Guru Purnima: a dated Celebration?
‘Guru Purnima’ is a traditional celebration in the Indian sub-continent, at full moon in July, which is no longer celebrated at the Osho Pune Resort/ashram… It is practiced in Hiduism, and also in Buddhism and Jainism. It is meant to highlight the relationship between guru and disciple, and to underline its great value. Kabir thought it of such value that he could gladly do without God if there was a choice between that relationship and God. The word guru is derived from two words, gu and ru. The Sanskrit root gu means darkness or ignorance, and ru denotes the remover of that darkness.
The Blessing of the Guru on Guru Purnima day
Some regret the day’s passing in the Pune Resort/Ashram. The usual defence of this is that it was part of a general “last words” directive from Osho before he died. It was practiced annually whilst Osho was alive.
True to himself Osho regularly stated that he was building an “international” commune both in India and throughout the world. Many see such celebrations as ritualistic and religious, which have no place in the 21st century. SN (see below) note that Oshoworld and other “organisations” that do not comply with the Pune Resort/Ashram whip, continue to celebrate this date. What think ye, SN bloggers?
I celebrated Guru Purnima only after Sannyas; until then, maybe it was just another Hindu festival which I didn’t bother with & participate in anyway.
It was celebrated in the Poona Commune probably only until 1998-99 the year Ma Yoga Neelam was in the Poona Commune, but I could be wrong about this .
In mid-2000 I had mostly left Poona city & had started living more of a village /country life until Oct of 2007 along with my mother , so we had found our our own way of celebration , so in that sense the celebration in the Commune had ended for me after 2000.
Last year, our friend, Swami Anand Satish, a Poona 1 sannyasin, had a small ( 7-8 sannyasins ) music & evening snack party at his residence in Koregaon Park annexe which I attended with our friend Ma Prem Sangeeta.
This year, I had forgotten about it until I received a message of greeting from Ma. Anand Shashwati about it but didn’t have any energy to respond. And later I couldn’t agree more with Lokesh when he expressed that it’s not what it used to be. For me, it’s been like this for a long time now & of course somehow no regrets for that .
I guess each one of us has to follow one’s own sentiments regarding this , if Ma Jyoti & Swami Keerti / or anyone needs to celebrate it, it’s entirely upto them.
Mr. Editor,
Is Sannyas not an outdated concept?
And Sannyasnews?
Why not start from oneself? why not a more contemporary and international name?
Is it not plain primitive to wear the names from a foreign culture?
My feeling is Europeans have lost their sense of fair play and have become double-talk Indians after coming in contact with Acharya Osho!
I am sure readers and bloggers of sannyasnews are well aware that under the dictates of doctor and property manager of late Osho, Pune chapter organizes some kind of Monsoon festival instead of Master´s day and September celebration known as Mahaprinirvana day.
There is filthy politics behind this change and nothing else.
If Osho gave some kind of “general last instructions” before he died, i.e. to stop celebrating the Guru Purnima day, to take down all of his pictures, to stop enlightened sannyasins from entering, to demolish the Buddha Hall, to install coke machines, etc., then these instructions should be made transparent for all to see.
A point:
Can you really imagine Osho leaving behind instructions so rigid they can be cast as commandments?
Re the coke machines:
Osho gave permission for beer to be sold at the ashram before Oregon and it was. Above Vrindavan, and at number 17.
“Can you really imagine Osho leaving behind instructions so rigid they can be cast as commandments?”
Seems unlikely.
And I don’t know whether they’ve installed coke machines either. Just something I had read on SN.
Last time I visited was in ’89, and they had ‘Thumbs up’ cola back then.
Maybe what really happened is during a dental session, Osho said to Jayesh and Amrito, “People will try to create a religion when I have leftttttsshhhhhhhhhh!” And this made them determined to prevent any ‘religion’ being created.
However, no matter what changes are made there, the place will be back in the hands of the Indians sooner or later. It’s inevitable. But India has always absorbed different masters into the mix. Osho’s books are already in the houses of parliament and in every Indian railway station.
I thought that I had cleared all this up a couple of years ago when I shared how I was rooting around in my garden shed, looking for something I`d lost, when I came across one of those old 10 rupee aerogrammes. As I opened it up and read it, blimey! it turned out to be Osho`s will!
Fancy that! I`d completely forgotten about it!
