Long-time Sannyas News contributor Lokesh introduces what he thinks is “the first book to set Osho in a fictional setting”, ‘SAGARA’, his third novel in ‘THE TYRO SERIES’.
Finally, after five years of work, my third book has been published. It’s titled SAGARA, and is available worldwide on Amazon.
It has been a long journey to get to this point. What inspired me to begin writing was a narrow escape from the tsunami in Sri Lanka and, three weeks later, wandering into a minefield in Cambodia. It was the minefield that decided it. There I was, looking at these little red markers on the grassy ground, discovering that the area was mined. I got out of there by treading along a motorbike’s tyre tracks. I thought afterwards, I have to write about this. And so it began. At first, I had no idea what a task I’d set myself. I also hadn’t a clue about writing. This is evident in my first published work, MIND BOMB. I jumped the gun. Over the years, I’ve learned the trade. I hope.
I’m certainly not in the novel writing business to make money. I have made very little in the way of financial rewards from my books. Twice I have been in negotiations with film producers about making a movie adapted from my first book. There I was in Glasgow, in the back seat of a chauffeur-driven Bentley, thinking I’d hit the big time. I hadn’t. Meanwhile, a scriptwriter in California is on the phone telling me she wants to adapt my book for a TV series. I turned her down. Six months later, she won Hollywood’s Scriptwriter of the Year Award. ‘Kicking myself’ does not quite sum it up. I learned my lesson. The movie entertainment business is fickle.
I kept writing. My second book, BORDERLINE DREAMTIME, gained me a little cult status, and that was about the extent of it. I wrote some more. I just had to complete the story and free myself from it. SAGARA is the result of my efforts. I think SAGARA is the first book to set Osho in a fictional setting. There are several chapters taking place in Poona One. Through the eyes of my main protagonist, I’ve endeavoured to present an objective picture of what that scene was all about. I think I have succeeded in that. There is also a brief description of meeting Nisargadatta Maharaj. Then we have Hariji, a character loosely built upon my close encounters with H W L Poonjaji. Yes, in many ways SAGARA is a spiritual story, but there is a lot more to it than that. Plenty of drug-smuggling hanky-panky in Amsterdam and Mumbai. A fantastic jailbreak chapter set in Iran. Murder, mayhem and more, much more.
Amazon reviews are very important for a no-name author like me. So, if any of you read my books or have already read them, please be so kind as to write positive reviews, even if it is just a couple of lines. It’s the star ranking that counts. I will be very grateful to you if you do. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. On that note, I have to say that three people who once posted on Sannyasnews have written negative reviews. Not because of the book’s content, but rather because they imagined they did not like me. There is a woman called Fresch, who blogged on SN a few years back. She wrote a one-liner and gave the book one star. She has only ever reviewed one article purchased on Amazon and it was my book. She bought a Kindle version for just over a dollar. My first two books are intentionally low-priced on Kindle for readers who cannot afford the paperbacks, not for shitty people to throw a spanner in the works. It is remarkable how people can be so spiteful while retaining an image of themself as being a really spiritual person. Live and learn.
The first two books have been republished in revised editions. New covers, fresh content, and better written etc. I have kept the Kindle prices low. If ordering any of the books go by the covers supplied. The series is called THE TYRO SERIES. I’ll bet most of you have to google ‘tyro’ to find out what it means. Ok, folks, the ball is in the court and it’s up to you whether you decide to hit it or not. If you do I am certain you will enjoy it. What a long, strange trip it’s been. Amazon links supplied below. Happy reading and happy trails.
Lokesh
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091HJBHZD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sagara+luke+mitchell&qid=1617611644&s=books&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Borderline-Dreamtime-Book-two-Tyro/dp/B091GWXTM8/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1617611721&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Bomb-Luke-Mitchell/dp/1906561931/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1617611556&sr=1-1-catcorr
Or you can find all three books in one click here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+tyro+series&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
Thanks to SD and SN for allowing me the space to plug my books. SD has had trouble uploading images to the site and therefore I will post some photos.
If I get a response, it is up to you, I will post a few choice quotes for the SN regulars to comment on.
Writing about Osho I had to decide how to approach the subject. Like myself, my main protagonist is a curious and at times slightly cynical character. Meeting and living around Osho was such a subjective experience I had to work at presenting an objective take on the scene in Poona One. For the most part, the story is fictitious, yet there are quite a few scenes built on my own experience. For instance, my protagonist’s first face-to-face meeting with Bhagwan is a fairly accurate description of my first direct encounter with Bhagwan on his back porch in March 1975.
My main character is a criminal and therefore he comes in contact with other criminals in the Ashram. This aspect of the story will perhaps ruffle a few feathers, but I am trying to present a realistic picture of events. A few hash smugglers are mentioned and also the sannyasin women who worked as part-time hookers, turning tricks in Mumbai’s five-star hotels. I also make it clear that the Ashram certainly did not condone such activities, they simply turned a blind eye to it. Life in Poona One’s ashram was relatively expensive for India, and some sannyasins turned to all sorts of shady business to make the rupees to pay for it.
‘Sagara’ covers a lot of ground and the scene in Poona is just a part of the story, albeit an important part. Seeing as how this is SN I focus on this section of the book at first.
After 15 years of writing, I can finally let go of the story. Now it is the promotional aspect that I have to work on. This is something I am not very good at. Like many artists, I have always been good at creating, but selling it is another story. I believe my series of books is unique in many aspects and has something worthwhile to say. Because of that, I have to put energy into promotion. To be honest, I’d rather sit under a tree and watch the white clouds drift by. I’m sure some of you can relate to that. Come on, let’s hear from you.
https://www.amazon.com/SAGARA-Book-three-Tyro-ebook/dp/B091NFKGJ6/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=the+tyro+series&qid=1621580312&sr=8-3
Lokesh,
Congrats for finishing your trilogy!
Having read the first and second part, I can say that the story reflects so much of my own path that I felt hooked in the reading of them.
I am looking forward to the last chapter and the rounding up of the stories.
