We hear from Pratap that Ma Yoga Prem (better known as Big Prem) died early this morning of heart failure.

“There will be a death celebration at 2:00 pm today in the Osho Auditorium at the Resort in Pune. Everyone is invited to come. We will dance and celebrate, and give her a beautiful send-off. Afterwards, everyone is invited to accompany the body to the Ghats at the river for the Burning Celebration.”

Maneesha got the message that, Prem “called Dhyanesh and said ‘I’m dying’ and then said ‘I can’t speak anymore’. By the time Dhyanesh arrived at her room, she had already left her body.”

Celebrate death too, because death is not the end of life but the very crescendo of life, the very climax. It is the ultimate of life.”
Osho

Read Osho’s answer to one of Big Prem’s questions: Big Prem – You Are Simply Big

Osho Mystic Rose 2001

Big Prem with Vairagya partying

Big Prem with Vairagya and Bhagawati

Bg Prem, Vairagya, Bhagawati and Anatto

Big Prem with friend from Japan

Big Prem' smile

Big Prem with Philippe

Big Prem with Philippe

Rajneesh Arya and friends with Big Prem

Big Prem with Indian friends

Big Prem and friends

Big Prem on left, Rakesh with big hair

From the Auditorium to the burning ghats

From the Auditorium to the burning ghats

On the way to the burning ghats

Taking the body to the burning ghats

Holy fire

Photos thanks to Chetana, Avibha, Rajneesh Arya, Jagdish Bharti, Prem Setu, osho.com et. al.

Ma Yoga Prem grew up in Chicago and came to India to meet Osho in the early seventies, attending camps in Mount Abu. She got her nickname Big Prem initially to distinguish her from another American Prem but it remained throughout her life because of her impressive stature.

In Pune I she transcribed Osho’s darshans – she had the quickest fingers in town! – and also participated in the Saswad experiment. On the Ranch, among other jobs, she also worked as a mom in Magdalena. After the Ranch she lived in Connecticut with Swiss Philippe and his two teenage children. In Pune II they purchased a room in the Commune which allowed her to live there to the present day.

Big Prem was one of the few of us who learned to speak Hindi fluently!

She had been in long-term relationships with equally tall and handsome men and we would like to mention them here with much gratitude: Rakesh, Philippe and Vairagya.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Big Prem’ in the subject field)…

Beloved Prem, Thank you wishing your journey returning to the source filled with the light that you were in the body. Love,
Sagar

Beloved One, we did work together many times, cracking up with laughter, shedding tears, sat silently, did nothing… A loving connection, birthday sisters… You are in the hearts of so many of us, we will miss you. Fly, fly high, my heart is with you… bye, beloved,
Aviram

Dear Big Prem, I will never forget when we met for the first time in 1980 sitting on the benches lined up at Lao Tzu gate waiting to go into darshan (which actually was my sannyas darshan). I was so very nervous and you started to talk to me, probably trying to get me to relax. Of course when you asked me my name I did say Giuseppe because I was not a sannyasin yet, and will always remember how sweet you were, and that every time when you met me afterwards in the ashram you yelled at the top of your voice in your American accent “Ciau Ghiusseppiiiii” to my great embarassement! See you soon Big Prem! Ciau,
Anatto

One hot afternoon last year in New Delhi, I patronized the Central Cottage Industries Emporium on Janpath. I walked into the bedding department and a familiar looking tall woman in a green salwar kameez passed me. I stopped, turned and then she too turned, it was Big Prem! Such a marvelous chance encounter as she and her beloved, Vairagya, had also just arrived in Delhi, on their way to see the mother of all cricket games, the match between India and Pakistan in Chandigarh. The four of us launched right into reconnecting and talking where we had left off about 25 years ago, draped over the display counter until one of the shop’s staff asked politely if we could take our reunion elsewhere as customers were unable to see the merchandize! I feel blessed to have seen you so recently and enjoyed our laughing together! Farewell beloved friend!
Bhagawati

Beloved with the sweetest ever smile, as your neighbour in Eckhart house we shared so many laughs and crazy times! Always ebullient with an inexhaustable supply of joyous energy, I loved being around you. Your love for Osho was boundless. And how he must be laughing that you chose today of all days to join him! A wondeful birthday gift! Enjoy the blessed space you must now be in. Love,
Veena

Beloved Big Prem, you where the first one I met in 1979 as I had brought gifts from Rocky’s family. I will never forget that first hug. We remained friends all these years and I am eternally grateful for all the conversations we had via Skype for the last years, as you supported me through difficult times. I loved that we shared many intimate conversations and you even got to talk with Mother. I was going to Poona in January to see you, now I will see you everywhere, especially in my morning sunrises. I love you, Big Prem, forever and ever. You are irreplaceable. I will listen for silent whisperings, as I now have an understanding of that which never dies. One heart – All One. Love,
Divyo

Beloved Big Prem, your spirit was always kind and big. I always felt welcomed in your presence. Bon voyage, beautiful being,
Sarvananda

My most beloved Prem, how many sannyas celebration have we spent together between candles, music, pillows, just to arrange beautifully the Celebration? Ciao my beloved one and only big!
Nyuka

I will never forget our walks to White Robe Brotherhood every evening while I visited the Resort. Though we were usually late in our slow walking, I knew they would always keep the gateless gate open for you. Now you are free. Hallelujah, Love’s returning home!
Abhiyana

I knew Big Prem since the early 70s when she would come to do Ethiopian Dance with me, every day for over 2 years. I loved her very much, and will really miss her hugs. I am grateful for knowing her. Hope to see you somewhere, sometime. Love,
Neeraj

Beloved, beautiful Big Prem. Yes, fly high! And a big hug to my friend Vairagya. It’s like, she gave the greatest gift to Osho on his birthday. Love,
Katha

Most beloved Big Prem … and the mystery continues …
Yoga Rabiya

You are my beloved. From the first moment we met, in Krishna House in the early 70′s, it was as if we were continuing from where we left off in another life. It was so natural and at ease. Premala, now who can I call and chat for hours swinging from one mood to another, laughing and crying, whining and then opening with wisdom into cosmos. I want to meet you again and again and again… I wonder if you can hear my heart saying this? Love,
Shanti

You have always been love first and foremost. Big Love, Big Prem. You are in my heart.
Lolita

Dear Ma Big Prem, I heard about this news when someone sent me a message from Australia. Ma Big Prem had a very strong effect in my life. I had met her in 2006 when I went to the Osho Ashram and was going through the most difficult time of my life. Ma Big Prem treated me like her own son. Am sure your soul is watching us, Ma Big Prem. Your memories will be in my heart and mind forever, mother. Love you, Ma Big Prem, she fondly called me Choo Choo. ‘Choo Choo’ is Indian slang. She gave me strength and love as a mother would give to her child.
Pranav, Mumbai
P.S – I would love to meet Viragya very soon. Have not been to the ashram since 4 years.

I don’t quite understand such a sudden magic in the air! Since yesterday’s send-off celebrations to beloved Big Prem in the Osho Auditorium and later confining her body to the elements at the Burning Ghats, I find such a thick layer of ‘love energy’ released all over the place that it is not easy to believe. I have no longer any way of telling how much of it is subjective, how much of it is objective, how much is a mixture of the two or if there at all exists any demarcation anywhere. Never before had I experienced such tangible ocean of love energy that keeps me constantly melted, tears almost brimming without any reason….. I wonder if the master chooses a certain moment, person and setting to release such energy. It must be so! Love, Big Prem,
Yoga Pratap Bharati

I and my wife met Ma Big Prem just 2 months back in Sep 2012 for her last Mystic Rose. Never ever, I had seen so much energy overflowing like it was flowing from Big Prem… My god. We were drowned in her love, laughter, innocent childlike being. What we received in a month staying with her cannot be explained in words. We feel you more than before. And I can hear Osho saying, “Aha, here comes Big Prem.” Enjoy! We will join you anytime,
Abhishek and Shraddha Patel

Dissolve into the universe of love
And then spread it in space
That’s the way I know you.

Yesterday morning I felt your loving presence around, whispering in my ear, „Remember you are a Buddha.” I love that one! I absolutely loved working together with you in the Sannyas-Office – your open heart for all and everything. Joy, Joy, Joy!
Virochana

We had such a special time together at the Humaniversity, that it lives in my heart forever. Our first day together, watching Osho’s death and crying so much and then laughing and celebrating for days and weeks. You, Emma and me on the couch laughing every morning. You showed me the very best of life. Do you remember our last party together? You asked me to open up my arms and receive the great love. I feel you so much these days and I promise you that I will keep your gift alive in my heart. Love you and thank you for your full giving,
Anat (shamata)

Beloved One, Indivar told me about your departure on the phone this morning. Tears are running down my cheeks, my heart is overflowing… no words… just love and gratefulness… what we shared in Mystic Rose cannot be said. I feel it now. And for a moment I am standing on the Osho Plaza again dancing with you in the Kirtan your friends are doing for your Mystic Rose demo… Thank you for your big love! And Vairagya, much love to you from
Pramada

It happened, didn’t it Big Prem? Osho could not wait any longer. Two decades was more than he could do without you. And he made you leave on the day he had arrived in the world. You departed covered with roses, surrounded by laughter, music, dance. Did you see the horde of your lovers that came to bid you adieu?  Did you see the adoration in their eyes? You must have smiled your charming smile of a happy sun ringed with the glow of your love.
I remember the myriad lunches we had together in Mariam. How you would fill my thali with savouries. I remember your visits to my house. Never did you come empty handed. A dozen tarts, a dozen croissants, pastry, snacks. Your joy at simply being alive, your child-like laughter, your kindness and generosity are precious treasures of my memory. Be happy with your beloved Osho, dearest Prem. Love him, hug him, kiss him, but only for today. Tomorrow put him to the strict regime of your Mystic Rose! And remember, dearest Prem, I love you from the depths of my heart. And will love you. Always,
Fatima

Beloved Big Prem, I remember you so well. You were a great neighbor at Eckhart house. We went on a boat trip with Osho together in Oregon and had a lot of fun together. Last time I saw you were in Poona in 1997. I was visiting Poona after a long time and remember standing in the Welcome Center feeling a bit lost. Didn’t recognize anybody, and suddenly you were there. You said: “I heard this voice telling me to go to the Welcome Center. Didn’t know why, because I seldom go there. Now I know why I had to come there. You were here and I had to come and welcome you!” My heart melted and I was so happy seeing an old friend. We hugged and laughed for a long time. You have always been very special to me. I will always love you, you beautiful, loving soul. There is so much light in your being. I know your journey now is of pure light and love. With eternal love,
Gandha

My bestest friend Big Prem is on her way – and my heart is full of her. We’ve had a 37 year friendship – beginning in one of those ‘terrible’ groups where we told each other how much we hate. I wanted to leave and she persuaded this California sunshine girl to bear up under it! I did and I’m ever grateful for her presence in my life since then. Our whole life together has been a series of mutually helping out and sharing with lots of laughter to go with. A few years ago I was in hospital for three weeks and mostly every night she appeared with something of comfort. She entertained the staff in her wonderful Hindi talk and her delightful presence was a definite part of my healing. We connected in that very special way that friends of the heart connect and there is so little to say about it – it’s love – in a non-verbal way. She and I did it with jokes and laughter and I miss her as that laughing partner. More recently it was mostly over the phone: she lived in the Resort which is too far for me to walk and she seldom left her room. Her health had became more difficult. I had turned her on to my precious Doctor Yasmine who also fell in love with her and could have helped her if she had chosen to. It was indeed Yasmine who alerted me that something was happening with Prem at 8am that morning with a phone call. Prem had called her but it was then too late. Prem was a shining star in my firmament and I am happy she is flying out of her damaged body. Also, she got the Resort to celebrate Osho’s birthday along with her deathday – watta girl! Go love go!
Jeevan