Well, that’s just the old going-beyond-the mind beginning to kick in, i suppose…Well, I have been meditating for a few decades now,after all…
It is dated December 10th, 1989, it reads:
“I, Raja Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Zorba Maitreya the Buddha Mohan Jain Acharya Mahakashyapasyougoalong Osho, being of sound no-mind and acting from my own free whim, declare that I`ve done my time and sung my song so just let me move on, so you can move on too.
In the parting words of the Buddha:
”Get a life unto yourself.”
No doubt there will be the usual crew of retards trying to make me a into a religion, parroting me and “doing my work” and slithering their way up the greasy pole of so-called enlightenment…
What to do
Don`t be vorried, let all those idiots battle it out..if they feel the need to puff themselves up and have their 15 minutes of fame…
So be it…
Don’t forget, compassion is also necessary.
These people need a bit of compassion…
and a good kick up the ass….
P.S:
I never said “I leave you my dream”, what I said was “I leave you my legal team.”
And about the Samadhi, well, I didn’t want to make the message too obvious, but here`s another clue:”T Rex, ‘Electric Warrior’: Side 2,track 5″
I saw which way it was going, and well, if you can’t have a bit of a laugh just as you`re about to merge with the Cosmos for the rest of all eternity, when can you?
Cheraiveti, cheraiveti, and cheerio.”
I think what Osho really said during the Poona 2 dental sessions was, “Sit down, Raj. I can hear that mouse squeeking again.
Let them squeak.
Raj, stand up.” (MOD: WHO’S SPEAKING WHEN, PLEASE?!)
“Yes, Bhagwan.”
“Mrrrphhhh…celebrationshhh my religion, will try to create when I am gone.
Gone is the right word?”
Amrito hadn`t understood what Osho meant by this, so he put his ear very close to the Master and asked, “Many people will try to create a new Religion when you are gone?”
“Sit down, Raj!” Osho bellowed in a thunderous voice.
“Yes, Bhagwan”.
When Osho was in the body, daily entry fee to Pune Property was 20 Rupees.
25 years later it is 760 Rupees for Indians and 1500 Rupees for westerns.
35 times to 75 times increase in the daily entry fee, is it not a world record of a kind?
Is there a single product or commodity or service anywhere in the world which has taken such a tremendous jump?
Thank you, Osho Foundation International, for finally making Osho The Rich Man´s Guru.
I may send a note to Pope Francis for blessings. You guys are doing great Christian work of destroying the competitors.
Just remembered, when for the first time the entrance sticker was increased for non-Indians, few friends & me would (secretly & cunningly!) buy double or more stickers & give our non-Indian friends for the Indian price until stricter rules came by & we learnt more deeply about how rules can ruin a peaceful life!
In the parting words of the Buddha: ”Get a life unto yourself.”
Why can’t Buddhas just part without any message & leave us alone?!
“Why can’t Buddhas just part without any message & leave us alone?!”
I am reminded of a beautifull story that Osho used to tell about a buddha leaving his body. I think it was a Chinese buddha. Must have been a Taoist.
The Master had just left the body.
All of the disciples were weeping and crying.
But the Master had played one last trick on the disciples.
He had hidden some fireworks in his clothes, and when the disciples placed his body on the funeral pyre – well, you can guess the rest.
One last parting gift from the Master.
& this maybe one everlasting parting gift from our Master!
Still with us and still talking to us if we listen.
“Freddom from Guru Purnima” you ask. Of course! The OIF is free from the Guru, thus inevitably it will be a contradiction to celebrate the Guru Purnima.
I personally see it as a reason to celebrate (meditation+celebration, remember?). I do see it a bit cultish from the Eastern perspective because in addition to that love and joy that many Indians and Nepaleese express effortlessly, they really believe in all sorts of nonsense (Guru blessing them from the sky etc. etc.).
When I went to Pune recently, the only big criticism I have is a complete ‘wipe out’ of a celebration element in the Resort. It feels like a retirement home if one was to compare it to what it used to be. It feels like some sort of strict school (of course you can tune in to the meditation energy, but still). The music is low (I guess not to wake up hangover Amrito and other old people
) and no one is really dancing in ecstasy during White Robes. In fact, life music is unbearable! And the funny thing is the old timers, who have not left since old days, do not even see that difference anymore.
If you go to other communes in India and Nepal, during a Guru Purnima celebration you will experience the explosion of energy, dance and celebration. So you tell me what version makes people more alive?
When I was in Pune, the strongest experience for me was outside of the Pune resort in the “underground” Osho birthday celebration where Osho’s energy was tangible. People were in bliss and love. Those emotions cannot be faked.
