Priya’s journey from the first experiment to becoming a co-facilitator of this Osho Meditative Therapy technique (Next at Osho Nisarga, 4-24 March 2024)
I was blessed to be able to participate in the Mystic Rose for the first time in 1988, when Osho had just introduced it. I was part of the very first batch of 50 people, the so-called Workers’ Mystic Rose, to which ashram residents were invited.
At that time the workshop lasted only two weeks: one week of laughter and one week of crying. (The third week, the Watcher on the Hill, where we sit in silence, watching our thoughts and emotions, was added a few weeks later.) The group started at 6 am and ended at 9. There was just enough time for me to grab a quick breakfast, then run to college. (As an exception to the rule, Osho had allowed me to live in the ashram while studying outside.)
What a contrast this was! On the one hand there was the happy, vibrant, bubbling ashram energy – and then, out in the world, these stiff, rigid and closed people – really two opposite dimensions. I later realized that Osho had deliberately put me into this situation where I had to learn to be at ease in both worlds.
I participated again in a Mystic Rose four years later, and thereafter many more times – all in the Pune Commune. It’s a process that can (and should) be repeated again and again. As we regularly detox our bodies, the same – Osho says – is necessary to clean the layers of dust that keep gathering on our soul.
My mother, Neelam, who was Osho’s secretary for India and who founded Osho Nisarga in 2007, facilitated the Mystic Rose every year in March, here in the Himalayas. Naman, who was trained by her and then co-lead with Neelam for many years, is facilitating the group with me this year.
Osho Nisarga has the advantage of being able to profit from the research Neelam did in the past: she had designed specific morning sessions with Osho meditation techniques to cut the layers indirectly and also chosen the discourses for the White Robe that are particularly helpful to the process. Moreover, being resident at Osho Nisarga during the whole three weeks of the workshop, the participants can enjoy the supportive atmosphere of a Buddhafield, the breathtaking view of the mountains and the walks along the stream that flows through the campus.
Osho emphasizes that every seeker should go through this therapy experience as it is a robust cleansing process. Do we laugh without inhibitions? Do we give ourselves space to cry out our agony? Do we really?
No… we don’t. We repress ourselves. We judge ourselves. We live in social norms where we have so many masks. We hide our original faces.
Through this simple technique of laughter and tears, we can heal the hidden wounds, the suppressions that hinder our growth. And then… after the two weeks of cleansing comes the third week of deep silence, The Watcher on the Hill, where we easily fall into pure meditation. Ahh…
There will be a 21-day meditation retreat, Osho Mystic Rose Meditative Therapy, at Osho Nisarga, the beautiful Himalayan retreat centre in Dharamshala, from 4th to 24th March 2024, facilitated by Priya and Naman. It will be a real treat for anyone, first-timers or aficionados.
For more details: oshonisarga.com
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