In 2010 a sannyasin wrote “The Final Call” which was “a call to arms” trying to galvanize support for a movement that would counter the organization of the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune.
Below is an excerpt of the response that I wrote. It seems even more relevant today.
My understanding is that Osho’s entire work was to wake us up out of the dream. When I heard that Osho had said to Jayesh “To you I leave you my dream”, initially I am sure that I also felt some tinge of jealousy. ‘You leave it to Jayesh!’ But then it became clear. His work was to bring us out of the dream. End the dream forever. He never suggested that we chase dreams, make goals, live with some intentions. In-tensions can only come out of the past. Dreams can only be an effort to improve upon the past and yet they are still tied to the past. My understanding is that Osho was pointing us to that unknown space where there is no past operating; where action is taken without intent but with complete awareness. So yes, Jayesh can have the dream, I’m opting for the End of all Dreams.
You speak about the “failure” of Rajneeshpuram. Failure means that the goal was not realized. Do you know what or even ‘if’ Osho had a goal? There were many after the Ranch who also felt that it had failed. Everyone who thought that we were creating some kind of ‘utopia’ felt that it had failed. They had grabbed onto the dream of future where things were going to be better than they were now. They were victims of “becoming”. Osho’s whole effort was to take us out of becoming and into “BEING”. All of the activities of the ranch were just an excuse to have us gathered together in some great mysterious energy. And you proclaim “Rajneeshpuram failed”. It certainly did not fail for Swami Anand Maitreya; It certainly did not fail for Ajit Saraswati; both of which reached their ultimate enlightenment within that Buddhafield and who knows how many more. Although I cannot testify to the degree that Maitreya and Saraswati could, I can and will say, for me, Rajneeshpuram was not a failure.
My understanding is that Osho’s work was not about a religious movement, or social movement; but rather a movement out of the collective and into individual BEINGNESS, consciousness without a second, the one true ground.
Now you want to harness sannyasins unhappiness with how things are in Pune. Now you want to be a true politician and create a movement, garnering the discontent for your cause. I hope, for your sake, that you do not proceed down that path. With every step taken it becomes increasingly difficult for you to return home. I have watched a few tread that path.
If Osho had wanted to create an organization, a collective movement, I doubt very much that he would have left his dream to Jayesh. I admit that I too was disappointed that Pune was left into his hands. But now, especially now, his wisdom becomes clear. I don’t know if Jayesh has a religious bone in his body; so, who better to ensure that Pune does not become the next Rome. Do you really believe that Osho wanted to create a new Christianity? But now we can see the jostling for position that the early Christians must have experienced. Osho said that he was dissolving into his sannyasins. Individually each is moving into their own light. We do not need a movement. We do not need to centralize the spontaneous happenings that are occurring around the globe. It is not a movement – it is life spontaneously erupting. In fact, a movement is only a distraction from the inner investigation that each of us needs to complete. It is a way to avoid, “If only Jayesh was not in power then I would be Enlightened”. Yeah, you bet. We do not need to ‘belong’ to some greater group than our own individual consciousness, because that individual consciousness Is the greater group, it is the Totality. We will not find our own fulfillment out in some movement but in our own Beingness.
So, let us not get distracted with politics or social movements or religious organization. Let us each complete the work that has been assigned. Come home to our own inner being, then whatever activities that we engage in will be right. But first we must end the tyranny of our own minds and then we will not be interested in how many people approve or how many people disapprove of our actions. Whatever psychic experiences we have experienced let them not distract us from finishing the task. Enlightenment is not a state that we come in and out of, Enlightenment is not an experience, it is not an object that we perceive. Enlightenment is Consciousness without an object.
Enlightenment is Love without an object. Enlightenment is who we BE. Our work is to become a light unto ourselves. Until we do, let our actions come out of the emerging Awareness that is awakening in each one of us individually. Whether photos of Osho are hanging in Pune or not, has nothing to do with our own BEINGNESS. Let us see that waking up out of the dream is the movement Osho left us.
The goose Is out!
