Kathmandu & the Osho Tapoban Commune

Hanging with Osho in our robes

      After a few rest days in Pokhara we returned to Kathmandu to wait on the arrival of Jay's passport. The city is not charming by any stretch, but returning to a city again and again provides a certain comfort when on the road. The streets, sights and vendors are familiar. The small charms of daily life slowly materialize, a good hole in the wall restaurant here and a quiet street there.

      The hustle of the city began to wear so we headed to a meditation ashram to wait out the remaining time before the passport was ready. A short taxi ride brought us to the Osho Tapoban Forest Commune, a spiritual hermitage just outside of Kathmandu. Tapoban is one of a huge number of ashrams based on the teachings of the guru Osho. India & Nepal are full of Gurus, spiritual as well as religious. These are the people who promote spirituality, meditation, love, peace, brotherhood and other humanitarian values. In the world of gurus Osho is somewhat controversial. Before his death in 1990 he drove a different Rolls Royce every day of the week while preaching free love, responsibility to ones self and the evils of institutionalized religion.

      Although fairly culty, I found it it to be interesting and amusing. I dont think Jay was quite as amused as I was. Full length robes must be worn at all times in the ashram, maroon by day and white by night. Osho's face was plastered everywhere. A huge closeup hung over our beds. Open the bathroom door and theres Osho again, staring you in the face. 

      Osho promoted a practice called dynamic meditation. Basically he believed that meditation as traditionally taught is very difficult to achieve in the modern world. Our minds have become clouded due to overexposure to stimuli and the increasing complexity of life . In order to properly meditate we must purge ourselves of subconscious thought processes and urges that are supressed due to adherence to societal norms. 

      Dynamic meditation has five stages, with music accompanying four of the five. Stage one is essentially hyperventilation, breathing in and our of your nose as deeply and powerfully as possible. It brings tremendous energy to the body. During stage two the music becomes frantic. You use the energy gathered during stage one to freak out. Scream at the top of your lungs, cry, laugh, roll around on the floor. The idea is to remove yourself from the process mentally and allow your subconscious and body to work in perfect union. People don't hold back in this stage and it was somewhat alarming initially. Stage three the music changes and you jump up and down yelling "hooooo" from the depths of your stomach. Supposedly this releases some form of pent up body energy. The music cuts out for the fourth stage, silent meditation. After fifteen minutes music starts up again and everyone dances, celebrating life. Again, people rock out completely unselfconsciously during this time.

      Dynamic mediation is just the first of five that take place throughout the day. All involve some type of movement or dance. Before bed there is a final meeting of everyone at the ashram called sangha. Sangha is a celebration at Osho Tapoban. Everyone dances like crazy people to surprisingly good Indian beats then lays down to listen to excerpts from osho lectures. Each song ends with everyone throwing their hands in the air and yelling "Ooosssshhhhhooooo!" As we are all wearing white robes, you can imagine the cult- like nature of the scene. I freaked out, danced and threw my hands up with the best of them. Jay sat down and closed his eyes, occasionally opening them and laughing.

      After a few days we received word that Jays passport was ready for pickup and we prepared to leave the ashram. Although I didn't agree with all of Oshos teaching, there were some points that resonated. Either way, the short stay in a commune and out of my comfort zone was a great experience and one that I will not soon forget.

 - The question is not whether life exists after death but whether your are alive before death.  - Osho