Meera: teaching an awareness that grows out of fun and a silent and clean space.
In January Meera gave her customary Osho Art Therapy Training at the Osho Resort in Pune where participants from 15 nationalities took part. She writes:
Our workshop takes place in Buddha Grove, on the right hand side if you look at the podium. The podium where Osho used to speak to us for over two decades. The location helps us to be aware that Osho is with us, and we therefore treat the space as if we were ready to receive a visit from him at any moment, and paint with him.
Every day we see Bodhi Hanna, who is now 82, clean the expanse of Buddha Grove. You may think it is too big a task for one individual, but her longing and her connection with Osho makes it possible. And her cleaning is a great inspiration for us all!
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The section reserved to our workshop is about a third of Buddha Grove and is covered with big plastic sheets full of splashes of our colourful paints. The contrast between Hanna’s immaculate white marble and our section invites others to come close. They watch us paint and listen to Osho’s quotes, and to what I have to say. Some of them decide spontaneously to join in, as if the playfulness and the depth of the workshop were irresistible.
The cleaning continues also in our section. Our team of assistants is busy sweeping the constantly falling leaves from the tall bamboo trees that surround Buddha Grove. It’s quite something to watch! They sweep again and again, knowing well that more leaves will immediately replace the ones they have just removed.
I want to relate another event concerning the subject of cleaning: I recently gave a one-day workshop in Brazil for 50 artists and after the event I asked them to clean the floor with a wet rag. This shocked some of the artists. Why cleaning? They did not see the connection between art and cleanliness. Practically speaking, you will soon discover that when you’re painting, whatever has been cleaned an hour ago soon looks dirty again. So why bother? I remember my university classroom always dirty with dust and paints….
I also remember, some years ago, when I was invited to give a painting demonstration at the Cultural Center in the city of Toledo, Spain. The stage was so dirty – covered in dust and cigarette butts – that I started the demo with cleaning the floor. The manager hissed, “What are you doing? You better start with your performance.” My answer was, “This is a part of the performance.”
Three decades ago we had an art commune in Pune. I dreamed about Osho visiting us. But when he actually came I was so ashamed of the mess that I tried to hide behind a bush, so that he could not see me. But he found me! And he gave me a white towel – with a big smile.
Since then I have tried to live as if Osho was about to visit us at any moment and to be ready to receive him. And I made it a point to include in my teaching an awareness that grows out of a silent and clean space.
Read the article on Osho News about her events in Brazil: The Sacred Mission of Art
Meera (Kasue Hashimoto) studied at the Musashino Art University, Tokyo and studied drawing in Madrid and Toledo, where she co-founded the Grupo Tolmo and the Galeria Tolmo. She took sannyas in 1974 and in 1979, on Osho’s suggestion, she founded, together with Geetesh Gibson, the Osho Art School and began leading art workshops all over the world. She developed new methods of creative expression and started communities in Amsterdam, Sicily and California. More than 40 of Osho’s books are illustrated with Meera’s paintings. She currently leads trainings in Pune and Ibiza and gives workshops on Creativity and Art Therapy mainly in Japan and Europe. www.meera.de
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