Lakshen

Journeys

(24 February 1956 – 21 January 2025)

Sw Veet Lakshen (Antonino Sucameli)
Sw Veet Lakshen (Antonino Sucameli)

“It’s been a wonderful life.”
– Lakshen

Veet Lakshen – Beyond the Goal

by Shola

This post is dedicated to our sannyas community. It’s the chronicle of how Lakshen left his body, but it’s also my story, your story, the story of the Buddhafield. It is the story of each one of us, bound by an invisible thread that runs through our lives, united by Osho’s legacy.

Lakshen left his body, and he did so in the same way he had lived: with awareness, presence, and generosity. He had faced four years of illness with dignity, managing to cope with it until this last year. During a stay in Italy, a rapid decline in his health left him immobile. Realizing there would be no recovery, he expressed the desire to return to his beloved India, that warm womb which has welcomed so many of us from Osho’s world.

Luca and Shunyo had accompanied him on a difficult journey that was driven by Lakshen’s profound longing to return home. Perhaps with a faint hope of recovery, or – as it turned out – to surrender to his final journey: the one towards death.

Thanks to the generosity of Sandeh, who, with great compassion and true friendship, opened her home in Candolim, Lakshen found a welcoming place to spend his final days. Akal found the doctor who cared for him, and together with Sandeh, they created an environment of exceptional care, with two dedicated nurses available 24/7, a doctor attentive to his needs, and a support network full of love. Navala cared for him in his final days with presence and love.

The Final Journey to India

During the journey from Italy to Goa, immobilized in a wheelchair, Lakshen confided in me that he felt like a beggar. Not in a negative sense of the word, but in total vulnerability. Pushed by Luca through the terminals of a massive airport, he experienced the fragility of his body and how India can strip you of everything that is non-essential, leaving you with the essence of your truth. For him, this was a great gift, which he accepted with humility and gratitude.

A Chat: A Currency of Love

Since a while there had been a chat group for Lakshen’s friends, supporting him during his hospital stay in Italy. Many friends were genuinely interested and ready to support him with affection and gratitude. In recent weeks this chat transformed itself into a contagious exchange of tenderness, respect, and love. For me, to read those messages daily warmed my heart. The love for Lakshen was bouncing between us, connecting strangers through the power of the heart.

Lakshen had shared with us every detail of his thoughts, transforming pain into compassion and fear into courage. He faced doubts and attachments with an awareness that made him ready to let go. He showed us that everything is complete, even when it seems imperfect, and invited us to live life with passion, without holding back.

Visits from Friends

Several friends came to say goodbye, knowing there wasn’t much time left. Atul came from Delhi, bringing Ayurvedic medicines in an attempt to ease our friend’s pain. Manish Banker from Pune, Mandira, Prem Joshua, Hafiz, and many others visited for one last farewell, for one last smile.

A Life’s Work

For the past 15–20 years, Lakshen had devoted his life to creating a film/documentary about Osho. Although distribution was a challenge, in recent months he found a way to share the project via downloads, which might be available by the end of the year. Five one-hour episodes and a feature film of one hour and fifty minutes capture his love for Osho’s teachings.

My Feelings

Yesterday, sitting by the sea, I felt everything around me: the wind, the rhythm of the water, the sand beneath my feet. There was total serenity, a silent beauty which enveloped me. Back home, Navala called to tell me that Lakshen had just passed. In that moment I realized that the serenity I had felt at the beach was him. I felt that his letting go was the culmination of a preparation filled with curiosity for the unknown. That unknown, that wonder, that awe, was felt on my skin. Lakshen had said goodbye to me.

Thank you, Lakshen, for living with heart and courage. For teaching us that life is complete, even in its incompleteness. Your journey continues, and with it, your legacy of love.

Celebration for Lakshen

The cremation was held at Panjim Crematorium on Friday, 24 January, 5pm. The death celebration was on Tuesday, 28 January on Candolim Beach, close to Lakhampal Resort (between DeMello and Oceanic). The gathering starting at sunset after the ashes have returned from Panjim Crematorium. Lakshen had visualized as his farewell a gathering of friends on the beach with songs and silence and flowers.

