Rising in Love – Rejoicing in Life, facilitated by Chaitanya Keerti, 26-29 January 2023, Gymkhana Club, Duelmol, Sirvoi, Quepem.
A meditation camp in Goa, you ask? Yes, I have always hesitated to facilitate a meditation camp in Goa, because I thought that most people who take the trouble to travel to Goa go there only for pleasure. (Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with going anywhere just for fun!)
Osho had facilitated several meditation camps in various holiday locations, like Pahalgam in Kashmir, Manali, Mount Abu, Mahableshwar, Matheran, Lonavla, Nargol, and many such places. But I often wondered why he discouraged his people to go to one place only – and that was to Goa. Also, he never asked anyone to open a meditation centre there. What could be the reason to single out a most exotic location like Goa?
My guess is that it would be very difficult to hold participants within the campus of a meditation retreat. Most people would get tempted to go out – to be on the beach, watch the sunset, have a drink, and stay awake at parties till late into the night. And then who would be ready to come in the early morning for Dynamic Meditation? This all means that participants would not attend a camp with all their energy; it would be more of a lukewarm affair.
Besides that, each place has a certain vibe of its own – for collective awakening, or collective sleepiness. For sure Goa is for deep relaxation, but only through drink, not through meditation. So, I think there will be situations when there can be a clash between meditation and intoxication. This is my personal conclusion, but I may be wrong in assuming all this. Who knows?
As the stubborn man that I am, I thought that I should indeed go and facilitate a meditation camp in Goa just to test this out.
I found a quote by Osho in Ecstasy: The Forgotten Language which reads, “Don’t be a tourist. ‘Tourist’ is a certain sort of neurosis,” and decided to go for the sake of an experiment.
To make it clear I added this quote by Osho to the information about the camp so that all participants are aware of it:
“Participate fully in the various meditations that will be conducted in this meditation camp. By doing so you will begin to have, for a few moments, a glimpse of that ultimate state Kabir is pointing to. But if you spare yourself even a little, you will miss. Try to drown yourself totally in meditation. Make every possible effort from your side and leave the rest to existence. If nothing happens even after this, then you are not responsible. From your side make every effort, then leave it to existence; but don’t leave it to existence making only a half-hearted effort from your side.”
Osho, The Fabric of Life, Ch 1
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