was recently opened in London. It is just an ordinary house but if you sit there for five minutes you will be charged by a divine energy. I cannot create this energy. Osho centres are created by existence and they are running because existence wants them to. Yes! We can become facilitators, we can become mediums, and I feel very lucky that existence has given me this opportunity.

What do these centres contribute to the society?

Their contribution to society is indirect. These centres make good and joyful individuals. A happy individual can make a happy society. If individuals are unhappy, stressed and angry then the whole society gets affected. So, these centres make people relaxed and joyful. At Tapoban you can see that people are happy even if they are not affluent. A new person can instantly realize that people here are always laughing and cracking jokes. Yes! We are happy people and we love to share happiness. These centres are like oases that radiate happiness in the world. And if the world needs anything, it’s happiness, love and freedom. These three most essential things in people’s life are all available in these centres. Osho centres are a free space, nobody interferes in anybody’s personal life. People have total liberty. It’s their life and they live according to their own intelligence. Centre coordinators or anybody in the centre does not have any right to interfere in anybody’s life. An individual’s right is highly respected. The centre attracts people who love Osho or who love humanity. You are here because you love Osho, because you love me and I am here because I love you. So, the basic ingredient is love. Freedom, love and happiness are a rare combination in the world. These centres provide the environment for love and life.

Being one of the pioneers of the Osho movement what would you to like to say to those involved with it today?

Sw Arun: I don’t consider myself a pioneer. I am only an ardent lover of Osho. I am not alone. Thousands of people are working for the master according to their understanding and I am one of them. I always work with the understanding that I could also be wrong. So, when I advise someone I also remind him that he is free to do what his intelligence tells him to. I have this experience that working for the master is the greatest pleasure of my life. Nothing can give me more happiness, more satisfaction. My experience says that if you want to be happy, if you want satisfaction then become a medium of the master. When the master starts working through you the whole existence will bless you, the whole existence will love you. Lots of people think that they will work for Osho after five years, after ten years, after they complete their studies, their service and so on.
NO! If you are postponing, it is never going to happen. It has to happen from this moment, from now. It is the greatest illusion of the mind. Right it down in your diary that if you are not doing it today, you are not doing it tomorrow either. If you are not meditating today, you are not meditating tomorrow. If you don’t love Osho and become his medium today, there is less chance that you’ll become his medium tomorrow. In fact there’s NO CHANCE.

Interviewed by: Swami Aatmo Neerav.

A meeting with Ma Anand Madhu, first initiated disciple of Osho.


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

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

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

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

Madhu Ma was innocence in flowering which only demands innocence in return. Her presence allowed each of us the comfort of being ourselves. She joked about everything and her laughter seemed to honour life as never before. With a childlike adoration she praised Arun Swami for his lifetime devotion in bringing Osho into the lives of many and called him her beloved son.
Like an old grandmother she told us the story about how Osho had chosen Arun to color Nepal red and repeated the words used by the Master to instruct him. And as she spoke, it seemed that Arun Swami and Madhu Ma were again living those poignant moments, giving tears and smiles to most of us watching these beautiful beings.

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

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

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

Swami Aatmo Neerav