Osho Leela is a friendly, open and welcoming place. The large house consists of beautiful rooms with wooden floors and massive bay windows, many of them converted into dorms for the visitors, two kitchens, a dining room, reception rooms, and large gardens, where some of the residents live in caravans and pine lodges. A lot of the people, an eclectic mix of men and women, who live here are sannyasins, ‘renunciates’. However, sannyas, traditionally the Hindu asceticism adopted by those who renounce the material world in favour of spiritual pursuit, carries a different meaning in Osho’s universe. His sannyasins are expected to follow a celebratory, rather than ascetic lifestyle, allowing a deeper, inner transformation through transcendence, rather than denial, of desires. Hence, Osho Leela regularly houses many parties, festivals and celebrations, such as ‘consc... read more

I‘m not made for hermit life - at least not for extended periods of time. With a personality like mine, I don’t stay solitary for long, despite the best of intentions. After one or two months of immersion in near-solitude and spiritual practice, I am starting to itch and want to get out there again. The explorer in me is far too curious about life, land and people. When I told my good friend Sheilagh Holmes that I was moving to a remote village in the Brecon Beacons, she laughingly prophecised that before long, I would organise a ritual in the local stone circle. She was not that far off the mark. Wondering what do to for autumn equinox, I called the Coed Hills Rural Artspace Community in the Vale of Glamorgan to find out about ... read more

There is a familiar saying that goes ‘Life is what happens when you have other plans’. I’ve found this to be particular true in India, a country in which the main lesson seems to be surrender. Things have a life and pace of their own here. You can make all the plans in the world, but if Mother India isn’t ready to let you go, something will happen to keep you just a little bit longer. And sometimes, a lifetime of experiences can occur within a week or two. This is exactly what has been going on for me recently. I finally managed to leave Rishikesh on 10th May, almost on schedule and only three days late, with MJ for a week-long trip into the Himalayas. After this, I had decided, I would take a break ... read more

It is Day One of my five day silent retreat and I am starting to lose my voice. We are sitting around the ceremonial fire for the second time today, dripping with sweat in the afternoon heat, count our japa malas (a necklace of 108 beads which is used to count mantras: one bead for each mantra), feed the fire with copious amounts of ghee and herbs, and chant the Sanskrit Miritunjay mantra over and over again - 432 times (four japa malas) per ceremony, which takes roughly two hours. What I failed to realize when I signed up for this retreat was that the chanting of twenty japa malas a day would take me eleven and a half hours. In fact, I don’t think I have ever used my vocals chords as much as I ... read more

A lot has been moving and shifting for me in the month I have been staying at Anand Prakash Ashram (www.anandprakashashram.com). Yes, I have been strengthening my physical yoga practice, but what is more important, I have only now begun to understand what Yoga really means. Through practising Akhanda Yoga, a holistic, integral form of yoga with an emphasis on the balanced sequencing of asana (postures), pranayama (breath control/retention), relaxation, mantra and meditation, I have come to realize that the postures are only a small part of what constitutes the Yogic lifestyle. What's been really groundbreaking for me was to fully feel and experience the power of the Vaidika mantras which we chant every day as part of the classes, during the daily fire puja, and the thrice-weekly kiirtan sessions. In fact, the fire rituals have ... read more