Beloveds, I spent three hours with Big Prem on 9th December. We drank tea and gossiped. She was feeling totally blessed and kept asking if I felt the same, which i did. She mentioned how beautiful the Indian Sodexo workers looked after her and did many small and big things that were not their job. They also where caught by Big Prem and her big heart. The next day I was getting some homeopathic thing for her and we joked on the phone, and the following day I found out early in the morning that she had left her body. I went to the Resort and sat with her body and said my goodbyes – I could have sworn that she was still breathing. In the Celebration, when Osho told a joke, I saw her smile. I danced and walked with her body to the burning ghats with many other beautiful friends. She made Osho’s birthday a beautiful celebration outside all the politics which she disliked. We all joined in one heart. I came back to sit with her body after discourse again, just the two of us, and I watched as her body disappeared. It was beautiful, she died in her beloved Pune, in the place she loved. She was feeling blessed, and full, and loved. Somehow I will miss her beautiful presence, though she rides with me in my heart. She was my beloved friend and fellow crazy lady. Love love love, don’t miss any moment: one never knows when it will be the last. Big hugs, Big Prem, my beloved beloved. Love is here now,
Suchira

Big Prem, my soul sister, my best friend in Pune. We have shared so many days and weeks and months and years together, I will miss all that but our deeper connection will be there for ever, even stronger than ever. I love you so much! I can tell endless stories of our laughs, cooking, dancing, partying, celebrating May birthdays, spending nights in your room, sharing our stories, love life, you loving my mom and my family like your own … so on and so forth…. I was blessed that you become my friend from the very first day we met in the 70′s and also worked side by side in the Publishing Department in 1979-80. I better stop. So long my friend, we celebrate you – always.
Yog Jagruti

Big Prem, jiii! Howdy, my next-door neighbor – flying somewhere now – you took care of me like a child when I was sick – and said you were getting post-partum blues when I was leaving Poona afterwards… You had real parties nearly every night with food you cooked, and all sorts of characters enjoying themselves with lively discussion – a born hostess by night, and a confidante by day. We told each other secrets of the heart. I know your body suffered, and you flew anyway, flew in life and flew in being popped out of this body too, now – Manifestor wild woman seeking ever more the wild. Much love, Big Friend,
Madhuri

Dearest Prem, at last I’ve found your site! Danced with your body down to the ghats, what strong energy, what a soulful heartfelt farewell feeling, singing our holy fire songs and you going up in flames and everyone dancing. So sudden, Prem – old pal on the darshan diaries, neighbour in Eckhart, companion at Saswad, sweet fellow RA sufferer and sharer of secrets. Such a sudden surprise, your passing, but thank you for having been you.
Savita

I was at your Mystic Rose group in 2003 in Pune and I will never forget your big heart and your compassion for all of us. Thank you.
Adheesh

You are in the hearts of so many of us, we will miss you. Fly, fly high, my heart is with you…. Bye, beloved….. Somebody has said these words before and I am only copying them, but they are the words I would use. I remember all the sweet moments with you, our time together in the Meditaion Resort. I love you forever,
Riten

You’ve been in my heart from the time we first met in Bombay in 1972. I remember walking down the street with you in Bombay, and all the admiring attention you got from the men we passed; your warm openness to everyone. It was impossible not to love you. I called you from a phone booth alongside a highway when you were at a meditation center in San Francisco and Chaitanya and I were traveling around the US teaching meditation, Rakesh our driver. I told you that you had to fly to wherever we were to join us (“You gotta me this guy, Premmie! He’s perfect for you”) and you did, the four of us traveling together until CC and I moved to the ashram in India. You and Rakesh (who’d bonded within moments of meeting) soon joined us. Who will ever forget your ashram wedding, and the decorated elephant hired to ride you guys around Koregon Park after the ceremony. I remember you meeting Phillipe for the first time…remember so many things. I’ve missed not having you in life for so long, but will always love you. Love,
Sats

Premesh (aka Alan Bassett) was born in Key West, Florida in 1946. He was only recently diagnosed with cancer and his sudden and quick departure has taken everybody by surprise.

Meerananda writes: “My dear lover, my beautiful partner and my best friend Premesh said to me a few days before his death, ‘Don’t worry, my love, we are on top of the mountain and death doesn’t exist. The only thing which is important is love and meditation.’ And the day he left his body he said, ‘Death and Bliss.’ He was conscious, in peace and with a smile on his face. His love is forever in my heart and I share it with all of you.”

Premesh took sannyas in Pune in 1981 and worked on the Meera Crew in Rajneeshpuram. In 1987 he returned to Pune where he stayed for ten years. Many will remember him as a Mystery School black-robe and giving Tarot readings at Prem’s. After Osho left his body he moved back to the USA and joined the Osho Academy in Sedona. He later ran transpersonal therapy and meditation workshops in Europe, India, Brazil, and US. He stayed for longer periods in Cologne, connected to the Uta Centre and giving ‘Osho Mystic Tarot’ sessions at the small disco. He also visited Switzerland where he gave sessions at the Theatre Spectacle in Zurich.

In recent years he has made himself a name as an author of esoteric science fiction thrillers which were inspired by his years in India, Osho’s meditations, his travels through India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. He lived in the mountains of Spain with his lover Meerananda.

Osho News has recently written a review about his trilogy of esoteric science fiction thrillers: The Ashoka Chronicles

These are the titles:
The Buddha Conspiracy
The Great Debacle
The Last Turn of the Wheel

facebook.com/premesh2021
esotericnovels.com

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Premesh’ in the subject field)…

Oh my friend, now you’re gone, flown away, left the ill body behind. I always remember our looong hours of writing, reflecting, talking and drinking bottles of Kingfisher in Prem’s garden restaurant, way back in 1987, Osho Mystery School, Pune. Later you came to visit us in our Osho Center in Zurich; we sat at the lake side and many people benefitted from your wonderful Tarot card readings. You loved to hike in the Swiss mountains… Just a month ago you told me about our ‘old’ friend Anurodh who left this plane – the two of you may be meeting now. And yes, your books have arrived at my beloved’s house. I’ll enjoy reading them and feeling your sense of humour, your free spirit, your love. You have enriched my life with your beautiful presence. I see you travel lightly into a new adventure, namaste, dear one ♥
Mahana

Dear Premesh, just heard the news that you have gone beyond. I remember you so well though I haven’t seen you for many years. You are such a beauty, funny, wise. A complete individual and a great friend. I wish you well wherever you are. All love.
Your friend Adarsha

Premesh, beloved friend – we only connected late in our lives and only for such a short time. Yet I felt I knew you since forever; you so much touched my heart with your laughter and joy! Although I knew your body was ill I felt certain you would jump that hurdle too. Fly high… until we meet again… With love always,
Bhagawati

Dear beloved Premesh, we first met at Osho Leela 1 in England when you came to lead the Self Love group. What a group! Went soooo deep, with your wise and loving support and guidance. Now you have taken off and left this world. I am sure you are exploring and enjoying where ever you. Fare well and much love,
Shantidas

Beloved Premesh, I am stunned, shocked and all those things which happen when this news comes so suddenly. I have wonderful memories of our times in Seattle and Pune. Was looking forward to meeting again in Europe. Much love and appreciation for you. Love,
Tarika

Beloved Premesh, I very much enjoyed hanging out with you, talking to you. We had hoped that we could meet again some time in Europe. Now it has to be another life, another time. If what Osho says is true that we are all reborn, then some parents somewhere will be very delighted to get such a sweet Premesh-baby! Much love,
Khabira

Utterly utterly shocked to hear of your passing. I remember you with so much love from our time together in The Mystic Ring. Now I’ve no excuse not to read your novels! Travel well brother,
Sandhan

Beloved Premesh, I hope lightbeings can read Facebook… Well, you surely are able to read our hearts from where you are now. I celebrate your life, dear mystic brother. Thank you for being a friend and fellow explorer. Songs of bliss and love to you….
Atmo

Beloved Friend, I find my heart heavy with grief upon hearing the news of your passing. I have loved you like the brother I never had since we met in the Pune Mystery School. My only regret is we haven’t spoken or hugged or looked into each other’s eyes for a long time. Your friendship has been total – why should it end now? You will be missed… and you are a big wake up call for me not to waste anymore time! Thank you for modeling what it means to be a loving man.
Abhiyana

Beloved Premesh, out of words, hearing of your passing, so suddenly. Good memories of you, your smile, your open face, a willing and connecting heart… Memories of connecting in Pune and later on FB. Fly on beloved…
Narayani

… so totally unexpected … I still feel you present somehow … sadness is there … you are going before us … I wonder why … so much Love to you … thank you for your Being with us …
Rajo

We were in Poona 1 same time … was always nice to share with you … and we all go, one after the other … that’s life and we are all really lucky to be on this path. With Love,
Satyo Shunyam

Thank you Premesh, you touched my heart, you made it work, you taught me what ‘to be connected with the source’ was and … you trusted me. It was a privilege to share with you a small ‘peace’ of this journey, eternally grateful. Gracias Premesh, por tocar mi corazón, enseñarme lo que es estar conectado con la fuente y confiar en mi. Es un privielgio haber compartido contigo un trocito de este viaje, Gracias.
Esperanza

Memories from a long time ago but still vibrant and resonating in my heart: You were the Tarot magician for me and many others, teaching the secrets of card-laying so elegantly and humorously. You were, and still are, a very trustworthy man just by the way you are. We shared great parties together and what’s even more important, you always had a kind of open secret hanging around you which made you a person with a charisma. Now, my beloved friend, your time has come to travel further. Thank you for being part of my life. The next step is completely yours. Our connection is one of love and celebration.
Premgit

Vedam (Anthony Roché) grew up in New York and used to be called ‘the black white boy’ because he always used to hang out with the white kids. He studied classical flute and piano and attended masterclasses with acclaimed flute player Sir James Galway. He came to Pune and took sannyas in the mid-seventies where he met Majida from Switzerland. They spent a period of time in Seattle and visited the Ranch from time to time. When Shanti, their first son, was about two years old, they moved to Switzerland where he gave flute lessons in schools and, on weekends, played with salsa bands. After a bike accident his flute playing became more difficult, so he concentrated on playing the keyboard where he was equally proficient. Whenever Milarepa was in earshot he would turn up at his concerts and events to contribute his solos.

Invitation to Vedam's 60th Birthday 09.12.12

Lotus Paradise recording sessions in Zurich 2006

Nataraj Dance Meditation in Switzerland 2012

One Sky band with Vedam 2012

Rajneesh Rock Band - Pune 1980 - with Satgyan and Somesh

Switzerland Event with Milarepa

Vedam - always joking

Vedam at the cafe'

Vedam with cap

Veetkam visiting Vedam in the hospice

with bass player Chandira

with a Latino band on lake Zurich

with Kai in New York 2008

with Milarepa in 2011

with Amlas in New York 2008

Rajneesh Rock Band - Pune 1980 at the gate (Vedam far left)

Zurich 2005

A few years back Vedam left Switzerland for Chicago, breaking up from his wife and leaving behind their second son, Nicolas, and suffered two strokes there. Shanti was instrumental in having him return to Switzerland where he could get the care he needed. With the determined mind he always had, he recovered beyond the doctors’ expectations and soon started to play the keyboard again, even if just with his left hand.

For his 60th birthday, on 9th December, his son and his Swiss friends organised a big party for him with plenty of juicy music since also his ‘Cuban connection’ came to join. A lot of his old friends had come together to sponsor a journey to India, planned for January, where Vedam could be in the care of his beloved Ayurvedic doctor Balaji Tambe. He was very happy about this gift!

The day after his birthday (maybe he was laughing too much at the party, his friends say) he had a heart attack from which he was already recovering well in hospital. So much so that on 24th December he decided to visit his in-laws and on the 25th he took a taxi to his nursing home to bring Christmas presents to the nurses. During dinner he collapsed into the arms of a nurse and was brought back to hospital where his heart soon afterwards stopped beating.

