An interview with Madhuri about her latest creation
Readers of Osho News have had the chance, over the years, to get glimpses of various meditation, creativity & therapy techniques, which Madhuri had written down in her many notebooks. (Many readers have experimented with them and – from their feedback – were very happy with them!)
Now that this big bunch has been collected and is being organized in a book, we can rejoice in having them in print, soon, in a handy spiral-bound edition. To reach this goal, Madhuri has launched a crowdfunding campaign.
Techniques I Have Loved
by Madhuri Z K Akin
to be published in 2026
Paperback and Kindle
260 pages, with line drawings by the author
Crowdfunding via indiegogo.com
How is it that you have collected so many exercises?
I just naturally write things down, and during all those years of meditation, therapies, inner explorations, I wrote down many of my experiences. I also began to keep notebooks specially for noting down exercises – whenever I particularly liked one, I’d write down the steps right after experiencing it. In my travels also I’d sometimes come across, in books or magazines, techniques that sounded likely, and give them a try. Then, there were all the techniques I invented… for my groups and sessions, and also just for myself.
Did you learn them while working as a teacher, group leader, in the Stream or as a participant in
workshops of the Mystery School?
I learned them from the very beginning with Osho: I took sannyas in December 1973, and jumped right in to all the meditations, and, quite soon, therapies. Then, in Poona 2, there was the Centre for Transformation, and then the Mystery School and Healing Arts. I was deeply involved in both the Mystery School and Healing Arts, and also experienced groups and sessions in the Centre for Transformation. In the Mystery School I did the whole Stream, as well as Women’s Lib, and was invited to be in the Mystic Ring; this brought with it a wonderful training too. I underwent Metaphysical Surgery and worked in many groups, including Women’s, Heart, Power, Co-dependency, Tantra. Eventually I also did in the Centre for Transformation: Mystic Rose, Satori, and I’m sure other groups I’m forgetting now!
Starting in 1989 I also taught my own groups: Psychic Palmreading, Mouth of the Dragon (a full-on 3-week training in various esoteric methodologies for reading people’s energies). I also taught Dreamwork and Tantra, and gave sessions galore: Psychic Palmreading, Chakra Reading, Voice Dialogue, Past Life Regression, Psychic Healing. I was also trained in Aura Soma. In Healing Arts I studied Colourpuncture with Peter Mandel, the inventor, and gave Transmitter Relay series, Prenatal series, and more. I worked with Devageet as a consultant on his Tooth Relays, and belonged to a diagnostic forum. Along the way I experienced 7 years of Colourpuncture myself, and many other things too!
Out in the world I also taught Heart, Intuitive Reading, Channelling, Tantra, Women’s groups, and much more. And, of course, did vast numbers of individual sessions. I also dealt with semi-precious stones and crystals for many years, and that comes into the book too.
Did you invent many of them? How did they come to you? Over a few years?
Yes, I invented many techniques – at first for teaching Psychic Palmreading; I broke the process down into manageable steps that people could experience, and thus build up to their intuitive opening with some confidence. For Mouth of the Dragon I invented everything too – it was just after Osho left his body, and I felt a great nudge from somewhere (inside, or cosmically outside?) to give this group, so I just sat down and the techniques poured out onto the page. It’s been like that for every group – things just come.
Later, when I was living in the West, I began to explore inside myself via inner journeys. This was a neat way to do it because I didn’t need anyone else (nobody was around to help!) And so I ended up finding and/or developing many processes for inner journeys. I use these regularly.
With creative techniques, some of which the book also incudes, I either read them or experienced them in writing groups or invented them. I led a lot of seminars at Osho Leela over the years and that gave me a nice excuse to invent things.
Who would be interested in owning such a book?
I think a lot of people will be interested. I’ve had huge numbers of clients over the years, and they might like it. Plus, younger sannyasins might enjoy the stories from early days in Poona (there is a certain amount of anecdote in the book as well as straight-out technique description), and also be grateful for exercises to experience. Older sannyasins will enjoy the reminiscence and maybe find something new to try – there are all sorts of things in this book! Group facilitators might find something to use in their groups. Session givers will find all kinds of ideas. Esoteric-minded people will like it, and also more practical-minded people. Even if someone isn’t searching for techniques they might enjoy to read about them and their context. People who were not in Poona might enjoy reading about what went on there, in a different way than the usual sensational news stuff. Shamans will find jewels there, psychotherapists will expand their range, doctors can look into the psychosomatic, teenagers can check out Tantric techniques, and so can elders and middle-agers. Writers or would-be writers will find troves of prompts.
