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Australia's Saviour Malcolm

Someone should kindly inform Saviour Malcolm that he was elected to his latest post by the national Liberal caucus, not the Australian people. The rhetoric of the last week, that has (hopefully) peaked this morning, has him strongly urging the prime-minister to work in a bipartisan way. It seems that the problems in Australia have become so severe that Saviour Malcolm has made himself available to work with the government to solve the crisis. Thanks Saviour Malcolm!

Did you know, he says, that the Republicans and Democrats in the United States have pulled together to save their country…hmmm…really? Firstly the Bill that poses to be America’s saviour failed to pass the congressional House of Representatives. Yep, those guys in the US are really pulling together…especially the House Republicans and Republican president Bush. Secondly, all the bill would do is make the downward financial and economic trend longer and flatter, rather than shorter and steeper.

Both major parties in the US are working together on this one for two reasons. Firstly, with the vast majority of the population against the bill, neither party wants to be labelled as the party that supported it. Secondly, so it seems, the majority of the elected legislature is against it; so the bill needs bipartisan support in order for its passing.

Saviour Malcolm is standing so high up on his pedestal that he cannot see the significant difference between the US and Australian financial system. Please for the sake of the nation come together as one and save the populous from the devastation that is consuming us all (says our newly born Saviour Malcolm). The US financial crisis is serious, and all the talk about saving Main Street misses the point that the troubles on Main Street were the starting point for revealing the high-rolling stupidity of Wall Street. However this is no excuse for Saviour Malcolm to give up his post as opposition leader and form a coalition of the unified transcendent.

Admittedly the overall economies have notable similarities – burgeoning levels of household debt and a deep trade connection with China for example – that indicate both economies will track similarly over the next few years. However as far as a great rescue from Saviour Malcolm, no thanks. In this interconnected world, perhaps Saviour Malcolm can pull a few strings for them folks over in the States?

Please do not misunderstand me here and think that I am railing against the Liberal party, and am hence demonstrating partisanship. To illustrate that I, like Saviour Malcolm, am being bipartisan, I have a prime-ministers forecast. History will show that the PM will not become known as Kevin 07; nor will he become known as 747 Kevin; our bungling, cliché prone, foggy sighted, ‘in-action man’ PM will become known as Rudd the Dudd!

Tasty Morsels

Tast Morsels from German Bakery

The following seeks to provide insight into the workings of a religious movement - or should I say a religious derailment (or even worse, hijacking) - by an account of several anecdotes.

A European lady recounted a deeply tragic situation that happened to her in the early 90’s in Koregaon Park. She explained that while attending the (then) commune, she was staying outside in a residential complex likened to a budget hostel. A man staying at the hotel spiked her drink with an ‘upper’ – as opposed to the date-rape style drug.

As often happens this overwhelmed her mind and she was unable to come out of the mentally disturbed state as the drug wore off. It is like the drug flicked a few neural switches, and they were unable to switch back. In this disturbed state she went to the commune for help. She arrived at the welcome centre, and the connection with some familiar and friendly faces started bringing her back. She said that there was a sense that this nurturing environment, and her own strength, was all she needed to get better.

Unfortunately a decision came from management to send her to the nearby hospital. No doubt a ‘crazy’ woman at the entrance to the commune would not look so good for business. Against her will the doctor prescribed and gave her a cocktail of drugs. She said that the combination of feeling like she’d been thrown out of her ‘home’, the forceful nature of her being administered remedying drugs, and the drugs themselves (on top of whatever drug she was given in the first place), left her deeply disturbed. She was sent from the hospital back to her home country. Also, she was banned from the commune! This experience left a very deep physical and emotional impression on her for years to come.

After several years in her home country she returned to Pune. She found out that the man that gave her to drug had previously done the same thing to several other women. Also, he continued to do this to women after her. She also found out that sometime before her arrival in Pune, he had died: in simple terms his stomach exploded from a cocktail of drugs.

The way this woman was treated is in itself despicable. However in doing so what it does is to cover up the real cause of the problem. This man had done the same thing to other women, and by covering up the problem so as not to harm the commune’s image, more women were subject to this horrific crime.

This rings bells with me. I tried to bring management to the attention of drinking water contamination during the monsoon rains. I was banned, threatened and assaulted. This is in itself despicable. However in doing so for years to come people have been drinking contaminated water during the monsoon.

To in running a business cover up crimes is itself a crime. Just ask some Chinese government and business officials who have got themselves involved in the milk melamine debacle.