We need more reasons/no reasons to celebrate this serious (for many) life. And whether it is a celebration of a Guru Purnima or a fall of Communism I am up for it. Put the volume up! la la la
Frank, your comment about “Leaving a Legal Team” made me laugh very hard
Is it a stolen statement?
Hi Chetna,
Whilst it is true that I have been spotted leaving libraries and bookshops with ideas clumsily stuffed down my trousers or even whole philosophies crammed sureptitiously into my shopping bag, the `legal team` is actually one of mine, which I stole off myself from a previous spoof on the legal fight between Resort and Lovebaba.
So, Mr Jayesh O`Byrne O`Beroi, good ol` boy, an other people’s property developer from PO box 29374563, let`s play:
`Who wants to be a millionaire?!`
The first question:
The last words of the mystic Osho to his disciples were:
A I leave you my legal team
B I leave you my get rich quick scheme
C I leave you my trademark
D I leave you to fight it out amongst yourselves.
Er…I`d like to phone my lawyer, please.
Er, A.
Is that your final answer?
Er, I need to call my lawyer.
The next contestant:
Mr Harry Lovebaba, a loved-up new age sadhu from Joe Banana`s chaishop, Anjuna:
Your first question:
The last words of the mystic Osho to his disciples were:
A I leave you my chillum
B I leave you hopelessly stranded on a beach in Goa
in the 70s
C I leave you to hassle rednecks in red robes who are
messin’ with my trip, man
D Let`s party, dude.
Er, I`d like to phone my dealer, please.
Er, `C`.
Is that your final answer?
That`s the wrong answer.You go home without your own ashram tonight.
Thank you for playing Crorepati.
Goodnight.
I`m not sure that they are “alchoholic baboons” after all, Frank, as no-one has any evidence of any hard drinking.
Remember that someone was complaining that they`d moved the urn containing Osho`s ashes from under the bed? Well, apparently, Amrito and co. have been busy snorting those ashes, mixed with a little coke, for years.
Gives a powerful high, or so I`m told.
Spreading the vision:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/alcoholic-baboons-invade-cape-towns-richest-enclave
SS,
It sounds like Keith Richards, Frank Gallagher and that guy out of the Happy Mondays have joined the Inner Circle.
Wow.
I didn’t know the IC were so active in Cape Town.
Title of this article is, ‘A place for ‘Guru Purnima’ in an International World?’ We can also discuss, ‘Is there a place for ‘foreign language names’ in an International world?’
It seems God will say to Michael, John, Tony, Bobby and Bill, “I cannot believe, with your kind of names, you have ever looked within.”
With all the love and respect, I am waiting to read the answers of other bloggers who are not Indians but wearing Indian names.
Question is also, how long? The master himself discarded His Indian name and title; is there still some relevance to go on holding the ticket of the cinema hall which has long turned into a shopping mall?
Bit of a point here, Shantam but…
These are not Indian names. The are Sanskrit names, or that was what I was told back in 1975!
Monks often take names to usher in their new life, they are Latin names.
“With all the love and respect, I am waiting to read the answers of other bloggers who are not Indians but wearing Indian names.” -
Even though you haven’t addressed your query towards born Indians, I couldn’t help myself from barging in. Your contempt, which is so very direct & repulsive – I guess one has to have encountered it oneself sometime/all the time, or else how could one just go on & on & on…?
I really wish you find your peace in your active life, Shantam.
Sometimes answer comes from somewhere:
“EIch habe keine Zeit für politische Korrektheit»” – “I don´t have time for political correctness.” (Donald Trump).
P.S:
I reciprocate the good gesture; I really wish you too find your peace in your active and passive life, dear Kavita.
Ok, dear, I shall accept your good gesture too, Shantam
P.S:
Politics in any case is totally your domain, whether correct or not correct!
Shantam…
When did you ever feel so authentically German, with stirrings of Wagnerian proportions, leading you from your estranged and mere birth-land of India, to feverishly take up domicile in the land of leder-hosen, bratwurst, health insurance, barrel-chested middle aged men and discount supermarkets, with tears in your eyes for having finally come home?
At least give yourself a fifty-fifty east-west name. How about Swami Sherman ChaiShop, or Swami Sigiwald Lidl-Wallah?
Have you read…
‘Mein Kampf’, by Adolf Shantlgruber…?
A rambling, infinitely repetitive, painfully monotonous, factually dubious, badly written diatribe about how one man`s life and people was being destroyed by a group of devilish, infiltrating foreigners…
But seriously…
And your new name is…
Adolf Von Lidlburger