My intention is to create a very easy-to-use workbook that stays flat when you open it (thus spiral binding) and can be a resource anyone could have around for when they have a hankering to go Inside.
Who will be the readers?
As above! Pretty much anyone who is not actively allergic to love, joy, bliss, adventure…
Are the exercises to be done individually, as a couple or in a group or other settings? Indoors or also
outdoors?
All of the above! There is a very eclectic range of things, from solitary meditations to groups, and everything in between.
Have you taken the exercises from books, from others, or have you actually explored them yourself, once
or regularly?
Almost every exercise is one I have explored myself. (The few exceptions are clearly marked as such!) I included ones I particularly loved. (Some things I taught or underwent are not included as they ended up feeling not so great, or maybe not so healthy, or they clearly belong to someone else’s system, or whatever.) This isn’t an encyclopedia, but a personal collection. The techniques come from inside, outside, and roundabout!
Are the exercises safe to do, or does one need to have a mentor to do it with you? Any freaking-out if too
scary while doing on your own?
I’ve included every level of easiness and difficulty. Some are very simple and extremely safe for anyone; others are much more detailed and challenging. I describe all this in the exercise, giving any necessary cautions. There are exercises for which you need a partner, others for which you need a mentor, or a whole group. But there are plenty of things to do alone, and quite safely.
You were talking about a special index? How does it work? How will I find an exercise that would suit
me?
Instead of a simple list of the chapters, there is a sort of graph, where you will look for something that interests you: say, Tantra, or Emotional Release, or To Do Alone, or Out in Nature. These key words, and many others, will then take you to a variety of possibilities.
Will there be drawings in the book?
Yes, there are many line drawings to illustrate certain techniques, or to give a diagrammatic instruction.
Are these exercises also available online? At least some, so that we can get an idea how they are, we can
try them out as an example?
Yes, some of them are available on Osho News, under Meditation Techniques by Madhuri.
Why are you coming out now with this book? Do you think there will be a demand?
It was just the next one in my pile of books-to-produce – number 12, to be exact! And yes, I think there will be a demand; working on it has been joyous, and I’ve been imbued with a sense of possibility: a very helpful book, that people need!
Would you be interested in receiving feedback on the exercises from your readers? Do you also give
sessions? Are you available for consultation?
I would certainly be open to receiving feedback! I did my best to describe each exercise as clearly as I could, including any possible pitfalls and the benefits too; but would be delighted to keep learning about it, as everyone is different and there is an infinite range of possible responses.
Yes, I do give sessions, and am available for consultations. These days I do mostly Human Design, but also Tarot, Voice Dialogue, Self-Healing instruction, and more. I have cardboard files absolutely stuffed with grateful accolades for my sessions – people who were very happy with them.
How far has the preparation work been done (writing, editing)? What are the next jobs (design, etc.).
The book is now ready for designing and uploading to Lulu.com. (I just finished the 4th edit, and it’s with the technical proofreader.) That will take some time – and some money, as good proofreaders and book designers are specialized and rightfully costly! Once that’s done we’ll need to make an introductory video and put it up on my website and in social media. The book’s access will have to be made easy – website and social media, again. And I’ll want to advertise in at least two magazines (if anyone else knows good places to advertise I’d like to hear them!) Then I’ll need to order first a proof copy to check, and then, once everything is finalized, a stack of copies for people who prefer to buy them from me directly. I’m hoping to keep the cost down to a place where people can afford it, as well.
What do you need crowdfunding for? What gave you the incentive to go down this route (crowdfunding)?
Necessity! The last 3 books I’ve produced were partially-funded by a certain kindly source… someone who loves my work. This source has, in the fulness of time, dried up, and as I spent 30 years of my adult life with Osho, I don’t have much of a pension! Any day that I work on a book is a day when I don’t give a session, and vice versa. (Age shows us that we’d better be wise with our energies.) I just couldn’t think of any other way to produce the book than crowdfunding. (I did produce one that way in 2016, and it worked!)
Link to the crowdfunding campaign: indiegogo.com
Portrait of author by Lucy Cartwright (lucyphotography.com)
One of the drafts for the book cover
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