Wherever I am, I make heaven, says Sheela, Osho’s close aide – Times of India

Mother Anand Sheela’s description of herself—from an ‘active powerhouse’ that had turned into a ‘dead volcano’—fits the bill. Sheela—former spokesperson and close associate of spiritual guru Osho Rajneesh—has lived many lives in one. The 16-year-old from a ‘Gandhi family’ in Baroda became a powerful leader of the Rajneeshis (as Osho’s followers called themselves) practically running the affairs at Rajneeshpuram in Oregon, US, only to find herself in the role of To find behind bars. In the 1984 bioterror attack. Since then she has rehabilitated herself, doing odd jobs like dog-walking and a maid before running retirement homes spread across several countries.

“There’s no chance of an explosion now,” she says with delight. Sheela was speaking in conversation with writer Devpriya Roy at Times Litfest. “I could command an entire commune but not control a dog. I used to beg,” she says, pointing to the challenges she faced after being in prison for twenty years. Own Rules” narrates his eventful life journey.

Sheela says that the greatest learning from Osho or God, as she calls him, was the understanding that a person could create his own heaven or hell. “God once told me the story of a Zen master who abused a samurai. The samurai got angry and drew his sword. The Zen master said, ‘This is hell.’ The samurai pushed the sword back into its sheath. The master said, “This is heaven.” God taught us that we create our own hell and heaven. That’s why wherever I am I make heaven.”

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