So you have saved the tube!

There is only one common bathroom in this apartment with no running hot water. I wake up early and arrange two buckets of hot water in the bathroom for Osho.

He comes out of His room, washes His face and slowly dries it with a little napkin. I take out His tooth brush, apply paste to it and give it to Him. He greets me with a smile, thanking me for this little act. He takes the brush with such tenderness and love, as if it were a living being, and starts brushing His teeth very slowly and gently.

These days He is using "Signal" toothpaste, which is new on the market. This tube is almost finished; still keep it on the little shelf near the sink. After washing His mouth, He goes to the bathroom. To my surprise I find that He has dropped the tube in the trash bin near the sink. I think, "Unless I get a new tube, how can this be thrown away?" I take it out of the trash bin and put it back on the shelf. Later, I ask a friend to buy a new tube of Signal toothpaste, but for some reason I have not received it, and when the next day I apply the toothpaste from the same tube, Osho looks at it, laughs and says, "So you have saved the tube!"

I feel He does not like to press the tube hard, but what can I do? Until the new tube arrives I want to hold on to it. Somehow I manage to use this tube for three days until we leave Ahmedabad.

Chapter 20

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti

Discourses on the Bhagwadgeeta

In Ahmedabad, arrangements are being made for Osho to stay in an empty apartment, which is kept ready for guests only. It is on the first floor, opposite Champakbhai’s apartment. It has two bed rooms--one bedroom is air conditioned with quite a comfortable bed in it. In the other room there are mattresses on the floor. I like the place. There is quite a big open balcony attached to the rooms. Osho feels more comfortable in the air conditioned room and goes to bed early. Kranti, who is taking care of Him, arranges her bed in His room. Tomorrow morning at eight o’clock He is going to start His series of discourses on the Bhagwadgeeta.

There are four more friends from Bombay who have come with us from Udaipur. They have expressed their wish to stay there overnight and leave tomorrow morning. Osho has agreed to it and I also don’t see any problem in it. After a little gossip I arrange my bed in one of the corners of the room and these four friends, all male, arrange their mattresses in a row and go to sleep.

Hearing a knock on the door, I get up and open it. The host enters and has come to check how we are sleeping. Seeing me alone with four men in the same room he asks, "Where is the other woman?"

I tell him, "She is Osho’s sister, and is sleeping in his room."

I can see how angry and upset he is. He tells me with his voice raised, "This wont do in my room. Either you go and sleep in Osho’s room, or bring Kranti out to sleep in your room."

I am simply surprised and confused, not knowing how to deal with this man. I tell him, "I don’t want to disturb Osho--He is already sleeping."

He leaves, and maybe after consulting with his wife, he comes back again. He looks very disturbed and tells me I can’t sleep in the same room with the four men but instead I can sleep in his children’s room. To avoid unnecessary discussion I agree to it, and sleep on the floor in the room where his two children were already sleeping in their beds. I lie down and start thinking, "What a rotten society we are living in. These sexually suppressed people project their minds on us and think they are moral, civilized and cultured people and that we are misbehaving."

When I tell Osho about this episode, He says to Jayantibhai that arrangements for His staying should not be made in the house of people who have never heard Him and don’t know Him: "They unnecessarily suffer and create trouble for others too."

Chapter 19

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti

-----------------------

One Hundred Tales For Ten Thousand Buddhas – this is a essential book. There exists no other quite like it. It is a collection of living moments with the living Buddha. It is not some events remembered and then adorned with reactions. These are tales vitally alive.

These tales are a great gift for all of us – those who have sat with the living Master and those who haven’t. It is a book for all seekers. It is also a book for those who are not actively seeking, but surely have the same longing – the longing for a taste of that love which has no bondage.

Ma Dharm Jyoti lived and travelled with Osho in the very early days when Osho left being a professor at universities, and traveled around India giving talks and gathering thousands around him. These are the tales of those days.

Like a beautiful marble statue

The plane strike is over and we go by plane from Udaipur to Ahmedabad. It is my first experience of traveling by plane. Osho enters the plane and I follow Him; He sits by the window and I sit next to Him. I tell Him, "I am traveling by plane for the first time, and I am scared."In the meantime an air hostess comes with a tray. Osho picks up one little packet and opens it: there is cotton inside. He breaks it in two pieces and giving me one says, "Put it in your ears and when the plane takes off just close your eyes and look inside. It is a good opportunity to meditate.

