Devamito

She just kept being Devamito

by Smrati

The last time I saw Devamito was ten days before she died. She was then connected to cables and tubes in hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. In spite of that, I felt a connection and could understand a few of her words. She said, “Home,” over and over. She grabbed me, pulled me down close to her and held hard – I could hear her heartbeat and her lungs struggling. It was a very intimate moment. I was also surprised at how much strength she still had.

After that she went home to her Care Home and refused to go back to hospital or accept measures to prolong her life.

I met Devamito the first time in Gothenburg in a group of Osho people. We lived together, meditated, danced, listened to Osho and had a hectic nightlife. We also made a lot of music which Devamito really loved, and she shared her talents and all her instruments. At that time she worked in a psychiatric hospital, where I also worked.

On New Year 1980 we were five of us women who travelled to Poona together. The trip in itself already was a great adventure. We asked the pilots if we could sit in the cockpit and they said Yes! We then had three adventurous days in Damascus before taking the next plane. The pilots took us out on sightseeing and fine dining in and around Kabul.

Both of us loved, of course, the Poona life and stayed there for many years.

When I moved back to Sweden in 2004, we met there again. After a while she received the diagnosis of Huntington’s disease, in Sweden often called ‘dance sickness’. It took some time for the hereditary mutation of a gene to become visible… in the beginning it was only the balance that was sometimes affected.

She refused to take the medication offered and actually lived much longer than others from the Huntington’s ward who took the medicine. Many times when I visited her and asked where her best friend from last time was, I received the answer that he/she had died.

She gave a lot of energy to this ward. She went every day, making music, being part of several bands, painting, even making jewelry for the royal family. And a TV programme was made about her where they followed her during a longer period. It was about living with the disease but she also shared about Osho and her life.

Devamito had a flavour of easiness around her, everything was OK. She kept this quality her whole life as far as I could see. Slowly, slowly her movements become more and more wobbly and she needed more help. But this didn’t seem difficult for her; she just adjusted to her new limitations, her new reality. When I visited I always dressed in dark colors – you never knew if you would get coffee spilled all over you.

Once, a police officer wanted to arrest her for being drunk. Devamito just laughed and from her pocket produced a piece of paper that explained she was unsteady because of her illness.

We were always many of us to gather and celebrate Devamito’s birthday. Though these last 2 years I think it was mostly Satyanando and Simon, her son who visited.

As time passed it became more and more difficult for her to make herself understood and to get around she used a wheelchair, but I think also there she refused to take on the role of the victim.

She just kept being Devamito –

More Tributes

Rest in peace, you beautiful angel. I’m blessed to meet one of your kind. For a time we were close. The best memories of my life. 🙏🙏🙏🥲🥲😅
Dhyan Yogi (aka Dhyan Peter)

Divine Friend

Beloved Devamito,

Something drew me to Voyages, which I haven’t visited in years. I did not know that you have left the body, but saw that you had left the body in July 2022.

This naturally shows that your beautiful presence is still with us.

Devamito is one of those precious people who made the world more loving, truer and more beautiful by being a spiritual friend.

Devamito was with Giten during the day of May 2 and asked if she could participate in satsang with Giten. She participated in satang 2 May in Stockholm together with Padma, who participated in satsang with Giten for 4 years when she left the body in November 2017, but she still participates in satsang with Giten.

During satsang, Giten talked about what it means to be a spiritual friend and what friendship means.

THE MYSTERY OF LOVE

Love is the most mysterious experience in life. Love is something that you never fully learn; love is something that you continuously go deeper and deeper into. The mystery of love deepens more and more.

Love cannot be explained. Love cannot be defined. Love can only be lived, but it can never be understood. Love is so vast, so infinite. If you allow love to happen to you, you are allowing the mystery of life to happen to you.

And it is through the mysterious that one comes close to God. Love is the beginning of God. God is so far away, so we need something more human and concrete to approach him. That is what love is.

Love is the possibility of reaching God. God is love in its unmanifest state. So never try to make a philosophy of love. There is no other way to know love except existential experience. Unless you experience love you don’t know it. Existence needs experience. You have the capacity to know, to see, to feel and to be love.

Become a friend to all that is. Become a friend to human beings, to animals, to trees, to birds and to rocks. Create the quality of friendliness. Let it flow towards everyone, irrespective of nation, race, caste and creed.

And then slowly your consciousness will start becoming universal. Friendship is a way to drop the ego and become egoless. The ego exists by creating enemies, because the ego exists through fight and conflict. The moment the ego disappears, all your boundaries disappears, and you become one with the universe.

Swami Dhyan Giten

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