Send-off celebration for Lakshen in Goa

There is no goal to be achieved

Sannyas darshan with Osho

Lakshen takes sannyasThis will be your new name: Swami Veet Lakshen.

Veet means beyond, lakshen means goal. There is no goal to be achieved. The very idea of the goal creates tension and anxiety in life. If you have a goal to achieve you will go on missing the present moment. With the goal in your head you cannot be herenow. The goal has to be in the future, and life is in the present, so all goals are anti-life. And if one really wants to live, one has to be anti-goal.

Try to understand this basic arithmetic; everything else depends on it. If one is goal-oriented, one will live in misery and die in misery. It is not just accidental that you see so many miserable people walking on the streets all around the earth. They are caught up with goals, obsessed with goals. They are all ambitious, they want to achieve something in the future. And the future is that which never comes: it is always coming, always coming but it never comes.

Nobody has yet seen tomorrow, and it is so close by! By the morning it will be here. It is always arriving but never arrives. We go on thinking about it and planning it, and meanwhile life is slipping out of our hands. The goal-oriented person only dies, he never lives.

Energy darshan with OshoI teach a non-goal-oriented life. I teach you this moment, I teach you herenow. That’s what sannyas is all about: a life lived each moment with utter joy and celebration, a life which knows no postponement. And when you don’t postpone, your life takes on such intensity because you have only this moment to pour your whole energy into. You cannot spread it out thin. The person who has a big future can spread it out. The person who has no future cannot spread it out; it becomes so intense, so passionate, so one-pointed, and in that very one-pointedness of life-energy there is joy. In that concentration of energy there is bliss.

Then one knows the real taste of life. The name of that taste is god.

Do a few individual sessions of shiatzu and hypnosis. Then do these groups: the first is Intensive Enlightenment, the second is Centering, the third is Massage and the fourth is Tantra.

You have a beautiful problem!

Osho, Turn On, Tune In and Drop the Lot, Ch 22 – 23 December 1978

Lakshen receives a box from Osho

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Lakshen Baba – a Life well-lived!

by Anubuddha

Lakshen Pune 1My first meeting with Lakshen was quite funny (which needs a personal story, but I guess everything is personal in a strange way). It must have been 1979 or 1980 in Poona, at Don Bosco’s outdoor Basketball court. Don Bosco was walking distance from the Blue Diamond, and some sannyasins used to gather there to play hoops, once in awhile. My “early life” before meeting Osho and Yoga was as a semi-professional basketball player in California. So I was quite good, and I assumed (wrongly) that basketball skills were an American monopoly. On that 1st meeting, at Don Bosco, I discovered that Lakshen was really good at B-ball – and he was Italian, no less!

We of course hit it off greatly, and we kept our connection through Poona 1, the Ranch, Pune 2, and afterwards until to Now. I was involved with his great love of the OSHO Movie from almost the beginning. So I followed him with all its ups and downs. Lakshen was incredible with his perseverance, tenacity and devotion; he would never give up. He was always ready to celebrate, laugh, play music, meditate – in short – Lakshen loved to enjoy the moment!

With what I saw on Facebook, and our own interactions, these last 2 years were a major challenge for him… We exchanged texts and messages sometimes and he always seemed to be bringing a lot of heart and awareness to each situation. I sincerely salute the Buddha in Lakshen and send love and good vibes his way… and also appreciation and thanks to the friends who helped take care in his final days. That is real Seva and Love!

Postscript, 3 hours later:

I had told Lakshen back in September that I was having a “hip replacement” surgery (which, although very helpful, is super-invasive, and probably directly related to my extreme athletic history as a youth, coupled with very active 73 years)… we talked about his intense health challenges, and laughed about how “when we were younger” we were “once upon a time” top-class athletes (we met in our mid/early 20’s, almost 50 yrs earlier). So after I wrote this little eulogy and remembrance, I went to the local Fitness gymnasium here in Vilcabamba as part of my hip rehab program. Lakshen was definitely in my head/being space… and I found myself putting more effort and energy into lifting the weights than usual. It was like we were laughing and in-joying together.

In one “moment of big effort”, Lakshen jumped into my consciousness and told me he was really ecstatic and at peace, and that we do not die. He still had his Italian accent in this message from Beyond – lol! I have no idea if it is real or imaginary – and these days, with the advent of AI, the lines between “real or imaginary” are disappearing.

