In this modern, sceptic world, more and more people—particularly those belonging to the young demographic—seem to be seeking spiritual gurus for inner balance. Why?
After Rajeev wakes up in the morning, he freshens up and heads up to his terrace with a yoga mat in hand. After meditating for around 30 minutes, he starts doing dynamic meditation, something he learnt at Osho Tapoban around eight years ago.
“Doing this has changed my life. If you’re lost in life, I’d recommend you to try it, at least once,” says Rajeev, who asked to be identified only by his first name.
Rajeev joined Osho after a traumatic incident which he says broke him down completely. Ten years ago, he lost his father, mother and his 13-year-old brother in a car accident, and for two years, he was in a state of shock. He became addicted to all sorts of drugs and started drinking heavily to numb the pain. But nothing helped. He started to fall into depression. He even considered taking his own life, he says.
“I was in a dark place. One from which I never thought I would come out of. I was alone, lonely and on the verge of doing something really stupid. Then I found Osho. And my life changed,” says the 31-year-old.
In recent years, a lot of young people have been attracted towards, and have found faith in, spiritualism across the world. In Nepal too, spiritual gurus like Osho, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sadhguru have a huge following, especially among Nepali youths who seem to connect with what these gurus have to say.
Osho Tapoban, the Art of Living and Isha Foundation all have around 100,000 members each, out of which over 50 percent are under the age of 35, according to numbers collected by the Post. But why are more and more people getting into spiritualism? What makes people connect to the gurus? And how has their ideologies changed their lives?
Rajeev found Osho staring at him at a coffee shop in Kathmandu, he says. As soon as he saw the book, he picked it up because he was very curious. After reading a few pages of the book, he bought it and took it home.
“It felt like he was watching me with that gaze he has in his eyes. It pulled me towards him,” he says. “I had heard a lot about Osho but not much of it was positive. But when I started reading Osho, I could relate to him. Or he could relate to me. It was as if the book was written for me. It was a revelation and after that I went to Tapoban and stayed there for seven days. That was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
Rajeev says they did a lot of activities in the commune in Tapoban, which was setup in 1990 by Swami Anand Arun. It is there he says he learned how to enjoy life again. More importantly, he gave up drinking and drugs.
“I had given up hope. I was skeptical about it all, about life. But gradually people there taught me how to be happy. They taught me the importance of meditation,” he says.
Sami Atmo Neerav, an Osho Sanyashi (disciple) who works closely with Anand Arun, who set up the commune in Tapoban, says that Osho Tapoban has become a haven for a lot of people.
“They come here with all sorts of problems: from depression, anxiety, drug abuse to relationship issues with family and issues at work. We don’t solve those problems, but we offer ways in which one can make him/herself better,” says Neerav. “We use methods developed by Osho to bring some clarity in people’s lives.”
For Ayush Dhungel, 27, who has been a follower of Sadhguru since 2016, says it’s the same for him. Getting into spiritualism has given him clarity.
For Ayush Dhungel, 27, who has been a follower of Sadhguru since 2016, says it’s the same for him. Getting into spiritualism has given him clarity.
“I felt there was more to life than what I was seeing,” says Dhungel. “I had a yearning for intellectual thirst that I got through Sadhguru.”
Dhungel says a lot has changed since he started following Sadhguru. Every day he gets up at five in the morning and does the Shambhavi Maha Mudra, a yoga practice which is taught after one takes Sadhguru’s inner engineering class.
Read More : Kathmandu Post
