Past the Point of No Return – 7

Four more stories from Bhagawati’s book, serialized on Osho World: Fatima, Navanit, Pankaja, Shanta.

Nurse! Hammer! Cartoon by Yatri — Cartoon by Yatri

Read intro for Osho News by Bhagawati and get links to previous episodes: Past the Point of No Return

Recollections of Osho Disciples on how they became his sannyasins

INTRODUCTION

“I have found my people. I have found my world. I have found a small planet of my own, where love is the only law, where laughter is prayer, where dancing is divine, where every moment is sacred, and where to be natural is the only spirituality.” More…

MA PREM FATIMA (Beloved Daughter)

Born in 1939 in Hyderabad, India. Fatima took sannyas in 1981 and presently lives in Hyderabad, India.

FOREVER AT THE FEET OF MY MASTER

“Our Islam is overcooked.”

I was seven when I had jotted that down in my notebook. And I was not far from the truth. I had seen my family’s religious fervour burn brightest in the kitchen. Every Id, Milad (prophet’s birthday), birth, and death anniversaries of saints were observed religiously, necessitating a ‘fateha’ (prayer of thanksgiving), which, in turn, necessitated a lavish spread. On those gastronomical excesses, my family all of a sudden turned religious! It said its prayers, read the Quran, and, of course, gorged. The real essence of Islam went up in smoke. Literally. Holy smoke that emanated from the red-bricked chimney of our kitchen. Read more…

SWAMI DEVA NAVANIT (Divine Essence)

Born in 1943 in Berlin, Germany. Navanit took sannyas in 1976 and presently lives in Witzenhausen, Germany.

I HAD TO MEET THIS MAN

In 1973, I lived in a Berlin commune together with five men. Having put our wild political phase as students behind us, we were totally frustrated with the self-mutilation of the ever-fighting leftists. So we again started thinking about the movement that had begun with Wilhelm Reich, who had demanded that man should first realize his own habits and behaviour patterns and work on them before he would be able to act politically mature. Read more…

MA PREM PANKAJA (Love And Lotus)

Born in 1936 in Scunthorpe, England. Pankaja took sannyas in 1975 and presently lives in London, England.

LOTUS OUT OF THE MUD

In the early ’70s, I was living in a tall, Victorian house in Regent’s Park, London, with my American husband and our twins, Felix and Emily. I had been writing novels for several years and already had a couple published. In the middle of one based on my dad’s life, I found myself so full of rage that I thought I was going to explode. Somehow I had heard about Quaesitor, a growth centre started by Paul Lowe (later Teertha), and signed up for the most immediately available group, which turned out to be a marathon with Denny Yuson, later Veeresh. Read more…

MA DEVA SHANTA (Divine Silence)

Born in 1953 in Munich, Germany. Shanta took sannyas in 1977 and presently lives in Northern Germany.

PLUGGED INTO AN ELECTRIC SOCKET

I was seventeen years old when meditation hit my life. Strangely enough, I encountered it not through any spiritual group or master but very profanely through the adult education class in Munich, a municipal institution open to everyone. Other classes in English, French, cooking, sports, or pottery were offered there too for a reasonable price. Read more…