I just know that I get so much positive energy and inspiration when I hear and see my beloved friends leaving their bodies with trust and awareness. Shola’s heartful sharing shows how beautifully Lakshen witnessed and lived his transition.

Thanks Osho & Good job, Bro!

Anubuddha

Lakshen dear friend

by Avikal

Lakshen travellingThe last time we met in person was about three years ago at the Milan-Bergamo airport.

Where else? Both of us constant travelers!

I saw you walking ahead of me and called your name in surprise and joy. We sat and shared a coffee, and you told me about the problems you were experiencing in your body and your intention to go back to India soon and try some alternative approaches. I remember you as I knew you, confident, curious, open.

On that occasion you gave me the links to your just completed short version of the Osho movie, as I offered to show it during my groups in Europe and at Osho Nisarga in India, and then to report people’s response back to you. It was exciting and a very joyous moment of connection and the sharing of a little project together.

As you know, all those who saw it loved it, and for me it was fantastic to see in their eyes, and hear in their voices, the recognition of the beautiful work you were doing. Relentlessly, passionately, with absolute dedication.

Until a couple of days ago I did not know the meaning of Veet Lakshen: Beyond the goal!

What a challenge you had, brother, to stay on course for so many years, constantly facing the challenge of not getting attached to the goal!

Your last words have been such a simple and generous acknowledgment of completeness and loving clarity. I am speechless…

Love you.

Avikal

See you in Buddha Hall

by Samarpan Luca

Rimini Buddha HallThe Buddha Hall in Rimini [see photo]. That’s where we used to meet, our meeting point. I knew you from way back in 1982, when I decided to take sannyas. Since then, we have shared many experiences: first Milan, then Rome and finally Rimini.

Together with my friend Udhar, we often used to come and visit you in hospital in Bologna. When our hopes for a recovery started to fade, you surprised us with an unexpected request: “Will you take me to India?” We didn’t hesitate for a moment. You were still doing quite well, but as the disease worsened, we never imagined such determination in you to leave.

After many hick-ups organising the journey, we finally managed to leave together with Shunyo. In the air, with our heads resting on each other and tears marking our faces, we shared a fraternal union destined to become everlasting. It was an epic journey: at each check-in, given our condition, we could have been sent back, but with Existence’s helping hand and our unwavering determination, we made it all the way to Candolim, to Sandeh’s home.

Thank you for this incredible experience. You have reminded me for the umpteenth time that nothing is impossible and that dreams, as Osho reminds us, can come true.

See you in Buddha Hall!

Samarpan Luca

Lakshen's sannyas

Indira, Indira…

by Raso

Ciao Lakshen, you took sannyas four days before me, on 23 December 1978 and received the mala with the big beads and the wooden locket, as were the malas given by Osho in those days… Like mine…

You used to jokingly call me Indira, as did the vendors of fruit and papayas, money belts, flip-flops, beedis and crystals along Lane 1 of Koregaon Park, the road leading to the ashram. When I passed them, a chorus of joking calls… Indira, Indira… because of my great resemblance to the Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi. So you also started calling me Indira.

I remember you from Siena; the Drago Rosso, with our dear friend Ajanta (Caterina), who had a beautiful shop of oriental products, the first of its kind in my town. It was also a meeting point for crazy travelers like us. You brought her the kilims, the Turkish carpets, and I brought my crystals and incenses. And from Sunderban, behind the Resort, where you refused to go in, though I tried to change your mind.

After Osho had left his body it was difficult for you to accept the change of style and the new reality. I remember you from Goa at Donna Florina’s, or at Shanu’s with your feet in the sand watching the sunset with a chai, or at the Ranch in Oregon.

Laughingly you mocked me and promised me you would choose me to play the role of Indira in one of your movies. You couldn’t keep that promise, but your film about Osho, yes, that one you managed to do. Your masterpiece, your lifelong dream, and to enjoy its success, even for perhaps a too short while.

You were already ill when success came. I remember the many years you traveled around the world to raise money for it. Whenever I met you, you were always talking about it and the funds that never came. I must say that you fought like a lion to find them, and then, you managed to make the movie about Osho, your dream. After several failed attempts, the masterpiece of your life came out and you showed through it your whole strength, your devotion and love for Osho.

