Histórias com Osho – Histories with Osho

Two Brazilian sannyasins create an oral history of life with Osho, Histórias com Osho – by Subhuti

Unusual situations can become an invitation to be creative, offering new opportunities that might never occur in normal times. For example, during the time of covid, when most of the world was in isolation, two sannyasins in Brazil reached out to each other online and began a journey that is still continuing today.

“Our program, called ‘Histórias com Osho’, was born in 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic,” recalled Abheeru (aka Sufi), a 66-year-old Brazilian lawyer who has been with Osho for 41 years. “I was aware that the confinement which we were all experiencing was making some people anxious and distressed, and I felt a strong impulse to do something about it,” Abheeru reflected.

“Initially, I wrote a text about Vipassana Meditation, published it on the internet, and made myself available to help friends who wanted to try it. “My longing to share brought me in contact with Divya, a friend from São Paulo, who was very active online with various meditations.

Divya (aka Aminah) is a 50-year-old sannyasin who has been with Osho since 1996. She is a bodyworker and therapist, and also runs a guest house in one of Brazil’s most picturesque state parks on the Atlantic Coast.

“Together, Divya and I decided to offer a live session on Facebook, that everyone could join, talking about Osho and meditation, two topics that we love.”

Their pilot session had a lot of success and subsequent sessions gradually focused on recollections by sannyasins of their time with Osho, when he was alive, as well as the experiences of those who connected with the mystic after he had left the body.

“Divya suggested that we invite even more friends to contribute,” Abheeru continued. “Now, looking back, we can see that in four-and-a-half years we have created 182 episodes, with guests from six continents, reaching a current total of 228,000 views.”

For both Abheeru and Divya, working on ‘Histórias com Osho’ became a kind of devotion. For hours they are involved in arranging interviews, making contacts, sending out invitations, editing audio and video recordings, writing reviews and generating publicity.

“In addition to Divya and myself, we have managed to gather a cohesive and qualified team, to whom we owe the existence of the program,” Abheeru explained.

He listed the following assistants: Parita, with music production, subtitles, audio and video edits, teasers; Miguel Fein, with creation of visual programming and edits of interviews; Catarina Lira, with the Portuguese version and subtitles; and Priscilla Garcia, with video edits in Portuguese.

The whole program is created with a lot of love and, in most cases, with voluntary work.

“For us it is an experience of devotion and meditation, through living testimonies, illustrating the dimension of love between Master and disciple, as a channel of growth and awareness,” said Abheeru. “We are grateful for the opportunity we have had to share each unique story of every guest, in their different stages and colours in the Master’s Garden,” he added.

“Particularly, we see the manifested flowers of Osho, such as the beautiful and unique master, Vasant Swaha (a former Osho bodyguard), which makes us very happy, experiencing and learning more about ourselves, inspiring and lighting the flame in people who are thirsty for awakening.”

Abheeru said that he and Divya were also inspired by one sannyasin song about Osho:

Ten thousand Buddhas are calling your name,
Ten thousand candles,
Ten thousand flames,
Lighting up the world with love.