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ENTER
ZORBA THE BUDDHA |
| By Parveen Chopra and Swati Chopra  In
the fading light of a hot summer day, a group of six gathers at a film
star-politician's Delhi home to discuss a 'mad mystic'. Four are the mystic's
followers, two journalists. There ensue moments of intense discussion
interspersed with laughter, and precious nuggets of insight into the man—Osho,
who was once called 'the most dangerous man since Jesus'. Four people who have walked the path, carefully guiding their feet over Osho's footprints. Four people who lived, loved and laughed by his philosophy. Four people who feel Osho's presence vividly even 11 years after his death. As the evening wears on, his name rings out time and again, uttered at times ecstatically, at times reverentially, but always with passion. ''Osho!'' One of them remarked as we emerged in the coolness of the night: ''I think he was there. I felt his presence.'' The four panelists were: Swami Chaitanya Keerti who was Osho Commune's PR person and editor of Osho Times Inter-national. He has helped form Osho World in Delhi and is the Editor of the Hindi Osho World magazine, Rekha Purie, the woman behind Art Today gallery and Vasant Valley School in Delhi, she has been visiting the Pune Commune for dynamic meditations and is growing to be an Osho lover, Vinod Khanna, Osho's ardent follower since 1970, who followed him all the way to Oregon, USA, this matinee idol from Bollywood is now a Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur, and Kul Bhushan, a veteran business journalist, he is also an Osho veteran. He is currently the media consultant for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, based in Delhi. Here are the more scintillating extracts from the discussion: |
| Life
Postive: How much has marketing and PR helped in Osho's popularity? Vinod Khanna: Osho consciously made controversial statements. I think he was the greatest newsmaker in the world for many years. He would make one outrageous statement and then retract it or say something a few days later that would totally contradict what he had said earlier. Kul Bhushan: When I first asked him for an interview, he refused outright. Seeing that I was hurt, he said: ''Write whatever you want and attribute it to me. I will justify it no matter how outlandish it is!'' Swami Chaitanya Keerti: Something similar happened when I was part of a group traveling around India. I asked Osho what should I say if we are asked about him. He said: ''You answer anything and I will corroborate it.'' Life Positive (to Rekha Purie): When did you become an Oshoite? Rekha Purie: I would like to know if there is something known as an 'Oshoite'? Vinod Khanna: No, there isn't. You became a disciple. You were initiated, which meant that you would wear the mala (garland) and the saffron robes. Once you did that, you had a guru you could talk to. You could absorb his wisdom through his discourses. Meditation was important to Osho. There were times when I was so busy shooting for my films that I was unable to meditate. Osho would take one look at me and say: ''You are not meditating these days.'' He had patience with those who did not meditate. But not with those who were escapists. He let such people stay at the ashram for a couple of months and then made them leave. You had to be serious about your meditation. Come to think of it, he doesn't have any daily regimen, only meditation. That which comes from being a meditator are his teachings Life Positive (to
Rekha Purie): Did you formally take sannyas (renunciation)? |
| Life
Positive: The general perception of meditation is sitting quietly… Vinod Khanna: Osho said that ultimately, meditation is not about sitting quietly. You have to go back to the world and share your insights. Life Positive (to Vinod Khanna): You are part of the rough and tumble of politics. How does meditation help you deal with it? Vinod Khanna: The outcome of meditation is that you don't get stressed easily, you develop a silent mind and are able to look at things objectively. You cease to be a doer and became a witness. Rekha Purie: You are able to help others automatically, you become a calmer and better person. Vinod Khanna: Everything you do, you are full of love and compassion. This is what draws people to Osho. Life Positive: But politics is a dirty game. Vinod Khanna:
Nothing is dirty, and nothing is good. 'Good' and 'bad' are concepts created by
the mind. Once you transcend the mind, you will obviously not murder or cheat
somebody. Rekha Purie: I think you cannot be an Oshoite. As Osho said: ''You can only be a Buddha, not a Buddhist.'' You have to experience everything for yourself and once you do that, you have already changed. Vinod Khanna: There's a Zen saying: ''If you meet the Buddha on the way, kill him.'' |