In Love,
Prem Purushottama
Namaste Purushottama _/\_
What you share resonates on all levels. After spending 11 months in the OIMR 2013 – 2014 I couldn’t agree more. Osho’s presence and the Zen energy there is tangible. My gratitude is limitless…
With love
Prem Ishvari
What is the need for Prem Purushottama to even write this article if his only concern is going in? He should simply go in and not give sermons. For young Sannyasins like me who are born after Bhagwan left his body, the place is sacred because it is the place where our master lived for more than 10 years and has left his physical body. For me and many other young sannyasins, The Pune Ashram is a Buddhafield – An Energyfield of our Master. The support which Mr. Purushottama is giving to Jayesh is stupid because Buddha, Christ didn’t create any Ashrams, nor were their discourses recorded and still organized religions popped up around them. Jesus died in Jerusalem and Rome is in Italy. Buddha didn’t create an Ashram, but the place where he became enlightened (Bodhgaya in Bihar, India) has become a Sacred place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. The Maulshree tree under which Bhagwan became enlightened is intact in Jabalpur. So Mr. Purushottama, you are talking bullshit if you think that an idiot like Jayesh can prevent an organized religion form popping up by systematically destroying the Ashram. Bhagwan’s contradictions in his discourses and controversies created on purpose by him will ensure that only who are truly interested in meditation and have fallen in love with him gather around him. The only way of preventing an organized religion from popping up is to make available all the discourses given by him without any editing to all. Emphasizing on one particular aspect of his teaching (Zen) as the present management is doing is the surest way creating an organized cult. Moreover the real organized cult is the human mind; everyone is hypnotized by it. Jayesh and gang should focus on destroying the cult of their minds; destroying the Ashram and selling off its property is not going to prevent an organized religion. But many idiots will still support Jayesh. Lastly, why is Mr. Purushottama sharing Bhagwan’s discourses on this website if he is so much worried about the creation of a cult. If four gospels of Jesus can create Christianity, surely these discourses are also enough to create a cult.
You ask, “why is Mr. Purushottama sharing Bhagwan’s discourses on this website if he is so much worried about the creation of a cult.?”
Because these discourses are providing the tools for individuals to discover meditation, that’s why. And I am not “worried about the creation of a cult”, but I will not participate in its propogation and I will take the opportunity express my own understanding even when it goes against the prevailing winds.
Don’t think that you are going against the prevailing winds. Most western Sannyasins have the same views as yours. They exploited Bhagwan for their enlightenment and then dumped him after he left his physical body. Such self centered attitude is found mostly in western Sannyasins whose hearts are devoid of any love and devotion. Anyways be happy with your Zen if that is your path, but remember that there are many who are also on the Path of Devotion. Perhaps the present situation clearly demarcates those on the path of Zen from those on the path of Devotion. Good luck and keep supporting Jayesh and coming up with clever rationalizations.
Dear Prem Vasant,
Your argument is not really with me, it is not with Jayesh, it is with existence, it is with Osho. You wish you had been born earlier and had had the opportunity to be in Poona 1, or perhaps the commune in Oregon, or maybe even Pune 2, but you weren’t. That, you will have to take up with your parents.
Now you have the opportunity to be with Osho in the way that he prepared before he left the body. It is one thing to be a devotee with a living Master because he always has the ability to pull the rug out from under you whenever necessary. And because a living Master does not, in fact, exist as a person there is no danger for the devotee to be exploited. But once the Master is no longer in the body there is a great danger for devotees to be manipulated and exploited. This is why, in my understanding, Osho moved us further and further from devotion as the day drew closer when he would no longer be in the body.
It is interesting to note that the last discourse on the Sufis that Osho gave was on Dec. 20, 1978. From that point on he never gave another discourse on the Sufis. And in Pune 2, from April, 22, 1988 until his last discourse on April 10, 1989 he only spoke on Zen. And in those discourses you will find him telling us why that was so. In a particularly revealing discourse on Zen, https://o-meditation.com/2013/11/13/one-step-away-osho/ which was given on Oct. 28, 1988, Osho answers a question from Coleman Barks, who has translated and published many books on Rumi. In this question talks about taking us beyond the Sufis. So if you have a beef, it is with Osho, not me.
