i'm a month now in pune, india.  having completed teaching the final module of the fragrance of the lotus tantra teacher's training, i am spending almost all of my time at osho's ashram in koregon park.  the ashram has changed dramatically since i was here 4 years ago . . . softer somehow, and more restful.  the new buddha hall is a giant pyramid on the meera side of the campus, the old buddha hall's tent has been taken down and this beautiful space is now used for zen archery, chi kung, painting groups, dancing and much, much more.  i've done 23 consecutive days of dynamic meditation (6:00 am) and yes, it has changed me, i feel open and receptive, full of creativity and very, very alive.  i love kundalini meditation in the afternoon and white robe with the live music is a time when i can feel osho very strongly.

 

2 weeks ago i attended a death celebration at the ashram.  a sannyasin had died early that morning of natural causes and his wish was for an osho-style celebration.  hundreds of us gathered in buddha hall on the wednesday afternoon.  there was live music and ecstatic dancing.  the energy grew and grew as we awaited the arrival of the man who was to be celebrated.  he was being carried on a bamboo chaise from the hospital to the ashram and it took sometime for him to arrive.  as we danced the energy became more and more powerful.  i found myself laughing and crying at the same time.  the ecstasy that we were experiencing was truly mystical, it was as if each of us was being lifted by a force of love within us.  at last, our beloved one arrived, and was placed on a platform in the center of the pyramid.  at this point, the energy really went wild.  so much love and so much celebration of life.  the sannyasin's birth family was there around him, he was covered with beautiful flower malas, his face the picture of peacefulness, he was blessed and appreciated as we danced and sang.  and then, at the peak moment, as the energies reached their highest point and we were all shouting the words to the song; "alive!  alive!  love is overflowing!"  Showers of red rose petals were thrown into the air and onto the body of this beloved.  my heart exploded, and i believe we all dissolved at that moment . . . the drummers led us all out into the ashram along with our beloved one and we marched, danced and walked down to the river, to the burning ghats.  hundreds of us in procession and all in such a feeling of celebration.  when everyone had arrived at the burning ghats, the beloved was placed on the ghats and covered with wood, soaked in fuel and ceremonially ignited by a member of his family.  again, we danced and sang as we held vigil down by the river.  life had never looked so precious and death had never seemed so friendly as it did to me that day. 

 

in india, among the indians, life is truly lived in the moment, there's no planning, no tomorrow, there's only now.   india is teaching me more about what is real than anything else ever could.  and there is such ecstasy in the now, so much ecstasy.

 

love & namaste,  dawn