… left his body on 31st March 2013
Nishkalank (aka Nishki, Michael Schmitz) grew up in Germany and came to Osho in Pune 1. In 1982 he stayed in Geetam in California where the Multiversity had its home for a year, before it moved to the Ranch. Nishkalank also lived in the German Osho Commune in Cologne, where he successfully practised Rolfing, out of which later the slightly modified Rebalancing technique was born.
He was then seen back in Pune 2 and in Goa in 2000. In 2002 he closed his successful handyman company and his flat in Grunewald and moved to the Thai island, Koh Phangan, where he built the tourist resort, First Residence (first-residence.com). he had been feeling unwell during the last 6 months.
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Photos thanks to Megha, Sankalpa and Anupam
Bio thanks to Megha, Madhur, Sankalpa, Shunyam and Anupam
Form Archa we hear: I wanted to let you know that our beloved friend Nishki (Nishkalank) left his body on the evening of Sunday, March 31th, at the Bangkok Hospital in Samui.
He had called me 4am on March 20th that he was feeling very ill and if I could please come to be with him. I heard from his voice that something was very very wrong and immediately booked a flight for the very same day to go and see him. I finally arrived at his beautiful house on Koh Phangan Island on Friday 22nd, together with another friend whom he called and who came from China. Nishki was very weak and fragile already. Within a few days, he got weaker and we had to bring him to the hospital at Koh Samui, the next island.
Nishki said that he felt very very tired and he was ready to go on his last journey and leave his tortured body and everything behind, to find the peace he was looking for all his life. He was surrounded by love, and he knew that his friends who had arrived at Koh Phangan in the meantime, took care of everything and he could finally relax and dare to let go. And go home where he could relax and find peace.
During the last days on Phangan and later at hospital we shared very precious and beautiful moments of love, laughter, and sweet memories. We cuddled and were holding each other, and were very close. It was a hard and long journey for him but I felt that his very last moments were peaceful.
His body will be brought to Koh Phangan Island on April 15th, after Songkram, the holy new year festival in Thailand. He wanted a Buddhist traditional funeral and his body will be kept three days in a temple, with meditation and prayers in the evening. The burning will be on the 4th day. He always said that he wanted his ashes to be spread in the sea where the sun set, which he watched every evening from his terrace.
Dear all, I do not know what else to write, I feel an incredible loss and am very sad. And also I feel so much love for him and grateful that I was so close to him during his last days and we shared all these precious moments.
Tributes
Beloved friend, thanks for all the joyful moments, so much fun with you. I was wondering where you were. So fast you left. So much love,
Atit Maria
Ciao Nishky. You are now watching the watcher! Big hug, brother,
Lakshen
In January 1982 I was in Geetam, in the desert behind Los Angeles, where the group department of the Rajneesh Multiversity was doing activities, waiting to move to the Ranch in Oregon. The therapists then moved the following July, around the 1st Festival. I met Nishky for the first time there. I had just split from my Swedish girlfriend, as it was too intense for me to do the Rebalancing Training together. Of course I was a bit down and Nishky was great to pull me up. During that time we were experimenting a lot with sex and he invited me to his bungalow where he was staying with a nice girl. We enjoyed a lot being and playing together. It was a very juicy experience. How not to be a friend to a guy like him: sweet, gentle, open, with a big heart?
Many years later, in Poona 2, I returned him the same present. I think it was winter 1995. I remember that he was living in a beautiful house at the back gate of Koregaon Park. Again we enjoyed a night together. I learned a lot from him about sharing, truth and friendship, without jealousy or competition. Thanks, Nishky, to have been in my life. Sorry we didn’t have more occasions to be together…
Shunyam
Fly high, dear Nishkalank! Sad that you have gone. Thank you for all the laughs and everything else as well. Gratefullness,
Susan-Sarovara
Gute Reise, Nishkalank. Du wirst immer einen Platz in unserem Herzen haben.
Alfried
Thank you, Nishky, for your aliveness and your beautiful stories. I can still hear you: “Hör mal Michael” (Listen Michael…) and then with a “mmh” your story started. Bon voyage!
Michael Vedam
Nishki’s been in our life for the last 6 years helping us build a beautiful home in Koh Phangan. We became friends and shared our love for this beautiful island. He’s left us with a present we appreciate more than we can say. Having been with him during his last days, we knew that he was ready to leave his body to enter his last journey. Nishki, we will remember you with all our love,
Ma Satyo Bhakta & Sw Prem Sambodh
One night I couldn’t sleep back home in Moers, Germany, so I got up to check something on my PC, concerning my books.
Thinking of my friend Nishki, sometime back on Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, etc. I wondered if I could find something about him via Google and there I did; under . It was very interesting what I found; photos, memories and stories of Nishki’s friends. It’s sad to know that he left us, but we all will keep him in good memory. I always had a good time being with him; he was a real good and dear friend. So I too want to remember him on Osho News with an extract of what I wrote to Archa (Dagmar) in reply to her mail where she told me that Nishki had died:
Oh my god, is that sad, I don’t know what to say, I’m just shocked. I had to read your letter a few times, to realize what I read. The last time I skyped with him, is a few weeks ago. He told me he had stopped smoking and was on a good way to better health. He was planting his own vegetables on his land, to have healthy food. He was only 60 years of age, too early for leaving this world and his friends. But reading your mail, I’m very glad you and some other friend stayed with him the last few days, and that you were all so close to him, holding each other in love and tenderness.
In the last ten years I visited him almost every year for a few weeks in Koh Phangan. I even took care of his house for a while because he and Fah went to see her parents. We really liked each other, were good friends and when he was in Germany, I picked him up at Duesseldorf airport and we drove to his mother’s near Aachen. Only this year, in winter 2012 /2013, I went to the Caribbean for a change, and not to Asia, so I didn’t see Nishki. Last time I was with Nishki in Koh Phangan was in January 2012. I was thinking he was going to come to Germany this year, to visit his mother.
For Nishki’s ashes, to be spread out in the sea, near his home, where we always watched the sunset, is a good idea, that means he’ll still be there. And I’m sure, one day I will return to Koh Phangan, where I always had a good time with Nishki, and I will stand there, at or near his house, looking over the sea at sunset and will say bye, bye Nishki, Michael, you were a real good friend to all of us, and we’ll keep you in good memory. It was beautiful for me to remember the time I could share with Nishki.
Guenter Schaefer
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