‘Meditate
and celebrate’ are two major aspects of Osho’s 80th birthday on Sunday,
11 December marked globally and especially India. Special weekend or
one day meditation camps were held in Osho meditation centres worldwide
with silent meditation followed by singing and dancing for the
flamboyant mystic.During the week leading to 11 December, a special bumper Hindi and English editions of the ‘Osho World’ magazine for this event were launched by two Chief Ministers of Indian States, Ashok Ghelot of Rajasthan in Jaipur and Prem Kumar Dhumal of Himachal Pradesh in Shimla and the Governor of Punjab Shivraj Patil. Among the showbiz celebrities who also launched this magazine were Swami Vinod Bharti aka Vinod Khanna in New Delhi, film Anupam Kher in Mumbai and Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans in Jullandhar. Popular religious preacher and a long time Osho admirer, Morari Bapu, this during his jam packed discourse in Kolkata.
A record number of Osho disciples and Osho lovers from many parts of India and abroad came to Oshodham for a meditation camp about 40 kilometers from the capital for this landmark event. On this historic day, many persons were initiated as Osho disciples. Osho’s secretary for many years, Ma Yoga Neelam, one of Osho’s earliest disciples, Ma Dharm Jyoti, Swami Chaitanya Keerti and Swami Ravindra Bharti jointly led this camp. Over 40 people took sannyas. The leafy venue had been decked up with decorations for this celebration including a giant balloon with Osho’s signature, special banners climaxing the evening meeting of meditation, song and dance culminating in a fireworks display’
Currently, young people in their twenties and thirties are increasingly attracted to Osho after they discover him through his books, recorded discourses and the hundreds of sites on the internet. Over 80 per cent of the meditation camp participants are in this age group said a camp leader. Asked why they celebrate Osho’s birthday with such intensity when the guru is no more in his body, a new Osho disciple replied, “He is very much alive! You can feel him when you look into his eyes as he talks and experience him in the silence of his meditation and greet him when you dance totally for him.”