"Then He shows me how to fix the belt. It is about half an hour’s flight, and one which I will never forget. I close my eyes when the plane starts-it is really a unique experience when it takes off. I feel as if I am transported into another world. After a few moments I open my eyes and look outside the window: our plane is passing through the clouds and I am thrilled and overjoyed with the experience.

I look at Osho: He is sitting like a beautiful marble statue with closed eyes, no movement of any kind. I don’t know what to say, "He is totally present - or totally absent." Surely He is not sleeping.

As the plane lands at Ahmedabad airport, He opens His eyes, unites His belt, and asks me, "How was it?"

I say, "Osho, It was great-I really enjoyed it."I say to myself, "It is better to travel by plane one time than traveling by trains ten times."I wonder if He heard it-He just looks at me and smiles.

Chapter 18

Synchronicity with the Master

In the morning discourse I am sitting very close to Him, recording His discourse on my little cassette recorder. I don’t even know about extension cords. I tie my little microphone wire to His mike as usual and sit down.

Today something amazing is happening: as He starts speaking, I feel I know beforehand word for word what He is going to say. Later when I tell Him about this experience He says, "It is called synchronicity with the master. Before the words are spoken, they are in the shape of thoughts arising in consciousness like ripples. If someone is silent, he can catch the thoughts before the word--it is very simple. "Then He adds that I should not pay much attention to thoughts but watch the source from where they are arising. He explains the whole process in such a simple way so that while listening there is a clear glimpse of it.

Chapter 17

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti

Just accept the situation and there is no problem

It is very hot in the afternoon and Osho is resting on His cot after lunch; everyone else has gone out. I close the latch of the door and sit on the floor near His cot and start fanning Him with a little hand fan. After a while He opens His eyes and says, "Stop fanning and go to sleep."

I feel maybe He is thinking I am tired; but I am really enjoying it--making Him a little comfortable. I tell Him, "It is very hot and I can continue to fan you."

He says, "Just accept the situation and there is no problem." He closes His eyes again; I stop fanning Him and slowly move away. I can see curious people jumping and peeping in at the windows which have no curtains. I watch Him--He is resting like an emperor on His golden throne.

In the night I take His mattress to the terrace and make a bed for Him on the floor. It is quite cool there and He likes to sleep under the sky, and tells us also to sleep there and enjoy the stars and moon.

Chapter 16

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti

"Osho, I don’t want it!"

It is lunch time, and we are all sitting with Osho around a rectangular dining table. It seems that the friends who have arranged this camp are very poor--the quality of food they are serving is very poor. The dal is almost as liquid as water, and crushed rice (the left over little pieces that is sold at a cheaper rate after refining the rice) is cooked and I can see little black stones in it.

I am sitting next to Osho, who is very excited and has already started eating. I am surprised to see the expression on His face: He is eating with such delight, as if eating some delicious food. One old man is standing next to Him with a box of some cheap Indian sweet called laddoo. He places one laddoo on Osho’s plate, which Osho accepts with a pleasant smile. The man is pleased and places one more laddoo on His plate. Osho says nothing to Him, but silently takes the laddoo and places it on my plate.

I immediately say, " Osho, I don’t want it!"

He chuckles and says, "Don’t say ‘no’; just pass it on to the next person." I like the idea and do it. The next friend, who has heard Osho’s words, passes it on to the next person. Everyone cracks up in laughter when finally the laddoo returns to the old man’s box.

Osho always enjoys telling jokes while eating. Eating with Him turns into a great feast--it doesn’t matter what you are eating. Today He tells this joke: One day Akbar slapped his court jester Birbal without any apparent reason, and Birbal just slapped the person standing next to him. The person got angry and asked Birbal why he had slapped him.

Birbal replied, "Don’t ask--just pass it to the next person." so this game continued in the palace the whole day, and finally, at night in bed, Akbar’s wife slapped him.

Not to be serious is Osho’s main message which He not only preaches but practices every moment.

Chapter 15

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti

-----------------------

One Hundred Tales For Ten Thousand Buddhas – this is a essential book. There exists no other quite like it. It is a collection of living moments with the living Buddha. It is not some events remembered and then adorned with reactions. These are tales vitally alive.

