The friends of Osho in the Atlanta area recently held a three day meditation camp. It was a great privilege to have Swami Anand Arun conduct the camp for the nineteen participants.  Sw Arun met Osho in 1969 and is one of Osho’s earliest sannyasins.  At Osho’s instruction, Sw Arun established the first Osho meditation center in Nepal in 1974.  He is now the Coordinator of Osho Tapoban, an international commune and forest retreat center in Kathmandu, Nepal (www.tapoban.com).  Sw Arun has conducted over 300 meditation camps and initiated more than twelve thousand people from 50 countries.

The Atlanta camp was an intense experience with the first meditation of the day beginning at 8:30 am and the camp day ending around 9 pm.  During the camp, Sw Arun explained that Osho had experimented with a variety of meditation techniques to discover which methods are most helpful to people living the Western lifestyle.  Realizing that Westerners need activity first before being able to quiet the mind, Osho designed what has become known as Osho Dynamic Meditation and Osho Kundalini Meditation.  Both of these meditation techniques have several action stages followed by silence and celebration.  Sw Arun led Dynamic and Kundalini several times during the camp.  In addition, Sw Arun also introduced some lesser known but very powerful meditation techniques suggested by Osho.  He explained that the techniques are not meditation but are tools designed to lead one to the silence that is true meditation.

Interspersed between the meditations, Sw Arun told many stories about his personal experiences with Osho – recollections about Osho that only the earliest sannyasins experienced.  Hearing these stories allowed the camp participants to see the immensity of Osho’s awareness and compassion and the difficulties that he faced in order to bring more love and celebration to the world.

Sw Arun talked about the need for a disciplined life in order to support meditation saying that without discipline one cannot be truly free.  Distilled from Osho’s lectures and satsangs, Sw Arun shared that proper care of the body and mind is a prerequisite for going deep into meditation.  He also emphasized the importance of having a regular time to meditate and the value of friends who support a positive and meditative lifestyle.

Besides the meditations, the camp provided ample time for celebration which included dancing, talking together and eating delicious vegetarian food.  A highlight of the camp was the opportunity to become an Osho sannyasin.  At Osho’s direction, Sw Arun offered satsang and five people were initiated into sannyas.  The Atlanta Osho community is very grateful for Sw Arun’s generous sharing with us and we are hopeful he will return to Atlanta in the future.
 
The friends of Osho welcome guests, usually on Sundays, for either Osho Dynamic Meditation or Osho Kundalini Meditation.   The schedule and location for these and other Osho gatherings, as well as pictures taken at the camp, are available at www.oshoatlanta.com.