Article by Ma Deva Priya
Originally Published in Osho News (oshonews.com) – March 21, 2025
Priya’s story: how Osho saw the potential in her to take care of a centre like Osho Nisarga
21st May 2021, still dark, around half past 4… Neelam asked me to pause the Om chanting so she could listen to the chirping of her bird friends. We both knew that morning would not come. “I think it’s time,” she said matter-of-factly. “Yes, Mumma,” I nodded. I’d barely gotten the chance to comprehend the gravity of the moment when, penetrating me deeply with her gaze, she announced, “Now all has to happen through you, Priya. Just have the confidence.” Her last words to me seem to have set the destiny for the rest of my life.
It has been almost four years since Neelam left, and life has been a rollercoaster through and through. Leaving barely any time to grieve for Mom, nor for my Dad, or Tathagat or Vinod, or to take care of any other personal aspect – work has taken over all my waking hours, all the way into making mental notes mid-sleep!
Neelam’s presence here at Nisarga is palpable, and this is often confirmed by many who visit. Besides her excellent management and well-structured plans that have stood the test of time – she had left extensive notes on varied matters! Of course, in spite of all her help, there has been just too much work – leaving me absolutely no space for any loose thoughts, fatigue, or breaks to recuperate!
Nisarga has continued to bloom gracefully, and I am more amazed than satisfied! I had often wondered if I had it in me to rise to the challenge. Today, I can look back and finally understand… Osho had seen the potential in me all along, and had prepared me for such a task! Already, when I was only16, he had given me a heavy dose of responsibility. I handled cash in the financial department at the Ranch, which meant that I had to be alert and dependable. I couldn’t just hang out here and there in the middle of the work-day, like most others my age could.
A few years ago, an expansion project at Nisarga had to be started. For one reason or another, the plan was just not getting finalised. Neelam knew she didn’t have long, and not wanting to add it to the pile of my impending workload, she persisted in her efforts in the middle of her chemo sessions. In light of all the unexpected obstacles that popped up, she shared her feelings with a friend, “It looks like this building is not going to happen through me.”
Indeed, existence had its own plan: one day while I was meditating, in the Shunya Mandir, unexpectedly the name for the building popped up. A bit surprised, I later said to Neelam, “The name has come to me – it has to be called ‘Socrates’, Mom.” “Okay,” she replied in total agreement.
Ironically, although Neelam tried to save me from work-overload, yet here I was – admin, kitchen, legal, gardening, social media management, housekeeping, banking, interior design and landscaping… At that time, I didn’t think I could manage it, but now looking back and seeing things more clearly – my Master has been preparing me for multitasking all along!
I remember the time when Osho had asked me to attend college in town whilst I was living in the Pune ashram. I was always on the run – college, hobbies like music and painting that Osho urged me to pursue, White Robe, studying, meditation, therapy groups, and two hours of ashram work, and that too first in the financial department and later in legal – intense and serious stuff! At the time I was too naïve to appreciate Osho’s decisions for me, the depth of his love.
And before that, after the Ranch closed – I was still a teenager – I was simply told that Neelam was with Osho ‘somewhere’ on a world tour. With no phone number to call, I had no idea where my Mom was – for five months straight! I felt abandoned and thought, “Osho is so hard on me…”
I would have so much wanted to be physically close to him then, as close as my mom was, and to live in the ashram. But Osho sent me to study in Shimla. Isolated, even from my sannyasin friends, I cried for him for two long years. But his word, of course, was final: I had to finish high school. Once I eased into studying far from Mom and Osho, out of the blue, Osho called me to live in the ashram in Pune, and as an exception to the rule, to go out to attend college in town!
In a private meeting when I was 16, he said to me, “Remember, Priya. I am working on you. I want you to live my vision of the New Man, rich in every dimension.”
Today I can clearly see that, all the while I was going through tears, pain and confusion, too young to comprehend what was best for me, Osho had been working on me. Yes, he works on all of us… I am glad that my trust left me unable to see other choices. No matter how much my mind was against his instructions – whatever he said had to be done! He pushed me into multidimensional growth, more persistently in the areas I detested. Today, one after another, I see the purpose of every rule, every uncomfortable choice he had made for me. Thank you Osho!
Taking care of Nisarga is now my meditation – and it sure is intense! It’s not rare for me to break into anxiety worrying about the days ahead of me, and to wonder how it will all work out. Clueless, but feeling very available to him, like a hollow bamboo, I walk up to Osho’s photo in my living room and say, “Get it done through me!” And somehow, in spite of all the challenges and against all odds… just as Neelam used to marvel at the Shunya Mandir and say, “It’s a miracle this work goes on.”
It really is a mysterious phenomenon!
Last year an old sannyasin friend came to visit and stated, “It is remarkable what you have been able to manage. I know it is not easy. Nisarga keeps hosting groups, one after the other, throughout the year…” He went on to shower me with many, many blessings. And then I realised, we had 34 groups this last year! Yes, Nisarga for sure is blessed, and I am fortunate to be able to contribute to it.
My favourite part of Nisarga is the colourful rainbow of programmes here: the cultural programmes, like theatre, music, photography; then the therapy groups, like No Mind and Mystic Rose; meditative groups like Zazen and Vipassana; Heartful Sufi and healing groups.
A host of world-renowned facilitators come from all over the world – Amiyo leading the Gurdjieff Dances, Swarup facilitating Healing the Inner Child, Avikal orchestrating Satori, Sarita leading Tantra. And new, young facilitators come from all over the globe and bring multidimensional growth to participants from all walks of life. These days, to facilitate the 3-week Silence Retreat is a sheer delight!
Then, returning to the office after Kundalini, I am told I look ecstatic. And why not?
The vision of meditative faces – sannyasins from Denmark, the USA, New Zealand, Norway, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Canada, Scotland, Malaysia, England, Spain and from all around India – their day-by-day increasing glow makes all the effort worth it!
Osho has given us so many devices to help us dive inwards and grow multidimensionally. I just wish we could all work in harmony and keep up the light of his precious gifts to us.
Nisarga is a meeting place for all seekers. I invite all lovers of Osho to come and dip in the magnificence… a warm welcome!
Ma Deva Priya
