Santhosh visited a new meditation resort, Osho Himalayas, and wrote about his impressions.
There is something magical about the Himalayas. I saw the snow-clad mountains for the first time in my life as the plane landed at Kangra airport. I simply could not take my eyes away from them. I felt I could sit there for an eternity, with the mountains filling my eyes and my heart. Those no-mind moments made me realise that even an airport’s runway can become a great place to meditate – if you have the Himalayas watching you.
My subsequent stay at Osho Himalayas, a new Osho Meditation Resort in a beautiful Himalayan valley near Dharamshala in India, only made my love for these mountains more intimate. Whenever I saw the peaks, for example soon after a Kundalini Meditation, I felt the mountains were me. The expanse of the mountains makes one realise the infinite space within us that makes us feel so much in unity with nature. Osho’s meditations and the Himalayas are such a good combo. Perhaps the best a meditator can ask for.
I realised the meditation resort was designed to support this union with nature in every possible way. The floor-to-roof glass windows in almost all possible spaces in the campus buildings allowed me to continue my love affair with those mountains throughout the day. I could gaze at them anytime, and the mountains could look at me too! I fell asleep in my room watching the moon’s reflection on the mountains’ snows and I woke up to see the sun kissing them.
The daytime hours in the resort are filled with various meditation sessions. They were like the whip and the sword that Osho talks about in The Search. They helped me stay in touch with my meditation throughout the day, which was something I had been finding it hard to do when I was not in an Osho place.
Dynamic Meditation in the morning, Kundalini Meditation and Evening Meeting in the evenings were part of the standard schedule. Besides these, the resort offers Osho’s meditative therapies, facilitator trainings, workshops and one-to-one sessions focused on healing, all from facilitators with decades of experience.
My personal experience with the meditation facilitators at Osho Himalayas is that they are not of the ‘preaching guru’ type as so many Indians easily tend to become. They come across as fellow travellers who too are battling similar issues. Their insights are so simple and to the point, often showing a mirror to ourselves. When I seek for guidance, they say in a few words exactly the right way to go deeper into my meditation. Sometimes the facilitators helped me find a refreshing insight into my situation. And they were very particular in keeping Osho’s methods unadulterated.
I must mention Sindhu Prem and Dhyan Rajiv who, after spending over two decades as meditation facilitators, have together created Osho Himalayas. They want to make the resort a commune for seekers while keeping it financially sustainable too.
The most unique feature of the resort is the way it is designed. We know that a human body has seven major energy centres, or chakras as they are called in India. The resort has been designed on the concept of these seven chakras, with each of the chakras catering to specific needs or reflecting individual qualities.
For example, our first chakra, the root chakra, is earthly and gives us the connection with the body and a sense of security. The first chakra of the resort’s campus is represented by the security guard’s room, the registration hall, the guest houses and the spa. One feels welcomed and very cosy, especially in our rooms in the guest house.
The element of our second chakra is water and the source of creativity. So the campus has a water fountain in a multi-purpose hall where one can engage in painting, etc.
The third chakra is the fireplace and the dining hall. They reflect the element of this chakra – the digestive system is a part of it. The resort provides international vegetarian cuisine, of which a good part of the ingredients are grown locally.
The fourth is my favourite, the heart chakra. The campus has an open Buddha grove where one can dance to one’s heart’s content. This space is kept specially free from any building structures to keep it open, just like we want our hearts to be. There is also a swimming pool filled with alpine water from the Himalayas.
The fifth chakra is the connecting bridge to the meditation hall, crossing over a small lotus pond.
The sixth chakra is the meditation hall. I am not sure whether it’s the octagonal shape of the hall or its artistic roof that makes me feel like dancing as soon as I enter. The vibe of the place is that of joy. It makes me feel so playful. As Osho says, this is the best state for easily slipping into meditation. The photos here can just give a glimpse of its beauty. One would have to see it with one’s own eyes to see its real beauty. The meditation hall has a floor heating system. The idea was to make the space very comfortable for the meditators even during the harsh Himalayan winters.
The seventh chakra in our body is called Sahasrara. Osho says that our consciousness is at its peak at this chakra. At Osho Himalayas, the seventh chakra is a small dome-shaped silent-sitting hall. The entrance has been kept low as a hint that one has to surrender before entering this space.
The resort also has a work station for those who are on ‘workation’. Since the resort is near Dharamshala, a major tourist attraction, there are many popular places that can be visited. I preferred walking through nearby villages and trekking in the pine forests around the campus. Every few meters there was new picturesque scenery. On my next trip, I plan to visit the Tibetan monasteries located very close by.
I guess I will be visiting this place until I manage to do what Osho says: “…create a Himalaya within.”
Comments are closed.