The funeral (urn burial) will be held on Friday, 11th January 10:30am at the Cemetery Chapel (Friedhofskapelle) Siehlfeld D, Albisriederstrasse 31, 8003 Zurich.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Vedam’ in the subject field)…

I first heard Vedam play in 1987.
It was early morning in the Osho Commune, Pune, India.
I was on the terrace of the room I shared with Prem Shunyo.
It overlooked the garden of Lao Tzu House and Chuang Tzu Auditorium where Osho was giving his daily discourses.
I was having a break from my job of coordinating the discourse music.
I knew the band that morning.
It was Deva Kant on keyboards, Vedam on flute, Satgyan on bass, and Nivedano on percussion.
The composition was one of Deva Kant’s.
At 7:40am, the music began as was customary.
Suddenly my ears perked up.
I walked to the edge of the terrace wall where I could hear better.
There was something special in the air this morning.
The music was incredible.
I had never heard such divine flute playing in my life.
Vedam was weaving his magic..

All musicians have their unique ways of playing.
Vedam’s expression was one of joy.
Joy delight.
Call it Osho.
Pure and simple.

I will remember him not only for his music but his sense of humor.
He could entertain for hours with a seemingly endless supply of jokes.
Other than Osho, I never met anyone who could remember so many.
And when the punch lines came, he laughed the hardest.

He knew music inside out.
His phrasing was sheer genius.
His timing and tone were impeccable.
He soared in the sky without limits.
And nobody played salsa on piano like he did.

In one of our meetings several years ago in Switzerland, after he had suffered two strokes which left him half paralysed, he spoke of his “karma with the body”.
He said he could not understand “why all this was happening to him.”
He said he was in a deep process of self-inquiry and had started meditating every day.
Unable to walk or play, he carried his beloved flute on his lap everywhere.

I have never met a musician who’s life was so totally his instrument.
He was his flute.
And certainly when he played, he was Osho’s flute.
I will miss him dearly.
But I know the incredible lightness of being he channeled, what touched everyone who heard him, is free to play again.
I hear you, beloved friend. I hear you.

Milarepa

Beloved Vedam, without your encouragement I would never have taken on playing percussion. You taught and practiced with me the various patterns of the claves and invited me to play with your salsa band. The now worn-out tambourin and the beautiful fish-shaped guiro are my most beloved instruments, the ones I will take with me in my grave, and they were both presents from you. I also remember when you drove all the way to Friedrichshafen to come and pick me up at the airport. You were a hell of a reckless driver! Thank you so much for being in my life. Have a wonderful ride on the other shore. With love from
Punya

I loved Vedam’s jokes, yes, and I loved Vedam’s music even more. In Unity…
Greg Rajsky

Hi Vedam, it’s me, your mother, Emelia Roché. First I want to thank everyone who was by Vedam’s side in his last days. It’s hurting me that I can’t see you off all the way over there. I’m so lost without my son. But I know he’s in a better place. Your brother misses you like we all do. The whole family ist hurt. My son, it seems like everyone you knew loved you. I miss you so and I love you so much. Please any of his friends could contact me and let me know how Vedam was. Thank you for being there for him.
Emelia Roché

Vedam, we met in Pune in 1980, and lived together with Majida in Sunderban and then in a two storey bamboo hut by the river. I can see it now. You took me to Balaji Tambe when I got sick, I see you with the pots of ghee, you praised the soft skin you got from it. I see you singing in the train with the headphones on: “gonna tell a story, morning glory, all about the serpentine fire”; this song we played on your last birthday too…. All throughout the years I was in one way or other part of your family, baby-sitting your sons, meditating with Majida, and you joined with your beautiful flute on our first Singing Buddhas CD. I was part of your life in all manners, friend, a kind of destiny companion, soul-sister, spiritual friend. You looked like a beam of love on your birthday beginning of December, your eyes full of innocent love, a sweet kiss and touch of soul was our goodbye, without knowing. I feel you are in a good place. Blessed. I keep my ears open, to the sweet sound of your flute. In love,
Anugraha

I first met Vedam in Chicago when he came with Milarepa to play for our annual Osho event. Then I think it’s the same year I attended Milarepa’s Wildquest event in Bahamas where Vedam was playing. The music and ambiance was so divine there. Vedam is so passionate about playing the flute. During the event in the Bahamas we all went out one evening to see the island. We stopped at a restaurant where there was some live music. We watched for a little while, then our musicians got onto the dias and started playing. Vedam had his flute at the ready and he took the lead. That day I saw him so total. Everyone enjoyed it so much.

And he was so good at sharing jokes. Here is one of his popular jokes that he loved to share:

At a circus there was an elephant and a sign that said: “Anyone who can make the elephant jump on his four legs, nod his head up and down and wag his head from side to side will win $100.”

Lots of people tried to get the elephant to immitate their jumping, wagging and nodding of heads, but with no luck. The elephant munched his straw and ignored them.

Then one day a fellow came up with a large hammer. Went around the back of the elephant and smack, right in the balls! The elephant jumped on his four legs! Then he came around the front and asked, “Know what I just did?” The elephant nodded his head up and down. “Want me to do it again?” The elephant wagged his head back and forth.

Thanks to Osho News for posting a page on his memory. Fly high beloved Vedam….
Murali

A find from Anugraha:

The big voice is Vedam’s in this 2005 concert during the Glarner Band Contest on the airport Mollis. Musicians are: Martin Nesnidal (git), Mirko Slongo (voc/git), Rebecca Spiteri (voc), Vedam Roche (keys/voc), Ricardo Iglesias (voc), Jean Claude Torko (bass), Armin Brühwiler (dr), G. Schiltknecht (perc)

Beloved Vedam, Farewell on your journey. Your music has always been an inspiration and joy. To play with you was a dance into the unknown and your humour and enthusiasm made my life richer. Have a great journey my friend,
Shivananda

I wanted to share something that is precious to me and that I experienced with Vedam. While at the 2009 Milarepa retreat in Wisconsin I told Vedam I was recording a song that would be perfect with flute, perfect with his flute! So on Sunday, right after the retreat, he said, “Let’s do it,” and he drove over to my house to record it. The song is called ‘Antar Shanti’ (Inner Peace) and Vedam was flowing and so juicy with his energy, flowing with that energy from the weekend with Milarepa. He got it immediately. He just did a few takes and added some great lines. And gave me a music lesson while he was at it. Very cool.

Shortly after the recording / mixing he had the stroke. I brought the mix for him to hear while he was recovering in the senior center. He could not really talk, but he had a very very very big smile (Vedam style) when he heard it.
Antar Shanti

Dear friends of Vedam, I officially confirm the death of my father, Vedam Anthony Roche. He died on the evening of the 25th December. The heart attack had weakened his heart so much that the body could not keep up any longer. We are very touched to read your loving words here. The death of our father came surprising to us as he was in the progress of getting better. We are still in the mourning phase. Nevertheless, we are grateful for the life that Vedam could lead.

He had his 60th birthday party on the 9th of December and enjoyed this one incredibly stating, “This was the best party that was ever celebrated for me.” He had also spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with his Swiss family and he was then able to leave this world with a smile, close to his friends and family.

In regards to the donations that were done towards his travels to India; we are happy to refund you the amount donated. You may contact me so that I can trace the payments. Otherwise we will use the donations for the burial and related costs. Part of his ashes will be buried in Zurich Siehlfeld. The other part is handed over to his family in New York. The funeral (urn burial) will be held on Friday, 11th January 10:30am at the Cemetery Chapel (Friedhofskapelle) Siehlfeld D, Albisriederstrasse 31, 8003 Zurich. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you for beeing a part of my father’s life and may he live on through our memories in our hearts,
Shanti / Samuel Roche

I am very fortunate to have known and been very close to Anthony Roché continually for 45 years, beginning with his teenage years in New York City, with me as his music teacher. During the late 1960’s through the mid 70’s, I taught flute and other music skills at a theater arts center in East Harlem, commonly known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio, the place where salsa was developed, because of its closeness to black or Central Harlem. Initially, I was his music mentor, but through circumstance, the connection developed into a father-son relationship, something that continued for the rest of his life. I would receive a phone call from him every year on December 4, my birthday, and he would receive a call from me on December 9, his birthday. In December, 2009, I did not receive that call from him, so I became a bit concerned, but didn’t know how to get in touch with him. Then, on December 9, I received a phone call from his mother, telling me that he had had a stroke in late October. I surmise that it was during the time period that I was performing and presenting at a conference in Los Angeles. Because I did not find out until his birthday, I suspected that somehow, even though ill, Anthony remembered that I would be trying to reach him on that day, and managed to get his mother to contact me. When he became a bit stronger, he was brought to New York for further treatment, thus enabling me to actually see him. I visited him frequently, making sure he had the things he needed, and as he got stronger, actually taking him to concerts, movies, and outside excursions. Even though I am totally blind, I felt extremely useful to him, and felt what it means to be my “brother’s keeper”. He was always happy to see me and eager to go out. He didn’t seem to mind to have this blind man push his wheelchair while he gave the directions for my movements.

If this sounds sacrificial, I look at it another way. I feel blessed by the fact that, even though I am blind, I was able to give my “foster son” some of the support he needed. After all, when I was hospitalized in Massachusetts in January, 1977, the doctors trying to preserve some of my sight, Anthony came all the way from Paris to visit me. From there, he went to New York, staying in my apartment, teaching most of my flute students while I would be staying in the hospital for a month. Our relationship was that close, with him thinking of me as being his primary mentor.

While I was teaching him during his secondary school days, he became good enough to be selected for the All-City High School Orchestra, meaning that he was being considered as one of the four top public high school players in the New York City public schools. In order to provide him with a better instrument for weekly rehearsals, I would let him borrow my own flute, then met him at the rehearsal site before rehearsals ended to collect the flute from him, thus ensuring the safety of my instrument. Similarly, when an All-State high school orchestra was being selected, I traveled with him to Albany, New York, for the competition. These competitions were conducted by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, because the All-State High School Orchestra would spend one month in residence at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, where the Philadelphia Orchestra itself would be in residence. The students would receive some coaching from the Philadelphia Orchestra members. Again, Anthony was one of four students, this time statewide, who was selected, beating out two other New York All-City High School members, who had also traveled for that competition. He met some of the best high school musicians from throughout the state. Later, when one of his All-State orchestra colleagues decided that they were going to continue their music study in Europe after high school, Anthony decided to do the same thing. That’s how his European adventures began. Initially, he studied in France, then the eastern Alps region of Switzerland, where I actually visited him, then Freiburg, Germany, and finally back to Switzerland, where he settled. I bought professional instruments for him so he could be competitive with professional flute players in Europe.

After losing my total sight, I traveled to France to study with the renowned flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal at the International Summer Academy in Nice. When my studies were ended, I spent some time in France with Anthony, staying at the home of a French doctor and his American-born wife in St. Cloud, which is a suburb of Paris. In 1983, after an extended trip to several African countries, I traveled from Africa to Switzerland, arriving in Zurich just 6 days after his son Shanti was born. I stayed with Anthony and Majida at their home.

By this time, I was developing a strong attachment to Africa, and great concern for the problems of musicians, educators, and students on that continent. This concern increased to the extent that I am now a bonafide African music scholar, musician, educator, and humanitarian. This expertise also made my own life more relevant with Anthony’s because, as an African music scholar, I also studied music of the African diaspora, meaning those countries and cultures that have a strong African connection, especially Latin American countries. I became more and more knowledgeable about Latin music, and developed such a strong interest that I attended the viewing ceremonies or memorial services for Tito Puente, Ray Barreto, Mario Bauza, Celia Cruz, Joe Cuba, Louis Andino, Graciela Perez, and perhaps some others. I truly love and listen to Latin music. Anthony and I also had strong international interests – he by being in Europe, and me by being a teacher at the United Nations International School, where I teach students from all over the world. So I was not only his closest American ally, I was possibly his most relevant American ally. We placed a lot of trust in each other, and this trust kept us together until the end of his life.

