Bhagat’s invitation to Czechia to celebrate their 30th anniversary on 28+29 June 2025
It’s difficult to grasp that in June 2025 it will be 30 years since the beginning of Shangri La Osho Meditation Centre. And it’s amazing to see what our place has become. We began with an old farmhouse in desperate need of repairs, and slowly turned it into a little village for fellow travellers. The first several years were all about building, renovating, and creating a beautiful meditative place where Osho lovers could congregate.
In the beginning I wasn’t sure how it could possibly work successfully. I had previously been living and working in Tao OMC in Munich, and didn’t have much money. But it had been my vision for a long time to create an Osho Meditation Centre in the countryside. Although I told myself repeatedly that it was not realistic, that vision just kept returning.
Osho had left the body some years before, and big changes in the world around Osho were happening. But the vision continued in my heart. So when this opportunity crossed my path, I simply said yes. Within a few weeks I had managed to dissolve my life in Germany, and leave it all behind.
And here I was living in this small, old farmhouse, which was in need of so many repairs. Because of its remote location, a phone line was impossible. Internet and mobiles did not exist yet in 1994. It was really like starting from zero. I felt like I was living in that most wonderful Sufi story about Mojud, the inspector of weights and measures, who jumped into a river following his inner guidance.
For me, there was so much self-learning – which also involved overcoming parental conditioning. My parents had grown up during the war, an extremely traumatizing experience for them. As parents do, they’d passed some of that trauma on to their children. Amazingly, for the first time since I had left my childhood home, both my parents actually supported me in a dream: to go ahead with Shangri La.
Starting this project brought a new dimension and a new phase into my life altogether. Now it was about being willing to stand up and deal with the outside world, without having the backing of a commune, or a centre team to support me. Life within Osho’s world, somehow helped me to move from just somehow surviving in the outside world, to creating a new world. What an amazing journey! In addition to everything else new, I also became a father of three children, something I had never even considered earlier in my life.
One of the beautiful aspects of Shangri La today is that the people who come are of all age groups. Sometimes there are 20-year-old students in the groups or trainings, alongside people who are already retired. We definitely do attract young people. I feel one of the reasons for this is that they face the challenges of finding and staying true to what is their calling amidst the realities of life around work, money, and relationships. With us, and in meditation, they find inspiration and understanding about themselves and how to handle it all. And they meet people here who are in similar situations, thereby supporting and enriching each other.
The way we live here is inspiring. We have individual freedom – our own houses, cars, and possessions – while at the same time we function together beautifully as a community. This requires everybody to take responsibility, and it is lovely to experience how it really works out. All the people who work here have been here for many years. We are doing things in a way that gives maximum flexibility and freedom to each person.
Of course there are things that need to function smoothly and on schedule. The meditations need to start on time, and the food needs to be ready on time. The cooks make plans for the cooking schedule amongst themselves, in a way which suits each best. We talk when it is needed, but do not have regular meetings. There is a lot of trust which has grown over the years. Sometimes an idea emerges as an ‘alternative’ way of organizing work, which we can decide to try, or the idea is soon gone like summer flowers in autumn. We are lucky that it all works out so well.
Everyone still has space for personal projects. Almasta, who has been here for 28 years, has his workshop for woodwork and metalwork. Sananda loves warm water work, while Magda is involved together with Nishkam in their project for promoting groups. Amar has her own guest house and café. I have three kids, who are moving out into their own lives but are still at university or school. Being a parent is such a tightrope-walk! On one hand there is the wish to protect your kids from the harshness and traps of the world, and on the other hand you need to prepare them for finding their own way through this world.
Covid hit us, like most people, completely by surprise. We did not have a plan B for a situation where people could not physically come to our place. This was an existential situation. I had never before considered working online, so it became another unexpected inner step. Once I said yes to the concept, we successfully started to work online, which was greatly appreciated by those to whom we continued to reach out. The Czech state also provided just enough support that we did not end up in trouble financially, even for a single month. This was a very fine experience for us – to see that we could manage to cope with such a big challenge.
During the uncertainty about Covid and what might eventually happen because of it, we decided to get a big tent. This made it possible to have groups outside in summer. The outcome has been great. Both facilitators and participants have been very happy with the result. Being in our big tent gave us a beautiful new opportunity, making the experience here even richer. We created this because of Covid, but we are still happy about it now. It is so beautiful to be inside this tent in our huge gardens, and it allows us to do groups and meditations outside! Also, it is simply magic to have a dancing event outside at night in the dark.
Nature here is beautiful, wild, and there are only a few people living in this area. You can hike for a long while and not meet anybody else. We are in a once-very-high-mountainous area, worn down by erosion, with deep valleys, at the edge of a huge, and still active volcanic field stretching from Sybillenbad in Germany, to Franzensbad, Marienbad and Karlsbad in the Western part of the Czech Republic.
What was a wheat field when I came here 30 years ago is now full of varied life again. Our ‘garden’ is 6 hectares in size [about 15 acres]. It now has many kinds of trees, including heirloom fruit trees, as well as ponds and water features. The latest is that we will build two yurt-style guest rooms, made from natural materials (wood and wool insulation), with lots of light, and attached bathrooms. Visitors can enjoy privacy directly amongst the old trees. And we may add more in the future. The first two will already be available for the big celebration.
For our 30-year-anniversary celebration this summer, we have put together a colourful programme in the spirit of Zorba the Buddha – meditations, dance performances, satsang, and live music, as well as good food – to take care of both body and soul. We are very happy that Manish Vyas will come to play. Many of you will know him from Pune. Last time I heard him play live was in summer 2023 at a big Yoga Festival. He will play with Tomas Reindl, a Czech musician, who learned his way around the tablas in India, and who also cuts loose with live electronic music for dance events.
As indoor accommodation is limited, we ask participants to book well ahead. However, we have a lot of space for caravans or tents. For more information check out our website: shangrila.cz
We are looking forward to welcoming you at Shangri La!
Related article
- Shangri La & Karavanserai – Amar tells the story how she and Bhagat came to live in the Czech Republic, open a meditation centre, a holistic venue, a guest house – and how the place became a sannyas community (May 2014)
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