I am sure that there are some who attended Osho’s meditation camps and were disappointed when that period came to an end. Certainly there are those sannyasins who wish the “good old days” of Poona 1 would return. And I know that there are many who felt betrayed when the communal experiment of Rajneespuram came to an end. And now too, we have friends that would love to see the Resort return to the days of Pune 2. Unfortunately, or more accurately fortunately, this is not how life works. And it certainly is not how Osho works, we are endlessly required to let go of the past and live in this glorious moment.
Osho, in his wisdom, began laying the groundwork for the days that would follow him long before he breathed his last breath. He knew that when he would no longer be in the body there would be too much opportunity for those that followed to manipulate the new sannyasins, this is what we call organized religion. So his entire emphasis was on each individual in finding their own center through meditation, in turning in not in worshiping and imaginary being. Osho is alive today as ever but he is contacted within your own heart, within your own center.
Those of us who have been with Osho for many years, and who have sat with him in discourse day after day are well familiar with the fact that Osho did not want to create a religion, he was creating individual religiousness. We know that because he told us, and it is not a secret it is throughout his discourses. So if you are disappointed that you arrived too late to enjoy “the good old days”, I am sorry, but I am absolutely sure that you have arrived at the exact right time for you.
In love.
Prem Purushottam
Dear Prem Purushottama,
I am not at all disappointed that I was not born when Bhagwan was in his physical body. In fact, I am very grateful to life that I have had the privilege of listening to Bhagwan through his recorded audio and video discourses because listening to him is the only significant thing I have done in my life. All the other things which people may consider significant are insignificant for me. Eight years ago I listened to Bhagwan for the first time and since there hasn’t been any moment that I have not been in his rememberance. Today I see a leaf falling from a tree, I remember my master; when I hear the chirping of cuckoo in the early morning, I feel my master is waking me up. Sometimes I am in awe and wonder, when my parents say certain things which only Bhagwan can say. He communicates in so many ways. Such is his grace!
So, don’t think that I am sad and disappointed not be in his physical presence because he is everywhere. But still the place where he walked, lived for more than 10 years, and left his physical body is sacred to me. It is just like a lover wants to preserve every gift and memory of his Beloved. I cannot be so self-centered and ungrateful to my Beloved that I start supporting those whose very actions indicate that they want to destroy his every memory, just for the fear that an organized religion should not spring up. As I said in my previous comment, an organized religion can spring up even if there is no Pune Ashram. So I find the arguments of people supporting the present management as totally misguided.
Anyways, you are free to follow your path; I am nobody to judge you. But there are many who have different way of seeing things and look at Bhagwan with a totally different eye. Do try to see things from their perspective also.
Organized religion is born when a priest starts telling people what the master said, what his words mean and what the master wanted. Priests also prevent people from reading scriptures. The present management is like priests who want to interpret the words of the master in one particular way which suits their agenda. They are also preventing people from reading the master in his raw unedited form through their bogus copyrights and trademark. So there is already an organized cult in place at Pune Ashram and the the present generation of young Sannyasins will ensure that this cult of priests is uprooted.
You are simply mistaken Prem Vasant. Osho’s books have always been edited according to his own instructions. If you look into books from Poona 1 you will always see who the editor is. Also while you’re checking to see who the editor is have a look to see that it always includes copyright. Yes, there was the one case where the instructions were taken too literally and a bad job was done of the new Book of Wisdom, US edition, but that was recognized as a mistake. You can download unedited PDF’s of almost every Osho book from oshoworld.com. No one is preventing you. You can read almost every Osho book online from the library at osho.com free of charge. You can download the original audio files from oshoworld.com for free and you can pay $1.99 per discourse, to download better quality audio files from osho.com. Nobody that I know of is telling you what Osho’s words mean. I may tell you what my understanding is but I also include links to the discourses for you to come to your own understanding. To be honest to those of us who had to travel overland through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan or alternatively through Africa and across the Indian Ocean in order to be with Osho, who had to have books sent in burlap bags from India, or who had to travel with boxes of cassette tapes, or who had to return to the West in order to make enough money to stay for a couple of months and to know that you are sitting at home and accessing Osho’s teaching from your computer or cellphone does bring up a chuckle.
