Article - Celebration for no Reason
by Aneesha Dillon
Celebration for no Reason: At The Heart of Osho’s Message
When Osho spoke over the years about the path of love and devotion, He often evoked the Sufis as an example of this path. The Sufis, as I understood it from him, were, and are, an esoteric experience-based branch of the otherwise conservative Muslim religion. But philosophy has no place in the religion of the Sufis. Osho says of the Sufis:
“Sufism is not even a religion. Rather, it is religiousness. It has no church, it has no book—Bible or Koran or Veda or Dhammapada. It has no book, no sacred book. It has no church. Sufism is a very, very free-floating religiousness.”
The Sufis of the ‘olden days’, in their devotion, wrote masterpieces of poetry and songs that were recited and sung in rituals throughout the night, to propel their spirits beyond the thinking, judging mind. The Sufis’ techniques are designed to help our consciousness move deeper inside, ‘dropping from the head into the heart’.
I have seen the Sufi Whirling Dervish ritual at the Rumi Center in Istanbul, and although there was a feeling of deep absorption and totality in their dances, there was also a quality of seriousness. I asked myself, “Are these the people that Osho was talking about as he described the Sufi path of love?”
Somehow, having lived in Osho’s Buddhafield all those years, I imagined the Sufi path of love would be filled with hugs and laughter. Osho’s creation of the Buddhafield--a gathering of individual seekers living, working, meditating, walking a spiritual path together with the Master--guarantees interaction, love, and sharing. These can be an important part of a seeker’s process, and for some sannyasins the collective experience has been as important as their individual meditation experiences with Osho; the Buddhafield is the container for many indescribable experiences.
In the world of Osho Sannyas, many of our collective ecstatic experiences have their roots in moments of celebration in Osho’s presence. These celebrations all involved live music, dancing, and singing songs dedicated to Osho and written by musicians and singers who lived near him. To this day these songs continue to move hearts, again and again…
When I first came to Osho’s ashram in 1976, Sufi Dance was a daily meditation, with live music, every morning in the Buddha Hall. It seemed like everyone came to Sufi Dance, and for the newcomers who streamed through the ashram gates daily from the West, it was not to be missed. It was the best way to meet new people from your first day inside; the disco, as it were, of it’s time and place…
For me Sufi Dance was like a daily prayer, and a practice that I took as seriously as our daily ashram breakfast--a piece of thick brown bread covered with peanut butter and jam, and a steaming cup of hot, sweet chai. Every single day!
Together, they were an indispensable start to a good day. (I had not yet fallen quite so in love with Dynamic meditation—that came later...)
The first thing I loved about Sufi Dances were the songs, and the singing of them, all in a big circular group. And these songs came from many cultures, from all over the world, not only the Sufis. From India, Sanskrit mantras, Native American ritual chants, African, Israeli, and more. But my favorites were the “Allah” songs, the ‘real’ Sufi songs, ‘Allah-Ho-Akbara’,
‘Isqk Allah’, ‘La Illah Ha’, and so on.
Also one of my favorites is a Hindi song about play called “Leela Leela”, HahahahaHahahaha, Haha Haha!
Singing at top volume into each others faces, words like, “I love you whether you know it or not…I love you whether I show it or not…” It sometimes had quite a strong effect…!
What usually happened on any given morning was that some people would burst into tears while singing something very soft and beautiful, tenderly into someone else’s eyes. Perhaps it was an overflow of gratitude, or the joy of feeling ‘seen’, or any one of many subtle feelings…It happened to me several times a week for months, and I felt first-hand how simply and easily, and how eagerly, we are ready to open our hearts to total strangers--in such a situation, at least, which is both safe and protected.
The Dances were another story—I was rather a klutz, and getting the steps right took a lot of awareness for me. But I managed, and felt the joy of singing into my fellow-dancers eyes as we twirled in perfect rhythm, suddenly plunged into an unexplainable feeling of Oneness, that seemed to catch us all by surprise…!
The same things happen today in these Sufi Dances, when I include them in my group programs and trainings. In spite of the diseases of seriousness and cynicism, or the up-tightness of ‘character armoring’, almost everyone can respond joyfully to the Call of the Sufis!
