I have also got a sannyas deck called ‘The Goose is Out–a Zen Poker’ in English but published in Italy in ’82. It is surreal and weird and very rare. Unfortunately two cards are missing.

How many kinds are there?

Quite possibly, I have a certain weakness for ‘romanticism’, I must confess, and Gauguin’s life has inspired me in many ways, although when one looks at some of the negative ‘nitty-gritty’ details, it does not make for attractive reading, does it? …….A messy bitter divorce, fights in bars and brothels which left him with a permanent limp, frequent financial difficulties, persecution by the French legal authorities in the Pacific, a slow lingering death from syphilis…ouch!

The ‘average sannyasin’, has never seemed romantic to me however. In my own definition, this ‘animal’ conjures up the frightful image of somebody who flocks willingly to one of Veeresh’s meditation sessions, for example. In addition, I would include the following terms to more fully describe the species in question : hypocritical, submissive, corrupt, religious, uncritical, ungrounded, pseudy, manipulative, addictive, boorish, unconscious, vain, thick, twattish etc. etc.

It was in fact the ‘average sannyasin’ which drove me into the arms of Sannyas News, in search of some common sense!

Apart from Gauguin’s violent tendencies that you mention, Ashok, I mean, sure, plenty of sannyasins (mostly in their 20-s to early /mid 30′s) lived a sort of ‘hippie’ lifestyle for varying periods, esp during Poona 1, and a few did it long-term, but it wasn’t by any means a lifelong choice for the majority.

After their wild (or would-be wild) youth, and especially after the fall of Rajneeshpuram, many pursued conventional careers and otherwise outwardly ‘normal’ lives, while a fair number were always simply too dysfunctional, short or even long-term, to be able to make such a choice, ie they were ‘drop-out’ types by default, as it were.

Cue Lokesh (and, please, no!), Dhyan Rage, for news of the ‘exceptions’ (that prove the rule)…

Over to you, Jimmy!!

Zorba-like in the way he lived his life once he had dropped out, he often found himself on the bread-line for the sake of his art. Eventually, he found his way to the South Pacific and there shacked up with native Polynesian women, first in Tahiti, and then the Marquesa Islands.

His Buddha spirit side tho’ was patchy at times, as it seems at some point he mentally and physically bullied Van Gogh when they shared a house in France. He was also known to have got into fist-fights when drunk etc.

Judging by some of his paintings, he was no stranger to the beauty and power of the present moment. All in all, a very interesting character….I wonder if Osho ever referred to him at all? (Open question to all).