During Anthony’s recent illness, while he was in Switzerland, we spoke on the phone almost every week, except for the summer months of July and August, when I would be serving as guest lecturer and resident scholar at the University of Nigeria. Last August, I managed to reach him from Nigeria. It was habitual for me to call him on Sundays. I spoke with him the day after his big birthday party, and I spoke with him on Christmas day, just before he went to his final outing at Malihof. He knew that I had sent him gifts, including items for his trip to India.

We had earlier been trying to decide if I should come to Switzerland during my Christmas break, but decided against it because of the possibility of snow in Switzerland, which would make the movements of a blind man very difficult. After the generosity of his friends and colleagues made it possible for him to travel to India, I decided that I should come to Switzerland during the first week of April, after his return from India. I was really looking forward to the April visit because I knew that we would enjoy each other’s company amongst the wonderful people at Malihof, his residence, and that I would eagerly go with him to many places. We didn’t mind each other having disabilities. He knew that I had difficulty getting around without sight, and that I was always apprehensive about my movements, especially at night in a small town. It’s always much easier for me in a city where the sidewalks and transportation provide me with a better sense of direction and access to facilities. Anthony, who now had a scooter, said that this time he can come and get me. I had second thoughts about that, but he assured me that he can take his scooter on a bus.

When I was there last April, I was coming to bring him his property, including two large keyboards that I had retrieved back in the United States. His sons brought me to meet him at the airport. He was tremendously happy to get his things back. Many people were intrigued by the fact that a blind man from the United States had come to visit his wheelchair-bound friend in Switzerland. He recently told me that one of the persons that brought me to Malihof had come there to assist him with a household item.

One of my most shocking experiences with him last April was the time that it cost me about $130 to achieve a small meal at McDonald’s, causing me to never want to go to McDonald’s in Switzerland again. The extreme cost was caused by our having to take a taxi to and from McDonald’s – at a cost of CHF 40 each way. The meal itself was also expensive by American standards. After that experience, the people at Malihof allowed me to take my meals with Anthony at minimal cost. The meals were great, much better than I would have gotten outside. Anthony also took me to places where I was able to buy a huge amount of chocolate, big chocolate bars and small chocolate bars. I was looking forward to doing that again in April.

There are so many stories that I could tell about Anthony, or about me and Anthony together, over our lifetime. Or even about our experiences in Europe, including Switzerland last April. But, suffice it to say, that having been able to assist Anthony during his illness is one of the highlights of my life, because I never felt so useful, and because we got along so well, being trustful and loyal to each other. Others might have considered it a heavy burden, but all I can say is “He’s not heavy; he’s my brother”. I’m proud of his achievements and pray that his soul rest in peace. I plan to dedicate some of my performance and creative work to him.

Thanks to everyone who befriended Anthony during his years in Europe and came to assist him during his final days. God bless all of you. With great sorrow…
Dr. Richard Donald Smith

Dr. Richard Donald Smith, teacher, mentor, brother, friend of Vedam, thank you so much for sharing with us your awesome lifestory with Vedam, I can hear him clearly in your flute on this video. Thank you,
Anugraha

Hi, at the end of December 1979 I stopped in Prague to catch a cheap flight for my first visit to Pune. In the city I met Vedam and we figured out that we both wanted to go and see Osho. So we took a later flight together and shared the taxi from Mumbai to Pune. We both took sannyas quite soon after we arrived. In the small garden beside the front gate, inside the ashram, he was often sitting playing the flute, completely lost. I was a business man and did not have much interest in music but I appreciated his way of playing which was so intense and I could sense that his whole being was in the music. I met him in music group afterwards and he is forever in my mind as a smiling love-full being.
Swami Viramo

Your flute and the music that came out of it, I remember it so well. Everybody was struck by it and it all happened so effortlessly. This feeling of effortlessness was a blessing you had to share and everybody that was present felt it. Every summer you played with Milarepa at our summer festivals in Switzerland. When you played it was so obvious that music is your soul and you made us fly. You are a musician of the rare kind because music to you was more important than your ego. That’s why you could touch hearts so easily. I remember in Boldern that you were the only person I’ve ever seen using the shoe shining machine there. What a joke. That was your life taking every chance to play a joke with yourself or those around you. What can I give back to you for the precious gift you put in my heart? A view tears maybe of gratefulness for having met you and having the chance to be carried away by your music. Thank you brother!
Premgit

Anthony was a peaceful person with a great energy. It was always inspiring to stay with him at the school or to jam around with him. A great musician and honest man.
John Voirol, saxophonist, Prof. at the Music University Lucerne, Switzerland

Manuela and I are very sad. We are sad because your life has not reached its climax. There were so many tasks to fulfill. Maybe God was a bit too fast in his decision. But surely it is this time that he has taken from you, give love another man. Manuela and I have lost two dear friends and musicians in 2012. We think of you, dear Vedam. In love
Sven & Manuela

Vedam, I was so happy to connect with you on Facebook last year after a long time not knowing where you were and what you were up to. Now you’re gone! I didn’t even know you were sick, this is how far apart we have lived in the last 25 years. I fondly remember you from the adventurous times after the commune when we all lived in Höngg full of new ideas and explorations. I also remember you from the second summer festival in Rajneeshpuram when you broke a leg running to get to the front for the morning Satsang. You lived fully and I’ll remember you like this. You are in my heart. Fly high!
Preeti Helena

Geeten

Geeten on the beach

on the roof

Geeten and Priya

Geeten

three at the reservoir

Geeten and Vivek

Nadabrahma

balanced view

Prem Geeten, aka Sol Lovesong, left his body in Spain. He had been at Priya’s (formerly Karuno’s) place there for a holiday and suddenly went out of communication with her. She had been in touch with Geeten by phone. His body was found in his bed there. He was last seen on Tuesday 18th December.

An ‘old’ sannyasin, he was born, on Christmas Day, 67 years ago and lived most of his life in London. His mother had mental health problems and ended up living on the street, his father was Italian and left. He was brought up by Catholic nuns.

At various times he lived in Germany, helped at Osho Purnima in Kentish Town, London, went to Art College and did the Osho Craniosacral Training in Pune.

Later on in his life, he moved out of London, to the small village of Dulverton, in Somerset. He loved being ‘in the middle of nowhere’. He was feeling, however, that he would like to move to Devon…

A sensitive soul, he had a huge heart, a good sense of playfulness and humour and a wicked laugh. His talents were not known by all – he was an artist and a good photographer. He also had experimented with composing music and sometimes did amazing wild, spontaneous improvisations with voice and whole body.

He was a loner by choice, keeping in touch with few people. However he also seemed to ‘get around’ visiting people and places, including Osho Leela.

He attended a meeting with Maneesha in Devon in 2011 about a meditative hospice and was drawn to the work of The Sammasati Project, as it developed. He was keen to join the training and this saw him open up to being more with others and sharing himself. He made new friends and we all loved him, he was often loving and endearing, and also direct and confrontative at times. He knew exactly what he wanted and didn’t want.

In October this year he visited Priya’s place in Spain with a couple of friends, her and myself included. Although it was touch and go whether he would make it because of mobility issues, he thrived there, loved it and walked long distances.

After he came back he completed the training – again despite health struggles. He had had several operations and issues in the past and was pretty fragile. He was keen to go to Spain again and there he left…

I remember a time, with music playing (Miten perhaps?) after some structure and before a break – where I just sat, awed by his beautiful dance – actually the dance which seemed to be coming through him. I remember that time as very special and he also remembered those moments as being particularly precious for him.

Dance on, Geeten!

Update 5.2.2013: Geeten’s friends from Dulverton, where he lived (near Exmoor), are having a celebration for him on Saturday, 9th February. You are welcome to join. For more info please email info@thesammasatiproject.co.uk

London friends will also be celebrating Geeten’s life soon – date tbc. In the meantime, you might enjoy this video with Geeten having fun and creating music in his own unique way: youtu.be

Text by Yatro

Any moment now
any of us
will disappear
perhaps to reappear
or else ride the waves of eternity

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Geeten’ in the subject field)…

Beloved Geeten, it feels great timing that you should have spent your final year in our training, preparing to leave your body! I know it wasn’t all plain sailing, but you hung in there, ‘trusting the process’. Loved your unique way of being and so glad to have known you! All love to you,
Maneesha

Sweet Geeten, dancing in the stars…. It was a joy, sharing the Sammasati training with you! Keep hearing your crazy laughter echoing in my heart. Fly high, my friend
Koorvita

Truly a love song of the beloved. Fly high Geeten.
Shruti

Beautiful old friend from early North London squatting days. It was a great pleasure to meet with you again after so long, at Osho Leela last summer. Thanks for sharing and being your whimsical heartfelt knowing raggedy self in my life. Fly on… love…
Param

Fly, fly high, beloved Geeten. Here a picture all for you. ‘A Wanderer Dances the Dance of Stars and Space’ – I know you love it!
Anurag

spiral galaxy NGC 1097 by NASA

We never met ‘in person’, what a beauty you are Geeten! Thank you for sharing your experience on this little video, now I see you melting into the cosmic space with so much love and wonder…. Great peace to you,
Mahana

It seems to me so apt, that at this time when cheeky, quirky, divinely inspired Geeten had found fulfillment in our love and community – that he has departed this mortal coil, in what I can only imagine was a wonderful state of love and surrender, if our last hug was anything to go by! It has been an absolute privilege to share this journey with you, Geeten, to watch the transformation and now the awesome way in which your actual departure happened. You are in my heart. Our training together has been the most terrific service to us as individuals, and I know that we will see more unfolding to come for us and others. Thank you, beloved Maneesha, for this work, and to Priya, Panky, Sidika for your special help, and all of us for holding this love that is beyond words. Blessings,
Paras

What a shock! A long term friend of his, and a good friend of mine, Xochitl Tuck, died about a week before him. She was also a strong character, and once told me she had been to Poona in the 1970s and was going to take sannyas but had to leave India, I think because of her husband’s health problems. Love,
Dhyandeva

So long Geeten, thanks for your friendship, you’re looking good.
Sakal

Swami Lovesong, love dance, wonderful laugh, unique, wild, love you,
Pankaja

Beloved Geeten, so happy to have got to know you during our training. I really enjoyed your powerful insights after some of the meditations and your beautiful dancing and the amazing music you made in our last module. I’ve been watching the last video you made with us just a few weeks ago. You start “Will-o’-the -wisp, here today, gone tomorrow” followed by your beautiful laugh. None of us thought that you would demonstrate your comment so very soon. Sending you much love and appreciation,
Sidika

Thank you so much for your invaluable help at the Osho Purnima Centre in Kentish Town. Those moments remembered – Dance on in Love!
Prabuddho

Arriving at US customs en route to Oregon, Geeten was found to be carrying his own food for the trip! Tahini, rice cakes, and sprouts. They took them off him, of course, but we were all amused by the incident. He was a special person – different. I was happy when I heard he’d made the move out of London. Lots of memories over many years.
Ashesha

Dear Geeten, now you are gone, gone beyond, gone – gate gate para gate parasamgate bodhi swaha. Warmth shared remains. Love,
Tara

Preeti Ganguly, born 1953 into the famous Ganguly family from Bengal, was the daughter of actor Ashok Kumar and an Osho sannyasin.

Preeti was an actress and played several comic roles in Hindi movies in the ’70s and ’80s. She was immensely talented and performed exceedingly well in the comedy roles that came her way owing to her own out-sized figure. She is best known for her comic role as Freni Sethna, the die-hard Amitabh Bachchan fan in Basu Chatterjee’s ‘Khatta Meetha’ (1978) (‘Sweet and Sour’).

Seven years ago, Preeti set up an acting school in Mumbai, the ‘Ashok Kumar’s Academy of Dramatic Arts’. She felt that she wanted to engage in more meaningful endeavours and her acting school is an outgrowth of this desire.

Preeti Ganguly wearing the mala

Preeti with her dad. actor Ashok Kumar

Preeti Ganguly in action

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Preeti’ in the subject field)…

Magdalena writes: “Anand Shakur (Markus Bart) was born in Switzerland in May 1945, and passed away in Canada in a magnificent place in Alberta. His death comes as a surprise.