Another anecdote in the early 90’s is about a man who left Pune, changed his name, and went into hiding. Essentially the person just disappeared and has not been heard of since. It is said that he new something that led him to fear for his life. If he was to talk about it to anyone than the people it concerned would know that he talked. If there is any truth in this than what he witnessed or knows about must be very serious indeed.

I read Swami Rajneesh’s book – Tears of the Mystic Rose. He had a tough time in Pune I. Probably it was fortunate he didn’t go to The Ranch I. However he went to Pune II. It was at around the same time as the above mentioned incidents that Swami Rajneesh was repeatedly threatened and assaulted (early 90’s). It is likely that some of the incidents can be put down to personal differences. However from reading the book there is a sense that there was a campaign against Swami Rajneesh that came from management, and further that some of the threats and physical violence could possibly have been initiated from their. Swami Rajneesh was verbally threatened, physically assaulted, and threatened with a knife.

It is interesting to note a parallel here with my situation. There is a clear campaign by resort management against me. Also, I have the view that I have been threatened in writing, verbally threatened, physically threatened, physically assaulted, and threatened with a knife. Further, it is clear to me that this has been directed from resort management, and indeed in part carried out by resort management.

I will recount here one final tasty tid-bit from the German Bakery. After arriving in Pune late 2007, I had several months of issues with the resort. The front-line for the resort is Dhyanesh. It probably would not have been too difficult for people around Koregaon Park to find out that I had issues with the resort, and with Dhyanesh in particular.

One evening at the German Bakery a European man sat down across from me and engaged me in conversation. He started out by acknowledging he was in general aware that I had some sort of drama going on with the resort. Then he recounted a situation that happened some decades before (some time in Pune I).

A man committed suicide (jumping off of something) outside the commune. The European man was first on the scene. He said there was little he could do. An Indian person soon on the scene drove the person to hospital. However he was pronounced dead on arrival. The European man left Pune a few days later.

Now here is where the story gets interesting. Interpol turned up in Koregaon Park to investigate the death. There were two people murdered in Goa just before this death, and the gentleman who committed suicide had been in Goa at the time and had then travelled to Pune, and died. The situation is that Interpol believed that the person in mention travelled to Goa from Pune, committed the two murders, and then came back to Pune and committed suicide. However this situation became complicated.

As I understand from the conversation, Dhyanesh told Interpol that the European gentleman and the deceased were friends and were living in the same residence. Also, Dhyanesh told Interpol that the European gentleman had murdered the person who had actually committed suicide. So whilst the European gentleman was off travelling, Interpol was investigating him for murder. Fortunately the investigation led to Interpol contacting an acquaintance of the European man, who explained to Interpol that this clearly was not the case: the situation was that the European man was first on the scene of a suicide.

So for me, after two months of dramas with Dhyanesh and the resort, it became clear that the European man sitting across from me that evening in the German Bakery was telling this story not for his own gratification, but to warn me. It did leave me considerably worried. I said to him that if Dhyanesh had tried to set him up for a murder, that this was extremely serious: that it wouldn’t be much fun languishing in an Indian prison as a convicted murderer. I wanted to know what came out of it. He explained that well it was some decades ago, and that Interpol (and no doubt the Indian police) had limited investigative capability. However I said that for sure Interpol would still have a record of this. He agreed with me.

A long-time sannyassin that was very close to Osho told me once that Osho (Bhagwan Rajneesh) left Pune I because a number of people had taken over the place and were destroying it. Obviously (and unfortunately) some of those with abuse of religious power on their agenda followed him to The Ranch in Oregon, America. After the destruction of The Ranch by a small but powerful gang of criminals, Osho eventually found himself back in Koregaon Park for Pune II. However it seems to me very likely that again a small but powerful gang of criminals has been wielding a worsening formula of violence against innocent and authentic Osho sannyassins and devotees.

Granted in any organisation, especially so in a religious one, there will be disagreement and in-fighting. However what has happened at The Ranch, what appears to be happening in Pune II, and what may well have happened during Pune I, goes beyond the bounds of normal religious politics. I am of the view that criminality, and a very serious form of it, has weaved a thread through all the decades that a great Master and his beloved followers have shared the most sacred of journeys.

Unfortunately the profound messages of injustices - from individual tragedies to the destruction of the Buddha Hall pagoda - have not yet brought about change. On the issue of the pagoda, unless there was some health and safety issue, there are no grounds for this to have occurred – and even if, like the fabric (and perhaps metal structure) of the tent, there was an issue, this could easily have been addressed with due care. Osho was very clear that the inner-circle was an administrative body, not a spiritual one. Also, the management team in India clearly does not have a spiritual function. Hence there are absolutely no grounds for the destruction of the pagoda. Only a Master can make that choice! This wilful act of destruction is a most grave encroachment of managerial decision making into matters of spirituality.

