Wednesday 25 April 2018

One day for Love on Social Media: Blog # 328


One day for Love on Social Media


        Often, Social media is looked up on as a fertile ground for hate. Be it Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, people choose to unleash nastiest version of themselves on these channels. People say the kind of things to each other which they would never tell another person to their face.

There are times when posts on social media channels have caused riots, racially motivated attacks and heinous crimes. These deplorable, mindless deeds lead to many people quitting social media and staying away from these channels which if we used in a good, positive way can do a great deal of good for humanity.

So why not start off by choosing one day to share only positivity on social media? This May 1st, let us decide to not share anything negative on any platform. We won’t tweet mean comments, share hate invoking posts or vent anger at someone’s picture.
Here are some ways to spread love and positivity on the social media channels on 1st of May.

Thank your family for all that they have done for you.
Tell your loved one how much you love them.
Tell your friends how they have a special place in your heart.
Tell your colleagues how grateful you are for their support.

It really is very simple. On May 1st, let us share Love, Appreciation, Gratitude, Care and everything positive. Feel free to download and use the below cards 😊.











Sunday 1 April 2018

Wild Wild Country ,a Netflix Documentary on Bhagwan Osho Rajneesh : Blog # 327

Wild Wild Country , a Netflix Documentary on Bhagwan Osho Rajneesh


Was Bhagwan Osho Rajneesh an enlightened spiritual guru or was he a conman turned criminal? The beauty of the Netflix documentary, Wild Wild Country directed by Mclain Way & Chapman Way is that it doesn’t confirm either of those suspicions. Rarely does one get to see a documentary that is so balanced and honest. It talks about Osho from the perspective of his disciples, the residents of Oregon as well as the government authorities.


As the film progresses, one can’t stop wondering as to how one individual can have so many people under his spell. The residents of Oregon describe the citizens of Rajaneeshpuram as having a ‘look’. When one sees the visuals of sanyasins, one can’t not notice the strange  look in their eyes – of joy, of bewilderment, of having known the unknown. All of them were under Osho’s magical spell. Seeing them, one wonders what it would have felt like to be in that commune as a believer. Did they truly enjoy joy and liberation?

Although the documentary leaves one thinking about thousands of believers who became sanyasins, their lives, beliefs and doubts, here are a few principal characters from the documentary who have a haunting effect on you.

Ma Anand Sheela – For me, Sheela’s character is the most captivating, may be more than Osho’s himself. Osho was a spiritual being or he claimed to be so. Sheela was human -like you and I. Her journey from meeting Osho for the first time as a teenager to becoming his personal secretary to being the all-powerful Ma Anand Sheela is nothing sort of fascinating. What stands out is her conviction and will. Her conviction of feeling absolutely correct in whatever she did and the will to achieve her goals. The interview clippings from her earlier days shows her as someone who is arrogant, power hungry, wealthy and blunt. But what surprised me was that the Sheela of current day isn’t far too different from her earlier self. Her spirit remains the same. What is disturbing though is an absence of guilt and remorse. She seemed to think only about herself. Not even once does she mention anyone else. One expects Sheela to have changed over time. One expects Sheela to have had an evolved and dispassionate thought process by now. But No. She remains unchanged. One wonders if one should admire or despise Sheela.  

Residents of Oregon & Antelope – As the documentary begins, one identifies a lot with the residents of the tiny town of Antelope. No one likes a bunch of strangers taking over one’s town. The smaller the town, the stronger this feeling. Rajneeshes, as the followers of Osho were known also gave the people of Antelope reasons to be worried knowingly and at times, unknowingly. Repeatedly, the residents say they feared the unknown. Somewhere half way through the documentary, one feels a bit swayed towards the sanyasins. One wonders if the residents of Antleope were being unreasonable with the residents of Rajneeshpuram asking them to leave. But then again, one can’t help but feel bad for the tiny elderly population of Antelope.

Swami Prem Niren – He is a lawyer and a bright one at that. He talks about being disenchanted with life and turning to Osho and his way of being to find solace. I couldn’t help but wonder if startups are today’s Osho. There are so many youngsters who are getting disenchanted with corporate life and turning to startups. Swami Prem is the kind of character who lends a bit of humane-ness to Osho. One tends to believe what Prem is saying. He looks and speaks like a sensible person. Unlike Ma Sheela, there was no arrogance in him. Much in the documentary, he almost speaks in a matter of fact manner about Osho making one wonder if it is the same person who defended Osho in the courts so very vigorously. Later in to the film, one can see that the embers of worship are still burning. He believes strongly that the world missed a chance to lead the Osho way of life.

Ma Shanti B – Of the characters in the documentary, it is easier to relate to this lady. She goes through the familiar cycle of getting spell bound, committing acts that are objectionable, regretting them and now having reconciled with her past. Although she talks about the experiences she has had and cherishes them, she also looks at a moment when she got out of the ‘spell’. The moment in court that she describes when she goes to see her son is quite poignant. Her character is testimony to the fact that ordinary people like you and I will do outrageous deeds under extra ordinary circumstances. Surround yourself with unusual people, put yourself in an uncommon situation and you will surprise yourself with your ability to do commit unbelievable actions!

Osho Rajneesh – Somewhere along the documentary, I felt that maybe I should read his books. I wondered if he was really the spiritual being he was made out to be. The smiles and constant laughter displayed by the sanyasins make one want to gravitate towards the promise land. Something I found strange about him was how less he blinked. Through out the documentary, his eyes blinked for very very few times. To me, those eyes did not seem like luminous wells of mercy and generosity. To me, they felt a bit threatening. I lost the wish to read up about him when he behaved like a mere human towards Sheela. If he were indeed the benevolent being he claimed to be, he would have never talked about Sheela the way he did – dripping with vengeance. I admire his courage to have shown his want for material things. Unlike many other sages, he did not denounce worldly pleasures. Instead, he embraced them.


Ma Anand Sheela – Yes, I am aware that I wrote about Sheela in one of the paragraphs above. But don’t you feel she is one of a kind? I have not seen a character like that in my life! Neither in stories nor in life. What makes her unique? Is it her complete lack of care for others? Is it her deep conviction that she is right in whatever she did? Is it her unwavering devotion to Osho, the Bhagwan? Is it her way of leaving Osho on one fine day without as much as a good bye? Is it the way she faced the court, the officers, the press and people? How does she appear to you? Like a body without a soul OR a heart made of steel?