“Shakur was in Poona I and worked in the silkscreen department. He lived in the Gyandip Commune in Zurich where he was in charge of the boutique and later of the vegetarian restaurant Zorba The Buddha. He also experienced the Ranch in Oregon. Everybody appreciated him.

“After he sold a fancy Polo Ralph Lauren store in Banff which he owned and managed with his sister, he lived as a recluse in a beautiful place surrounded by nature. He enjoyed his three dogs, wild horses and a grand view into the Rockies. He also used to have cats and a pig.

“He was a generous and special man with a great sense for beauty and truth. In his own way he was always a rebel and would only settle for the ‘real thing’. He was one of my best friends for over 40 years. I will miss and love him forever. May he celebrate his inner peace and freedom … free the soul and fly like a butterfly!”

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Shakur’ in the subject field)…

You were my trainer at Zorba the Buddha in Zurich; training me how to be a good waiter. You had a natural elegance to everything you did. You were soft with a spine what made you a wonderful teacher and a wonderful person. I feel touched by your grace that has been so much part of your life. May you be carried by it in trust and surrender.
Premgit

Hey, Shakur. I was often wondering where you were. Now I know. I remember your gentle leading the Zorba the Buddha, in the Zurich commune time. Our paths did not cross after that, unfortunately. I keep you in my heart. Much love from Australia.
Preeti Helena

Ma Prem Anubodhi (Emily Spalding) was born in May 1928, graduated UC Berkeley in 1948 and taught English in the Navajo reservations and fancy private schools. She hung with the Beatniks in New York – she once commented about Alan Watts, “I am so tired of all these guys who think they are enlightened!” Her search led her to study with J. Krishnamurti for 25 years, to sit with Suzuki Roshi and Jakusho Kwong-Roshi, to try the fruit salad of therapies available in the 1970s, then finally to Osho. She took sannyas in 1977 at age 51, determinedly seeking truth!

Her cabins off Panoramic Highway in Mill Valley became resting places for sannyasins going to and from the ashram; much laughter and mischief up on that ridge! She spent as much time in India as she could with her teaching schedule, then worked in the truck farm on the Ranch, trying to be alone as much as possible. After the Ranch, she would load up her VW van and go off camping all around the country.

She spent her last years in Burbank Orchards in Sebastopol, California with a view of oak trees, meditating. Her greatest joys in life, after her eyes started failing, were listening to Osho tapes and having long phone conversations with dear friends all over the continent. We will remember her intensity, honesty, sense of the absurd…and wicked laugh!

Her love for Osho remained the light on her path till 25th December, when she had a heart attack.

Anila and Anunado, for Osho Viha (www.oshoviha.org)

To leave a tribute please do so on the memorial website Anila and Anunado have set up for her:
forevermissed.com/anubodhi-emily-spalding

Dhyan Nitamo (aka Mario) was born in Italy and was 50 years old.

He died of liver cancer which was only detected a month ago in a late stage. He had been in some pain in the last week or so, but surrendered gracefully to the inevitable. He died with his long-time beloved best friend Lisa (aka Prem Sarla) holding his hand.

He took sannyas in Rajneeshpuram and together with Swamis Deven, Simant and Smaran he built the crematorium while on the RHT program.

During the early nineties he met U.G. Krishnamurti in Gstaad and spent 15 years around him. At the same time he started an interior design business in Cologne, Germany, building fancy bathrooms, trendy resin floors and inspired walls. In the last few years he was a regular visitor to Bali.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Nitamo’ in the subject field)…

I just learned from a friend in New Jersey that Mario left his body about 2 1/2 hours ago in his old friend Julie’s house. He left very peacefully. In November he was diagnosed with liver cancer, which was very advanced and he then moved to friends in the United States and spent a beautiful month in New Jersey. Friends from around the world came to see him and were able to say goodbye. He was just incredibly accepting and loving and just plain sweet. I cannot say more. Just beautiful. A real man! Until Friday, he was still on his feet, was joking, laughed, cooked and had fun with his friends.

Saturday was a turning point; he was restless and in a lot of pain, and didn’t leave Julie’s house anymore. A private hospice nurse came and took care of him. He slept for 7 hours during the night but this morning (Sunday) when he woke up at 6am he was very restless; at 10am his breathing became labored, he then stopped one-and-a half hours later and after 15 seconds one long breath left his body and he was out of his body. When he left, his friends were in the room. It was completely silent. He did not suffer long, I am so happy about it. What a dear friend. I will miss just him. Love,
Anandi

Nitamo was a good and intimate friend for many years since we first met in Pune in 1987. We lived together in Riverside for few years and together shared, partied, travelled and enjoyed life, something he was exceptionally good at. I love you,
Avikal

Taruja completed her first dance training in 1994 and later worked with different dancers. She has been leading Dance workshops and given individual session. She was also an Osho Rebalancing, Reiki, Cranio-sacral and Osho Mysitc Rose facilitator.

She was 44 years old when she left her body in Berlin.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Taruja’ in the subject field)…

Beloved Taruja, in gratitude for having spent quality time with you in Poona so many times! Your laughter and joy, the tears, the honesty… I wish that I would have had a miracle cure… So young you left… Farewell, beloved! Farewell!
Aviram

WoW! Dear beloved Taruja, that was a short but very intense, passionate, ‘total’ visit…. Shocking to hear the news here in paradise Goa. Found myself sobbing because we were teaching pals together in a Rebalancing training in Pune. Thank you eternally for the juicy, playful, skillfull sharing, and teaching of Osho Divine Bodywork. In gratitude and endless love, enjoy your Godly Journey towards a still better home. Be blessed, precious and dearest one!
Rasal

Your laughter, your joy of life, your healing hands and graceful dance will always echo through the universe. Thank you for being such a loving friend….

This song is yours:

…and I’m calling on the light
in every flower in every smile
in a dewdrop and a tear
I call the light that’s you and me

Shine Shine Shine … all the time
Shine Shine Shine … tonight

Ma Atmo

We shared some good laughter and giggles on the path. Thank you for your warm heart. Now you have spread your wings, blessings and love on your journey, shine on… fly high,
Mahana

Dear Taruja – you left us. I’m so sad not to have seen you more often on this earth. I thank you so much for your loving work and your laughter; your energy to dance and teach us not only rebalancing, but also how to open our eyes and minds for our individual story and for our feelings of relationship.
Anna Maria

From Amana we hear that Virato left his body peacefully in a hospice in Asheville, NC. Virato was a local figure in Asheville, where he and his beloved Dhiraja (Luda) lived. He was an editor of the online Asheville Magazine, and earlier as a radio host, he interviewed hundreds of New Age pundits and spiritual teachers. Since meeting Osho he devoted much effort to increase spiritual awareness and tantric consciousness.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Virato’ in the subject field)…

I am writing from Asheville, where we met casually over the years, 11 or twelve. I wish to pay homage to this soul, Virato. We are all good and bad and beautiful and maybe not so. I just sort of liked the guy, mostly because of his radio show. I truly hope it is preserved. He talked to many guests, mostly in a very intelligent and respectful manner. His Saturday morning broadcasts on AM Radio in Asheville were a treasure to hear. He gave so much good energy into the radio program. Kind thoughts to his beloved Dhiraja. Thank you, Osho friends, for mentioning Virato. Peace from Asheville,
Senator Airedale

Virato, an old collaborator of mine, was one of the few I knew who prized speaking up over swallowing his truth to appease and belong. There are not so many who have shed the skin of a spiritual politician. I believe he did it well. We have lost another strong voice in the dwindling community of attained sanyasins. I will miss him,
Harideva

On February 2, Swami ‘Nostradamus’ Virato, aka Joseph Bacanskas, left his body peacefully at Solace Hospice. His loving wife, Ludmila Bacanskas, also known as Dhiraja, was by his side. Virato, who was 74, was well known for his on air show “Virato Live!” on 880 The Revolution, in which he interviewed New Age figures, spiritual teachers, healers and alternative lifestyle personalities, as well as sharing music of the New Age subculture and showcasing local musicians. Prior to moving to Asheville, Virato was Founder and Editor of New Frontier, a regional New Age and networking magazine, in Philadelphia PA, for many years. His work helped substantiate and promote the spiritual and counter-cultural movement that was gathering momentum in that region.

In the mid-1990s Virato moved to Asheville NC and started the online Asheville Magazine, which brought national attention to the quality and potential of Western North Carolina as a homebase for spiritual and alternative lifestyles, and increased the audience for local resources, to educate, illuminate and expand our community. Eventually, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2000, where he was teaching tantra courses, he met his devoted wife of 13 years, Dhiraja, who is a well loved community figure at Westgate Earth Fare, where she is known as Luda.

Virato was given his name by his spiritual teacher, Osho, and in his lifetime was faithful to increasing spiritual awareness through meditation and tantric consciousness, in all of his public endeavors. His friends and family have asked that if anyone wants to make a contribution in Swami Virato’s name, it be made directly to help defray his medical and cremation costs. Donations and expressions of sympathy can be sent to his wife, Ludmilla Bacanskas, at 83A Indiana Avenue, Asheville NC 28806. A public memorial to celebrate Virato’s life is possible at some future date, but for now, the family wishes to mourn their beloved in private, and asks for your kind thoughts for Virato in his journey onward.
Aile Amana

Dear Ones, I met Virato in the mid-80′s at a Rainbow Gathering in Pennsylvania. He was butt naked, wearing a mala, so we said hello. (I was clothed, with mala.) He impressed me with his big aura, and enticed me to begin a spin-off new age magazine in Florida, through his Philadelphia-based version, New Frontier. I soon branched off on my own with New Florida magazine, but Virato and I stayed in touch, and I saw him now and then in Florida, where he occasionally offered a “tantra” workshop, sometimes entrancing folks and sometimes scaring them away.

We each eventually wound up in Asheville, and he soon brought a boatload of attention to this beautiful bioregion and its potential for counter-cultural development. No doubt Asheville can attribute some of its cultural richness today to Virato’s early PR work. In the early days of Earthaven Ecovillage, where I live, Virato and Dhiraja came often to Osho events here. He always had a sweet smile and a kind, big-eyed greeting for me, and I’ll miss him. Dance on, Swami Brother!
Ma Shunyam Arjuna

Mega writes: Another sannyasin left for the other shore.

Bio according to Wiki:
Tony Sheridan (born Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity, 21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), was an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was best known as an early collaborator of The Beatles, (though the record was labelled as being with “The Beat Brothers”), one of two non-Beatles (the other being Billy Preston) to receive label performance credit on a record with the group, and the only non-Beatle to appear as lead singer on a Beatles recording which charted as a single.

More photos: stringbeats.de

In his interview (01.12.2010) in the Nürnberger Nachrichten Ich habe meine kleine Mission erfüllt [I have fulfilled my mission] he says:

Q: What was more important in your life: The Beatles or Bhagwan?

A: (laughing) Both were important. Musically, of course, the time in Hamburg was crucial. One could easily have gone to the dogs. I was spared though; I didn’t take any drugs, merely some stimulants to stay awake. We matured in Hamburg, but the soul missed out in St. Pauli. I made up for it with Bhagwan.

Q: So the music didn’t suffice as a purpose in life?

A: That’s all very complicated. In 1967 I went as a troop entertainer to Vietnam, even though I was not at all interested in politics at the time. That was an 18 months without end. The American GIs were the best audience in the world, they respected that we were playing their music, such as blues, rhythm’n’blues and rock’n’roll. For me that was like receiving a knighthood, because the audience in Hamburg hadn’t really understood what we were doing. After Vietnam nothing was missing for me as a musician anymore, I had seen it all. But I was also exposed to so much evil in Vietnam – hatred, blood, fear without end. It was then that I asked myself about the meaning of life: What is that all about? Today, I’m still seeking, but Bhagwan has shown me a way and changed my life.”

And in another interview in Germany (announcing a concert at the Waschhaus in Potsdam) on 05.10.2012 he was asked the question: The DDR (East Germany) released the recordings of Sheridan and the Beatles. The cultural policy in the mid 1980s was interested in you; there were tours through East Germany. How did you experience these?

