MY DIAMOND DAYS WITH OSHO
In an exclusive interview, Ma Prem Shunyo, the author of the best-seller My Diamond Days with Osho, talks about her fascinating journey with the world-renowned spiritual mystic
1. Where do you call home?
Well I was born in London, England and lived in India for 30 years. I now live in Italy.
2. When your family realized that your unconventional journey wasn’t a passing fad, what was their reaction to you living in one of Osho’s communes?
My family never understood what I was doing. Inspite of that, my parents gave me the freedom to live my life how I wanted. They could see that I was happy and that helped them to trust that I was okay.
3. Osho was known for spreading oceanic, blissful energy everywhere he went. Did you experience this when he was in close proximity?
When Osho was talking with us he was magnetic and he spoke in such a way that we were naturally led into meditation, which he said was his whole reason for talking. It was a constant blissful feeling that has become consistent. So, if I am in a silent space, meditating, or just relaxing, I can still feel it today.
4. Many claim that Osho was a mystic way ahead of his time and that he had a playful side. You must have many amusing memories…
One of the funniest memories was during a public discourse (during the Mystic Rose series) when Osho kept laughing. He would try to speak and everyone would laugh and he would laugh, even though the question he was answering was a serious question. He eventually left the questioned unanswered. It was also hilarious as it was so unlike Osho to actually laugh when talking. He would tell many jokes but did not laugh at his own jokes.
5. Just through reading Osho’s books, you learn so many valuable lessons. Tell us about one life-changing insight you gained…
An insight that has changed my way of understanding death happened when Osho died. I was unprepared for his death. However, although he was ‘gone’ energetically it felt as though he was still here with us. And 34 years later it still feels as though his presence is here. Osho used to tell us that death is the greatest fiction, nobody and nothing ever dies, but just changes form. This was a valuable insight.
6. In your opinion, were Osho’s talks a result of him being an avid or were they direct downloads from the source?
I think being an avid reader gave him knowledge (for want of a better word) on which to base some of the things he said. However he would remember a book passage that he had read maybe 20 years before and that is a mystery to me. I heard him say that he was ‘empty’ and a vehicle for existence to speak through. This is the only way I can understand that a man can speak extemporaneously for two or three hours, without preparing his talk. And I knew that most of the time he did not know what the questions would be, or how he intended to answer them. He used to say: “I am listening to what I say, just as you are listening”.
7. Osho used to be supremely fit as a teenager. Later in his life, he suffered from numerous allergies. Why do you think this was?
I don’t really know although I have heard him say that after enlightenment the body becomes more sensitive.
8. Shortly before Osho left the States, rumours went around suggesting that the US government poisoned him with thallium (a tasteless, odorless, highly toxic drug)…
It’s my belief that Osho was poisoned by Ronald Reagan’s America and if you read a book called Passage to America by Max Brecher, you will understand why I say that.
9. Do you feel that the world is finally experiencing a shift in consciousness and waking up to a new humanity?
Certainly there is a great shift happening now. There is an understanding that we are more than just our mind. Just look at how ‘mindfulness’, has become popular throughout the business world. Meditation is no longer thought to be for hippy types with time on their hands to contemplate their navels. There is much research proving the life-changing effects of meditation and we now have a better understanding of collective consciousness than ever before.
10. You and your partner (Veet Marco) now hold meditation holidays, Vipassana retreats and training throughout the year. What can someone expect to experience?
Each person will have a different experience but one thing they will gain is an understanding that they are not the mind, they are the watcher of all the stories their mind puts on the screen. Some people will realize how busy their mind is and learn how not to get caught up in it. This becomes an amazing tool for everyday life.
Shunyo holds meditation holidays and retreats throughout the year in Italy and beyond, for more information go to www.meditantra.com
