Category Archives: Music
When I was young, I would sometimes visit the mountains with my father and brothers. It was always a wondrous time. He would often recite poetry in the car while driving us. He was very fond of Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, Tennyson, and Byron. The words and cadences were difficult for my young mind to grasp, nonetheless always touching some sweet soul-spot deep inside me. I remember this feeling as if it were yesterday. And then the Nature. Ahh, the Nature: so majestic, humbling, shimmering. The Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia have this effect: a timeless quality that goes on giving, nourishing, and refreshing.
On our hikes, one of my favorite things was finding the freshwater springs. I was fascinated by the way water mysteriously flowed out from the earth. In autumn time especially, the springs would often be hidden by fallen leaves. I would enjoy to use my hands to clear away the leaves. This of course made the water cloudy but oh, the joy of watching how after few minutes the dirt would settle and the water would become clear — all so very magical to a young lad like me from the city.
One never knows coming into an event such as last weekend’s “Presence of the Master” meditation retreat in Upstate New York which direction things will take. We all arrive late Friday afternoon, everyone coming from all our many different lives and realities. Yet inevitably, the meditations start, and magically the dusty, dry leaves from one’s inner springs clear away, uncovering fresh waters within… which become clear and flowing again, merging with those around us, each of our individual streams meeting, joining, first with one, then another…the flow picking up momentum as the days progress, and suddenly we are one big river moving us all towards what can only be described as an “ocean of being”. It is then that the unexpected begins to happen, that which can’t really seen or predicted before the event starts. Hearts open, silence is touched, roots seek out deeper sources of ecstasy while spirits fly skyward. Yes, I know it sounds poetic. Yet, without a doubt, it is something very tangible, real and precious; something that gives one courage, clarity, and strength to move back into the strong current of Life, embracing its many challenges with a fresh, new perspective.
Arpana, Priya, Viramo: namaste for organizing and making the practicals manifest and flow. Gail: namaste to you and your helpers for the nourishing and delicious food. Musicians Sharabo and Urjo: namaste and thank you for the inspiring music that touched us all. And to everyone, and everything, else: namaste for a really great event. Its ripples will surely resonate on … and on and on.
As this post’s title suggests, the New Family Constellations workshop in New York City last Saturday was a day of transformation. Some things are hard to describe, and in context of what transpired in this group, phrases like this seem small and even inadequate. How to describe things like genuine tears of awakening? Or positive openings and life-changing insights? So it was with this event: an energetic, healing process illustrating the powerful, shamanic nature of this amazing work, a process that paves the way to freedom, moving lives forward, unbound by self-imposed limitations especially with regard to family issues and situations.
Darshan, I want to thank you personally for bringing your magic and insight to America. It is a real gift having you here and visiting us. And thank you, Svaaha, for organizing all the many practical things that made the workshop a smooth sail.
Every block of Manhattan is a universe unto itself. After the event, we celebrated New York City in style, thoroughly enjoying, exploring, and sharing some big city adventure. One such adventure was the opportunity to hear the virtuoso drummer, Omar Hakim, playing with his band in the small, iconic nightclub, The Iridium. Those of you who have seen and heard Sting’s “Dream of the Blue Turtles”: Omar Hakim was the drummer. His solo at the end of the song, “I Burn For You” is the stuff of legends. Wow, what a super show!
Looking ahead, there will be a seven-day New Family Constellation Training in Lisbon, August 2-8, followed by the OSHO Heart Festival, August 13-16. Portugal remains Europe’s hidden gem. So if you haven’t discovered it yet, this is an ideal chance: to enjoy a transformative holiday exploring (and celebrating!) one’s inner world and the magic of Portugal. What could be better?
The Hana (Flowers) Japan Tour was a wonderful adventure from start to finish. I kept a tour diary on Facebook which has more text and photos: https://www.facebook.com/oneskymusic. Enjoy <3
Spring is unfolding. In this season, it is all about flowers and fresh, new perspectives. The Japan tour comes into focus. Let the magic begin.