This is an amazing trip: stepping out of all kinds of tradition into the great white open – free-falling and so on.
Now I am off collecting my wife from work and daughter from grandma/pa.
Cheers – Klaus
Great, Klaus, thanks for the positive feedback.
I republished revised editions of ‘Mind Bomb’ and ‘Borderline Dreamtime’. The first book has a few major changes and a lot of tweaking. They are available individually or in a whopping big double book. It weighs in at over 600 pages. I’m currently reading it now that I have distance from it and can simply enjoy the story.
Lokesh, I salute your efforts in publishing something which contains a “realistic view of the 1970s that may ruffle a few feathers.”
I guess ‘Life of Osho’ by Sam/Paritosh, co-founder of SN, is the main other publication that has attempted to tread the difficult middle path between the twin precipices of hagiography and hatchet-job.
(SN traditions must be upheld!).
I must say that in the light of today`s world where cannabis is legal in a large part of North America and variously decriminalised in many other places, the `criminality` of smuggling hash starts to morph slowly into “being ahead of the times”. Also, turning tricks in 5 star hotels was probably more of a public service and certainly more morally acceptable to many than the rape culture that today pervades a large swathe of university campuses in the western world.
I can say from my own experience that in those days, both the above activities, and a few others, were far from unknown amongst young travellers and freaks on the trail (not just sannyasins) trying to hustle some cash so they could hang out longer in the East.
If you ran out of money, one of the well-known freak social security options was “go to Poona or Goa and you`ll find someone to fix you up with a false-bottom suitcase to take to the West. Pass Go. Collect the cash. Head back to India.”
In those days if you had dropped out or couldn`t hack working for the man etc, your options were limited. Then, as now, “no money, no honey”. So risky/dodgy activities were a good alternative or supplement to oddjobbing. And if you had come across stories of Gurdjieff, scamming itself started to gain some kind kudos as a spiritual calling in its own right!
It wasn`t like nowadays where `alternative` stuff is actually a very viable career option for many.
You can be a psychedelic researcher, sell CBD oil, a researcher into esotericism, an angel healer, a conspiracist etc. etc. and make a really good living and pay your taxes!
Also, in the light of the criminal insanities portrayed in ‘Wild Wild Country’, the excesses of the 1970s era actually seem like decidedly quaint pecadillos.
The “Orange People” (remember them?) were, in good measure, a counter-culture phenomenon of the 1970s with all the legal and moral fringe-dwelling that that entailed.
In this current era where self-appointed leaders of Osho followers such as Arun promote the support the status-quo of violent, murderous right-wing/fascist politicians in the so-called effort to “save Osho`s legacy”, you might ask which is worse: smuggling a bit of hash, turning a few tricks, doing a couple of scams or joining up with murderous religious fundamentalists?
You would think that for any self-respecting sannyasin that would be a no-brainer.
In reality not, it seems.
Sign o` the times.
Btw, I notice that ‘Sagara’ is up on Amazon.com but hasn`t made it onto Amazon.co.uk yet.
I look forward to reading it
Frank, great post. Here is the link to SAGARA on Amazon UK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAGARA-Book-three-Tyro-3/dp/B091HJBHZD/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1621604968&sr=1-1
Yes, Frank, I agree with everything you wrote. Made me think about how Osho used to slag off so many famous personages. One exception was Indira Gandhi. The ashram buttered her up no end. I just finished reading ‘A Fine Balance’. Apart from being a five-star read it sheds light on the horror created through Indira Gandhi’s emergency times. She should have been tried in The Hague for crimes against humanity.
Osho often said that politics was a low energy game, but the ashram authorities were not immune to playing a bit of politics to further their cause.
Looks like I can now post a photo of the book in question. Here it is.
Sagara means ocean, hm?
If there is a German translation available, I will buy it.
Sorry, Satchit, ingleesh only. You write well in ingleesh so why not give it a try?
Lokesh, you have to think big!
Germany is a good book market.
For what you have a German wife?
She shall give it a try.
She speaks better inglish than most ingleesh people.
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Luke-Mitchell/dp/B091HJBHZD/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1621692317&sr=8-1
Hi Satchit
I found the first two books very readable. Fascinating. Even breathtaking.
However, one might like to use
https://dict.leo.org/englisch-deutsch/
or
https://www.reverso.net/text_translation.aspx?lang=DE
as the esteemed author uses quite a few funky adjectives….
Merci, Klaus, for the advice.
When time is ripe, things will happen.
I’m currently reading my first two books as I hadn’t really done this since major revisions of them.
I have a friend who has authored several books over the decades. I once asked him what it is like reading them after twenty years. He replied, “I felt like somebody else wrote them.” I know what he meant, but do not feel like that.
The writing process for me has been a joint one, even though I no longer smoke joints. Many people helped me in one way or another. My second book was edited by a guy I did not really like. He did a great job, but in a very nasty way. He returned my manuscript with whole pages scored out with the word ‘bullshit’ written in red felt tip. Often what he deemed as bullshit were some of my favourite passages. I let them go.
I recently worked with a friend who is reasonably successful in the entertainment business. He is a solo artist. One day I pointed out something he could do without. He flipped out at me, prima dona style. The guy just did not know how to work with creative negative feedback. I pointed that out to him, also. He didn’t like that either.
I have worked in the creative arts for a good part of my adult life. Painting: Standing beside someone in an art gallery who did not know I was the artist while they are slagging my work off. Music: Listening to self-proclaimed experts telling me how I should have done it etc. Writing: Negative reviews etc. One has to be big enough to absorb such things, because they might be right, and sometimes are. That is how life works. We need to disidentify from what we do and remain open to criticism. Negative criticism is often more helpful than positive. Just not so easy to swallow if you are identified with what you are doing.
Bottom line is that the true yogi does not look to the rewards of his actions. I take that to mean that being absorbed in the act is where it is at.
As a final note I would like to add one more comment. I think creative people get too much credence simply because they are creative. Many creative people live and work on Ibiza. Artists are everywhere and often eccentric. So many times I hear about creative people being let off the hook because “they are so creative” even if their behaviour is abominable. That really is bullshit.