Copyrights exist so that Bhagwan’s discourses do not get presented in a distorted form and to ensure proper translations of all his books in different languages. Copyrights do not exist to arm-twist and harass Sannyasins who want to share their Master’s work. Several Facebook pages of Sannyasins have been taken taken simply for uploading a photo of Bhagwan and sharing an excerpt from his discourses. Recently the Facebook page of Osho Nisarga which had 25,000 members was taken down for copyright infringement. Also a youtube channel of a Sannyasin, who had simply used the sound of three bells which is used at the end of some of Bhagwan’s meditations, was taken down recently. They have even closed down certain Meditation Centers whose names were personally given by Bhagwan himself. What’s this obsession for control in the present management!!! They seem to think that they are the sole custodians of Bhagwan’s work.
You are right that today we can download all of Bhagwan’s books and his audio discourses from the internet but that has been possible only through the efforts of Sannyasins who have rebelled against the present management and I am immensely grateful to them. The present management has created all roadblocks possible to stop such Sannyasins. I remember a time when I was searching for all of Bhagwan’s video discourses and was ready to pay for them, but OIF would not make them available.
The words ‘Bhagwan’, ‘Rajneesh’ or ‘OSHO’ were never trademarked when Bhagwan was in his physical body. This was done secretly by Jayesh and his minions without the knowledge of other members of the Inner circle.
You are right that Bhagwan didn’t want to create an organized religion but that doesn’t mean that he wanted his Ashram to be sold off or destroyed. Their exist not only the Samadhi of Bhagwan in that Ashram but also the Samadhis of five of his disciples namely- Swami Anand Vimalkirti, Swami Anand Maitreya, Ma Anand Sita and Bhagwan’s mother and father. All of these were declared enlightened by Bhagwan in his discourses (Ma Sita in Hindi discourses). In fact the Samadhi of his mother and Ma Anand Sita were built as per the instructions of Bhagwan after he left his physical body. So the Ashram is not just a physical property but a Buddhafield – vibrating with the energies of six Enlightened Beings.
Bhagwan always insisted on disidentifying with our physical and psychological attachements but never on the destruction of physical symbols which could help us in going beyond the mind. I would like to share an English translation of an excerpt from one of his Hindi discourses from the book ‘Ek Naya Dwar’ :
“The human mind is very amazing. Statues and Idols of Buddha, Mahavira, Krishna and Rama were created, and worshipped. Muhammad saw that worship has become corrupted and deteriorated. Idol worship has led the man astray. So Muhammad said, do not worship and do not make an idol. So one kind of mad people were idol worshippers. Mohammed told other kind of people that don’t make an idol, don’t worship an idol, idol is a hindrance. This led to the birth of another category of mad people in the world, who began to break and destroy all the idols. It became their life’s very mission to destroy and erase the idols of the whole world, destroy all the temples. There is a danger that people may start worshiping an idol, another danger is that people start destroying the idol. These two are on the same page page and equally insane. There is no difference between them. Man is so amazing that it is difficult to say what meaning he may derive from something. So if I ask someone to print my photo on the book, then he will start worshiping. And if I say do not print the photo, then he will say that I am against printing any photo. So if the photo is printed somewhere, tear it up. What should I do now?
We have a wonderfully insane mind. We can create any kind of nuisance out of nowhere . So the question is not whether to print or not to print a photo; the real question is that your mind should neither be the mind of an idol worshiper nor an idol destroyer. The idol worshiper is as much mistaken as the idol destroyer because both of them are attached to and focussed on the idol . The attention of both the idol worshipper and the idol destroyer is focussed on the idol.”
I would like to share another excerpt from the Chapter 10 of the book ‘Work is Love Made Visible’ (Hindi – Anant Ki Pukaar) :
” Q. Osho, About the pictures: maybe people will misuse them. What if people start worshipping them?
Ans. What happens is that our minds never quite catch the right point; it always swings to one side or the other. Either we worship the pictures or we become afraid of the pictures – afraid that something may go wrong if we give someone a picture.
This mind of ours! It either wants to create statues or destroy them, but it never just accepts them naturally. A statue is a statue, it doesn’t need to be worshipped and it doesn’t need to be destroyed. A picture is a picture, there is no need to worship it and there is no need to avoid it. Mohammedans have avoided this so much that if you create a picture of Mohammed, immediately there will be fighting and riots. If you simply hang a picture of Mohammed in your house they will set your house on fire. Now isn’t this just creating the other side of the stupidity? And it was started for this reason; it was started to prevent idol worship, to prevent someone worshipping a picture of Mohammed.