A: I felt like I was isolated [...]. You can see all these people, you make music and you know that you can get out of here at any moment, but they [the audience] can’t. Really crazy. At one point, the tour manager said to me, “Hide that picture of Bhagwan which you have around your neck!” I am a spiritual person; it was somewhat bizarre. But I was not a dangerous man, they noticed that. And you could not prohibit the music of the Beatles and all that. I am a little bit proud of the fact that I could contribute something positive there.

Read the whole interview (in German): Interview mit Tony Sheridan, einem Mitbegründer der Beatmusik / Konzert und Lesung im Waschhaus

Obituaries

Telegraph: Tony Sheridan
Guardian: Beatles champion Tony Sheridan dies
Rolling Stone: Beatles Collaborator Tony Sheridan Dead at 72

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Sheridan’ in the subject field)…

Dissolve into Eternity with Love and Grace and Music, as those were your style, wonderful Prabhu Sharan.
Devada

I was lucky to have met Tony Sheridan once in his home near Hamburg. As a young boy I used to dance in the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, where the Beatles had played, and in the Star Club. Their album ‘My Bonnie’ with Tony Sheridan was a hit at that time. Tony / Sharan was a family man and I cherish our meeting. Fly high blessed soul,
Bhikkhu

Vachana came to Osho in 1977 after travelling overland to India, together with her then husband, her son, his friend and younger daughter (later Tejas, Harish, Tejomaya and Surahbhi). After Osho had left for the US, she joined the Medina commune from where she visited the Ranch. When Osho arrived back in Pune after the World Tour she immediately left for India and lived and worked there until he died. She later lived many years in North Wales.

Once it was no longer possible for her to live on her own, she moved to Devon to live close to Surahbhi and many other friends. Surahbhi took care of her while her health declined and she developed dementia. Despite all this, she determinedly went for walks twice a day and visited the local café every morning for her cappuccino. When it became obvious that Surahbhi could no longer take care of Vachana, arrangements were made for her to move into a residential home. A beautiful room was found for her in a care home on the edge of Dartmoor and, although she never really landed there, it created the peaceful space that helped her leave the body as gracefully as she did.

There will be a celebration this coming Sunday, 10th March, at the Buckland-in-the-Moor Village Hall, 8pm. For further details you can contact us and we will forward the request to Surahbhi.

Surahbhi, Vachana and Darshita

Surahbhi, Vachana and Adarsha in the sun

Vachana and Yatro

Vachana at her 87th birthday party

Vachana on a walk in Wales

Vachana on a walk in Wales

Vachana on a walk in Wales

Vachana and Jet

Vachana - portrait photo by Surendra

Surahbhi, Vachana and Caroline

Vachana and Surahbhi

There is no end, because every end will be death.
And life knows no death; it goes on and on and on.
So this is simply a preparation;
it is always a preparation for a new journey.
You can have a little rest, but remember:
it is just an overnight stay in a caravanserai.
In the morning we have to go,
So rest well, be ready.
As the sun rises, our journey starts again.
Life is from eternity to eternity.”

Osho

Surahbhi writes:

Before Vachana left her body on Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 9.55 pm, I was sitting besides her holding her hand, the other hand placed on her heart; Yatro was on her other side. We were playing some of my gentle songs and Vachana took her last, very soft breath, out to the last lines of one of her favourite Hebridean songs, Mull Fisher’s Love Song,

…this love of thee….”

She was very peaceful and she left remarkably fast.

I had been called to her Residential home because her breathing had changed to being fast and tense but while I sat with her it changed, slowed down, relaxed. Then gaps started appearing in her breath getting longer and longer; then more of them. Finally the breath moved up just into the bottom of her mouth; it felt soft and watery like something melting. I put my hand on her forehead – suddenly she sort of frowned, only it wasn’t a frown it was just her forehead puckering down in a straight horizontal line; then as I removed my hand it released…she had been releasing gradually all the time – and actually in many ways over the last 8 weeks. Finally there was just a small pfff…and she was gone and we sat silent with her for quite some time.

It was so ordinary…she just let go and knew what to do when the moment came.

Then Adarsha came, played guitar and we sang her favourite sannyas songs. We helped the carers wash her body and dress in her ‘tidy best’ clothes.

The next step is to follow her after death instructions including ”…a big party within 3 days of my departure with ‘Presence’ playing, lots of food and drink, everyone is invited to give me a big send off.”

Hence there will be a celebration this coming Sunday, 10th March, at the Buckland-in-the-Moor Village Hall, 8pm. For further details you can contact us and we will forward the request to Surahbhi.

Much love,
Surahbhi

…and she,
who in life
had done everything
with a bird’s grace,
opened her bill now
for the shedding
of one sigh no
heavier than a feather

R S Thomas

Read a question by Vachana and Osho’s answer: At Last You Are Back Home

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Vachana’ in the subject field)…

In 2006 I wrote a little biography about Vachana for OshoinUK. As a tribute to her, Punya and I thought it would be nice to publish it again for other people to read.

‘Vachana’s journey with Osho began back in 1976 when she and her then husband, Tejas, became interested in the growth moment that was happening in London. They read about new ideas and did some groups with leading London new age therapists and finally chanced on a book by Osho. This struck a chord and the next year Tejas enterprisingly arranged an ‘educational’ expedition overland to India. (Thus the trip was paid for!) At the last minute Vachana decided she wanted to go too so, with her son, his friend and younger daughter (later Harish, Tejomaya and Surahbhi), they all travelled overland in a Ford van, having many adventures along the way.

But deep down she was aware of a strange feeling of being drawn to something and when she finally arrived in Poona and was handed a kind of newsletter with a quote from the discourse of that day, she suddenly knew that this is what she had been looking for, that ‘this was it’ – a feeling that has never changed. It was the first time she had a sense of unconditional love and she said that for the next few days she walked around in a kind of dream, feeling quite drunk. When she and Surabhi came out of darshan, having taken sannyas, they looked at each other and said, ‘Whatever have we done?’! It felt strange but absolutely right and there has never been a question in her being that this was the right path for her.

She and members of the family went back and forth to Poona until Osho went to Oregon. At that time large centres were being set up all over the world so she decided to join the Medina commune from where she was able to visit the Ranch. I laughed when she very truthfully said she didn’t always enjoy being in the commune and often found it quite hard but that still it felt right. Again truthfully she pointed out that personal growth isn’t all fun – the singing and dancing is only one side of the picture – and working on oneself can be quite intense. It is a huge jump from a conventional life style to such an unknown path so to be amongst many people travelling in the same direction is very helpful.

When Osho arrived back in Poona after leaving the USA she immediately left for India and lived and worked there until he died.

For her, as for all of us, new decisions then had to be made and she realised she no longer wanted to work full time in the commune but to re-establish herself in her own country. She embarked on a search for the right place, visiting and living in a number of alternative communities, until she finally settled in Beachhill in Devon. After two years there, it was time to leave and her footsteps lead to the Abha Centre in Wales. Looking back, she says she doesn’t know why she hadn’t thought of Wales before, because when she arrived she knew it was the perfect place. In 1999 Tejas was able to buy a cottage for her and the family in a magical place called Tregarth where she lives to this day.

As well as being connected strongly to the land, she was surrounded by sannyasins – Surahbhi, Adarsha, Prabodh and others – almost forming a mini-commune. While renovating the property, everyone continued to work on their personal growth, speaking from the heart, being honest with each other and delighting in the music they were creating.’

This text was written in 2006. Vachana later moved from Wales to Ashburton in Devon to be near Surabhi, Adarsha, Prabodh and all the other sannyasins who had moved to that area. Although her sight was by now very poor she still actively participated in sannyasin activities until recently when her failing health prevented her from getting out and about.

She was a truly remarkable woman, very much loved by all.

Veena

Vinod wrote: Parijat was originally from Cologne in Germany. In his 30′s he lived on the outskirts of the city in a big watermill. He came to Pune in 1980, took sannyas and developed a deep and lifelong love for Osho.

When last year I asked him what had been the most beautiful moments in his life, he always came back to the amazing moments and his time with Osho. Osho gave him the name ‘Parijat’ meaning ‘a beautiful oriental flower’. Many of us know this tree from India that stands leafless during the winter season but develops the most amazingly fragrant white flowers that one can smell for miles in the night. He was indeed like that!

In 1981 he gave up everything in Germany and moved to the Ranch with his three children, where he stayed until the end in 1985. Many may remember him working first in Magdalena, and later in RBG driving one of the big red Lube Trucks or spending time with his three lovely Thai-born children: Ami, Mitro and Urja.

He and I lived together as beloveds for 19 years from 1982: a journey that took us and the children on many wonderful journeys, living, working and travelling in many countries around Europe.

Seven years ago he rebuild in his extraordinary creative ways a house and settled in the Italian countryside near Orvieto, where he lived until his death. His son Mitro was tirelessly taking care of him for many months, so was a group of us old friends and family.

Parijat died from kidney cancer that was diagnosed ten months ago, when the cancer had already spread in the body. He decided not to undergo any of the conventional ways of treatment but, to alleviate the discomforts and pains, to stay as much as possible with natural remedies and nutrition in which he had firmly believed all his life.

He left peacefully listening to the music from Jonathan Livingston Seagull, which he loved very much. I hope – and I feel it very strongly – that he is flying high, effortlessly, in the endless blue sky over the oceans!

According to Parijat’s wish, on Monday, 18th March, a Tibetan Phowa Meditation will take place at the Buddhist Centre of the Karma Kagyu in Kirchheim-Teck, Germany, between 8 and 9 p.m.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Parijat’ in the subject field)…

Great memories of sleeping in the mountains outside at night with the kids on a bed he built up behind Magdalena. I am so sad to hear of his passing. Much love to Ami, Mitro, Usha, and Vinod,
Ajita

Dear Parijat, fly high. I remember you so well from Poona 1 and the Ranch in RBG. Fly high, brother, fly home….
Mahadevi

Dear Parijat, I always loved you and I will continue to love you. I spent a wonderful time with you and Vinod in Italy. Love you Vinod. Big strong hug,
Bhoomi

I am greatful for the memories all the people have for my father, Parijat. He was a good and loving father, as well as a friend. I still can´t believe that he has passed away but I see that he will always be in our hearts. No words can explain how I feel but the love that comes from all over the world shows me that I am not alone. In always loving memory. I love you Daddy,
Ami

Parijat, my deepest friend and Osho fellow traveller, I am endlessly touched by the beauty of your being. I am endlessly grateful, that you were so much in my life – and you will always be. Only my tears can show how I feel about this gift, to have been one of your closest friends for so many years….
Mahayana

Beloved father, friend and being of immense simplicity and beauty, thank you for the life shared and for all the little things that you tought me by just being who you are and enjoying…your garden, your art, your walks, your food. I keep seeing your hands, always open, welcoming and warm. In gratitude and joy,
Nura (aka Urja)

I am filled with emotions when looking back at the time we all spent together with Parijat. He was such a wonderful person, full of joy and strength, and had a beautiful way to share his bright spirit with us. It is such a treat to have known him.
Nalini

Anuragini (aka Mira) grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. After her elder brother Madhur had taken sannyas she also left for India, where she took sannyas in 1981 at age 24. On her return she joined the crazy Osho Center in her home town. After visiting Rajneeshpuram she took part in the Wioska commune in Cologne where she was involved in the construction project of the water fountain and the bookstore in the courtyard. After the closure of the centre she purchased the ‘Kiosk’ sweet shop which became a thriving business.

Back in Pune 2 she became involved in the Tibetan Pulsing process with Dheeraj. She was in charge of choosing the eye photos (and people) for the eye readings on respective days. She also created the annual Tibetan pulsing calendar as she was quite a good graphic designer.

Pretty much from the onstart Anuragini became part of Tyohar’s community in Cosa Rica, PachaMama. There she received the new name Mira. She took care of the communication, graphics and marketing work of the centre, while also editing and transcribing Tyohar’s talks. In 2012 she released her Kalimba CD ‘Silent Waves’.