Most artists are very selfish, in that they are just pleasing themselves by what they are doing. I’m guilty of that. My wife puts up with me disappearing into my studio for days on end to create something or other, often with no reward other than doing it and having fun. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but I certainly do not need to be told that I am in any way special, because I am not. If just one person tells me that something I made turned them on in some way that is all I need to keep on keeping on.
Yes, what Osho said about creativity, that it`s a state of mind/being; and that cleaning and doing everyday stuff can be every bit as much of a medium for creativity as doing the normally accepted creative stuff like writing, art, music, drama etc. is bang on the money
I actually really like cleaning. Some work through paints, brushes and canvas, but give me a bottle of bleach, a bogbrush and some kitchen roll and I`m happy as Larry. Plus, my shiny bog will give Marcel Duchamp and his readymades a good run for his money any day of the week.
Talking to people about their dreams, I have noticed that there is this wildly surrealistic artist/playwright/director inside literally everyone that is creating his/her unique take on reality every night without fail (2 hours a night according to researchers). Being a human being appears to include the need to create imaginative narrative and image-based representations of life anew on an extremely regular basis.
As you say, those who create in the accepted creative mediums don`t always or necessarily produce great results on the human level, with people being twats, going off on inflated ego-trips and self-important fantasies on one hand, or losing the plot, drinking themselves to death and chopping their ears or knobs off etc. on the other.
I spent yesterday afternoon strimming a field with an industrial strimmer. I had to push myself to complete the job. When done, I sat against a rock admiring the scene. Love it. Birds were singing as they searched for grubs in the earth. Clouds drifted by overhead. Heaven.
Is it not an Illusion that oneself is the creator?
Perhaps that depends on how one defines “oneself”?
Yes, it is all down to how one defines oneself.
I find Alan Watts very good on this kind of stuff.
“Are you doing it or is it doing you?” he asked.
Our idea of who we are is really quite arbitrary.
Which bit is really “I”?
We say my body but we don`t know how to grow our bones, beat our own hearts, grow our own hair etc.
What else do we say “I” about that really just happens?
It`s a question that needs to be asked. Maybe not because there are any definite answers. Just because if you don`t, you are more likely to live in misunderstandings, mistaken assumptions and illusions. Ultimately, a case of mistaken identity!
Creatively gifted people are, as the expression implies, receivers of their art as much as generators.
Did Lokesh write ‘Sagara’ or did something write it through him?
Like any view, it all depends on where you are standing.
In the big picture, it`s got to be both, hasn`t it?
If it’s “an illusion that oneself is the creator” then no one is actually responsible for creating anything.
And how far do you want to go, eg what is ‘creation’? Besides art, poetry, music etc. does it include your latest post (or anyone else’s) for instance? And if so, are ‘you’ responsible for it, or not?!
If not, then getting upset about one’s art or perhaps even one’s views being criticised is just silly, as it’s essentially a denial of reality.
“There is no one who is creating.
It is all simply God playing with himself.”
(Swami Bhorat, ‘The Barmy Sutra’)
@ SD, yes, you can ask how far you want to go with ‘creation’. Maybe all is creation.
Destruction is also part of it.
Certainly it’s not only books, music, painting.
We are already a creation.
So the question is: Can a creation create?
“Something unknown is doing we don’t know what.”
Arthur Eddington, astrophysicist.
If you asked Mr G, he would say, “Man’s greatest illusion is that he can do.”
In other words, no can do.
I like the idea of Shiva being so absorbed in his dance of destruction and regeneration that the boundary between dance and dancer desolves.
Angus MacLeod believes we are all just unique filters, filtering the same light. Here today, and gone tomorrow, and Tomorrow never comes.
https://soundcloud.com/luke-mitchell/osho-tommorow-never-comes
Perhaps it’s time for a wee quote from ‘Sagara’. Was work in the ashram worship, or something else?
“Due to the massive influx of seekers vying for the master’s attention, it was becoming increasingly difficult to gain a personal audience with Bhagwan. Angus was now only allowed to speak once a month with him and then only for a few minutes. In May of that year, he once again found himself sitting on the marble floor in front of the master, staring up directly into his unfathomable brown eyes.
Bhagwan raised a curious eyebrow. “Mmmm”, he intoned, introducing enormous gravity into the single syllable. “It is time for you to begin cleaning the toilets.” He paused, smiled and then added like a doctor giving a prescription, “Enter into the work totally.”
Angus bowed down at the master’s sandaled feet, stunned. The idea of working as a toilet cleaner in India did not appeal to him. Outwardly he had surrendered to and accepted the master’s suggestion but he was completely resistant to the idea. It would take a little more time before Angus realised Bhagwan had prescribed the correct course of action. All talk of psychic powers and yogic terminology had been cast to the wayside to avoid inflation of the ego and replaced with the requirement to perform physical work to keep grounded. The ashram was an explosion of activity, not because Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was building an empire with himself as the self-proclaimed king, but because his disciples needed physical labour to keep them connected to their body and out of their mind.
In the search for a new spiritual identity, beyond the boundaries of the limited ego-self, it is necessary to cross an inner no-man’s-land that produces a loss of personal identity. At the heart of meditation, there has to be a willingness to let go of absolutely everything and enter a state of not knowing.
Angus was unsure if he was willing to face this. The master’s account of what he went through before enlightenment was hardly reassuring. It sounded like a nightmare from which there was no escape, although some tried. There had already been several suicides in Pune’s sannyasin community.
No one was more aware of the tremendous psychological damage that could be done by the powerful psychic energy pouring forth from every pore of his body than Bhagwan himself. He understood it was necessary to channel that energy in a constructive direction to avoid negative consequences. He was also no doubt very much aware than the stubborn young Scotsman sitting before him was completely resistant to the idea of working as a toilet cleaner, and that life would have to teach him a hard lesson to jolt him out of his defiance before he would heed his wise counsel.
