Deva

Swami Madhava Deva (David Goldberg) wrote a touching and intimate message, dispatched by a friend after he left his body, to say goodbye to his friends.

He was a musician, writer, website developer, graphic designer and photographer, living in Santa Fe.

Many might remember Deva as one of the shoppers for Deeksha’s Vrindavan kitchen, flitzing around in his own rickshaw, and later on the Ranch as the head of the electrical department.

His daughter, Gyana, grew up with her father and was part of our commune.

Deva is the author of his memoir, The Pieces of My Heart, excerpts of which were published on his blog and on Osho News.

His long-time love for music, in particular for the guitar, resulted in a vast collection of songs, which he recently recorded and uploaded on his YouTube channel.

Deva had been suffering from a genetic, neurological condition.

Homeless Backpack Project

Avinasho from Viha writes:

Deva, my dear fellow-Aries,

I was deeply shocked and saddened to receive the email you arranged to be sent to your friends. But how typically thoughtful and loving of you to make sure we knew of your departure! May you have a smooth transition.

I will miss our sporadic phone chats and the laughs we would share. I am grateful for the articles you wrote for the Viha Connection over the years. Two stand out most in my memory. One of them was on the topic “Sharing Osho.” You wrote about bringing Gyana to the Pune ashram in 1975, against Sheela’s clearly expressed wishes, telling her that you and Gyana were a “package deal. My daughter is with me and where I am, she is.” You lost your room in the Ashram and had to work in Pune to support you and Gyana, but “I never regretted this most important share of my life.”

And in our January/February 2021 issue, for which we had asked people to write about what they had done to honor Osho’s request to leave the world a better place than we found it, you wrote about your Homeless Backpack Project. “Living in India in the Ashram opened my eyes to a real poverty that I had never seen before. My job took me out of the Ashram and into the streets of Pune and Bombay and the continued bombardment of beggars. I learned that all I could do was to give when I could and wait when I couldn’t.

“That lesson translated many years later to my starting the local Homeless Backpack Project and the website (that teaches people how to start their own projects). With each backpack I give out I know I am making someone’s day. Am I changing the face of homelessness in the world? I don’t think so, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m nobody, but at least I can do something.” www.HomelessBackpack.net

Fly high, Deva!

Avinasho

Multifunctional craftsman, stubborn problem solver

This letter by Kurt gives other aspects of Deva’s skills and character we might not have known (reproduced with permission):

With his heart-touching farewell mail, Deva made his sudden departure softer and easier to bear. The following night in dreamland: we were sitting next to each other – in his Santa Fe living room – the atmosphere quiet and serene – no words – a comforting flow of being together.

I assume most of you share overlapping relationships and experiences with Deva, and you might be wondering where and how I fit in – that is, where I and Petra (my wife) and Laura (our daughter) fit in.

Petra and I met Deva in the mid-1990s in connection with two research & development projects, the one on remote conference interpreting and the other on multimedia-enhanced language learning. Imagine, this is what he got himself involved in! At that time, Deva was working for a small Munich-based company specializing in ISDN videoconferencing. He was our highly valued, tenacious expert in these and other technology/computer-related things. And I had not yet realized that he had this remarkable gift of being a diversified expert in many fields and able to extend his expertise in quite unexpected ways. We knew him as a technology wizard, DIY PC enthusiast, website designer, multifunctional craftsman, photographer, guitar player, singer-songwriter, accomplished writer and copy editor, dancer, stubborn problem solver, and sensitive advisor when the going got rough with ‘unfriendly’ project partners. What is more, over the months and years and decades, he became and remained and will remain a close soul mate friend.

After Deva had returned to the States, his snug and tidy “Martha Stewart” house in 212 Spruce Street became our home for several extended visits. Petra and I and our daughter Laura first stayed with him for a few weeks in 2002. The fridge was filled to the brim with goodies from Whole Foods, the video program ready for Laura, relaxing and talking on the patio, joint cooking, more talking and songs and stories (“Pieces of my heart”) in the evening, and walks and excursions. When we asked where we could buy a few things for our tent-for-3 exploration into Tony Hillerman country, Deva simply showed us all the Daniel Boone equipment waiting for us in his basement. He also arranged meetings with local friends for our video-recordings of “American narratives” as input for the development of online language learning material, showed us around Santa Fe and beyond, introduced us to enchilada Christmas style, used boots and western stores, event photo shooting – and, last but not least, DANCING in the Plaza!

We were back in 2006, 2009 and 2012 for more and more and more. And we would have long been back again – had it not been for other long-haul flights, the disturbing commotion triggered and fuelled by You-Know-Who, and then the rise of Covid-19!

Modern communication technologies made it nevertheless possible for us to stay close and share our everyday lives, our projects and plans, our worries and hopes. It was heartwarming to see how Deva did not give up pursuing ideas and activities for making life a little better for those in need and less fortunate.

The future seemed wide open. About three weeks ago, I mentioned my frustration about never having been able to practice guitar more consistently. As a follow-up, he sent an email saying “You know, I was thinking about what I said to you about learning guitar. Expression is what I love about music and you only need a few chords for that.” I had expected this remark to be the beginning of a beautiful online guitar tutoring experience. Now it seems to have been Deva’s last and lasting piece of advice.

We love you, Deva! You are a “piece of our hearts”.

Kurt – with Petra and Laura

More Tributes

Dear Deva,
I am so glad we published some of your stories.
I am so grateful that you were sooo not a power-tripper when we worked together.
Love to you Deva!
Madhuri

Beloved Deva,
Your emails were always so graceful, full of gratitude. I was touched each time when I received them and now that I re-read them. You leave a big hole in my world.
Fly high and well, on the notes of your songs.
Love from
Punya

My beloved friend Deva,
so sad to hear that you have passed… thank you for your last words for all friends from you!
I will miss you here as the great soul and friend you have always been.
Your friend,
Veet Gyan from Germany (Hannover)

Ah, Deva, always loved your wry sense of humor. Though we hadn’t seen each other for decades, I’ve always felt connected to you through your writings and songs. Fly high, old friend. You are a man amongst men.
Abhiyana

My beloved friend Deva

Haven’t seen you for quite some years, but always cherishing the time we had together in Munich.
Also very grateful for your presence when I was in the process of splitting from my boyfriend and came to visit you in Santa Fe, all down, and you showed me again what it means to enjoy life and helped me laugh again.
Fly high,
Always your friend,
Sucheta

We chatted weekly for the past few years and our history together goes back 55 years to when we were both freshmen (drop-outs) at the U of Missouri in Columbia, MO, then hooked up intermittently in Fort Lauderdale, Laguna Beach, Maui, Munich and Santa Fe.
So naturally Deva means a lot to me and will be missed, perhaps one day we will meet to share Deva stories.
Brown Abrams

By chance I found myself Deva’s roommate in a Magdalena double wide for a brief time. What a unique and intelligent man! Also I would see him around for years as I worked in Saraha, Chuang Tzu and Raidas amongst other places. He was always immersed in the work at hand, so deeply focused, sincere, and real, no bullshit whatsoever. I shared with him my growing up in St Louis, MO, and he told me he was the only white member of the Black Panthers! I was astonished! Thought I would pass that on as I imagine some may not know that… obviously a man of peace and principle. Eminently a Deva! One of a kind 🙂
Michael Premanando

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote by writing to web@oshonews.com (pls add ‘Deva’ in the subject field).