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Master's new market
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The editor of Osho Times says that the ultimate luxury of meditation can't come free
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NEW NIRVANA Amrit Sadhana: `Austerity and torture are old values' PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
You may have never quite figured out the logic behind his obsession with Rolls Royce and massive pieces of jewellery. But Osho sure shook you out of your complacent grove, and with a touch of humour. He said, for instance, on marriage: "Marriage is a trap: you will be trapped by the woman and the woman will be trapped by you... And then legally you are allowed to torture each other forever. And particularly in this country, not only for one life but for lives together. Divorce is not even allowed after you are dead. Next life also you will get the same wife, remember!" He is a big contrast to several modern day gurus who promise a spot of feel-good spirituality in your life, steering clear of all disturbing questions.
Imitators all
"They all just imitate Osho," says his one-time associate Amrit Sadhana, who now edits Osho Times. "He is the sun, the master of masters, guru of gurus... " And she is completely disinclined to talk of Osho in any language other than one of abstractions. Ask her what it was like to be with the charismatic, controversial master and she protests: "Oh, let's talk about the present!" If you persist with your question, Sadhana persists with her abstractions: "If you were close to him physically chances are you would miss him. He was a mirror, he just reflected you... "
But how relevant is Osho philosophy, which was in tune with the no-holds-barred post-Sixties spirit, for the present times? "There is no past or present with Osho," Sadhana throws in another metaphor. "When a flower withers, the fragrance travels wider and faster."
Time, in fact, is more ripe today for Osho than ever before. The man was "ahead of his times", and so, is more in tune with the present when "borders are dissolving and we are moving towards global citizenship". But for all the talk of shrinking world, aren't we living in extremely divisive times? "That's only in politics," she says. All's well when politicians stay off. "Aren't India-Pak borders opening up?"
Whether or not buses across borders and cricket matches will transform the entire political equation in the subcontinent is another question. But Osho spirituality, for sure, has changed a great deal in keeping with the spirit of the times. The Osho International Meditation Resort at Pune, where Sadhana stays, for instance, promotes itself in exactly the same manner as many exotic spas that are a dime a dozen today do. The website of the resort says: "This lush contemporary 40-acre campus is a tropical oasis where nature and the 21st Century blend seamlessly, both within and without. With its white marble pathways, elegant black buildings, abundant foliage and Olympic-sized swimming pool, it is the perfect setting to take time out for yourself. This is a place where you can simply relax and where you can also enjoy the company of visitors of all ages from over 100 countries. You can choose if you want to do something, or if you just want to rest, swim, meditate — or just be."
Isn't it a dramatic change from what the Pune centre once represented: a radical experiment that unsettled the moral structure of society? They are still asking tough questions, insists Sadhana. But there's something more important: "Now even meditators want a life of luxury and comfort. And why not? Austerity and torture are old values."
This, in other words, means that all things Osho now come with a big price tag. The Osho meditation course which Sadhana had come to teach in Bangalore — which aims at creating an "emptiness in you" from which springs the "ultimate joy, ultimate bliss" as she writes in one of her editorials in the glossy Osho Times — costs Rs. 3,000 per course lasting three days.
Not a bomb
If you are a bit of an old-world type, not comfortable in this neo-spiritual marketplace, she reassures you: "But I am not selling an atom bomb. I am selling peace, meditation, friendliness... People don't value anything that comes free. I am selling something genuine, why should it be free?"
What then happens to the spiritual needs of people who can't pay the price? Sadhana offers: "It's also available on the Net. That's anyway free." As the final justification, she quotes Osho himself on the matter: "Meditation is the last luxury. Pay the highest price for it." Sadhana must indeed be one of the master's greatest followers, for she values every word he uttered — for its precise, dictionary meaning.
BAGESHREE S.
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