Who at the resort operates in the capacity of making (supposedly) excessively attached devotees of Osho learn from their attachment? Indeed like the removal of all the photos of the ‘dead guy’ from the resort, some spiritual tourists may not like the religious sentiment of a beautiful pagoda in the surrounds – bad luck!

While it is outside the scope of any managerial group to rule on matters of the spirit, they do have a primary duty to protect whatever legacy of the spirit Osho left behind – whether that is his words, his ashes, his pagoda, or indeed is samadhi (whatever it may now be called!).

The inner-circle is a body with legal status. Others that have sought power at any cost have worked their way up in what is now called ‘management team India’. Some of these people have from their hard work also made it into the inner-circle. Other than by Osho himself fighting Sheela and her gang (rather than instead going into a prolonged period of silence), the only way for the Sheelites to be removed from their murderous rule was by the law.

Unfortunately I do not think Osho is going to visit us any time soon. The majority of the original inner-circle members that he himself appointed are no longer members. The current inner-circle, though smaller in size, continues to have new recruits. Members of management team India continue to jostle amongst themselves as well. While this complex web of power games plays itself out, there is a growing and considerable consensus of opposition within the Osho sannyass community against the inner-circle and its affiliated foundations – Osho International Foundation (supposedly the publishing wing) for example.

Osho organisations in India and abroad are becoming a considerable political force. This applies growing pressure to a resort that caters for the exclusive (or should I say exclude-sive) in a world that is heading into a global recession. The long-term strategic direction of Pune II is at odds with the current economic climate, and the effects of this are already being played out.

Though the resort looks great, it actually needs to invest significant money into neglected basic infrastructure. I am quite sure the place is not awash with the funds necessary to do this. Instead, over the last few years a great amount of financial resources have been allocated to making the place look great, while the underlying problems remain unaddressed. Does this ring any bells with the account I gave about the women who was drugged so many years before?

The last point I would like to make is that though Osho’s place in Pune needs to have in part a commercial orientation – to remain soundly economically viable - the place is not there to make money. This is not the primary objective. It, like any authentic spiritual sanctuary, is first and foremost a resting place for pilgrims on the path.

I suppose that at his stage it can only be said….to be continued!

Slip and Fall

Where lies the truth?
So many times it is asked,
yet we are with it all along.

This awareness that sees and feels,
this being present to whatever is happening,
seems as impotent as it is familiar.

What of God or Enlightenment
could be in being aware of
this act, this thought, or this feeling?

Yet if this awareness is intensified,
if the preoccupation with what we are aware of -
a beautiful person or a scrumptious sweet -
is redirected, a transformation begins.

What really is it in an outward
obsession that binds us to it?
What is in our body, mind, and heart,
when we focus on outer gain?

A gathering wave of awareness
penetrates and breaks down
the worlds apparent harshness.

Like rocks worn away
by the vast winds of nature,
our illusion of troubles
will reveal their secret lie.

The radiant light of awareness
sees the dissolution of our troubles,
our thoughts, feelings, body,
and even the subtle vibrations
that permeate our body.

When this happens that truth is revealed.
Consciousness has almost lost all objects.
Our ego the subject is threatened.

All of a sudden
awareness slips from the bind
of the world as we know it:
almost like being sucked
into the infinite vacuum
of a black hole.

Though the candle has blown out
an infinite presence is.

No thought, no feeling,
no body, no self is here.

Panic sets in and
the thread of the self
scrambles to pull itself
out of the abyss.

It is almost like the dew drop
that slips off the lotus leaf
is denied its full emersion
in the infinite oceanic diamond
by the vacuum of fear and ego.

This awareness that some proclaim
to be a manifestation of the physical,
is surely too ordinary to be what all we seek.
We no not that by standing in our own
seemingly insignificant awareness,
we stand next to God.

What else would be
the way to God the all-seeing,
than the outpouring of the seeing
that we possess.

In short we are scared of the divine;
scared because we as we no ourselves
do not exist.

It is alive,
it is infinite,
it is unmoving,
it is eternally now,
it is existence,
it is the ultimate
Truth.

McCain Aint Stupid

Before beginning to explain the title I should clarify that and say that either he or whoever is whispering in his ear aint stupid.

The long wind of the presidential race had a predictable path. George Bush was (and is) so out of favour with the general population that whichever Democrat wins the primary is a sure bet for the big job.

Along the way something of importance did tempt fate to change its course: the surge worked. Now some critics, including Obama, say that there were other important factors that contributed the improved conditions in Iraq - in particular the Awakening Council of Sunni muslim groups that turned against the violent insurgent movement. However even on this point it should be noted that the increased pressure being applied by the American military is arguably a significant reason for the forming of the Awakening Council.