“Hmm?” Bhagwan intoned questioningly. He smiled, leaned forward a little in his black, high-backed chair, touched Angus lightly on the crown of his head and concluded the exchange by saying, “Very good.” “
How do you know that the management hadn`t just informed Bhagwan that they needed a new bog cleaner, and then saw you wander in and thought: “Mmm…a few shifts down the lav wouldn`t do that hippie any harm”, and the rest is history?
Naw, Frank, toilet cleaner jobs were the must have on the highway to nirvana. It meant you were close to enshitenment. The lotus grows out of the mud etc. Actually cleaned the group room showers for a month. Great fun!
Respec`!
You must`ve needed a pitchfork for all the hair in the drains and plugholes in those days!
Yeah, I could relate to Angus on an existential level when…
“Bhagwan’s voice rang out in Angus’s head. “The lotus of consciousness grows out of the mud of human existence.” Through the residual pong of human excretion, Angus could smell the lotus flower of enlightenment’s sweet fragrance, prompting him to bow down in front of a gurgling cistern.”
Winds of change(?) and the “wee quotes” from ´Sagara´by the honourable speaker and author brought us to some bottom lines of communication (re-)sources happening here – and don´t get me wrong: I used to be a cleaning and laundry facilitator(ess) for quite a very long time on the Ranch as well as for years afterwards here in the city of Munich.
So I know what is being talked about.
In Pandemic times some of the numerous people in their private spaces probably had to clean their shit all by themselves, I guess.
Not bad, I´d say.
Strong winds today here in Munich and a clear sky. Went for shopping – met some of the baboons here, who have been in the mood for harassing me for years and I did wonder if there will be a change too…
Anyway – it all in all inspired me – to give it a new try to post here.
And the credit goes to them.
Madhu
Could this be SN’s last stand? Chief squaw, Madhu. from the Munich chapter of the street Sioux has flown in on a toilet brush with, amongst other things. a weather report. Surely this is a rallying call to the tribe. Heap mighty powerful wampum. Whackemtantrum, our great spirit in the sky, is surely with us. Get this tee shirt free if you order a copy of ‘Sagara’ yesterday.
One of my favourite shamanic tools.
Removes even the heaviest and most stubborn traces of bad karma and keeps the energy clear and flowing.
Bom Shanks!
It truly is the secret to happiness, as this witness will testify after cleaning Madhu’s toilet on a sunny afternoon in Munich.
John Brown says, “What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and, above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and shits quantity.”
Your last take on fiction, Lokesh, addressing – better said targeting – me, needs a thorough plumbing of your digital compilation at your Ibicenco IT-workspace.
Frank’s offered neat toilet brush will not do.
Quite a mysogynistic and fascist take you did give a send-off yesterday PLUS misusing the ‘Black Life Matters’ issue for your purposes!
Wondering what your German wife would comment on this crap!
Madhu
What, you think only white people clean toilets on the road to enlightenment?
Madhu, you are such an easy target because your sense of humour is not very well developed.
Fascism, black lives matter, misogynistic? That you can read all that bullshit into a playful joke says more about you than anyone else. I chose the toilet cleaner photo because the man looks happy, not because he has a suntan.
You gave it a half-hearted volte-face (verbally and with shift moving graphic compilation) herewith, Lokesh.
It won´ t work with me – not convincing.
But sad anough the very few buddhies here meanwhile left (especially those few Bavarian ones) may like, even admire, your verbal poker face playing sometimes with very false cards: OFF any joke.
And the latter was/is the case.
To trivialize in a word salad what I had to respond to your graphic novella (the first one) won´ t do the plumbing I recommended for your Ibicenco IT-workspace.
IF done, it may even dawn to you, that what you like to call your professional “humour” is sometimes OFF THE JOKE!
Madhu
P.S:
You want to be read. Acknowledged. Seen. Understood. Respected.
Others – living elsewhere – coping as to their best capacites with the challenges life offers in abundance – like to share too in a Chat like this. Same, same, believe it or not.
And in that moment….
Meanwhile, in the group room toilets…
“Angus had been working for a fun-filled week in the group room toilets when he was caught having a friendly chat with an attractive, naked brunette from Canada, sitting on a freshly disinfected toilet to relieve her bladder. The main door burst open and in stormed Deeksha, the Sicilian dragon who ran the ashram’s main restaurant with an invisible Zen club in one hand and a huge slice of chocolate cake in the other. She was a fat lady with a big, hooked nose who spoke strongly Italian-accented English. Her best feature was her eyes, perfect, shiny brown almonds. They sent out a semaphore alarm message by blinking rapidly.
“Whaddya thinka you’re a doing here, Swami?” she asked Angus, who looked away from the Canadian woman with an expression of shocked puzzlement on his face.
“I-I-I’m cleaning the toilets,” stammered Angus.
“No a, you’re a not a cleaning the toilets. You’re a resistant.”
“Resistant,” said Angus, justifiably perplexed. “Resistant to what?”
Deeksha glanced around the long oblong room with an indignant look upon her chubby face. “You’re a resistant to the master’s work.” She turned to the tall, balding man behind her. He was holding a clipboard. “Sagar,” she ordered, “write a this swami’s name a down and give him a toothbrush first a thing tomorrow morning.”
Sagar nodded his head, asked Angus his name and scribbled it on a sheet of paper.
“What do I need a toothbrush for?” Angus asked.
The Italian Zen Mistress glared at him as if he’d just asked her if she enjoyed anal sex. “None of you’re a fucking business.” She pulled up her red robe, sat down on the toilet next to the naked woman from Toronto, turned to her and asked, “What a the fuck are you looking at?”
The Canadian shrugged, closed her gaping mouth and said nothing.
Deeksha farted loudly and looked up at Angus. “You stupido Scotsman, you will a find out what a surrender is all about tomorrow morning.” She stood, pulled up her XXXL, black scanty panties and said to her assistant, “Come on, Sagar, enough of this a nonsense.” Sagar looked up at the ceiling barely able to conceal the grin that was threatening to dislocate his jaw.