Swami Satyabhakta built a temple in Wardha. He put statues from all the religions in the temple, including one of Mohammed. Immediately there was a riot, and finally the statue had to be removed. No one can create a picture of Mohammed. Creating a statue is simply out of the question. So there is no authentic picture of Mohammed anywhere. Now, isn’t this another kind of foolishness?
What I am saying is why don’t you look at things in a simple way? A picture is a picture. What is the big deal about it? There is no need to worship it and there is no need to be afraid of it. ”
It is very clear from these two excerpts that the real emphasis and teaching of Bhagwan is to disidentify ourselves from all physical and the psychological images. He never asks us to destroy physical images and temples or Ashrams because that will be absolutely stupid and fanatic. I hope I have made all my points clear.
How does what happens in the Resort have anything to do with our meditation? Our meditation does not depend on anyone or anything. And for that I am immensely grateful. Cheers!
Yes, that’s what Osho is very clear about. One of his very central messages.
With love
Prem Ishvari
Yes, our meditation does not depend on any external circumstances and I am immensely grateful for that. But why not preserve the place where our Master has lived for so many years and has left his physical body. I feel that it is his gift for the future generation of seekers. As I said before, I find the “don’t care” attitude, which many Sannyasins have, as too self-centered and full of ungratefulness. And it is an Ashram, not a Resort.
Even the discourse that Bhagwan gave to Coleman Barks shows only one side of the coin. Bhagwan has also spoken on devotees like Meera and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who became enlightened hundreds of years later after Krishna had left his physical body. Bhagwan has whole series of discourses on Meera. Similarly Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a great scholar and had a Zen like approach to truth, but became enlightened only when he turned into devotee. Do you think both Chaitanya and Meera were hallucinating? This clearly shows that both the path of devotion and the path of Meditation have the same value and neither of the paths is superior to the other. The answer that Bhagwan has given is in a particular context and valid for the person (Coleman Barks) who has asked the question. It may not be applicable to everybody. The fact that you have shared this discourse shows only the path you follow and your way of looking at things.
Dear Prem Vasant,
No one is preventing you from the practice that you feel is right for you. You know very little about my own journey but have made many assumptions as well as you have about those that are managing the affairs of OIF. There are over 900 posts on Sat Sangha Salon and they are multidimensional as of course are Osho’s teachings.
The reason I gave you the link to Coleman Barks question is because you said in an earlier comment, “clearly demarcates those on the path of Zen from those on the path of Devotion.” And what I was pointing out was that Osho himself made that demarcation in that discourse. Shortly after that discourse Maneesha asked a question, “With the path of Sufism, the way of the heart behind us, where does the devotee fit in?” So you can understand that for those who lived with Osho through this period that they would have had a different understanding and insight, they would have understood that Osho was creating something new, that he was taking us to heights that we had never before journeyed. And that it was not going to be a maintaining of that which came before.
For myself, I came to Osho after having a deep heart connection with Meher Baba although I came to know about Meher Baba a few months after he had left the body. It was that connection that eventually took me to Poona. I arrived at the gates of the Ashram in all green, the colors of the Sufis. Again I say that nobody is interfering with your devotion. You don’t need to face a particular direction, you don’t need to make a pilgrimage, all of these conditions are only postponements. The one message that Osho gave us from his earliest discourses to his last was learn how to come out of your mind, that space where one watches the mind from is the heart. If we can come out of mind through devotion, fabulous, but we shouldn’t deceive ourselves with imagination. Otherwise it is the path of meditation and anyway Osho says, in the end, your love must become meditation and your meditation must become love. Cheers!
You will be surprised to know that prior to my introduction to Bhagwan’s teachings, I was inspired by the communist ideology. In fact, what attracted me towards Bhagwan initially were his discourses on Communism and Socialism. Slowly, I began listening to his other discourses and started meditating on a daily basis. As my meditation deepened, I started leaning more towards the way of the Sufis and the devotees. Recently, I also started reading Meher Baba’s book ‘God Speaks’. So you moved from Sufism to Zen and I moved from Communism to Zen to Sufism.