I remember when, already seriously ill and with your catheter bag, you presented it in cinemas and at various film festivals in Italy and beyond.

Ciao Lakshen… I say goodbye to you with the words that Osho said to you on the day of your initiation about the navel and the fear of death… That they may guide you in this passage…

With love, so much love, and I’m sorry if I have always doubted you would ever make your film.

Raso, your Indira

Lakshen with Prasuna
Lakshen with Prasuna the day after sharing his beautiful and touching movie in Ibiza

Fly high beloved!

You deserved the checkout from this dimension, supported and surrounded by the Love you always transmitted!

Thank you, beloved, for everything!

Prasuna

Lakshen with team

Lakshen’s film on Osho TV

by Srajan from Vrienden van Osho, The Netherlands

Just as we have aired Lakshen’s film on Osho TV this month, we heard that he has passed away in Goa. Lakshen was passionate in wanting to tell Osho’s story and has interviewed numerous people from his life, both supporters and detractors, in his 2-hour film. Penetrating images make clear how the U.S. Government pursued, imprisoned and, in all likelihood, poisoned Osho.

Lakshen made every effort to bring his film to the attention of the general public, but the media did not dare to get burned on his story. His 2-hour film was shown to breathless audiences in The Netherlands at the Osho Festivals in The Hague and Egmond aan Zee last year. He wanted to come to Egmond aan Zee himself in November, to answer questions about the film, but unfortunately he had to cancel for health reasons. He has given Osho TV permission to broadcast the film.

Release your flower to the internet, Lakshen, its fragrance will find its way to the hearts of people.

See Osho TV’s broadcasts from December 31 (part 1) and January 5 (part 2).

Lakshen and Arjava when he showed his movie at their place in Eressos, Greece, a few years ago
Lakshen and Arjava when he showed his movie at their place in Eressos, Greece, a few years ago

More Tributes

I have known Lakshen since the early eighties, when he managed to create the inspired Osho Disco in Rimini, his native city.

We were somehow the opposites in character, and in recent years we used to “indulge” in fiery discussions on current affairs, but we never lost our strong friendship, our connection to creativity, and Osho.

I was really happy and honored to give him some of my recording as soundtracks for his Osho Movie, which I consider as the most comprehensive and sincere document about Osho. I hope the movie will have the response that it deserves.

Ciao Lakshen, I would have been happy to give you my last salute in person, but sorry, I am a bit slow, fly very high ❤

“And I keep on loving you…”

Madhuro

 

Lakshen will stay among us, and in future generations, through his masterpiece.
Sufi Abheeru

Freedom from the confinement of a sick body into the limitless sky.
Fly High, Beloved Lakshen!
Keerti

Fly high to the sky above the stars, beloved Lakshen.
Lakshen has given so much of himself to us.
In deep gratitude.
You are going to live forever and ever in our hearts.
Vismaya

Lakshen,
We have met you only once in Pune, I am not sure when, might have been just after Osho’s death. Maybe out of Africa or somewhere close.
Even then you were burning for your movie.
I will forever remember that meeting, sitting with a few friends, you sharing your vision…
I am touched by your being here – and by how you left.
Farewell and fly high, Swamiji!
I will watch your movie with joy… and will make it a point of sharing it with friends.
Love,
Ma Nirava Jhari

Farewell Lakshen, my dear friend.
For quite a few years we were in touch, exchanging ideas on how to preserve Osho’s legacy…
You did it your way, and I’ll never forget the solemn scene in your beautiful film where viewers are taken downstream between the Marble Rocks along the Narmada River, being carried away by footage, flow and music…
You’ll be there with me whenever I watch that scene…
Blessings to you, all the way…
Neeten

What you did Lakshen! You left before we could meet again. Just a long phone call and me to pick you up at the Ravenna station for a masala chai at my place. Yes, tomorrow we shall meet or next week… Tomorrow, which never comes – and this is the proof of it.
I wanted to thank you for your wonderful films about Osho, shared with a few close friends online. Thanks for your wonderful work, for us all who were physically close to Osho and especially for those who were and will be born afterwards.
All my love to you, dear friend.
Anugraho (email: anugraho@carbonetti.com)

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