One of the facilitators, Dhyan Tarpan, describes the weekend – which was punctuated by very special sessions
The Nila River in Kerala has witnessed another Osho Meditation Camp. This last 9th to 11th of February, the River Retreat Heritage Ayurvedic Resort in Cheruthuruthy was transformed into an Osho lover’s hub. The beautiful air-conditioned hall, which features glass windows on the entire wall facing the flowing river, rejoiced in silence and celebration. It was really a ‘wholly dip’.
In a way we can say that a meditation camp is also a wonderful opportunity to taste the ‘art of facilitation’, because we were all facilitating together something which we didn’t understand how to ‘make happen’. We were all ‘doing nothing’, and still we were all doing something. But the real thing was actually happening of its own accord.
I can say gratefully that we were all humble enough towards each other, well knowing that nothing from our side – neither action nor inaction – would be the reason for what was happening. Of course, we were then slowly taken over by waves of silence. Starting from the Painting Party on the first night, it was as if a floodgate had opened; the entire hall was suddenly engulfed by a different vibe of friendliness.
We had planned the Painting Party to be run in a more systematic way, but finally we thought of just letting the event unfold in its own style. Although at the beginning I could feel there was some reluctance in some participants, very soon the event turned into a festival, with ample splashing of colours, dancing and chaos. How easily everyone dropped the idea of making a painting in order to impress others! Just a few people were waiting to receive a theme before beginning, but they soon started somehow, and all the serious thinking and school approach couldn’t stand firm in front of the let-go wave around them.
Many newcomers surprised me with their easy-going but still intense participation. Is it maybe because of the urgency of our times? Or do people perhaps feel that to encounter oneself is the unavoidable thing in our life? Or are they just a bit more adventurous these days? Anyway, I could see that each day I became more relaxed than the previous day.
As a facilitator I had unforgettable moments sitting silently with my eyes open, while all the participants were sitting or lying down with eyes closed. Wow! Beyond the glass wall of the hall, there was the slow-moving river, flocks of birds enjoying themselves and constantly creating new patterns, hundreds of vehicles crossing the river over the bridge… Outside, the world was continuously moving, most probably unaware of itself. And here, in this hall, a few people were still, orienting their attention towards knowing themselves!
Apart from the major Osho Active Meditations, like Dynamic, Chakra Breathing, Gibberish, Kundalini, and the Evening Meeting, we also had some special meditation sessions. ‘Unburdening Yourself’ was a very effective one; each person was asked to sit on their knees and in their minds pinpoint one issue among the many burdens we keep on carrying inside, to give it enough attention so that with a deep bow forward to touch the ground with the forehead we could let it unburden itself. This gesture of surrender made one more receptive and also aware of one’s helplessness.
Most of the burdens, of course mostly emotional, become burdens mainly because we try to avoid them, or we don’t give them the attention they deserve. Because of that, they remain in the inbox like unread emails. Unread emails are highlighted in bold letters and they stand out whenever we open the inbox! Finally, this session was connected to a deeper reminder from Osho, who said in The Transmission of the Lamp, Ch 10, that ‘Dynamic Meditation was basically devised to help the unconscious unburden itself.’
On the second day there was another special program, as a night event. It was called ‘Bash Harlequin’ for which everybody was asked to wear a mask and costumes. (We facilitators had previously collected many different kinds of unwanted clothes and adornments, as well as masks, and had arranged mirrors along the walls so that the participants could see their different faces and costumes.)
Within a few minutes everybody joined in spontaneously and made funny costumes out of the clothes. In a moment everybody turned into unrecognizable beings!
The event began with an Osho audio clip (The Mustard Seed, Ch 4) where Osho says:
Man lives not as he is but as he would like to be: not with the original face, but with a painted, false face…
Situations change so you need many false faces, masks…
The whole time, moment to moment, there is a constant change in the face.
One has to be alert about it because it has become so mechanical that you need to be aware of it, it goes on changing by itself.
It was quite a scene to watch such different kinds of masked people dancing and rejoicing. Many felt more freedom under their masks, and others, while wearing a real mask, or when they removed it, became aware of the psychological masks they wear day in and day out. And we heard a few more Osho quotes.
The masks were then interchanged three times at the sound of a drum beat. It was sometimes unbelievable to see the immediate change on the entire costume, on the total personality, brought on simply by changing the mask. It was amazing that a simple mask could change the way a person was walking, the way they danced, their gestures. With every different mask, but still the same costume, the person’s appearance suddenly turns itself into a strange emotional setup!
A few people revealed in a sharing later on that they had become aware how repressed they were, that under a face cover they were reluctant to allow their catharsis. Others, on the contrary, were more at ease to go into catharsis while wearing a mask.
After these two hours of playing around, when all masks were removed, we understood that also ‘Bash Harlequin’ had become a meditative therapy: funny, joyful, as well as reflective and valuable.
And at the end of that night, we watched a wonderful video of Osho doing his namaste walk-out from Buddha Hall with lots of laughter. We all experienced it as if Osho was laughing at us, seeing all these harlequins. I must give a special thanks to Ramesh Jain, who helped me find the original video source for this precious namaste video. I remember well that it was an intuitive discovery; it happened suddenly late at night.
At the end of the session, before they went to their rooms, we gave the participants a koan and asked them to let it sink in, and even take it into their sleep. This cut out any disturbing chatting while leaving the hall.
On the morning of the third day, after Dynamic Meditation, it was clearly visible on everybody’s face that they were going through some kind of emotional melting. Once we start opening ourselves, it is like the whispering of a moon flower; silent, radiant and simple. How beautifully we all sang and danced, like little kids, for the Heart Dance Meditation!
In the afternoon of the last day, before Kundalini Meditation, there was live music – Indian Bansuri with Hang Drum. That was the ambiance in which we gave everybody a farewell gift. The gift was Osho’s answer to the question they had drawn blindfolded on the first day.
Before the camp, the organisers had selected hundreds of questions from Osho’s books and printed them out on slips of paper. After the first meditation on the first day, which was Ocean of Bliss, a one-hour, blindfolded dance meditation, the participants were asked to pick a slip without opening it (as if it was a Tarot card) and write their names on it (they were not allowed to read the question) and then hand it back. On the folded slips we had made particular marks so that one of us organisers could easily track the answers without opening the slips, and pin question and answer together.
On the last day, in a ceremony, the Q&A were placed on the musicians’ dais, and a participant started with reading out loud one of the names on the slips. When the person had gotten up and was standing in front of them, they were handed their question and answer, gracefully put into an envelope with Osho’s signature on it. The person who had received the gift would then call the next person and hand them their question.
The beauty of this procedure was that only the person who had chosen the question knew what their question had been, and now they could read the answer too.
Namaste, saying thanks, hugging each other…
It was really magical when I heard that everybody had picked a question which was truly meant for them, and then received an answer from Osho. Many of the questions were either a reminder, something one was trying to avoid, or an issue with which one was struggling to get clarity. Most of the people opened the envelope when they were alone, back at home.
It felt that all the efforts put into this weekend were worthwhile just for this moment of gratitude. As if a dancing ocean was gathering as a drop of gratitude…
Osho, can’t this also be called ‘being oceanic’?
Related article
- Ego has many masks – Two quotes by Osho on ‘Masks’; “When you come to a Master his work is to pull the mask away, to loosen the hold of the mask on you.”
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