Deeksha and Sagar spun on their heels and whirled out through the open door like twin tornadoes.
Angus glanced down at the Canadian woman, who was shaking her head in disbelief. “What the fuck was that all about?” he asked.
She looked up at him and replied, “I can’t stand that power-tripping fascist bitch, she’s full of Italian — ”
Deeksha reappeared in the doorway and shouted, “Don’t you stupidos dare a talk a bad about a me behind my back.”
The following morning, Angus was handed a brand new toothbrush and ordered to scrub the spaces between the floor tiles.”
When you think about it, it is possible to make a pretty strong case that it was the whole embracing of so-called Gurdjieffian devices in the Oshoverse that led to most of the excesses and crimes of the Ranch and elsewhere.
I have lost count how many tin-pot wannabe guru/therapists/zen masters or mistresses inflicting their `devices` on their followers and whacking them with so-called zensticks I have had the misfortune to run into over the decades. And they were all inspired by the Gurdjieffian template that Osho embraced so keenly.
Did the device thing even help to slide Osho himself too far down the medication rabbit-hole, too?
I wouldn`t bet against it.
Even if you take Osho, as a fully enlightened being, as having the right and authority to pull these kind of stunts (where did you get that idea from, btw?) the popularisation of the whole idea is/has been, in practice, a carte blanche for creepy little `spiritual` power-trippers who thought, “that`s a good one” and utilised it in their quest for power and authority. I`ve said it before, zenstickers only ever hit down. Hitting up isn`t permitted. That`s a red flag, surely?
The fact is, the same kind of thing was already happening in psychotherapy before Osho started out. The idea of `resistance` was coined very early on in psychoanalysis to describe those who would not play the game according to the rules of the authority. `Resistance` in the movement was the cardinal sin. Surrender good, resistance bad. Not a duality that was up for any questioning as that would be more resistance. Checkmate.
Basically, shame your followers for not having `dropped their ego` as an ongoing means of control and watch yourself rocketing up the greasy pole of enlightenment. It definitely works.
You still get accounts from old-timers on Osho News and other places boasting about how they had their egos bashed and how it has done wonders for them. That at least raises a chuckle in a sort of person-walking-into-a-lamp-post-whilst-pontificating-about-how-good-their-eyesight-is kind of way.
Who was it that said that trying to get rid of your ego is the ultimate ego-trip?
As far as I remember, nobody was forced to work in the Ashram. It was all free will.
Also the process of checking out “resistance” was free will.
Satchit, to paraphrase Mr G, “Free will does not exist as we are.”
So, what exactly do you mean by “free will”?
What do I mean with “free will”?
You could have said, No, I don’t want to clean the toilets.
But your free will choose to say yes, for whatever reasons.
The idea of becoming egoless, trying something new, trusting the Master, you know better why.
My point isn`t really about free will, it`s more that the whole template of the master being on such a high level that he can use any methods to wake up his disciples has proved intoxicatingly seductive for a whole raft of follow-on gurus/therapist/mini-cult leaders/crazy-wisdom exponents etc. whose motives have turned out to be, shall we say, less than bodhisattva-like.
This to the extent that the question arises, was it all just authoritarian madness from the get-go?
Do you really think that Gurdjieff was drinking that much alcohol for the main purpose of the awakening of his disciples or staying rooted to the planet or whatever rationalisations people came up with?
It`s just as easy to read the stories of Gurdjieff as him being a drunken bully, ruling his little kingdom with an iron fist. Not an unknown phenomenon amongst male habitual alcohol users in positions of power.
@ Frank
It is not a question of methods. It is a question of you.
If you see “authoritarian madness” you look at it with a sceptical mind.
Result is you are an outsider.
If you look at it with a loving mind, all has a meaning. But then you are a lover.
“Authoritarianism is love.
Dictatorship is compassion.
Slavery is freedom.
Ignorance is strength.”
Swami Bhorat (‘The Bhorat Bible’, 1984)
Frank, I wonder if you have ever been a Sannyasin?
I guess No.
You have always been an onlooker, is it?
If you take shelter in the words of Bhorat you become even more confused.
@Satchit 29 May, 2021 at 8:26 am
Oh, very keen observation:
sceptical mind – outsider (i.e. Anand)
loving mind – lover
(i.e. Prems)
Gives me some Ahhs and Ohhs.
“The path of love.
The path of meditation.
Whichever you chose to walk on, once you finish either of them – you have both.”
Osho (I guess)
@Frank
Authoritarians and dictators…
The bishop asks the minister: “How are the children doing in your ministry?”
The minister: “Oh, well, we beat them day and night. But no love has entered into them yet.”
@Satchit.
My feeling is. Swami, that you are too identified with your ego hence you are resistant to Swami Bhorat`s energy.
He understands your difficulty and sends His blessings.
And what happens when one looks at it with a naive, undiscriminating, stupid and/or possibly desperate mind, Satchit?
Big Brother loves you.
What happens, SD?
I don’t know.
Is there a goal?
Satchit,
Oh dear. It sounds like you`ve nodded off in front of the telly again.
Yes, there`s a goal.
Chelsea have scored.
1-0.
Man City’s keeper claimed it was a goalless goal, but the striker said that love is the goal, and life is the journey. The ref was caught blowing a whistle and will appear in front of a disciplinary committee.
Makes you yearn for the halcyon days of the uncompromising spiritual hardmen of yesteryear like Georgie Gurdjieff and Chopper Bhagwan. Those guys didn`t mess about, they would unceremoniously scythe your ego down to size as soon as look at you. People these days have forgotten enlightenment is a contact sport.
Plus, they knew how to enjoy themselves on and off the pitch, they didn`t mind having a few pints after the game and even before and during the game. They wouldn`t get away with that these days; also the offside rule is so tightly enforced these days that it can be pretty hard for gurus to score.
There`s way too much money in the game as well – what a bunch of overpaid prima donnas: cotton-wool, preening, health and self-obsessed mamby-pambies too busy playing mindgames and talking up their tactics.
It`s just not worth the price of the ticket anymore.
