Viramo

Swami Anand Viramo (Marv Lincoln) was born in Omaha in 1936. He took sannyas from Osho in Pune on 9 October 1979 and was at the Ranch. In Pune Two he was a group leader and made the nightly video announcements.

He was a PR person, reporter, editor, blogger, novelist and ghostwriter, and the author of 6 books. His latest was ghostwriting 93 Rolls-Royces for Deva Peter Haykus (Viha). In 2011 he published The Alien Manifesto. His novel I Married a Psychic, published in 2007, was based on the sci-fi woo woo of his wife Deva Liberty, a psychic reader at Sedona psychic shops.

In his last days, his loving daughter, Lisa, sang to him on Facetime while he was in the Care facility in Cottonwood near Sedona, where was staying after the stroke he had in July 2022. He recently began to fade and last Tuesday, at age 86, passed peacefully and wearing his white robe into the cremation chamber.

Viramo was a devoted Osho lover and meditator, and was an inspiration to his many friends in the community.

Text and photos thanks to his beloved Liberty

Related links

• Jesus was a Ghostwriter … and so am I – Viramo talks about his professional life as a writer (November 2016)
• The Last Days of Rancho Rajneesh – Memories of the closure of the Ranch, written while they were still fresh in Viramo’s mind (March 2011)
• Viramo’s further contributions to Osho News
• Podcast interview on sannyas.wiki (April 2019)

Sannyas darshan

Osho to Viramo: From this moment don’t relate yourself to your past, be discontinuous with it. And it is easier to disconnect oneself with a single blow. In parts you can never become disconnected and that’s what many people try: they leave small chunks but the major part becomes the past and that major part again goes on growing those same chunks. It is like a tree – you prune it and instead of one leaf, three leaves replace it because the tree also takes the challenge. The tree has to be cut from the roots if it is to be cut at all.

That’s what sannyas is: it is totally cutting yourself from the past. Nothing is to be saved. If you try to save something which you think is good, then you cannot drop the bad because they are together, they have an organic unity. That has to be understood: life is an organic unity. You cannot choose a few pieces and drop a few other pieces. Either you have to drop the whole or you have to keep the whole. That’s the basic meaning of sannyas – that we drop the whole, that we start fresh. Then we start life from abc; we become children again.

This will be your new name: Swami Anand Viramo. anand means bliss; viramo means relaxation.

You have been straining too hard. You have been trying to prove something to yourself and to the world unnecessarily. We are not here to prove anything. We are here to live, to love, to dance and to sing. If out of that something is created, it’s okay, but one should not force oneself to do something, to create something. That becomes a heavy load on the being and it is very self-destructive, it is suicidal. It is slow poisoning of your being.

You are already accepted by God as you are. There is no need to prove anything. You need not be famous. You can live anonymously and your joy will be far more profound. And what is the point of proving yourself to the stupid crowd? Even if they honor you and respect you and confer great prizes on you and awards, what is the point? They don’t understand anything.

The last words of Jesus were: Father, forgive these people because they know not what they are doing. So whether they give you a Nobel Prize or they crucify you, it is all the same! My understanding is this, if Jesus had been given a Nobel Prize, he would have prayed the same way – “Father, forgive these people because they know not what they are doing!” It has nothing to do with crucifixion. It has something to do with the stupidity of people – they are utterly blind.

Once you forget proving, great relaxation happens. Your whole being comes loose. The stiffness, the hardness disappears, the ice starts melting. You become flowing. That is the meaning of viramo and that has to become your life style now.

A sannyasin has to live in deep relaxation, neither worried by the past nor concerned for the future. Then each moment becomes a joy and each moment becomes creative. But is is a totally different kind of creativity, not something forced… something that simply happens, flows out of you. People may understand it, may not understand it. You are happy just because of the flow. Your joy is not in gaining something out of it, your joy is in the very doing of it. And then bliss blooms, if you are relaxed something like a lotus opens up in your heart.

How long will you be here?

Viramo: Three months… maybe longer!

Good. This is your home. Think of it as a home now, and do as many groups as possible. And finally you are going to land here!

Osho, Even Bein’ Gawd Ain’t A Bed of Roses, Ch 9 (unpublished)

Tributes

I will always remember your deep booming voice, making announcements in Pune 2, and how you melted in Kaveesha’s presence at Osho Academy. Your ironic wit I much appreciated, and your perspective on whatever we talked about was always unique. You’ve always been a high-flying soul, may you fly on Love’s wings even higher to your next adventure.
Love
Abhiyana

Beloved Viramo,

I can see your smiling, loving eyes. I met you a long time ago in LA with Liberty when you were leading let go evenings. Always ready to laugh with a glint of humor in your eyes. I remember you in Sedona, many mornings meditating and of course being in the Mystery School, the one that Kaveesha created. You were always creating and writing. Many times you and Liberty came to hear me sing and you wrote a beautiful story about me on Osho News.

I will miss you and so will many people, and my heart goes out to Liberty, your beautiful partner for many years. I know that you lived the life that Osho wanted you to. Relaxed, happy, with eyes full of love and a big heart.

Fly high Viramo🙏🏻❤️

Vismaya

Viramo’s memorial, a brick at the Amitabha choling stupa and peace park. The stupa is just three blocks away from Liberty’s home, so she can go up anytime and visit Viramo’s brick.

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote, and send a photo, by writing to web@oshonews.com (pls add ‘Viramo’ in the subject field). Your contribution will be added manually, typically within 24 hours.