Hana (Flowers) Tour ~ Japan
May 24 Nagoya
one day event (1-9:30pm)
contact: Halima and Pradip / Osho Events Center
phone: 0527 02 4128
email: dancingbuddha@magic.odn.ne.jp
May 31 Tokyo
celebration event (6-10pm)
contact: Anupa / Osho Japan
phone: 0337 03 0498
cell: 09 069 29 2277
email: osho-japan@box.email.ne.jp
www.osho-japan.com
June 6-7 Kyushu
Utsava Meditation Camp
contact: Nirguno
phone: 0974 72 0821
email: osho@me.com
June 13-14 Hiroshima
“Call Of The Heart” Meditation Camp
Osho Information Center
contact: Naropa and Bhuti
phone: 0828 42 5829
email: prembhuti@blue.ocn.ne.jp (http://now.ohah.net/goldenflower/)
Traveling to India is always a pilgrimage. I also experience it as a calling, something one’s Soul responds to when it’s the right time. As it happened, I responded to this call once again and reached Goa on a balmy night February 21st last month.
It is hard to say why India is considered a spiritual country. On one level, it has plenty of poverty and a host of Third World problems. And to the Western way of doing things, it is almost laughingly dysfunctional. I love the story Osho tells, whereupon reaching the train station and happy to see the train was on time, the stationmaster commented “Indeed, it is on-time, but precisely 24 hours late!” This fact about India can either be maddening or endearing, depending on one’s degree of enlightenment. And yet, aside from all my teasing and India’s perceived faults, how many of us have not gotten off a plane in India and not felt that familiar sense of coming home?
For so many young Westerners, India came on the collective radar with The Beatles. Songs like George Harrison’s “Within You, Without You”, and the band’s journey to Rishikesh, were partly responsible for a huge movement East for my generation. A professor friend of mine, Satya Vedant, shared with me that his comparative religion course in Berkeley he taught in the late 60’s was standing-room only. All young people were intrigued and wanted to know about India it seemed. I was also curious and bitten by the wanderlust bug, which prompted me to drop out of university with a semester to go (much to my father’s chagrin) and buy a oneway ticket to Bombay.
People are always asking me how I met Osho. Aside from the crazy notion to follow my Soul’s calling, meeting Osho was what I call a “divine accident”. How can it be otherwise? That after reaching Bombay — and four maddening days of not knowing why in God’s name I had taken such drastic action that landed me in the middle of such unfamilar chaos — I decided to visit the hill station of Pune? Who knows where I would be today had I not responded to the travel brochure I found lying in the local YMCA where I was staying, that used such flowery, descriptive language assuring me I was on my way to a place resembling Switzerland? Oh, what a shock it was reaching the Pune train station at 12 noon, seeing such mayhem before my eyes on the station platform! It seems funny now in retrospect (hilarious in fact), but unknown to me at the time, I was indeed coming Home.
Another accident (if there are such things) was meeting a crazy, good-natured English guy on a stretch of north Goa beach one month later. Mind you, in 1976 there was none of the tourism in Goa there is now. So meeting someone out of the blue on those endlessly, long deserted beaches was something of a rarity. Eventually, he and I would travel back to Pune and take sannyas: he going up first and receiving the name from Osho — “Marpa” — followed by me, receiving the name, “Milarepa”. If you know something of Tibetan Buddhism history, Marpa was Milarepa’s master. Life is so wonderfully strange, isn’t it?
Another thing about India: It has something with Time. Time just feels different there compared to the West. One delightful morning in Goa last month, I found myself walking on the same sandy beach I did in 1976 marveling at the fact nothing has changed much in all these years, at least on the surface — the sun, the sea, the beach — all still the same. In fact, were it not for the zillions of new beach huts and tourists, it could have been just yesterday I was here. And yet, what a journey it has been all these thirty-nine years since my first visit.
Once Osho penned the question, “Beloved Osho, Why am I a philosopher”, and signed my name to it. So before I stray too much down a philosophical path with this update, let me just say that the intention of this post is not so much to elaborate on the nature of Time, nor reminisce on all the water down the Ganges, but basically to connect a few dots of experience and bring focus to the Now. Let it be said that one purpose for visiting India last month was to celebrate my 62nd birthday there. And as dreams have a way of coming true, Goa was just the right place and the right time for this. I also had a band event in the north starting March 1st. Which brings me now to the second part of my story.
Travels after Goa took me north and eventually to Dharamsala and Osho Nisarga for the five-day meditation event called “Heart To Heart”. I rendezvoused with the musicians in Delhi to travel by van. How amazing: that Dharamsala is just little over an hour’s flight from Delhi, but it took us all of fourteen hours to reach Dharamsala with our luggage and instruments. Chalk it up to all the chai and dhaba stops along the way which added to the length of our journey and made it more an adventure than anything else.