The most powerful samadhi that I have visited was in Poona, just by the side of the road, under a Neem tree, and that is the samadhi of Hazrat Babajan, one of Meher Baba’s five Masters, a woman named Hazrat Babajan. My wife and I were the only ones present aside from the caretaker. I have also visited the samadhi of Sai Baba of Shirdi, also one of Meher Baba’s five Masters, but at this samadhi there is an endless stream of people asking for their wishes to be fulfilled. One only has less than a minute with the presence. I for one would not like to see Osho’s samadhi turned into such a spectacle. love.
Even I don’t want Bhagwan’s Samadhi to be turned into such a spectacle and I am sure most of the Sannyasins in India would not want it to turn into something too traditional. But this doesn’t mean that, in reaction to such a possibility, somebody tries to lower the sanctity of the place or cause harm to it any manner. Any such act would simply be another kind of stupidity. All the extremes must be avoided.
We visited the Osho International Meditation Resort in 20006. It was the first time that I was back in Poona since leaving for New Jersey two weeks before Osho. Our main reason for visiting was to spend time at his samadhi, and it was a beautiful space for meditation. The space is not changed by not referring to it as his samadhi. But by broadcasting the existence of Osho’s samadhi would change the space. Cheers!
Bhagwan’s Samadhi and Ashram cannot be preserved for long if there is no love and devotional element attached to it. Calling the Ashram a Resort and Samadhi as Chuang Tzu or Chuang Tzu Bedroom are ways of doing just that.
People running the Ashram may have the best of intentions, but still they may be completely wrong. Their actions create suspicion in the eyes of Sannyasins and articles like the following give more air to it.
https://www.oshonews.com/2021/03/09/the-great-divide/
An excerpt from the above article :
I remember a discussion I had in 2001 with Osho’s personal physician (Amrito) in Pune, where he patiently tried to enlighten me on the new business model that the management was in the process of implementing. I remember him saying “We are giving Osho’s proposal our best shot, and if it doesn’t work we will dissolve the place. The last thing Osho wanted was an Indian Style Ashram, and we will make sure it never happens.”
– Swami Nirav
As I said, any such extreme will be another kind of stupidity and must be avoided at all costs.
When people don’t have love and gratitude in their hearts, they come up with all kinds of rationalizations. The fact that many so called senior Sannyasins don’t want to save the place where they got nourished by the Master shows that their hearts are still empty and the cups of their mind are full.
You have also made certain comments that I am sad and disappointed that I could not be in Bhagwan’s physical presence and so on and so forth. I have been meditating daily from last 8 years without a gap and have been through many beautiful experiences. I am also aware that all such experiences may prove to be obstacles on the path and one should not be attached to such experiences. In the ultimate state of enlightenment, all the experiences disappear and there is neither an experiencer nor the experience. This is what we call enlightenment, the state of no mind, non-duality, choiceless awareness, Nirvikalpa Samadhi and so on. So, you don’t need to explain to me all these things.
I am simply making you aware of another side of the coin. Bhagwan’s discourses are multidimensional and many different meanings can be derived from his discourses. It is not necessary that what we understand is the only meaning. There may be many hidden meanings which we may become aware of as we grow in our meditation. That’s the reason I shared a conflicting view to the discourse you shared of Coleman and I am perfectly aware of the deceptions of imagination.
I myself see no conflict between the path of devotion and path of meditation because I have experienced both within myself.
I also have no hatred against the people who are running the Ashram. I am simply against their dictatorial policies which say my way or highway. If they show a loving and welcoming attitude towards all Osho Sannyasins, I have absolutely no issues with them. And yes I will follow what my heart says.
You are not concerned with what happens at the Ashram and consider all such things as hindrance or distraction in your path. You are perfectly right in your understanding.
You are right when you say that nobody can interfere with our devotion, we don’t need a pilgrimage and so on. Even, I have visited the Ashram only once and my love for Bhagwan and my meditation doesn’t not depend on that place. But as I said, I cannot be so ungrateful and so self-centered that I would not do anything to preserve the place which is my Beloved Bhagwan’s gift to the future generations of seekers.
If you are unconcerned about the happenings at the Ashram, I have absolutely no issues with it. Enjoy your meditation and your journey to Buddhahood.