Her death was sudden and caused by heart failure.

Mar 2013 at 56, her last photo taken while working with Nispar on a design project

her quad at PachaMama, 2011

Mira in 2011 at 55

Anuragini - Anand Mira

2005 in Crestone, Colorado

Anuragini - Mira, age 3 and 1989 in Frankfurt

Anuragini - Mira, in 2007 and 2004

Anuragini - Mira, 1977 and 1984

family visi tin 2001

in 1986 Mira bought a Kiosk shop, mmmh sweets...

1981 at the Osho Centre in Frankfurt (far left)

Mira with her brothers in 1981, after taking sannyas

Fri, 15th March 2013, San Jose, Costa Rica

Photos thanks to Madhur; text thanks to Madhur, Upavas, Archan and PachaMama family.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Mira’ in the subject field)…

Beloved Mira (or Anuragini as I knew you best), I’m so saddened to hear of your departure. I’ll always remember you as a stalwart of the Tibetan Pulsing Family in Pune. One of your jobs was to take care of all the eye photographs for the Intensives and to select which one had the right markings to be ‘examined’ by Dheeraj. The photo would be projected on the screen and Dheeraj would ask, “And who is this Anu?” You would call out the name and up the nervous person would get to have all their intimate foibles revealed by the master.

I also remember with so much affection and laughter how brilliant you were (especially as a comedy double act with Rahasyo) portraying various characters in our daily psycho dramas as part of the training. Your dedication to Dheeraj and the Pulsing family was immense – for many years keeping us all connected by producing the beautiful Tibetan Pulsing Calendar. Thank you so much, dearest Anu, for all that you did.

A few years ago, I was so happy to meet you again in Pachamama where you had become Mira. You were shining, relaxed, gentle – it seemed you had really found your home and were once again an invaluable and much-loved member of your community. I remember you dancing at the River Party, sitting quietly playing your kalimba, taking care of editing Tyohar’s videos.

Sending you so much love dearest Mira – Fly High! You are in our hearts,

Sidika

Beloved Mira (Anuragini), I will never forget the gift that you put my eyes-photo up to Dheeraj on my birthday. So, as a birthday gift, I got a Tibetan Eye Reading. That was great although the reading was intense. It made my life more clear! I loved the beautiful Tibetan Pulsing time together with you – in Poona and in Cologne! And I enjoyed our DVD events a lot. I always remember your childlike giggling laughter. You were always shining! I will celebrate you at home today. Love! You know why!
Rito

Laya (Elfie Rose Hauser-Wacker) was born in 1953 in Germany. She was trained in Chakra Energy Work by Kabir Jaffee und Ritama Davidson, was also trained in leading Osho Meditation Centres and was a facilitator for Osho’s Meditative Therapies.

For many years she had been part of the management team of the Osho Ketan Meditation Centre in Stuttgart.

She died in a tragic violent incident which occurred on 28th February that involved her partner Sitaro, who took his life a day later. Her body was found on 24th March 2013.

The event was reported in: Tragedy at Osho Ketan in Stuttgart

Laya’s friends are going to give her a send-off celebration on 18th April at 12 noon in the “Friedwald” Schönbuch near Tübingen.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Laya’ in the subject field)…

Beloved Laya, you meant a lot to me, your aliveness, your catching energy and I never saw you tired. We met during the German Osho Centre meetings and became friends. Your death – it leaves me speechless. Thinking about you,
Chirantan

Laya, I will miss you. When we were doing the meditation days in Osho Ketan there was such a loving spirit around. Only a few people, but it was carefully prepared, with so much energy and attention. Like this I remember Laya. It was in different situations the same spirit of love, attention and humour. Thank you!
Veet Sandeh

I have fond memories of you of the days spent in Goa. Your smile and loving ways will be treasured always. May you enjoy eternal bliss.
Assunta

Christ Chaitanya (or better known as C.C.) is remembered from the commune days of Pune 1 for being the meditation leader. Also in our memory we see the picture of him wearing lunghis, long hair, a beard and always a big smile on his face. Was it because he had just been telling someone a joke?

Just last week we heard the news from his beloved Lynnea (seen with him in the picture above), that he was unwell. “He wanted to be quiet about his illness and, of course, hoped for a return to good health. It has come on quickly although, to him, it seems like a long time.”

Christ Chaitanya was born on September 12, 1947. He grew up in Brockton, MA, where his father was a judge. His dad died around the time he graduated from Penn State, and with the money he inherited, he began traveling, eventually ending up in Bombay where he was one of Osho’s first American sannyasins. A small group of sannyasins was called into Osho’s room one day where they were told that it was time to return home and introduce people there to him. When everyone but Chaitanya was given a specific task to do, someone asked Osho, “What about Chaitanya?” Osho replied, “Chaitanya is to be ME in American!!”

He returned to the United States and with several other sannyasins ran a small meditation center in Upstate New York. He also began teaching Dynamic Meditation at the Ansonia Hotel in NYC, where many hundreds of people were first introduced to Osho, a significant number taking sannyas before going to Bombay to meet Osho. Chaitanya would initiate these people into sannyas, giving them a name from one of the initiation-name papers Osho had inscribed and given to him for this purpose.

When Chaitanya returned to India with his partner, Satya Bharti (whom he’d initiated into sannyas several months earlier at a meditation camp he ran at the Upstate New York center), Osho told them to return to NYC and open up a center for him there. They ran the NYC center for two years, commuting between India and NYC; later they were instructed by Osho to travel around the US (and Canada) and run meditation camps at growth centers, introducing more people to him. Scores of camp participants went to India to be with Osho who had moved to Poona by this time. In June 1975, Chaitanya (and Satya) moved to the Poona ashram permanently, Chaitanya becoming the meditation master and editor of the Rajneesh Newsletter, jobs he continued doing until the end of Poona 1. During the last years of Poona 1, Chaitanya lived in Osho’s house.

After leaving India, he lived at the Geetam Meditation Center in California for a while before finally moving to the Ranch where, among other things, he was in the Peace Force.

CC’s memorial will be held on Sunday, 7th April, 10:30am PST. To be in tune with the celebration you can listen to CC’s talk he gave at a funeral of a friend’s daughter who had been killed in an auto accident: youtu.be

Last Will and Testament of
C.C. Raphael
September 12, 1947 – March 26, 2013

I bequeath to my friends and family, my most valuable possession…..my humor. And just in case you don’t recognize humor, I have enclosed an example of my humor – a joke!

Two politicians were discussing the decline of morals in the 21st century.

“I didn’t sleep with my wife before I was married,” one Senator said righteously. “Did you?”

“I don’t know,” said the other, “what was her maiden name?”

May you always remember that “Seriousness is a Disease.” Your lightheartedness, your compassion, and your love will prevail. I hope I have helped remind you to “Shine on.”

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘CC’ in the subject field)…

Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Vey!
He passed over on passover.
Premrup

Ciao Chaitanya, your presence is still shining next to the tape recorder in Buddha Hall. Time for Kundalini, Dynamic and now for the greatest journey of all!! I love you,
Lakshen

Perhaps your best remembered one-liner in Pune One, for me, CC, was when you commented on the new range of sannyas scentless cleansing products that went on sale in the boutique around 1980 – soaps, shampoos, conditioners…. Osho’s picture was everywhere and on everything, and whatever we made, if it had a label, it had a picture of Osho on it – sans hat in those days. I guess it was at one of the variety shows at No. 70: “You know you’re in a weird place when you can buy a shampoo with a picture of a bald man on it…” Thank you Chaitanya for many good times. May you fly off laughing!
Savita

Beloved C.C, so many memories. From 1978 in Poona 1 – after my first Dynamic I went up to him and said, “My God, everybody is so fucked-up, I am sorry for them, they have so much pain and so much anger. I do not feel anything.” His answer was, “Hum, OK, tomorrow it’s OK if you just pretend.” To which I replied, “Ah, OK.” Since that ‘tomorrow’ I have never stopped shouting, crying and laughing! – and then on the Ranch when he was doing channelling…. He then came through Florence and visited Master’s Press. He said to me, “Hum… more is possible!” And life took a BIG leap! And also this other memory from the Ranch: outrageous as he was while being interviewed by a dodo Oregonian journalist, who asked him sarcastically what he did, his answer was, “I masturbate a lot and torture little animals!” Laughing, laughing!
Upchara

Beloved Chaitanya (CC), one of many fond memories is when I worked at the reception in Poona. You and Chinmaya would come and hang out quite often. You brought a guitar with you and together you guys would sing and play. The favorites were some Buddy Holly songs! ‘Little white dog’ was one of them. I would sing along too. We had such a great time! Thinking of you, beautiful one, and holding you in my heart. I know your journey now is in pure light, with all my love,
Gandha

Beloved C.C., yes, in my heart sits this cheeky, so funny and deeply sincere fellow traveler Christ Chaitanya. What a magical time in this body we shared at the feet of this wild Master of ours! And then what a mystery what we might share out of the physical. I can only imagine you are simply cracking up. I love you and always love you,
Gatha

I will always remember – I had just arrived in Poona in the spring of 1980, still digesting the impact of multiple culture shock and the intense energy of the Buddhafield – I hardly knew CC then, except for the fact that he led Dynamic and Kundalini – so, one afternoon we crossed each other in the ashram as I was walking towards the Buddha Hall in my dazed and awkward state of newbie-ness. He stopped and, out of the blue, told me the silliest, totally non-sequitur joke, hugged me and walked away. It made me finally feel ‘at home’….
Premo

In Geetam, disoriented and shy, CC took me in his arms and the world was ok again. So easy. So much appreciated. Big heart.
Bhadrena

In ’79, CC organized ‘Jewish Night’. The centerpiece of the show was darshan with ‘Bagelman Shree Rajneesh’. CC was hilarious, outrageous, loving, and, in his ability to capture the always comic spirit of Poona One, masterful.
Das Anudas

Beloved CC, Bhagawato and I wish you a smooth voyage through the mysterious beyond. We will never forget your wonderful sense of humor and incredible heart. Your smiling face will remain with us forever. We love you,
Haritama

After the sadness of your departure passed, I got a strong feeling that this incarnation was extremely successful for you. I am so happy for you, and blessed to have known of you.
Jivan Abhiram

You are deeply in my heart and in so many others. You were the very first sannyasin I ever met, when you and Rabiya picked us up hitch hiking in NY, dressed in orange and mala. We went downtown NYC and did Dynamic Meditation with all these strange people taking off their suits, putting on blindfolds and screaming away. My first taste and the sweetness of that and you still remain with me. You have touched all of our hearts and I imagine you will prepare the meditation hall to greet us all for the ultimate meditation. Fly high, dear Jewish jokester brother.
Premabodhi

I remember Christ Chaitanya with so much love and joy… we met as young men in Boston when his brother Larry married my niece RoseAnne. When next we met we both had beards down to the floor in ’75… unrecognizable to the past… it clicked when we heard each other’s’ Boston accent. We screamed in delight and we were reprimanded by Laxmi for disturbing Osho’s rest as he was sleeping in the next room.
Krishna Prem

Ciao C. Chaitanya, high spirit and great sense of humor! Love and… Bon voyage,
Paragyan

I just heard of the passing of our beloved CC. I send love to all those who’s lives had been touched by this beautiful soul. I feel so blessed to have known him during my time on the Ranch.
Love and warmest hugs…..
Adviata Sandra

A whirling dervish of infectious energy in Poona One. A sense of humor never crushed by spiritual correctness. A card player to be reckoned with on the Ranch. So many delightful memories.
Bruce Menzies

Nishkalank (aka Nishki, Michael Schmitz) grew up in Germany and came to Osho in Pune 1. In 1982 he stayed in Geetam in California where the Multiversity had its home for a year, before it moved to the Ranch. Nishkalank also lived in the German Osho Commune in Cologne, where he successfully practised Rolfing, out of which later the slightly modified Rebalancing technique was born.

