Osho - The Window to Existence

(A letter of reply to Veetman about the banning of Dhanyam from the Pune Resort from Giten)

Dear Veetman, Now I have had time to read and meditate over your mail. I appreciated your sincere letter. I agree with parts of what you say, but I do not agree with other parts. On the most important part we can totally agree, though, that is: - Osho - the Window to Existence, not the exclusive property of Pune - which is what really matters anyway.

First, the reason why I wrote that I was not responsible for the Sheela-fiasco was not to play any "victim"-game or that I am identified with whether the former Swedish Commune will take responsibility for their own actions and apologize or not. In my view, they let themselves down, and that is a matter between them and Osho. I wrote it because the mail was going out to Osho Centers worldwide, and that the situation during the Sheela-fiasco resembles the current situation - and there is a great chance that it will end up in the same way.

Osho's caring for every sannyasin and in the smallest detail has always been a deep source of inspiration for me in my work with people, and most of the time I have actually succeeded. But the way Osho International bans people without explaining the reason, without presenting any evidence - (sometimes even rumours seem to be enough evidence), without anybody being responsible for the decision, and without even answering inquiries as to whether a person is banned or not - sometimes letting the person know this first when he stands at the gates in Pune - and without giving the person any chance to defend himself. This is not only unprofessional to me, it is fascism. A similar behaviour in the professional world would probably get a person fired very fast.

I did not write this protest only for Dhanyam, but Dhanyam has also not been given any reason for the ban, so it will be difficult for him to defend himself. Osho International will probably not answer his inquiries and mails either. So I do not agree with you that people do not get hurt in this process - or that there is some "magical thinking" involved that make Osho International further people's spiritual growth by banning them.

The power-people of Osho International also know how to work together, while the heart-people try to defend themselves individually, which is one of the basic reasons why there is no change.

I have also been astonished how silent the therapists - the hero's of the sannyas world - were both during the Sheela-fiasco and now during the Osho International/Pune Resort-period. A few years ago, I was doing a course at the former Osho centre in Stockholm with a Osho-therapist, who I had been doing trainings with before. She got a question from a newcomer, what was the reason for the Sheela-fiasco, and her answer was: "Because Osho was silent". Of course, this is true on one level, but it is also an answer that does not make her  personally responsible for what happened at the Ranch. It is also a dishonest answer to a newcomer. My overall impression from the former centre in Stockholm was that therapists came to the centre, but did not bother about the management of the centre as this would disturb their business. The management of the centre in Stockholm was then at the level where the Pune administration is now. (The centre in Stockholm has now been closed for several years.) 

In your mail you express the view that the banning of sannyasins can be a way to wake up, and I do share this view to some extent, but I also think that this protest is a wake up call for sannyasins. In closing, I also enclose a mail below that I sent to a therapist, who has been banned from Pune.  Love. Giten   www.giten.net    

Dear, 

Thank you for your mail. I am aware that many sannyasins has been banned by Osho International, but I was not aware that you also had been banned.

You say that you were banned from Pune several years ago, when your were doing workshops independently, and not under the auspices of the Pune "Osho organization," which for me seems like a strange reason to ban a person from the Pune  Resort.

Even if I think that being banned from Pune can be viewed as a blessing in disguise -The Master kicks out his disciples when they are ready to learn to walk themselves -I also feel that this systematic banning of sannyasins is a form of fascism from the so-called "Inner Circle."
 
Osho was very clear that the work of the Inner Circle was to take care of the practical side of the Commune, and not to interfere with spiritual issues. So they really do not have Osho's mandate to ban sannyasins. 

Love. Giten

TOP