Yeah, the enlightenment game’s gone soft all right, Brian. I mean, a lot of pundits reckon they can talk a good game but can they do it under pressure? I have my doubts.
To be fair, so does this German guy, who learned how to play the game over here and who’s now the most successful manager in the States. Here’s his thoughts on a crucial skill all players need (not sure if that old Liverpool fan two along from him agrees but the game’s all about opinions, isn’t it?).
https://eckharttolle.com/watch-vancouver-peace-summit/
Well, as the ref said, you can always enter through the back door. Then again, there is always the threat of a disciplinary committee.
Omg.
LOL!
I was disappointed the skinhead on the left in the Bradford City colours didn`t nut him. He looked like he wanted to.
Can you imagine him going head-to-head with Georgie G in a battle to boss the midfield?
Men against boys, Gary. Men against boys.
A few choice quotes on free will:
Nobel Prize Winner Francis Crick offers this definition: “Your free will [is] no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.” ]
Sam Harris asserts, “You are not controlling the storm…You are the storm.”
Or how about…
Gurdjieff asserts that humanity is just a herd of unconscious “automatons” who are “hypnotized”, existing in “waking sleep” with no freedom of thought or action. Our only escape is via full acceptance of our imprisonment, followed by deep, persistent discipline towards “The Work” that can transcend us to a higher state of consciousness.
Then we have…
The viewpoint of Casteneda’s Don Juan, the shaman protagonist, is “that the idea of free will is absurd.” Only “warriors” who pursue “the path of knowledge” with “unbending intent to be free” have a chance to escape psychological bondage.
And returning to Mr G one could conclude that Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way speaks to the intrinsic emptiness or non-existence of the common conception of the self. Gurdjieff goes so far as to challenge followers of his teaching to recognize their own “nullity” as a critical step in establishing a different relationship to one’s Being. That both ancient and more modern spiritual traditions could reach such conclusions without the benefit of fMRIs suggests that the intuition of the illusory nature of our sense of free will may be available to us directly through a rigorous and honest process of self-inquiry.
Beats me.
MOD:
Lokesh, what does “fMRIs” mean, please?
All this may be true. For myself, I tend to buy into something in the same neck of the woods.
Nevertheless, the veracity, or not, of this philosophy/worldview says nothing of the motivation or inner reality of those who assert it to be so, which is what I have been addressing.
MOD:
fMRI functional magnetic resonance imaging??
External science as opposed to internal science of the mind / meditation / awareness / consciousness….
I agree, Frank. I’m big on Mr G’s psychological take on the human realm. Yes, Mr G was probably Osho’s biggest influence.
Diksha eventually had to encounter her own resistance when she left the Ranch in disgust at what was going on behind the scenes. I liked the woman, although she was no zen mistress. I can just imagine her feeling bored and wandering round seeing if she could find someone’s pot to stir.
Speaking of which, she once had me boiling floor cloths in a big pot in the kitchen in the middle of the night. She comes up to me and says, “Try putting some love into it.” Pure bullshit and par for the madcap course.
Glad you came in this way (at 11:29am yesterday), Frank.
As far as your last line goes, you can find many hints in the LaoTzu and TAO lectures.
As far as words can hint at that truth of this ego-trip as you put it.
You also wrote: “Did the device ´thing´ even help to slide Osho himself too far down the medication rabbit-hole too?”
(No need to not even wait for a bet, I´d suggest).
Dealing with consequences of Interdependence* one could cry a river sometimes.
Osho preferred the jokes and the Laughter.
Such a loving choice….
Madhu
P.S:
* could be a new thread as a topic:…’Interdepemdence’.
‘Sagara’ quote:
The main protagonist has a chat with a disciple of the Beedie Wallah, after meeting the master for the first time.
Angus burped and took a sip of hot tea. “So, David, what makes Nisargadatta so special?”
“Good question,” said David, using a thin serviette to wipe flecks of yellow dhal from his thick fingers. “I don’t know if “special” is the right word. Sri Nisargadatta is by far the most enlightened individual I’ve ever met. A true jnani. I’ve felt attracted to Advaita Vedanta for some years now and Maharaj expounds the teaching of self-enquiry better than any other master I know of. For example, unlike Rajneesh, Maharaj never contradicts himself, never wavers in his approach to finding truth. I like that. I also appreciate that Maharaj remains humble in the way he lives. I know for certain that people have offered to build an ashram for him, but he simply does not want that, because he knows such an institution will imprison him. He is content to walk these dirty city streets, where he worked and brought up a family, without the encumbrances and limitation brought by fame and fortune.”
“I have to admit, from what little I saw of him, Nisargadatta left a strong impression on me.”
“Yes,” said David, “that is easy to understand. Perhaps it’s not the right time yet for you to be around someone like Maharaj.” He paused for a moment and studied Angus’s face. “How old are you? Late twenties or thereabouts? I’m going to turn sixty next week. Big number.” He chuckled. “You have plenty of time left. Go the course with Rajneesh. It will pass. Everything does.”
I wonder, what was Beedi Baba`s opinion on how to take a penalty?
As a hard-core non-dualist, I imagine that he wouldn`t have gone left or right, just put his laces through it and straight down the middle; all the while knowing that the ball had, in reality, been in the back of the net all along.
I reckon he would have just kept his eye on the ball, understanding that in reality, nothing happens. Onto the pitch of the mind, destiny forever projects its pictures, memories of former goals and penalty kicks, and thus illusion constantly renews itself. The cup finals come and go – light intercepted by ignorance. See the ball and disregard the fans. The very desire to score is the messenger of Beckham, as the longing to be victorious is the outline of sorrow. The pitch is an ocean of pain and fear, offsides and corners, fouls and red cards. Winning goals are like the fishes, few and swift, coming rarely, quickly gone.
Extra, extra, read all about it. Workers on strike at SN.
I suggest a new topic: ‘Football and Gurus’.
Apparently, it`s not only Ecky Tolle talking about the beautiful game in his discourses but many spiritual teachers have referenced it.
