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EDITOR’S BYTES (February, 03) However they were central to the life of the Pune Ashram in the late seventies and were eagerly anticipated by participants. They were “events” in which the whole commune took part. At mid-evening and during “black-out” as it was called whoever was in the Ashram simply dropped everything and fell into their own meditation, whilst in the darshan itself Osho surrounded by what seemed like a dozen or more female “mediums” enveloped the disciple in an animated and orchestrated “energy field”. My own experience was that Osho would make physical and vibrational contact with the third eye whilst the mediums would surround the whole body. After a rapid crescendo of music, that in real time probably only lasted a few minutes at most, this more often than not left me sprawled on the marble floor. The effect seemed to be to engage all the chakras in a multiplier effect, which was not contained. Parmartha
The Empty Boat
Readers will be pleased to know that the Ashram (Resort) are planning to reprint some of the Tao books of Osho, which many miss. Let’s hope they include “The Empty Boat”. I remember in 1974 this book having a profound effect on me. Like many then and now, we were acquainted with Zen and Yoga, but the rareness of an approach that somehow lets one float was a totally fresh conception, and still remains so. Of course the book will probably have a new name, or be within some compilation or other, but something is better than nothing. To help identify the text of “The Open Boat”, the lectures were given between July 10 and July 20th, 1974. However this may not even help you, as the current management (obscurely) believe that dating anything of Osho’s work makes it less “timeless”! Rather an odd argument I would say!
Also refreshing is to hear that another Osho Hindi book has now been translated (of many that await), and also with the original Hindi text from the seventies. It will shortly for the first time see the light of the English reading world, being entitled “Die, Oh Yogi Die”, and is a commentary on the Indian Mystic Gorakh. I imagine that Prem Joe at Osho Purnima (UK) will be stocking the new books. (Osho Purnima web-site appears on our web-site’s link pages).
Energy Darshan
I have sometimes been asked by younger sannyasins what the energy darshans that Osho created in Pune One were all about. All of the old “Darshan Diaries” contain the unusual photographs, and to those who did not experience them they remain a little difficult to explain, and the current management obviously find the photographs not to their taste for they never use them in current publications. Commentators, even those sympathetic to Osho, seem to have difficulty in describing the darshans or their meaning.
What was most noticeable was that this energy transformation continued in waves through the succeeding hours after the darshan. Of course there were always sceptics, who felt “nothing”! My experience was that if one was feeling open for whatever reason then Osho could reach one. Obviously if someone came with a lot of defences or anxieties then it would be difficult for Osho to do his thing.
Fortunately we now have an excellent and articulate description from someone who was a medium at the time, that may well help those who want to fully understand. . Ma Krishna Radha gives a moving and articulate account called “Two zeros Disappearing” in the current issue of “Viha Connection”. (Vol xv1, one, page 43 on). Viha is a Mill Valley magazine also with a web-site at (www.oshoviha.org). Both article and magazine can be recommended.
Vinod Khanna Indian Tourist Minister visits Pune?
According to the Indian Express the ex-sannyasin Vinod Khanna, who is currently Minister for Tourism in India, turned up in Pune recently for an International Film Festival. However he then dashed off to the Osho Ashram instead of attending the Festival Inauguration. According to the Express Khanna's sudden guest appearance improved the morale of protesters who still want the old Buddha Hall restored. So far this is led by Swami Chaitanya Keerti (former spokesperson of the Osho Commune and current head honcho of Osho World, New Delhi), and Ma Yoga Neelam, Osho's former secretary for India. Keerti says: ''Being a Minister, and having a voice better than ours, Khanna has promised to take up the (salvaging of the Buddha Hall) with the Prime Minister and have it declared a heritage structure. He used to meditate in that Hall and realises its significance, and knows why it should be preserved.''
Nor is this the only Osho issue Khanna is involved with. On December 11, Osho's birthday, says Swami Keerti, ''he accompanied the Archaeological Survey of India on their visit to the site where Osho was born in Kutchwada, Madhya Pradesh. Khanna is keen that the site be preserved as a national monument - it would be a pilgrim spot for thousands of sannyasins.'' (Oddly enough many sannyasins are not so impressed by Vinod, seeing him as an opportunist, and publicist for his own political advancement. )
Nevertheless, Khanna is open about his support to the cause. A message on an e-discussion group appends the Minister's Delhi address and fax number and solicits backing against ''the demolition of the Buddha Hall and podium''. The response has been overwhelming, Khanna told The Indian Express. ''I am receiving hundreds of e-mails from Osho lovers and I support their sentiments for the restoration of the Hall”
Strangely enough at the Ashram (Resort) , Swami Mukesh Sarda, member of the Osho Management Team, claims to know nothing of Khanna’s visit. ''He has not approached us as far as I know, regarding the restoration of Buddha Hall. The last time he came to the Commune was in 1991,'' Mukesh told The Express. All very odd, personally I wouldn’t trust any of them!
Buddha Hall Marble for Sale?
Within the last fortnight or so, marble from Buddha Hall is either being sold or taken by sannyasins. Sarlo from Vancouver says in a recent message that “I just got some marble today, pieces of the former pagoda behind Osho's podium in Buddha Hall. They were brought back by a friend who was in Buddha Hall during the demolition”.
According to the returnee the demolition was not done by sannyasins,
except those supervising. They were paid outside workers. It was done with sledgehammers! And it was done as quickly as possible, at night, to forestall opposition to the authority of the Ashram (Resort) management. Fortunately the podium from which Osho used to lecture has for the time being been spared as Neelam got a court order to stop this particular demolition.
The management had actually started demolishing the podium and had to repair what they had damaged, when the court order came. So much for the management’s story of "having" to demolish Buddha Hall — because the Pune city authorities had ordered it!