Osho celebrated in schools in India

I was very excited when I learnt from Ma Shanti Ekant that Osho’s birthday was going to be celebrated in her city of Meerut on World Meditation Day, December 11th.

She also told me that thousands of students and hundreds of teachers were expected to participate and I decided to attend this great venture, organised by Swami Anand Aseem whom I hadn’t met before. I also planned to cover some pending earlier invitations during this trip.

Sab Ka Ghar – Okhla, New Delhi

Leaving Jabalpur on December 7th, I arrived early the next morning in New Delhi. I was received by Swami Anand Rajneesh, who is pursuing his PhD at BHU in Varanasi, and had arrived in New Delhi a day earlier to pick me up and introduce me to a group of friends at Okhla, New Delhi.

I was taken to Sab Ka Ghar (meaning ‘a house for all’), an NGO dedicated to all those killed in the name of religion, caste, gender, race and boundaries. Sab Ka Ghar is a great service provided by Faisal Khan of the group ‘Khudai Khidmatgars’ (meaning ‘Servants to the Divine’). In 2011, he revived ‘Khudai Khidmatgars’, the army of non-violent activists that Badshah Khan raised in 1929 to free Pathans from the British domination and the culture of violence.

Sab Ka Ghar was inaugurated by prominent civil rights activist Justice (Retd.) Rajendra Sachar in 2017 at Jamia Nagar, Okhla, and can accommodate about 20 people. It is nicely fitted with modern facilities and has an in-house cook.

They has asked me to speak at 9 am; 15 people attended the gathering although it hadn’t been announced in time. Mr Faisal Khan honoured me with a shawl and flowers and I told him that all honour goes to the feet of Hazrat Mohammad.

In my speech, I said to that Hazrat Mohammad was badly misunderstood by Muslims when he said that he was the last messenger of God. How can anyone be last if God is infinite, limitless? He has no end. God has not died. No, we must never stick to the words of Masters. Words are not the truth but the intention behind is to be understood and acted upon to realize the truth. Osho did the right thing when perhaps for the first time he said it is better we stop using the word God. By saying God, it sounds as if he is a person sitting somewhere in the clouds. Better, we say godliness. It is a presence, not a person.

Most of the attendees were from the Muslim community and they liked my talk very much and Mr Sahil, a student of Jamia Milia University, Delhi, extended his love by saying that he would arrange a talk by me at the university after the exams.

Meditation Centre in Noida

In the evening I talked to Ma Rani Sundari and other friends at Ma Prem Nirmohi’s home at Noida, which is actually a Meditation Centre with beautiful paintings and photos of Osho. When the next morning friends gathered again, I spoke for more than two hours about Osho, which everybody enjoyed.

Baraut, Bagpat District

In the afternoon I proceeded with Mr Dheeraj Rana to Baraut, a town in Bagpat District about 60 km north of Delhi to be with Shri Krishna Pal Singh who longs to do introductory work on an international level under my co-ordination. Though his plans aren’t quite formulated yet, he is a thoroughly capable and noble man and I wait for his ventures to come to light.

Divine Global Academy, Baraut, Bagpat District

On the morning of the 10th, Mr Arun Malik brought me to the Divine Global Academy; 600 students study there from nursery school to 12th class under the guidance of Principal Swami Alok. To my great surprise I found that the entire college is actually Osho’s College! Every student knows Osho. The teaching mode is in English only. The college has a huge Meditation Hall with a very large photo of Osho. Every Saturday, meditation is conducted from 8.30 am to 10.30 am. Students enjoy Dynamic and Gibberish.

In the Principal’s chamber are three beautiful photos of Osho. The whole vibration and atmosphere of the college feels like an ashram. It was a great pleasure to talk to the students and teachers. They were so lively. My tears flowed when I was told that the 9th class students would like to sit with me for a chat. I reached a spot on a green lawn where about 20 girls and a few boys sat in a half circle surrounding a chair waiting for me. The children asked some questions and each one of them felt so close and intimate that tears come to my eyes, remembering them now. They won my heart by their innocence and intelligence. Future world citizens are being prepared there. This College is totally dedicated to Osho.

New Era World School, Binauli

Later in the day I proceeded to the nearby New Era World School, at Binauli, run by Swami Yatesh. This is a new, very beautifully constructed school with students from nursery school to 8th class through English medium. Swami Yatesh hopes to be able to run it as a college soon. Presently there are 400 students and 25 teachers. When I reached there, the students had already gone home yet the teachers had been waiting for me. I talked to them for an hour and they were so moved by the talk that a few became emotional, and I too had to hold back my tears to be able to continue talking. They really listened with their hearts.