A little side note here about Barack Obama’s world tour. After emerging from meetings with the leadership in Iraq, the president to-be made a great raucous about him and the big chiefs in Iraq converging on a pull-out timetable. However he probably didn’t make such a drama about the fact that he never discussed the issue with the big cheeses. Also, at any point during the (so far) years long Iraq war his position has been to pull-out ‘soon’. Hence when with the drastically improved situation leading the Iraq government to feel strong enough to consider this as an option, big boy Barack says him and the big cheeses are on the same wavelength. However while they may be on the same wavelength, they are on different planets. Barack Obama’s policy was to winning or losing pull-out. This is a far cry from pulling out after winning.

So back to the main theme. Though George Bush had a significant win in Iraq – that probably surprised him as much as all the critics – he has had a significant loss on the home front. The economy is being battered by more than the occasional hurricane. All the talk is about propping up the high-rollers on Wall Street so as not to have the problem spread to Main Street. However to the many people doing it rough, including all those that couldn’t make their mortgage repayments and hence started the Wall Street crisis, things on Main Street are already pretty much trashed.

All that the Democrats had to do was ride the wave of public sentiment against the Republican establishment. Part of that wave was for Barack Obama to appoint Hilary Clinton as his running mate. Not doing this move allowed McCain to pull a swifty. By appointing any women that is at least able to give a better public speech then him he rides the wave of disenchantment that Obama created. This was Obama’s first wrong move, and this was McCain’s first big move.

When George Bush announces a rescue package to rescue the world-wide Wall Street high-rollers from their collective drunken stupor, Obama throws his support behind the move. Admittedly in some way the Congress will likely pass some form of the bill, with Republicans and Democrats both voting either way. However McCain has taken the opposing position. So we have the Republican incumbent and Democrat nominee versus the Republican nominee. Even if Congress passes the bill, it will be in largely unpopular. Barack and George become friends and McCain wins out.

It is argued that McCain will likely switch his position at some stage. Even if he does, he still has created a division that he stands to gain much on.

So against all odds I would argue that someone in the McCain camp is pretty smart on strategy – that is not necessarily referring to McCain – and someone in the Obama camp should take some surfing lessons.

Pakistan and US

Friends or Foe?

How to make sense of the issue of the growing Afghanistan insurgency base in north-west Pakistan? Following the rhetoric leads to utter confusion.

The first thing that has crystallized is that Pakistan has seen that a growing insurgency base aims itself at Pakistan, not just Afghanistan. There are two consequences of this realization. Firstly the Pakistan government cannot remain complacent and let the problem blow away – or blow into Afghanistan. The second consequence is that if the United States were to escalate its operations into the Pakistan frontier regions than this would have less resistance on the Pakistan side: because Pakistan has sorted out that they have a problem on their own turf and is tacitly thankful for the help.

The Pakistan government tells their people that they think the US is not really very nice, and surreptitiously tells the US, thanks for the help.

The US has been inclined to increase its cross-border operations in large part also because the Pakistan people are becoming more ambivalent due to the pervasive incursion of militancy and terrorism into their society.

Osho Resort Pune

A Summary of Articles

Amrito & Resort Drama: A brief tragic history with evidence that Amrito - Osho’s personal physician (and senior member of the inner-circle) - is (or has been) aware and supportive of my views.

More Resort Drama?: Does the complex web of deception and violence spread beyond the walls of deluded religious grandeur and gross and abhorrent ignorance?

A Sample of Unwellness Yum Yum: Torrential rains drench the resort and stir up the wells; does a run-down water treatment plant spit out contaminated drinking water?

Terrorism & Religious Violence: A perspective on how the Osho community is being terrorized.

Revelations and Responses: Some feedback from resort management, inner-circle members, and the sannyasin community at large. Please note some of the language is offensive.

Report to Police: Assault 2 Was the Eviction Notice that was plastered all over Koregaon Park not received well?

Notice of Eviction: Basically it says kick the buggers out!

Report to Police: Assault 1 The water contamination report was received well at the front-gate!

Water Contamination Report: And remember that the clouds are looming over the resort; indeed I would resort to bottled water if it rains!!!

Introductory Note: Gives a basic picture of negligence at the resort.

Further Reading: Sheela and Who? Gives a more detailed picture of negligence: from water, to water in food, to food, and beyond…

A Funny Email: Funny to some is not funny to others!

