Nikhil

…left his body on 1st March 2015.

Nikhil (Barry Cahusac) was born in Japan in 1923. His British ancestors had lived there for two generations. After WWII he moved to Uganda with his young Dutch wife Aleida and, fourteen years later to Kenya, as a forester to help grow trees and forests in East Africa. They had six children and lived in Kenya till about 1982. Later he worked for the United Nations, also as forester in Surinam, Pakistan, Samoa and other countries.

His best friend Oscar and wife Vivien (Nikhil’s daughter) became sannyasins in 1980. Nikhil was deeply moved by Osho’s books and became a sannyasin in 1982. After the Ranch, where he had lived for some time, he moved with his new wife Sujagara (Julie) back to Kenya and later to England, during which time he often visited Pune. At his big 80th birthday party, which he celebrated with all of his 6 children, 13 grandchildren and friends in Hungary, it was decided, that he would move to Nelson in New Zealand where two of his daughters and his son lived.

Nikhil was always interested in Osho’s books (he was the oldest subscriber of Viha Connection), was open to all kind of new developments in spirituality, but his master remained Osho. Two years ago he moved to a Care Living Unit near his oldest daughter.

Shreyas writes: “In the last 12 years we visited him three times and we could see that he was leading a very happy life. The last time we saw him was just four weeks ago. He was very happy; we had a lot of laughs, told each other jokes, talked about death and meditation and he said that he was ready to go and that he had already built his coffin. He seemed very fragile but we could see that he was in peace with himself.

“A week ago he was taken to hospital after a heart attack. For about a week, three of his children, his wife, and many friends stayed with him day and night. He knew that he was going. He was quiet and happy to stay with his beloveds and expressed how much he loved them. Nikhil died consciously on Sunday, at age 92. He will be buried in Takaka in a forest graveyard in his open coffin, just covered by a cloth. A tree will be planted above him.”