Rajneeshpuram

Note: This was originally written in 1982 to try to explain to work colleagues, family, and friends why I changed my name, changed the color of my clothing, and then went to Rajneeshpuram, Oregon to celebrate with Bhagwan's "orange people." Now, 32 years later (2014), neo-sannyas still resonates with me... and my love for Osho (formerly Rajneesh) is stronger than ever.

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. -- Lao Tsu

July 1982

On June 4, 1982 I became Swami Samarpan David, a sannyasin of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Since first hearing of Rajneesh in 1977 I have felt an increasing spiritual connection which was formalized by initiation into sannyas. The relationship is that of lover and loved; it is a silent communion.

Bhagwan is an Indian mystic born in 1931. Between 1974-1981 in India he delivered 2,500 daily morning 2 hour discourses on the world's religions, answered 10,000 questions, and spoke 33 million words. In 1981 he went into public silence and moved to Central Oregon where he lives in a house trailer. Over 336 books have been published of his discourses. It is silly to condense his message into a few words and so I will: LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH!

Neo-sannyas is a non-serious, playful celebration of life, contrasted with traditional sannyas which involved renouncing the world, asceticism, sexual repression, and life negation. Becoming a sannyasin is not a rational thing to do. It is a love affair with existence, a jumping into the unknown. A sannyasin follows no specific rules or ethical code regarding diet, sex, money, politics, religion, work, family life, etc. Sannyasins make three commitments:

• 1) to wear solid color clothing with red in it (burgundy, orange, rust, red, etc.)
• 2) to wear a mala with a pendant containing a symbolic representation of Rajneesh. A mala is a rosary, in the general sense of the word. Sannyasins wear a rosary of 108 beads made of rosewood. (Hindu and Buddhist rosaries have 108 beads, Muslim 99, and Christian 169).
• 3) to meditate

Note: Osho (1931-1990) later made clothing and mala use optional for sannyasins, but emphasized one essential: Meditation.

A sannyasin is given a new name to use but adoption as a legal name is optional. Male sannyasins are given the title "swami" which is Hindi for "master of oneself." I requested that David be part of the sannyas name Rajneesh gave me. David is a Hebrew name meaning beloved. Samarpan is a Hindi noun feminine meaning surrender. Since samarpan is not a verb it is nothing I can do. It is understanding, a gift from God, and can only be received, but not through my doing anything. Bhagwan answered a letter I wrote in December 1981 with: My message to you is to enjoy life as totally as possible...

HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION

From July 3-7, 1982 I took part in the First Annual World Celebration at Rajneeshpuram, Oregon. I was met at the Portland airport where air-conditioned Trailways buses were leaving on the hour to take the 7,000 festival goers to "the ranch." We were given juice and apples for the three to four hour ride into Central Oregon. A the tiny town of Antelope (pop. 40) the bus started onto a 20 mile dirt road downhill into the desert valley where Rajneeshpuram (expression of Rajneesh) is located. 1,800 tents (approx. 12' x 8' x 6') had been erected on plywood platforms sitting on cinder blocks. Each new tent had four new foam pads, new sleeping bags, new pillow, and new pillow cases (washed so as not to be abrasive to the skin) laid out around the perimeter. At registration one was assigned a tent number and food service area. The accommodations were comfortable and the food (trucked in from Portland) was good and served on time three times a day to the 7,000 participants. There were modern toilet facilities and hot showers. All this is amazing considering festival planning had begun only six weeks earlier and it happened in a remote desert area.

Return airline tickets were taken at registration in order that flights could be reconfirmed and departure times assigned to prevent overloading the airline counters in Portland for the return. I overheard one clerk say he appreciated that.

During the festival one was free to choose activities according to one's inclination. Because the heat of the day was too much for me I choose to go to morning satsang (sitting in silence with Rajneesh in Buddha Hall) and evening music group (dancing and singing to live music for 2 to 3 hours). The afternoons I visited with friends, went shopping in Noah's Ark Boutique, took naps, or went on ranch tours. 50 school buses had been purchased for the festival to set up a transit system, with established traffic patterns and bus stops, in order to get around the ranch. The ranch covers 100 square miles but we were only on about six square miles for festival activities.

My first impression of Rajneesh Neo-Sannyas International Commune (the ranch) was that the people were older than me, mostly in their 40's or older. The second impression was that it is really international. There are more Germans than Americans living there. I met people from Europe, Australia, South America, Japan and all parts of the United States. One of my ranch tours was conducted by a woman who had arrived six days previous from France. Fortunately the bus driver spoke French so word finding problems were handled easily.

Work began on the ranch only ten months ago. Already there is a massive program to prevent solid erosion, a huge water resevoir, 66 varieties of vegetables planted, 1,500 chickens, 27 Holstein cows with a modern dairy milking machine, 80 beehives, 20,000 fruit trees planted, 120 houses built, the tent city for 7,000 built for the festival, 50 operating depts. (communications, public safety, medical, recycling, road building, etc.), six different irrigation techniques being tried, the world's largest solar-operated greenhouse (2.02 acres), several smaller greenhouses, electricity and plumbing installed, acres and acres of wheat and other grain crops planted, and the list could go on and on. A desert is being reclaimed. The next big project will be building a dam and hydroelectric power plant. I enjoyed my summer vacation.