He was then seen back in Pune 2 and in Goa in 2000. In 2002 he closed his successful handyman company and his flat in Grunewald and moved to the Thai island, Koh Phangan, where he built the tourist resort, First Residence (first-residence.com). he had been feeling unwell during the last 6 months.

Nishkalank in December 2012

On speed-boat visiting surrounding islands and going snorkeling, December 2012

Scooter parking at First Residence with Nishki

Nishkalank

Nishki in the middle in blue T-shirt

Nishkalank, Candolim beach in 2000

Nishkalank at Mega's birthday party, with Surati, Harideva, Deepak, Irena, Julia

Nishkalank touring India, 2000

Nishkalank on a trip to the Maharani's Palace, north of Pune

Nishkalank with Japanese friend, 2000

Photos thanks to Megha, Sankalpa and Anupam
Bio thanks to Megha, Madhur, Sankalpa, Shunyam and Anupam

Form Archa we hear: I wanted to let you know that our beloved friend Nishki (Nishkalank) left his body on the evening of Sunday, March 31th, at the Bangkok Hospital in Samui.

He had called me 4am on March 20th that he was feeling very ill and if I could please come to be with him. I heard from his voice that something was very very wrong and immediately booked a flight for the very same day to go and see him. I finally arrived at his beautiful house on Koh Phangan Island on Friday 22nd, together with another friend whom he called and who came from China. Nishki was very weak and fragile already. Within a few days, he got weaker and we had to bring him to the hospital at Koh Samui, the next island.

Nishki said that he felt very very tired and he was ready to go on his last journey and leave his tortured body and everything behind, to find the peace he was looking for all his life. He was surrounded by love, and he knew that his friends who had arrived at Koh Phangan in the meantime, took care of everything and he could finally relax and dare to let go. And go home where he could relax and find peace.

During the last days on Phangan and later at hospital we shared very precious and beautiful moments of love, laughter, and sweet memories. We cuddled and were holding each other, and were very close. It was a hard and long journey for him but I felt that his very last moments were peaceful.

His body will be brought to Koh Phangan Island on April 15th, after Songkram, the holy new year festival in Thailand. He wanted a Buddhist traditional funeral and his body will be kept three days in a temple, with meditation and prayers in the evening. The burning will be on the 4th day. He always said that he wanted his ashes to be spread in the sea where the sun set, which he watched every evening from his terrace.

Dear all, I do not know what else to write, I feel an incredible loss and am very sad. And also I feel so much love for him and grateful that I was so close to him during his last days and we shared all these precious moments.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Nishki’ in the subject field)…

Beloved friend, thanks for all the joyful moments, so much fun with you. I was wondering where you were. So fast you left. So much love,
Atit Maria

Ciao Nishky. You are now watching the watcher! Big hug, brother,
Lakshen

In January 1982 I was in Geetam, in the desert behind Los Angeles, where the group department of the Rajneesh Multiversity was doing activities, waiting to move to the Ranch in Oregon. The therapists then moved the following July, around the 1st Festival. I met Nishky for the first time there. I had just split from my Swedish girlfriend, as it was too intense for me to do the Rebalancing Training together. Of course I was a bit down and Nishky was great to pull me up. During that time we were experimenting a lot with sex and he invited me to his bungalow where he was staying with a nice girl. We enjoyed a lot being and playing together. It was a very juicy experience. How not to be a friend to a guy like him: sweet, gentle, open, with a big heart?

Many years later, in Poona 2, I returned him the same present. I think it was winter 1995. I remember that he was living in a beautiful house at the back gate of Koregaon Park. Again we enjoyed a night together. I learned a lot from him about sharing, truth and friendship, without jealousy or competition. Thanks, Nishky, to have been in my life. Sorry we didn’t have more occasions to be together…
Shunyam

Fly high, dear Nishkalank! Sad that you have gone. Thank you for all the laughs and everything else as well. Gratefullness,
Susan-Sarovara

Gute Reise, Nishkalank. Du wirst immer einen Platz in unserem Herzen haben.
Alfried

Thank you, Nishky, for your aliveness and your beautiful stories. I can still hear you: “Hör mal Michael” (Listen Michael…) and then with a “mmh” your story started. Bon voyage!
Michael Vedam

Nishki’s been in our life for the last 6 years helping us build a beautiful home in Koh Phangan. We became friends and shared our love for this beautiful island. He’s left us with a present we appreciate more than we can say. Having been with him during his last days, we knew that he was ready to leave his body to enter his last journey. Nishki, we will remember you with all our love,
Ma Satyo Bhakta & Sw Prem Sambodh

August 2012

on the bridge

16.01.1991

Atmagyan portraits

Mahakavi writes: Swami Gyan Atmagyan left his body on 5th April 2013, close to Paris. He spent 71 years on this earth. Atmagyan was born on 12th August 1941 in western France. He was a highly gifted radio frequencies engineer and worked in this profession until the beginning of the 90s, the time he came in touch with Osho’s love and energy. He travelled twice to Pune, in 1991 and 1993, and his heart was conquered by this vibration he has never forgotten.

During the last ten years his health had declined, particularly during last three years when his breathing needed to be assisted by oxygen. His difficulties to breathe gave him a hard time and made him face his fear of death. As a close friend I have been able to see him working very hard and single-pointedly on this issue. He practised his favourite Atisha’s breathing exercice and prepared himself as a peaceful warrior against death through a lot of studying, through Osho’s quotes and the Tibetan Bardo.

He left this world during the night from the 4th to the 5th of April. He had prepared everything so well that the Celebration for his departure, five days after his death according to the Bardo teachings, was a joy for everybody to be there. He so much wanted to leave this world dressed in a maroon robe with his mala and he did, by the grace of the Universe. He loved the sannyasins so much and I am sure that he would be delighted to know that a tribute to him is on Osho News.

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Atmagyan’ in the subject field)…

Thank you, Atmagyan, for your wisdom, your smile and your jokes. I keep your last secret in my heart: “La mort apartient à la vie” (Death belongs to life). Amour et gratitude,
Prartho

Atit Brian

Brian with Atmo more recently

Atmo and Brian in Pune at Neeru's House,1993

modelling for IZIZI boutique, Pune, 1994

Atmo writes: Sw Atit Brian Mendes was born in Goa, India, on 28th April 1963 as the youngest of 11 children, 30 minutes younger than his twin brother Ben. The first six years he was brought up in Tanzania, Africa, where his Goan parents and family lived at the time. When his father retired, the family moved back to their ancestral home in Candolim, Goa, where Brian went to school and joined the local football club.

Brian came to be somewhat of a legend in Goa football sports as an outstanding goalkeeper in the professional league and also played for Goa in the nationals. He loved football all his life and was soon to become a trainer for the youth in Candolim.

Another thing he loved was dancing. At a private party in Feb 1988 Brian and I met and the attraction was instant. We danced the night away and a few weeks later rented a lovely villa together in Candolim, which wasn’t easy those days, as a black local and white ‘foreigner’, but after initial reluctance, his dad helped us get a wonderful place. We lived there together with our little black dog Simba for ten happy years.

I was working in Goa at the time as station manager for the newly started first Condor Charter flight from Europe to Goa to Kathmandu and back, this job being an amazing gift that had been offered out of the blue after visiting Osho in Juhu, Bombay in 1986.

I remember those golden years filled with gratitude every day … riding on my motorbike along green paddy fields and across the river Mandovi ferry to my Panjim office or the airport and riding home into Brian’s arms and a sunset on the beach at Zappa’s in Candolim.

In monsoon and for some special long weekends in the season, we would travel to the ashram in Poona and Brian took sannyas, actually surprised me with it on the day, in 1989. Being a passionate and sexy dancer, Brian was invited by our beloved Amiyo to join her dance classes and groups and later on a dance training, which he was very excited about. Unfortunately management interfered and he wasn’t allowed to assist her, being ‘Indian’ and the training had not been ok’ed for nationals.

Brian then stayed in Goa and took care of his mum who started to need care, while I moved back and forth from Goa to Poona. Meanwhile I had started working as a study tour guide for a posh German company and was touring all over India in the season, supported by beloved Brian. He often made me such a grand welcome after particularly gruesome tours … rose petals on bed … food cooked … always accepting my frequent departures and long weeks of separation with his amazing natural ability to take things as they come.

Twice I left him for good for a long time, for another lover and to follow ‘my spiritual path properly!’ … but I always eventually dared to return … and was always welcomed back to live with him in his house, in his arms.

This season was another of these returns, – a celebration of 25 years of deep trust and friendship and yes, … magical, unexplainable, never ending love … friendliness.

I am immensely grateful to have had these last three months once again together in love in Goa, ‘as if we are 16’, he used to say recently.

Atit Brian naturally knew something about unconditional love. Not from books or travels or teachers, but from an innocent place in his heart.

He was like an anchor in my life and the best teacher I could have wished for, to learn to accept what IS.

On 3rd April 2013 he had a sudden stroke at his home in Candolim whilst caring for his ill twin brother. Brian left his body on 7th April 2013, three weeks short of his 50th birthday.

Fly high, dance for us in the sky, beloved. I love you, Moga

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Brian’ in the subject field)…

I am deeply touched by Atmo’s words! What a beautiful dance! Love love love!
Nirvana

Lovely remembrance. Fly, fly, fly, beloved Brian!
Pantha Abheeru

Ciao Brian, riposa in pace,
Natasha

Atmo, what a wonderful tribute to my late brother Brian, the baby of our family. It was really nice to read all about him. The love you shared really shows. I know your phone number was prefixed with the word Moga. When I last saw him in November 2011, and when he dropped me off to the airport for my return flight, who knew that would be the last time I’d see him. May his soul rest in peace,
Nilda Viegas

Hoku came to Pune 2 with his parents Sadhanali (aka Premrito) and Sudi (aka Sudiro), with whom he kept a deep and close friendship. He lived many years in Santa Fe and frequently visited India. As a street artist he also performed with his long-time partner, singer Granna Griffith and with Winter Riddle. He was fond of nature (his mother is a gardener); he loved to climb trees, cars and roofs; write poetry, paint his face, dress up and make faces (on the photo in the slideshow with the kids on the byke, Hoku is the one in the sidecar – making faces).

On Friday 17th he was remembered in a gathering in Santa Fe. Cremation at 2pm Monday, 25 May in Chicago.

See Hoku’s rap video on Osho News: livinitanlovinit
Hoku Donovan-Smith Memorial Fund

The Santa Fe Reporter writes on Saturday, May 18, 2013: Tuesday, at about 4:30 am CST, Santa Fe local Erin ‘Hoku’ Donovan-Smith fell to his death from the 16th story of a Chicago building. An autopsy concluded the 25-year-old’s death was an accident. [...] Donovan-Smith was, according to [his friend] McDonough, “an amazing film-maker and a really good rapper. He made a lot of music and poetry” and “inspired the shit out of everyone.”

Shana Hack, owner of Moon Rabbit Toys and Donovan-Smith’s former employer, says, “He was one of the best people I ever knew; he was a complete goofball and I loved him—he made everyone happy. [...] He made those around him feel good about themselves, which is a rare quality in people.” More…

Article on DNAinfo Chicago: Family of Street Performer Who Fell From High-Rise ‘in Shock’

Hoku on YouTube

Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote to be published on Osho News using our contact form (pls add ‘Hoku’ in the subject field)…

Much love. Miss you Hoku, you crazy fool.
Grannia Devlyn Griffith

Blessings and total love on your journey, my friend. As my mom, Ma Prem Shakura, told me after she left her body: “You won’t believe what’s next!”
Rishu

Fly high, Hoku! Only visiting this earth for a little while. May light guide your way….
Parinit

Dance, dance beautiful Hoku, in the love of so many who cherished you!
Nirvana

You genius magician you! The plans of adventures uttered, patiently anticipated, now fully realized…
Julie Dalness

Hoku, I have known you through your father’s eyes and words… and it is enough to understand your greatness.
Maria Cristina Angeli