Vivekananda said, “You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita.”
Apparently, Sadhguru is football crazy and gives regular updates on Twitter about his favourite players.
The Dalai Lama is a director of Bradford City.
Have there been/are there any others?
There`s lots of talk about athletes “being in the zone” and accessing “states of flow” whilst playing, but, at the end of the day, Gary, is this really anything to do with enlightenment, meditation or satori?
I think it can have plenty to do with meditative-type states, being hugely present in the moment, with possibly even an occasional satori when skill reaches a peak of ‘no mind’, although goal-driven competitiveness and its accompanying emotions can override much of that. And enlightenment is another matter altogether.
As a friend said in the early days of Sannyas, George Best, an absolute genius of a footballer before addiction got the better of him, was ‘enlightened’ on the pitch but decidedly not off the pitch, and the problem was he couldn’t adequately cope with the contrast, despite fame, fortune and legions of adoring fans, causing him to take refuge in drink and huge sexual indulgence.
There was a famous true story he told (mentioned before at SN) about a hotel employee who, taking food and drink to George’s room, found him in bed with Miss World (or someone of similar status) and enquired, “George, where did it all go wrong?” Which, taken on its own, sort of lends a certain ambiguity to the scenario and any assessment of his extraordinary life. That’s if we ignore his eventual sad decline into chronic ill health and a premature death.
Glad you came up yesterday evening with that ‘story’, Satyadeva.
Well, I never (up to NOW) took SN/UK as a kind of assessment centre.
Your provided story is one of those one could cry a river about, but alas…there are so many of those, aren’t there?
This morning I listened to a woman from Belarus sharing her story and her insights about the wheel of time in very precarious and dangerous days there (by grace she could emmigrate).
And yesterday evening I did watch the vid – in prime time German & global news – one forced by torture the freshly imprisoned blogger to show up with. In the last moments of the vid he cried and whosoever watching on a global scale saw the truth of a dirty, dirty play…(of the torture). And even before.
Point is that compassionate takes are on their way and this Belarus woman (a philosopher-ess and author) had something to share re compassion & empowerment on a human scale.
She didn t cry and she didn t laugh either.
Her way to share about the Inter-connection of human-happening(s).
Sparks of light. Not more and not less!
Madhu
Gary mentioned it already:
Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.
Hi
No, I have not gone lost…but have Bangladeshi relatives on visit…every room of our apartment is full of people…
Can’t work out anything useful, I guess…
‘Sagara’ has arrived, too.
C U next time::))
“Extra, extra”, Lokesh and quite very rarely it s possible to experience your authordom without a mask.
Yesterday morning (at 10.02 am) that was the case.
And don t get me wrong. I appreciate these rare moments.
As such shows up about how you feel about others and how you see yourself and others here in SN/UK.
Good reminder.
Madhu
You’ve lost me there, Madhu. Haven’t a clue what you are trying to impart.
It might be the beautiful game. I find it quite boring, although not as boring as darts. I watch all the matches in the World Cup and absolutely love it. Football is big in Spain. If it is Madrid v Barca the pubs are packed. I have sat in a few times and it just looks like the same old same old. My grandson is a keen footballer. I go and watch one of his games once in a blue moon. Once again, I find it boring.
In general, I see it as much more fun if you are involved in a sport, actually playing or competing. Watching is a yawn for me, even if watching from a hill.
I was down on the beach today and watched some friends playing paddle ball. Quite remarkable. A drag for the tourists on their sun-beds under a leaden sky, having to listen to the thwack, thwack echoing along the shore. Keeps one fit for sure. I swam out into the deep. Pretty cold but made me feel good. Keep moving!
Sundays I avoid my local beach, because that is when the drummers hammer out a storm. Check out how it looks.
The pic must have been taken befor Pandemic Times, Lokesh?
Although I heard of the pretty new cancelling of the Lockdowns (not only in Spain in order to receive the tourists?).
Quite understandable that you avoid your favourite beach on sundays….
Yes, pre-pandemic photo, Madhu. Can’t remember the last time I went down there in the evening. I swim in the early morning and retreat to my hobbit home before the tourists show up.
Klaus, I saw somewhere, can’t locate it now, that ‘Sagara’ has arrived. Thanks for the support. Will be interested to hear what you think about it. There is an email address in the back pages.
Hi Lokesh,
Yeah, will start reading the book soon.
However, I feel a little spaced out lately…see the drawing below….
Deep.
Mountain: high.
Picture: deep.
River: long and winding.
Yeah.
Boo hoo…the SN party is over.
Far away on the horizon one sees a goose walking.
The goose is out?
Ehm….
Something tells me that we are entering the final days of SN. Everything passes. If visiting bonnie Ibiza, be sure to look me up.
If you purchased my books, thanks for the support.
Feedback is beginning to come in for ‘Sagara’. Happy to say it is all positive.
@Lokesh
So that is your impression?
I glanced into the ‘Sagara’ book. And found densly packed pages in a rather small print for my eyes: thousands and thousands of words – and even more letters! Certainly not a fast read for me; there will be reverberations of the various stories, too. So, I will have to go slowly, oh so slowly.
In the end, all feedback will be positive; even the negative ones, won’t they?
Wish you well
Yes, Klaus, 175,000 words. Just about to begin reading ‘Sagara’ myself. I wear reading glasses to read and the ten point print size does not pose a problem. Had I chosen 12 point, book would have been 600 pages, like the double book of ‘Mind Bomb’ and ‘Borderline Dreamtime’. I have big hands and not a problem for me, but certain readers do not like too big books. Just one more of the equations to be worked out when self-publishing.
You ask, “In the end, all feedback will be positive; even the negative ones, won’t they?” I know what you mean but in a practical sense, positive feedback helps promote the book. Word of mouth is the best way of spreading the news, so good if you can direct readers to a website with good reviews. Here is an example: https://www.amazon.es/SAGARA-Book-three-Tyro-English-ebook/dp/B091NFKGJ6/ref=sr_1_6?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=sagara+luke&qid=1623597090&sr=8-6
I can fully follow your stance and had similar reflections, i.e. spreading by word of mouth, size of book etc.
