“OSHO
Never born
Never died
Only visited this planet between Dec 11 1931 – Jan 19 1990”
[This post was written yesterday (taking as a reference the date of ‘publishing’; which is today); so when I mention “today” it means “yesterday” and when I mention “yesterday” it means “the day before yesterday” (sorry for interrupting and confusing you dear reader… You are now allowed to continue!)]
Wow. If I had to describe today’s experience; the best word for it would possibly be: “Wow”. The question though, pretty much relies in what lies behind this “wow” verbal/written expression/description...
Today was a “day off”-day [a “day off” in between quotes, because it is Thursday and in reality I had agreed with my internship organization supervisor that… I would “work from home”. But… BUT… Hhm… Haha! Let’s just say that, that certainly did not happen! (I managed to do everything yesterday, don’t think I’m that irresponsible.)].
The so called “work from home” was practically translated into a whole day visit to OSHO Ashram; also known as OSHO International Meditation Resort.
Who is OSHO?
Funny thing is that I really have no idea of who OSHO really is! In the Ashram they do not really talk specifically about him or his life. Apart from that I just know that I read a book of his approx. 4 years ago, Intelligence, and from that I learnt that he was this sort of ‘spiritual guide’.
Right this moment I am searching online for his ‘biography’ and I get the following: “1,500 pages of Osho’s own words in chronological order, about his past lives, his life from 1931 to 1990, his own death and what would happen after”.
I think he just did that to tease us! Because who’s mean enough to include his/her “past and future lives” in his/her autobiography just to make 1,500 pages out of it? I’m guessing we leave Osho’s biography for ‘another time’ (in this context you can go ahead and consider ‘another time’, simply as a synonym for ‘never’).
What do you do at OSHO Ashram?
As its ‘AKA-name’ states, you basically go there to meditate. There are various meditation activities you can chose from; starting at 6:00 and finishing at 21:00.
Osho’s meditation is a bit different though. He had this idea of ‘Zorba the Buddha’, ‘Zorba’ meaning (in Greek) that one who ‘celebrates’ and ‘lives each day’ and ‘Buddha’ meaning (in Sanskrit) that one who lives ‘enlightened or awakened’.
From this idea he created the ‘active meditations’ in which you basically move and release energy; to then be calm, quiet and still.
WHAT HAPPENS once you are INSIDE the Ashram?
This is pretty much where the “Wow” word explanation begins…
Well, you get there early in the morning for registering and to assist to an “introductory morning-meeting” where they give you an overview of some of the meditations you can practice in the place.
In this case I got there and there was an Australian man… or “Australian ‘Gandalf’” (you know, because he really looked like Lord of The Rings’ Gandalf! Same white beard, just younger and his hair was down to the shoulders rather than the waist), who was our ‘guide’ with 2 other Indian girl/woman. They showed us some of the different meditations you might run up with later on.
There was this ‘Dynamic Meditation’ in which there are 5 stages in 1 hour (in stage 2, it is normal if you start thinking that they have actually cheated you and put you in a ‘crazy people’s’ place! No kidding! Haha, you might even get a bit scared for a moment!) :
- Stage 1 ‘Chaotic breathing’: You breathe very fast and deep.
- Stage 2 ‘Explode’: You are supposed to go “consciously insane”.
- Stage 3 ‘Mantra shouting’: You lift your arms up in the air and start jumping and saying “Hoo, hoo, hoo…”
- Stage 4 ‘Freeze’: With the sound of a drum, you stop in whatever position you find yourself in and just stay still.
- Stage 5 ‘Celebrate’: You dance to the background music.
* Stage 6 (the additional stage ‘your writer’ went through after witnessing the previous stages) ‘WTF’? (Sorry the use of this expression but, it is really what came to my mind): You can’t help wandering if whatever just happened was a joke or something like that! :D
And this is nothing. There is another, called ‘OSHO No-Mind’ in which they make you walk around the room ‘wobbling’/‘speaking whatever comes to mind’ (to calm your mind’s dialogue) for 30 minutes; and afterwards other 30 minutes of silent sitting.
We were 9 persons in this meditation’s group and seriously… No words! I met this South American, and when the first 30 minutes started, we really couldn’t stop laughing! It was so funny, looking at the whole scene… Jokes about ‘Chewbacca’ came along the way. It was like they’ve put you in another dimension!
[Don’t get me wrong, it is very interesting though; and definitely worth trying! Funny experiences… Why not?]
But after this whole “introductory-meeting” you are free to choose participating in whatever meditations you like most.
One was really great. I very, very much enjoyed it: “Nadabrahma Meditation”. It takes place at the “Chuang Tzu” building (Osho’s home).
You go inside: Floor made out of white marble, the entrance full of books placed in glass cabinets; you continue straight, turn left and there is this room full of mirrors until you get to the room where the meditation takes place:
- Stage 1 ‘Humming’: Sitting down (meditation position), you do the ‘humming sound’ for 30 minutes.
- Stage 2 ‘Let energy go out to the universe’: You are no longer humming, but instead you are quiet doing a slight/slow arm movement to let your inner energy go out, for 7 and ½ minutes.
- Stage 3 ‘Let energy get in from the universe’: Same as stage 2, but now you let the universe’s energy come into your inner self.
- Stage 4 ‘Still’: For the last 15 minutes you stay sitting quiet and still.
* Stage 5 (you want to repeat it all over again :D). It’s just great.
Are there any rules in the Ashram?
If there’s something you will find in this place are rules, really. The amount of rules is quite amazing. To mention a few:
- You have to wear a (funny looking!) maroon robe during the day time and a white one during night time.
- You are not allowed to cough/sneeze during meditations.
- You are not allowed to wear perfumes (or smell bad!:D).
- You are not allowed to take pictures (I grabbed the ‘Chuang Tzu’ one from the internet, in case you were wondering).
- You have to wear white socks when inside the ‘Chuang Tzu’ building.
- You are not allowed to have HIV/AIDS! They have you tested during the registration (I know… I found it kind of strange, and was wondering what exactly happened ‘behind those walls’! Some weird kind of ‘cult’ going on there or something ...But nothing of that sort; so no worries! :D)
- You are not allowed to use your phone, except in designated areas.
And many more!
To sum it all up: It was quite an unforgettable experience (planning to go back this weekend). You find and meet people from everywhere and learn many new things; you stick with the ones you enjoy and ‘let be’ the ones you don’t. If you ever have the chance, go for it! Opens your mind.
[I really enjoyed looking at a couple of German grandparents doing these meditation things! It was kind of funny! :D]
Believe it or not, (a “fun fact” from ‘your writer’): I was introduced to meditation when I was around 14 years old; never this ‘moving’ type though, but just sitting down silently, without moving. It may sound silly, but it is quite useful for life in general. It really is. In reality,you don’t need to go anywhere to try it out; so if you’re interested, just go ahead.
Ok dear reader, today I leave you again; this time with what has been for many years one of my favorite quotes:
“You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, simply wait. You need not even wait; just learn to become quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”
Franz Kafka
Hasta la próxima
PEACE
Your writer,
Maria
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