Viha magazine Nov/Dec 2013 | Page 15

for him. Settling later in Fremantle, he worked in a boat-building factory in nearby Perth. He said, "The sangha in Fremantle was alive and well then, in spite of Sheela’s destructive visit earlier." He had been an enthusiastic diver in the Australian Navy as an 18-year‐old, so whenever he was sighted on Bali’s dive spots people would ask h i m to teach them. Hence a new career unfolded: He would spend half a year in Pune and the other in the off-season with his then-partner, Pratima, on Bali. A year after Osho left His body Prem w e n t to Lucknow where he stayed. for five years, until Poonjaji died. For the last eight years he has been living primarily at Mevlana, a sannyasin housing community in Byron Bay, and visits India almost every year. (I bumped into h i m in Rishikesh during the last Kumbh Mela.) He mused, " I n this phase of life I am practically retired. At 60 I know what is important for me: I prefer to live in the milieu of the sangha, yet what I love m o s t is time spent in celebration and medita‑ tion, often while in a retreat in India. Jai, Osho!” [email protected] Australian Anand Vi m u k t a took sannyas them &utmum in Byron Bay on September 10, 2001 and awoke the n e x t morning to the news of 9/11. I was jokingly ., . : wondering if she pulled The Tower in the Tarot cards on that day, and she confirmed, "There has been much ’falling away’ since then!” Visiting the Gondwana community she didn't know how much it would change her life: "This was my first taste of Osho and being around sannyasins, and very quickly I was taken by the energy there. There was ’awake-ness’ in everyone’s eyes, and I wanted that too. I spent several months doing Dynamic every morning, I was hooked, and it was a natural step to take sannyas. It was a precious m o m e n t to open the letter from Pune together with Gyan, Saroja, and Avikal.” A couple of years later, she w e n t to Pune with Avikal, her partner at the time: " I t was so amazing for me. I remember the first m o m e n t s there, and he was showing me around. I was all eyes and wonder‑ When we sat in Buddha Grove tears started coming from my eyes. I was surprised and bewil‑ dered; the energy was so strong. My time in. Pune and India was very powerful. I felt like I had come home. I spent my days in meditation and found myself becoming very quiet and restful.” ment. A trained nurse, she made a decision to take care of her dying mother. Vimukta said that this time was also healing for her, as it was probably the closest she had ever been with her mother. " I n her final hours I was very grateful to be with her. It seemed perfectly natural to lie on the bed beside her and hold her hand as she took her final breaths. I was thinking she gave birth to me, and here we are as she is leaving her body. It was incredibly strong, and somehow, nine months later I still feel I am process‑ ing that time and her passing." She and her beloved Prem had a marvelous time on Bali, going to dive sites where he taught her scuba diving. "Facing fears of being in such deep waters, I totally trusted Prem every step of the way. I was blown away when he told me how deep we had gone after the dives.” Plans are already on the horizon for another visit to the isle... [email protected] V bhagawatianand©gmaiL com Jayapal Registered Investment Adviser Portfolio Management Tel/Fax 415683‐0399 [email protected] PcmonalizchoneyManagement.com Human Design 8( The Book of Lines Discover the Person You Were Born in. s HUMAN: v , nrsi w