These tales are a great gift for all of us – those who have sat with the living Master and those who haven’t. It is a book for all seekers. It is also a book for those who are not actively seeking, but surely have the same longing – the longing for a taste of that love which has no bondage.

Ma Dharm Jyoti lived and travelled with Osho in the very early days when Osho left being a professor at universities, and traveled around India giving talks and gathering thousands around him. These are the tales of those days.

He has some secret key--and I want to steal it

By 7:00pm we reach Udaipur. We are shocked to see that one room on the ground floor has been arranged for Osho and all of us, in a building under construction. There is an Indian cot, made from ropes tied around a wooden frame standing on four legs. A small thin mattress is put on it and is covered with a white sheet. It is the bed arranged for Osho and the rest of us have to sleep in the same room on the floor which is covered with rugs. I am even more shocked to see that there is not even an electric fan. Some bamboo hand fans are kept in one of the corners of the room. From somewhere an electric connection is taken to light an electric bulb. There is a bathroom nearby which is somehow prepared for us to use.

After this whole tedious journey, we relax on the floor and Osho on His cot like a baby in the cradle. Everyone is silent. I am feeling angry inside about the whole situation and not finding any words to express it, I also keep quiet on the surface.
We watch Osho. It seems He has accepted everything joyously. There is no expression of any complaint on His face. After lying down for a few minutes he gets up and walks to the bathroom with His towel hanging on His shoulder. As he leaves we start talking about this mess we are in.

The organizer cannot conceive Osho’s difficulty--he thinks he has made the best arrangements, and there is no bathroom, we become silent. He looks so fresh and radiant--I can’t resist gazing at Him. He looks at us and smiles and site on His cot like a king on his beautiful throne. I think He has some secret key--and I want to steal it.

Chapter 14

Osho looks very happy

Osho has arrived from Jabalpur. He has to go to Udaipur by plane. For days Indian Airlines has been on strike and we are hoping that it will be over any moment; but the strike continues. We can’t think of any other alternative for reaching Udaipur and suggest that the meditation camp be postponed for a while. but Osho is determined to reach there in time.

We wonder how it can be possible--all train reservations authorities to attach an extra air conditioned compartment with "Gujarat Mail Train" for Ahmedabad and reserve eight sleepers for friends who are going with Him. To our surprise, the officer in charge of reservation, is excited at the idea, look at the waiting list and rush back to inform Osho and other friends to get ready and reach Bombay central Station by 8:00pm.

We are all overjoyed to traveling with Him in the same compartment. Everybody has arrived on time. Osho looks very happy. He is sitting on His sleeper, cross-legged, surrounded by us. He tells us jokes, and the whole compartment is full of laughter. People come to peep in to see what is going on. After a while we leave Him alone and occupy our sleepers.

The train arrives in Ahmedabad on time. After having breakfast at one of the friend’s house, we hire two taxis to reach Udaipur by road. It is very hot. In our deep unconsciousness we don’t even think of having an air conditioned car for Him. It is a long journey of about 6-8 hours. Osho is sitting in the back seat of the taxi with a friend, and I am sitting in front with the driver. I am perspiring and have got a headache watching the dirty, unending road ahead of us.

I look back. Osho is sitting with His eyes closed, as if disconnected from the outside world. I wonder when I will learn to be able to do that--it looks like an impossible task. I feel that somehow I have disturbed Him, and He opens His eyes and asks for a soda. Traveling around continuously in different parts of India, He has stopped drinking water. We stop the taxi. I take out a soda from the big thermos kept in the back and soak a little napkin in cold water.

After He finishes the soda, I give Him the wet napkin to keep on His head. He takes it and does as I suggest, like a small child, and feeling the coolness of it asks me from where I have learnt "all these tricks"! It is so hot, the napkin gets dry within half an hour and I keep replacing it with wet ones until we reach our destination.

Chapter 13

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti

Sanghvi Tifin Factory

Osho is staying in Sohan’s house in Poona and giving discourses at "Sanghvi Tifin Factory" ground which is quite a distance from Sohan’s. This evening it is time to leave for discourse, but the driver has not come. We wait for about five minutes and then Osho, looking at His watch says, " It is getting late--let us go." Before anyone can say anything, He opens the front door and sits in the drive seat and starts the car. Sohan and I look at each other in wonder. I open the front door and tell Sohan to sit next to Him and I sit in the back seat. He is driving very fast, and we are sitting there holding our breath. There are so many turns on the way, I wonder if He knows the way.

