…left her body on 23rd March 2016.
Nirjara was born in Denmark and spent most of her life in Spain, Italy, Israel, India and Canada. She was a poet and a painter. She married three times in her life, first a photographer, then a writer and last a painter — and had a son.
She founded and ran a successful fashion boutique in Tel Aviv where she offered her own line of women’s clothing, created by hand all the way from painting the fabrics to designing the styles and sewing the individual pieces.
In 1978 she took sannyas in Pune and lived in India for many years. Many will remember her from the beautiful mansions in Koregon Park she would lease, fix up and turn into sumptuous living spaces that provided full service room and board for other sanyasins.
She was an adventurer; she loved her life, laughed much, loved much and created much beauty.
In later years she lived in Canada where she was active and self-sufficient way into her eighties, still painting, being with friends and giving sessions.
Early this year she contracted pneumonia and moved to a nursing home. She died peacefully in her sleep short of her 89th birthday and one day short of her 39th sannyas birthday.
Mahavira calls becoming free of this accumulated conditioning of karmas nirjara — deconditioning. All the atoms of these karmas that have collected around you should fall off. The day you are rid of them all, what remains of you will be absolutely pure.
Osho, In Search of the Miraculous, Vol 2, Ch 5, Q1
Nidhi adds:
I first knew Nirjara as my aunt, my mother’s younger sister. As the second-born of three daughters she was the ‘wild’ card, the artist, the outsider. As a child she was known to speak to spirits and people no-one else could see. She seemed unusually self-contained and happy in her own company and somehow… “different”.
When I was a child she was my “crazy aunt” who hugged me, who was loving and paid attention to me. She gave me Rescue Remedy and invited me to meditate and do healing sessions with her.
The parting words we said to each other the last time we spoke on the phone, a few days prior to her death, were “I love you.” She told me she was ready to go and was looking forward. It felt complete and so sweet.
Being a Libra she went in style: on Libra full moon and during an eclipse!
Fly high, dearest Nirjara, and thank you for being…
Nirjara’s sannyas darshan: Sannyas Means Trusting Me
Tributes
A master of crazy wisdom, how could you not love someone who looks deeply into your eyes on first meeting and says, “Tell me who you are before you were a gleam in your father’s eye?” I love you Nirjara, fly high…
Ramapada
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