Notes to NATO

In recent days Georgia has forwarded recorded mobile telephone taps of border guards at the Russia to South Ossetia checkpoint. In the last week this information has been passed to government officials, including those of the United States. Intelligence officials in the United States, and no doubt other countries and organisations, are conducting an analysis into the essential question of “who fired the first shot?” in the Georgia versus Russia war.

The Georgian president is now passing around the telephone taps that supposedly show that the Georgian assault on the South Ossetian capital was a response to a Russian invasion. It is quite remarkable that Saakashvili (the Georgian president) did not make mention of this earlier. It is even more amazing that this crucial information - that was within hourse of being received (by the intelligence community) passed on to senior members of the Georgian government, and upon which a decision was to go to war in response to an invasion – happened to be lost for several weeks in a pile of old intelligence reports.

The final icing on the cake of this amazing saga is that Georgia’s official position until recently was that the idiotic attempt to take back South Ossetia by force was a pre-emptive strike in response to the inevitable Russian invasion. Quite profoundly, the inevitable had actually already happened. It is just the Saakashvili and is intelligent friends lost the record of invasion, and then forgot that the invasion actually happened.

Ground Zero Pollution

September 11: Anniversary of what else?

In his speech for the Republican national convention, George W Bush reminded the United States of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. While giving full acknowledgement to the horrific attack on the World Trade Centre, there is a subsequent set of circumstances that perhaps forgot to mention: the controversy over the pollution from the disaster.

Immediately following the disaster, draft EPA press releases - which were cautionary and inconclusive in nature - required approval by the National Security Council (NSC) - via the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ). The approved EPA press releases were reassuring in nature: the air was (in general) safe to breathe; it was safe (in general) for people to return to work. However, the fact of the matter is that the cloud of pollution radiating from the collapsed World Trade Centre towers was extremely hazardous.

This is how the story unfolds as I see it from following the media commentary. Approximately one month after the disaster a New York daily newspaper caught a whiff of something through the issuance of requests via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Congressman Jerry Nadler launched his own investigations, and in 2002 released a report: the “white paper”.

Also in 2002, the EPA ombudsman was writing a report that he says would have had similar conclusions to a report written approximately one year later by the Inspector General of the EPA - the ombudsman’s office was closed by the EPA administrator. The Inspector Generals report is said to have emerged due to the “white paper”. The EPA Inspector General’s report indicates that the EPA, and the then EPA administrator (Whitman), gave reassuring sentiments on an ongoing basis regarding the state of water and air pollution in relation to Ground Zero. However, contrary to evidence – including evidence from proposed press releases prior to being vetted by the National Security Council – the collapsing of the World Trade Towers released an extremely hazardous cloud of toxins.

The EPA Inspector Generals report – released in August 2003 – set off a huge public outcry. This lead to the filing of a number of class action lawsuits against the EPA and one or more people in the EPA – including the administrator (Whitman). Regarding one of the class actions, in February 2006 District Federal Court Judge Batts released a damning pre-trial opinion report, thus allowing the trial to continue. Except in situations that ‘shock the conscience’, individual public officials are granted personal immunity. The judge refused to grant the then administrator (Whitman) personal immunity. Also, Whitman was frequently criticised at a US House of Representatives ‘Ground Zero illnesses’ committee hearing in September 2006.

Congressman Nadler repeatedly raised concerns of White House involvement, and urged both Congress and the Department of Justice to investigate the matter. The matter is that the cautionary and inconclusive draft EPA press releases were replaced or amended by allegedly ‘conscience shocking’ NSC approved (via the CEQ) press releases.

The chairperson of the NSC is the President of the United States. At the time, and currently, that person is George W Bush. So it begs the question, as the litigation continues in relation to the allegedly ‘conscience shocking’ actions of the EPA and administrator Whitman, what then of the White House and President Bush; and by the way, who else sits on the National Security Council?

It now being September 2008, progress towards truth and justice on this issue has slowly made ground in the judiciary. One wonders what difference a Democrat in the White House might make?

A Few Wise Words

Some words are at such a depth
that to grasp even a few words
leaves one almost burdened
by the weight.

To collect a few words,
or to gather a few lines,
is sufficient for a days excursion.

Words of wisdom keep the mind
directed towards the truth.

A daily infusion
keeps the mind high,
lifts our spirits, and
takes us beyond.

Tonight or For Life?

Some animals mate for life,
while others mate for a night.
Humans are no different.
Our task is to find out
which animal we are.

Preachers espouse celibacy,
wedding vows, and multiplicity.
Our animal nature conforms with our being,
not some ill-formed outsiders view.

Knowing our animal nature
is the first step to understanding
our true nature: from animality,
to humanity, to divinity.

Then we will share,
but never preach.