The last time I was in Nisaraga was a year before it was finished. What a wonderful paradise it has flowered as. The five days of event went so fast, so deep, and so incredibly high. Of the many delights were morning satsangs, the dance meditations, the ecstatic Evening Meetings, Heart Dance, the outdoor fire-party on Night Four which included many lovely performances from the guests along with some great dj’ing by Rahi. The event finished on a high note with a touching Sannyas Celebration. Neelam and her dedicated kitchen staff saw to it that we all had the most wonderful, nourishing food imaginable. And I can’t describe the view of the mountains those clear, early mornings. The Himalayas: so close, always beckoning.
I want to especially thank the musicians, Chandira and Ashik, traveled so far to play; and also Vatayan who lifted our hearts to the sky with his drums. Also special thanks to Rahi who helped manifest a miracle with the equipment and our technical needs. And to Neelam, Priya, Deep, Prakash, Tathagat, and everyone of the Osho Nisarga team — a heartfelt namaste and thank you for everything.
India, my love says it all and more. I am already looking forward to next time.
There are those whose death we mourn. And there are those whose death is not some sad, drab affair but a cause for celebration. For them, death is the culmination of how they lived, and in Veeresh’s case, this means a life of totality, joy, and love. I have no doubt that when death came knocking for him, he slipped out silently, knowingly, in a deep let-go, and satisfied he had no stone left unturned. He will live on through his work and continue to inspire the humanity he cared so much about. How he asked to be remembered says it all, and more. “When I die, what I would like written about me is: Here lies Veeresh, a man of Osho. He loved, and was loved by many.” Please enjoy this slideshow tribute https://youtu.be/K1REohBcGl4
I love the story Osho tells about the master painter commissioned by the king to paint a great work for the palace. The painter accepts the challenge on one condition: that no one be allowed to see the painting until it is finished. Finally, the day arrives when it is ready and the king and court are summoned. The painting is unveiled and it really is, without a doubt, his most magnificent life’s work. Even the painter is speechless. He turns to the king, smiles, and taking him by the hand both step together into the painting, disappear, never to be seen again. And so it is on this last day of 2014, I pause to look back one last time, acknowledging with a smile and a bow the wonderfully colorful year it has been, before stepping into the painting and what lies ahead: a New Year waiting to be discovered, lived, and celebrated. Best wishes everyone!
Today I celebrate Osho, the Open Sky who introduced me to the world of meditation, opening my eyes and heart to a life of love, laughter, and celebration. Gratitude, always.
“Just being empty, you will understand — there is no other way of understanding. Whatsoever you want to understand, be that, because that is the only way. Try being an ordinary man, nobody, with no name, no identity, with nothing to claim, with no power to enforce on others, with no effort to dominate, with no desire to possess, just being a nonentity. Try it — and see how powerful you become, how filled with energy and overflowing, so powerful that you can share your power, so blissful that you can give it to many, to millions. And the more you give, the more you are enriched. The more you share, the more it grows.”
And The Flowers Showered
Chapter #1
Every year the tours are different. This is a good thing because it keeps things fresh and on the up-and-up. Nivedano certainly added spice this season, and together with Nirdosh, the two Brasilians gave the groove swing and a LOT of energy .
There are a million and one details that go into each year’s planning. I always experience a kind of disbelief when the music is finally happening, there are no bugs in the sound system, and the whole thing is rolling along. And roll it did for five consecutive, joyous weekends. I knew from the first notes in New York, this tour would be moving (grooving!) from peak to peak. It had that special something. I call it the wow! factor. Plain and simple, just wow!
New York
Chicago
Dallas
Atlanta
San Diego
After the RISK Summer Festival, travels took me to Portugal for the seven-day Family Constellation Training facilitated by Darshan. It was followed immediately by the OSHO Heart Festival — both in the same wonderful venue along the Tagus River where it reaches the sea. The training was many things: intense, inquiring, insightful, and ultimately liberating, while the festival gave opportunity for integrating the work and also celebrating it.
From Lisbon, I traveled to England where I rendevoused with Chandira and Rishi for the OSHO Leela Summer Festival. It had been many years since I visited England. It was a delight to meet so many old friends and also make a few new ones. The energy went high and deep in the course of a few divine days. I am always amazed what happens when people come together to meditate. Hearts open and some remembrance happens — so precious, so nourishing, so healing.