Taxi drivers in Noida – Osho Saddharma Meditation Centre, Meerut

I finally was ready to continue to Meerut, to spend the night at Osho Saddharma Meditation Centre. But I must first talk about two taxi drivers in Noida, otherwise my report will be incomplete.

On the 8th, Swami Anand Rajneesh and I were travelling by taxi to Diamond Books publisher’s office. As soon as the driver figured out, while overhearing us talk, that we are Osho people, he disclosed to be an Osho lover. He recited the names of several Osho books that he had read and we felt his loving chat was remarkable. His name was Chaman Lal.

Then another surprise! On the return trip, a driver called Dinesh Chand also figured us out and said that he had listened to a talk by Osho on YouTube, and he became convinced that Osho had gone far ahead even of Krishna. Since then he is listening to and reading Osho and each time his trust becomes stronger and stronger. He said Osho is a miracle; Osho answered all his questions in the one talk that he heard on that first day.

Kailash Prakash Stadium, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

Now, the main function for which I had travelled so far, The World Meditation Day on Osho’s birthday, was celebrated at the Kailash Prakash Stadium, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, organized by Swami Anand Aseem of Meerut. Hundreds of poignant quotations by Osho were displayed on wires. It was a large affair and the first function of its kind that I have joined hitherto. More than 4,000 students from different schools and colleges not only attended, but actively participated. About 100 teachers were also present and more than a hundred sannyasins. The seating arrangement was separate for teachers, students, sannyasins and other guests.

Chief guest was Additional District Magistrate Mukesh Chand; Brigadier S.K.Sareen (Retd), Lt. Col. Amar Deep Tyagi, Prof. S.S. Gaurav, CCS University, Meerut, Principal Devendra Kumar, Krishak College, Ch. Naresh Pal and Mr. Vinod Bhartiya, respected citizens of Meerut and I were honoured guests. Dr. Swami Satya Vedant, formerly Chancellor of Osho Multiversity in Pune, was the main speaker.

The program commenced at 9.30 am and ended at 1 pm. The entire affair had an elegant feeling. Initially lamps were lit by guests before the Goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. Then several students carried out traditional prayers, followed by five female students who enacted a beautiful Kathak dance. Furthermore, three female students from another college performed yoga.

It was an incredible pleasure to watch 4000 students and many teachers and sannyasins dancing and at the end raising both hands and shouting out loud, “Osho! Osho! Osho!”

In his speech, Swami Satya Vedant said that meditation will brighten the talent of students. It was because of meditation alone that Osho was so talented already in his childhood. He said that at Osho Resort in Pune, meditation sessions continue throughout the day.

Finally, I was given only two minutes to speak because I hadn’t been included in the schedule. When I said, “In two minutes I will say three things,” the audience became very alert. “First I want to remind you of Krishna’s words that he would return when religiousness would fade. So, did he tell a lie or does he come and we won’t recognize him? He can’t come in the same form. Nature is not that poor to give birth to someone in the same form. And if he comes in the same form, then too, you would ridicule him even much more. So, my dear friends, Osho is Krishna because consciousness is one.

“Secondly, I wonder if the greatness and significance of this function today is understood rightly. It is a great beginning towards saving mankind and the planet earth. Osho warned fifty years ago about the dangers to the human race and earth saying, New Man or no man, there is no third alternative. We have many religions in this country. They have their own prejudices. So they did not listen. Now worldwide, scientists are warning again and again that we are heading fast towards global suicide.

“The third and last thing I want to say is that as we human beings suffer from physical sickness and mental sickness, so is the case with the planet and it’s atmosphere. What scientists are warning against is the sickness of the earth’s body, e. g. global warming, the hoarding of atom bombs, glaciers melting at fast rate, the rise of sea levels, population explosion, etc.

“But there is also the mental pollution you have to take care of. Thousands of people are murdered daily, thousands are committing suicide, thousands of women and even under-age girls are raped daily. All this is causing a lot of unrest and destructiveness in the mental harmony of the atmosphere which can only be neutralized and harmonized through meditation. That is why we have assembled here. I thank all who are present here to witness this great and historic event. I send my salaams to Swami Anand Aseem to have organized such a grand event which can be called a great beginning towards the protection of life and earth.”

I was touched by the sound applause I was given.

Ma Shanti Ekant had deputed her driver Anil and his friends to distribute 500 copies of Osho World Hindi magazines among the students. Anil reported that after the program, when he went to the parked buses to distribute the magazines, students rushed to get a copy, and those who were in the bus, extended their arms out of the windows shouting “Osho! Osho!” The teachers asked them to be quiet, but they kept on shouting “Osho!”

Ageh Bharti is a regular contributor

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