Best point to me is that your book is a first-hand account of being with an amazing spiritual teacher, friend, guide. Under that bias I am looking at at.
Admirable work and remarkable life story, indeed.
Yes, Klaus, but it is more a second-hand account than first. ‘Sagara’ is a work of fiction. Yes, the scenes taking place in and around the Pune One ashram are often based on personal experience, but not always. Angus Macleod’s criminal activities are fictional.
I think that in the six and a half years I spent in Pune One I smoked three joints and it always made me feel that I was letting the energy field down. One time I smoked some Kerala grass and went into the ashram feeling like I had a big black, smoking hole in my chest. Angus is not like me in that sense. He is certainly more courageous than me.
I started reading ‘Sagara’ last night. Already found some spellos etc., so you will have to forgive me for that. Fortunately, I can update the manuscript after implementing corrections. It is now a bit like reading a book written by someone else. And guess what? I’m really enjoying the story. Yeah!
Thanks for setting the record right, Lokesh.
I guessed that there was fiction in the stories told, too. I am really looking forward to emerging myself in the reading and will create a good space and atmosphere for doing so.
Cheers!
Cool, Klaus, I’m a few chapters in and realize that another thing I do not have in common with Angus is that I rarely drink alcohol. Angus does. I have not suffered a hangover in 30 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZVL_8D048
I feel like balancing this out a little bit with that one:
“We deserve a happy ending”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7RopOgsh5c
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band.
Tacky.
…or even with that one:
David Lindley – “Boogie”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qzv3Rz30Tw
It is really, really bad
When you’re in trouble….
I’m gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise up and down the road….
Great one by the Master of Strings David Lindley!
What! Commentators are reappearing on SN. What a turn-up for the books. Speaking of which, I have been working on a potential global bestseller. ‘THE BEST AND WORST OF SANNYAS NEWS’. Sifting through 850 articles from SN’s vaults and 50,000 comments I am compiling and editing a manuscript to perhaps be published by the end of September…maybe.
This will, of course, make some of the regulars here household names all over the world. Frank, Anand Yogi, Shanti, Shantam, Parmartha, Satya Deva, Tan, Klaus, Arpana, Madhu etc., one day your name will be up in lights saying “SANNYAS NEWS WILL BE GOOD TONIGHT”, type of scenario.
I have my doubts about putting a lot of time into this project. Therefore, if anyone out there cares to comment on this it would be much appreciated from my side.
Great idea.
It will be definitely give the Akashik records a good run for its money as the ultimate go-to spiritual authority.
It will be great when we all get onto Oprah, Joe Rogan`s podcast etc.
When is it coming out?
Hi,
Godd idea, I am all for it,
Sannyas has many voices
We shall not let the boat get lopsided
Balance of the wheels of Sannyas
Beyond propaganda
Some of my key ideas.
MOD:
More great ideas recently published at ‘The Pune Property and the Battle for the Soul of Neo-Sannyas’ Comments thread.
If ‘THE BEST AND WORST OF SANNYAS NEWS’ does come out I would say October earliest. It is quite a time-consuming process sifting through both the articles and the comments.
Thanks 100000s for your input of effort, brains and energy.
I can just sit there, no effort, no brain and just some some energy….
Tock.
I like the idea more and more.
How do you see the final format? A stripped-down and tidied-up selection of articles and comments, I guess, but how much would be retainable and many words do you think there would be in total?
It`s quite an opus spreading over more than a decade!
Could you get a publisher or would it be a self-publishing project?
Hi, I think I am correct in assuming that if you have permission from the people who are running SN. there exists no problem with publishing material from this site. Song lyrics are a no go area.
Osho quotes? I think OIF has enough on their plate right now to be bothered with a no-name chump like me putting out a book with a few Osho quotes peppering the chapters. After all, OIF are supposed to be supporting Osho’s vision. They’d have to be blind not to see here is something original, funny, Osho-positive, presented in across-the-board way with many insights to the life of Osho.
Talking of which, I will use excerpts from Sam’s great book…don’t see that as a problem, unless he remembers who he was in a previous incarnation.
I will self-publish. Somebody with clout wants to spoil the show I will just take it down and that will be the end of the story.
More importantly, I would love to hear from Anand Yogi and hear his take on the idea of a book…I already have a slot if he drops a good comment. Yahoo!
The Akashik word on the street is that an emergency meeting with Swami Bhorat, Anand Yogi, Sadhguru, Arun, Modi and the Ammas and Papas has been called to respond to the threat of SN baboons going mainstream in their efforts to publicly urinate on the holy tenets of mighty Bhorat.
It is certainly Kali Yuga.
The Nine Unknown Men of Mighty Bhorat have been placed on red alert.
As for end format, it will be what I deem are the most interesting articles with a few select comments, either delivering good insight or fly-on-the-wall views, humour etc. I will even create a few extra comments where needed to add balance.
I love Yogi’s stuff…as in reading something profound and along comes Yogi with his cutting-edge spiritual satire…often hilarious and on the ball.
Shantam is also good, because he adds a very Indian flavour which often comes across as absurd but always fun.
After a few of the exchanges with Shantam I reverted to ‘the very Indian flavour with an absurd touch’ to:
Dr. BOMBAY
- Hoolabaloo my Elephant is jumping
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IenLxY-Rfh8
- Girlie Girlie the Elephant race
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BRVbZUe0WA
- Rice and Curry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKtNawQ3cxM
- Calcutta Taxi Taxi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBwrW9-QgPM
Something Indian very funny!
There has never been such a burning question of the day for sure.
All it would need for a new thread is a headline like ‘What`s happening with Covid’. Doesn`t really need a new article.
Exactly.
Folks, I will take a 5 weeks break at my relatives’ places in Bangladesh.
Keep up the good spirits. Stay balanced. Stay safe. Stay healthy.
C U later.
P.S.:
In case I run into Anand Yogi-ji over there I am looking forward to really enjoying the party….