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Celebration for no Reason: At The Heart of Osho’s Message
When Osho spoke over the years about the path of love and devotion, He often evoked the Sufis as an example of this path. The Sufis, as I understood it from him, were, and are, an esoteric experience-based branch of the otherwise conservative Muslim religion. But philosophy has no place in the religion of the Sufis. Osho says of the Sufis:
“Sufism is not even a religion. Rather, it is religiousness. It has no church, it has no book—Bible or Koran or Veda or Dhammapada. It has no book, no sacred book. It has no church. Sufism is a very, very free-floating religiousness.”
The Sufis of the ‘olden days’, in their devotion, wrote masterpieces of poetry and songs that were recited and sung in rituals throughout the night, to propel their spirits beyond the thinking, judging mind. The Sufis’ techniques are designed to help our consciousness move deeper inside, ‘dropping from the head into the heart’.
I have seen the Sufi Whirling Dervish ritual at the Rumi Center in Istanbul, and although there was a feeling of deep absorption and totality in their dances, there was also a quality of seriousness. I asked myself, “Are these the people that Osho was talking about as he described the Sufi path of love?”
Somehow, having lived in Osho’s Buddhafield all those years, I imagined the Sufi path of love would be filled with hugs and laughter. Osho’s creation of the Buddhafield--a gathering of individual seekers living, working, meditating, walking a spiritual path together with the Master--guarantees interaction, love, and sharing. These can be an important part of a seeker’s process, and for some sannyasins the collective experience has been as important as their individual meditation experiences with Osho; the Buddhafield is the container for many indescribable experiences.
In the world of Osho Sannyas, many of our collective ecstatic experiences have their roots in moments of celebration in Osho’s presence. These celebrations all involved live music, dancing, and singing songs dedicated to Osho and written by musicians and singers who lived near him. To this day these songs continue to move hearts, again and again…
When I first came to Osho’s ashram in 1976, Sufi Dance was a daily meditation, with live music, every morning in the Buddha Hall. It seemed like everyone came to Sufi Dance, and for the newcomers who streamed through the ashram gates daily from the West, it was not to be missed. It was the best way to meet new people from your first day inside; the disco, as it were, of it’s time and place…
For me Sufi Dance was like a daily prayer, and a practice that I took as seriously as our daily ashram breakfast--a piece of thick brown bread covered with peanut butter and jam, and a steaming cup of hot, sweet chai. Every single day!
Together, they were an indispensable start to a good day. (I had not yet fallen quite so in love with Dynamic meditation—that came later...)
The first thing I loved about Sufi Dances were the songs, and the singing of them, all in a big circular group. And these songs came from many cultures, from all over the world, not only the Sufis. From India, Sanskrit mantras, Native American ritual chants, African, Israeli, and more. But my favorites were the “Allah” songs, the ‘real’ Sufi songs, ‘Allah-Ho-Akbara’,
‘Isqk Allah’, ‘La Illah Ha’, and so on.
Also one of my favorites is a Hindi song about play called “Leela Leela”, HahahahaHahahaha, Haha Haha!
Singing at top volume into each others faces, words like, “I love you whether you know it or not…I love you whether I show it or not…” It sometimes had quite a strong effect…!
What usually happened on any given morning was that some people would burst into tears while singing something very soft and beautiful, tenderly into someone else’s eyes. Perhaps it was an overflow of gratitude, or the joy of feeling ‘seen’, or any one of many subtle feelings…It happened to me several times a week for months, and I felt first-hand how simply and easily, and how eagerly, we are ready to open our hearts to total strangers--in such a situation, at least, which is both safe and protected.
The Dances were another story—I was rather a klutz, and getting the steps right took a lot of awareness for me. But I managed, and felt the joy of singing into my fellow-dancers eyes as we twirled in perfect rhythm, suddenly plunged into an unexplainable feeling of Oneness, that seemed to catch us all by surprise…!
The same things happen today in these Sufi Dances, when I include them in my group programs and trainings. In spite of the diseases of seriousness and cynicism, or the up-tightness of ‘character armoring’, almost everyone can respond joyfully to the Call of the Sufis!
Back to Articles Main Page >