1990 OSHO leaves His body
OSHO'S LAST WORDS SPOKEN IN PUBLIC ARE AT THE END OF THE meditation evening of April 10, 1989
This moment you are the most blessed people on the earth. Remembering yourself as a buddha is the most precious experience, because it is your eternity, it is your immortality.
It is not you, it is your very existence. You are one with the stars and the trees and the sky and the ocean. You are no longer separate.
The last word of Buddha was sammasati. Remember that you are a Buddha sammasati.
THE INNER CIRCLE
April 6
On April 6, Osho sets up what He calls an "Inner Circle" of twenty-one disciples who will take care of the practical administration of the commune.
He does not discuss it in public, but later He makes it clear in guidelines to the group that their purpose is not to provide spiritual direction but to take care of the practical aspects of making His work available. Members of the Inner Circle who die or for some other reason decide to leave will be replaced by unanimous decision of the remaining members, and all decisions reached by the group will be through consensus.
PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE
April 10, 1989
Osho tells His secretary that as He finished the discourse, His energy completely changed. He explains that in the same way one enters the world through nine months in the womb, nine months before dying the energy again enters an incubatory period for death. This evening's discourse was to become the beginning of a new series titled "Awakening of the Buddha".
May 19
In a general meeting in the meditation hall, it is announced that Osho will not speak publicly again.
May 23
It is announced that Osho will come to the meditation hall in the evenings. When He arrives, music will be playing so that everyone can celebrate with him, and this will be followed by a period of silent meditation, after which Osho will leave. A video of one of His talks will be shown after He has left the hall.
June-July
Osho Multiversity is formed, with different "faculties" to look after the various workshops and programs offered by the commune. These includes the Center for Transformation, Mystery School, School of Creative Arts, and School of Martial Arts.
People are asked to wear white robes for the evening meetings, and this change is instituted during a traditional Indian festival honoring enlightened masters during the full moon of July, which has long been celebrated by the commune.
August 3
A new bedroom for Osho is completed in former Chuang Tzu Auditorium adjoining His residence. He has been directly involved in the design of the new room, which is lined with marble and lit by a large chandelier, with floor - to - ceiling windows overlooking the surrounding jungle garden.
August 25
Osho suggests that arrangements be made so maroon robes (it has been discovered by Tibetan monks in ten thousand years that maroon colour helps in going deep into meditation) are worn during all daytime activities within the commune.
September 14
Osho moves back to His former bedroom, and the new room is used for Mystic Rose and No-Mind meditative therapies. A new enclosed and air-conditioned glass walkway, which has been built for Osho to walk in the garden, will be used for vipassana, zazen, and other silent meditation groups.
November 17
Osho gives instructions about what should happen when He leaves His body. He also ask for a group to be formed to translate His Hindi books into English and gives further instructions on how the Inner Circle will function.
December 24
The Sunday Mail, UK, prints an article about the Vatican being partly responsible for Osho's expulsion from the United States.
January 17, 1990
Osho's physician announces that He will not be able to sit in the meditation hall during the evening meditation from now on but will appear briefly to greet the assembly and leave immediately afterward. When Osho appears in the hall, it is obvious that He is very fragile and unsteady on His feet.
January 18, 1990
Osho remains in His room during the evening meeting but sends a message that His presence will be felt as if He is there.
January 19, 1990
Osho leaves His body at five p.m., refusing extraordinary treatment suggested by His doctor with the words "existence decides its timing" and peacefully closing His eyes and slipping away. His doctor makes the announcement at seven p.m., when people have gathered in the meditation hall for the usual evening meeting.
After a brief interval to allow friends to inform those who might not be present in the hall but want to come, Osho's body is brought into the hall for a ten-minute celebration, then carried in procession to the nearby burning ghats where His send-off celebration continues throughout the night.
Two days later, Osho's ashes are brought to Chuang Tzu Auditorium the room that had been renovated as a new "bedroom" where He had given talks and met with sannyasins and seekers for many years. The ashes are placed, according to Osho's instructions, "under the bed" a marble slab at the center of one end of the room that had indeed been designed as a a bed platform and covered by a plaque on which are inscribed the word He had dictated some months before.
Life is his gift,
death is his gift;
the body is his gift,
the soul is his gift.
We celebrate everything.
Osho left His body on January 19, 1990, He asked to inscribe these words on His plaque on His Samadhi :
Never born -- Never died
Only visited this Planet Earth Between December 11, 1931 – January 19, 1990
Just a few weeks before, He was asked what would happen to His work when He was gone. He said: "My trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth in what I am saying, it will survive. The people who remain interested in my work will be simply carrying the torch, but not imposing anything on anyone.
I will remain a source of inspiration to my people. And that's what most sannyasins will feel. I want them to grow on their own qualities like love, around which no church can be created; like awareness, which is nobody's monopoly; like celebration, rejoicing, and maintaining fresh, childlike eyes.
The flower is no more, it has become the fragrance. You can hold the flower in your hand, but you cannot hold fragrance in your hand. To experience fragrance hands are not needed at all. That's how you should come close to me, you should be more sensitive towards the presence, synchronized with my presence."