Priya

(8 July 1950 – 22 April 2022)

Being in a space of timelessness

by Sadhvi

Deva Priya was an ‘old sannyasin’, one of the first Westerners to take sannyas and get her mala. When, in 1971, she and her partner, Pravah, arrived at Osho’s Woodlands apartment in Mumbai, they had to wait on the front stoop until he was finished with his shower. I asked her how it was when Osho came out to meet them, and she said it was as if she had come home – “the journey was over.” She was his devotee then and remained so until she took her last breath.

I first met Priya in 1981, at the time when the ashram in Pune was dissolving and everyone went out ‘into the world’ to make money, and waiting to be called to the Ranch.

Priya touched me in a way that no one else ever has, and being around her was like being in a space of timelessness. She had a way of taking you in, being so in the moment that it was easy to become part of that moment with her. Time spent with her was filled with fun and adventure. We have always been in touch since we first met, visiting and staying with each other countless times.

In recent years there were fewer road and plane trips, especially fewer visits from her to me, as her body was getting increasingly weaker, but still, whenever we were together, time stopped.

She took her last breath on a beautiful spring afternoon, sitting comfortably in her favorite chair on her front porch with her dog and cats nearby.

I know she is free and out of pain now, but I will always miss my beloved Priya.

sadhvirealty (at) icloud (dot) com

Re-published from Viha Connection with thanks – oshoviha.org