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Life Positive: If the disciple becomes the Buddha, is that the end? Rekha Purie: This reminds me of something my son did once. I had given him some of Osho's books to read. One day, he dumped them all in my room. When I asked him why, he said: ''Osho says 'the answer is within you'. Why should I read all these books then?'' Vinod Khanna: Yet, it is difficult to meditate without a guru. I have had some strange experiences while meditating. There are so many times that I have gone to Osho shaking with fear. When you are at that stage, you need a guru to egg you on. He used to give me props to hold on to, things like a hair from his beard or a nail clipping. Kul Bhushan: Meditation often brings you to the edge of an abyss, and all you see is empty space. You don't want to jump over the edge. The experiences are so intense that you need the master. Life Positive: Osho was against organizations. Isn't the Osho movement today trying to solidify spirituality? Sw. Chaitanya Keerti: Osho was not against organizations, only that they should not be rigid. He felt that an organization must be like an organism, it should grow constantly. The movement might seem to be becoming rigid now, but deep down, we are all rebels. Life Positive: We heard of a move to convert the Pune Commune into a sort of a spiritual spa and phase out Osho? Sw. Chaitanya Keerti: At a millenium festival in Pune last year the idea of a 'quantum leap' to transcend Osho was discussed. I felt that the decision to move away from the guru has to be based on individual choice. The whole commune cannot take a 'quantum leap' because each person's spiritual progress happens at a different rate. Life Positive: There are Osho centers all around the world. Does any single body govern them? Sw. Chaitanya Keerti: No, Osho said that all his centers are independent. He gave suggestions but never interfered in their functioning. Vinod Khanna: We never doubted Osho. And we always had fun! Life
Positive (to Vinod Khanna): How did you come to Osho? Sw. Chaitanya Keerti: You follow what suits you best. Osho used to give the example of Ramakrishna Paramhansa who tried all the paths and gathered their essence. After scaling the pinnacle of one path, say Islam, he came back with a fresh mind to follow another. Rekha Purie: I think I am happily confused! At the moment, I am on the path of following your heart. Whatever suits you, follow that. |
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Life Positive: Why did Osho give 112 ways of meditating? Isn't it confusing? Sw. Chaitanya Keerti and Rekha Purie (in unison): No! Rekha Purie: There is no confusion at all because the minute you find your meditation, you feel rooted. Then you are not looking further because you are in complete bliss. Vinod Khanna: Ultimately, you have to drop the meditation too. When you get cured, you don't keep taking medicines. After a point, meditation becomes a source of joy, that's all. People gauge you by external appearances. If you profess to being a meditator, people will be shocked if you drink or smoke. Meditation has nothing to do with all this. If I am smoking a cigarette, I might be doing so meditatively! Nothing was taboo according to Osho. He said: ''Use everything to become meditative. If you are even blinking your eyelashes or lifting your hand, be aware of it.'' Rekha Purie: When I swim and have been doing the same stroke for an hour, I feel myself completely in tune with my breathing. It is almost like meditation. You come out of the pool with a wonderful feeling of a relaxed body and mind. Now it's 113 ways of meditation, one up from Osho's 112! Vinod Khanna (to Rekha Purie): The bliss you experience while swimming comes from being in the moment, and that is meditation. The aim is to master the mind. When the 'no-mind' state begins to happen, you initially think you are going mad. You desperately want to think, because that's what you are conditioned to do, but no thoughts come. Kul Bhushan: That's the first step towards awareness. Vinod Khanna: Your first satori. Kul Bhushan: Osho told me to watch my 'chattering mind'. Vinod Khanna: I used to go to Pune for the Sunday discourse. Once, I was very attentive for the first ten minutes and then my mind wandered. Suddenly two birds swooped down on my head. I was startled and opened my eyes. Osho had stopped the discourse and was looking at me. I know he did it. Only the master and disciple know what transpires between them. Life Positive: What about the 'Buddhafield' that Osho always spoke about? Vinod Khanna: The Buddhafield is the commune. The presence of so many meditators together at one place creates a field of positive energy. There might be a lot of negativity in the Buddhafield too but you don't accept it. Rekha Purie: It might sound like empty jargon, but you actually feel the energy there. The kind of Sufi whirling that I do in the Buddha Hall I won't be able to do here in my garden. The energy lifts you to do it. Sw. Chaitanya Keerti: There comes a point when the disciple carries the Buddhafield within him wherever he goes. Kul Bhushan: This gives him a 'presence', a sort of a force field of vibrations around him. Life Positive: Most of Osho's followers look very joyous. (Demonstration of joyousness) Life Positive: So, what was Osho's greatest contribution? Kul Bhushan: I think it is 'Zorba the Buddha' concept. It is a unique insight to combine the celebration of Zorba with the meditation of the Buddha. Sw.
Chaitanya Keerti: The Buddha and Zorba are incomplete without each other.
Both in deep embrace signify the union of the inner and the outer. That is Osho's
vision of the 'New Man'. Kul Bhushan: Osho will live for anyone who discovers him at any point in time. |
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