To my surprise, in a few minuets we reach our destination. Friends who are waiting there to receive Him come near and open the back door. I come out and they ask me, "Where is Osho?"

In the meantime, Osho has opened the front door Himself and has started walking towards the podium. I just point towards Him with my finger and look at my watch: we have arrived two minutes early. Osho never likes to be late for discourse. What a master! Living in timelessness and always on time! Osho, your compassion is infinite. Your love and care for your fellow travelers can’t be expressed in words. Only those who have tasted it will understand.

Chapter 12

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti

-----------------------

One Hundred Tales For Ten Thousand Buddhas – this is a essential book. There exists no other quite like it. It is a collection of living moments with the living Buddha. It is not some events remembered and then adorned with reactions. These are tales vitally alive.

These tales are a great gift for all of us – those who have sat with the living Master and those who haven’t. It is a book for all seekers. It is also a book for those who are not actively seeking, but surely have the same longing – the longing for a taste of that love which has no bondage.

Ma Dharm Jyoti lived and travelled with Osho in the very early days when Osho left being a professor at universities, and traveled around India giving talks and gathering thousands around him. These are the tales of those days.

How about buying a lottery ticket?

It is pouring today and Osho has to leave for Poona by the evening flight. He is staying at the CCI chambers in Bombay proper, and it takes at least one hour to reach the airport. We set off at 5:00pm. I sit with Laxmi, who is driving the car, and Taru sits on the back seat with Osho. She is crying for some reason. The car is passing along Peddar Road and I look outside. The construction of "Woodlands" building is over.

I tell Osho, "This building has no thirteenth floor." He looks at the building and asks Laxmi to inquire if there is any apartment for sale. Laxmi remains silent. I know we don’t have any funds to purchase an apartment.

Laxmi turns the radio on and a voice comes on, "Invest one rupee in lottery ticket and get ten lakhs in a months!"

Osho laughs and tells Taru, " How about buying a lottery ticket?" Her crying turns into laughter. I don’t know if Taru bought lottery ticket, but we purchased an apartment in Woodlands for Osho. How it was managed, I don’t know.

It is raining very heavily but Laxmi is somehow managing to get her way through the traffic jams, to reach the airport on time. war is going on between India and Pakistan--no lights are allowed to be put on after sunset. Laxmi manages to reach the airport in time and we make ourselves comfortable on sofas in the waiting room.

Today Osho looks pretty exhausted. More friends have arrived at the airport and it is very noisy. There is an announcement that the Poona flight is delayed half an hour, so I go to Osho and ask if He would like some tea and snacks. He agrees to it and says to get some for everybody. There are about ten of us there. Tea and snacks are brought and put on the table in the middle of us. The whole atmosphere becomes festive. We forget about war and blackouts and enjoy eating and drinking tea with Osho.

We become alert as an announcement is made that the Poona flight has been delayed another hour. Now it is too much. It takes only twenty minutes to Poona by plane. We have already traveled an hour by road and now have waited half an hour at the airport. In three hours Osho could have reached Poona by car or train.

We are feeling helpless and I start imagining how nice it would be if Osho has His own little plane. It is such a torture to wait at airports for hours. Osho looks at Laxmi and she says, "Now there is no point in going by road--we have already waited so long."

Osho sits back and seeing us tense starts telling jokes. The last joke He tells is about Mulla Nasruddin: Mulla is sick and goes to see his doctor. He is waiting and waiting to be called and finally decides to leave. As he gets up the nurse comes in and asks, "Mulla, what happened? Why are you laving?"

Mulla answers, "It is better to die a natural death at home!"

As He finishes the joke, Osho stands, and we are surprised to hear the announcement that the Poona flight will be leaving in ten minutes. We are overjoyed. Osho namastes everyone and starts walking, and I follow Him like a shadow that can’t imagine being separate from Him. We climb the small staircase and then He turns back again and waves His hand in good bye to friends once more.

Chapter 11

One Hundred Tales for Ten Thousand Buddhas

Ma Dharm Jyoti