Laherubhai (aka Chaitanya Sagar, Laherchand B. Shah) was born in August 1938. And he left his body on this September 24.
Now I am a bit confused…yes, by saying ‘left his body’, generally we mean that ‘someone has gone (somewhere?) from this body’; almost like he has gone from this shore to the other shore. Of course, a good usage to describe this type of situation. But can’t it be read in a different meaning? Like, this body is what he left here.
Then the scenario is being changed altogether. Then we can ask, is this the only thing he has left here? This fragile body? This almost rotten one? The one which is going to be taken by the flames soon? Or the one which is going to be eaten by the microbes?
Does it matter what one leaves when he / she does leave this place? Sometimes it does matter. When all of us are going to leave our body one day, if someone leaves something else also, it may become significant.
That’s how LAHERUBHAINESS, a word I added into my personal vocabulary, becomes so important, for meditators, especially for Osho lovers, the people of the path. The context in which that word was coined, my first meeting with him, can be read in this link (https://www.oshonews.com/2017/11/15/blessed-moments-with-osho/).
Laherubhai met Osho for the first time on March 21, 1967. And from the very next day he started recording Osho discourses with a small tape recorder. All these recordings were actually made, according to him, because he was unable to understand well what the speaker was talking about! And he went on improving the recording methods and kept them safe in a very arranged manner.
His connection with Osho went on deeper and deeper; he became Sadhak Anand Sagar on Jan 14, 1972. And when Osho moved to Pune, in 1974 he took sannyas from him and became Swami Cahitanya Sagar.
However, Osho kept calling him Laheru, Laherubhai only. Osho addressed him with this name also in two discourses in Osho Upanishad and in the same series (Ch 14, Q 4) he talked about calling old disciples by their old names: "I have known them for so many years before sannyas, and there has been no drastic change. They smoothly moved into sannyas, so smoothly that I don't remember a few of their sannyas names."
When Osho shifted to the USA, people around him thought of compiling Osho discourses, so Osho asked them to call Laheru for the recorded tapes. To their surprise, according to Laherubhai, he sent
In his memoirs, BLESSED MOMENTS WITH OSHO, Laherubhai has shared many wonderful stories, the sacred and joyful moments he spent with Osho.
When I had a chance to be with him along with the translators of his memoirs from Gujarati to English - RameshJain, Maitri, Amol and me, also had many blessed moments. Laherubhai shared many more incidents and very incredible stories he had with Osho, which he didn’t write about in the book.
A smooth friendship, an inexplicable friendliness started happened between us. That is how the ‘laherubhainess’ became so clear that I would say it is the ‘suchness’ upgraded.
Let me share a few incidents about him, which I think would be beautiful for all to hear.
One day I got a call from him to meet him urgently in his office at Masjid Bunder, which was quite distant from my place. Those were the days of the above-mentioned translation project. Naturally, I thought it might be something connected with the translation.
To be frank , I was not in a mood to travel that far on a jam packed local train in Mumbai, but was unable to say no to him. In a bad mood not only because of the journey, but in those days I felt disturbed by many personal reasons also. Somehow, I made up my mind and reached his office in time. He didn’t show any formalities like asking ‘hi’,‘how are you?’. He simply started by saying, ’Tarpan, remember, we can’t do anything about what’s happening in and around our lives. But we can be conscious of what we are going through. And nothing else is needed.’ He smiled - and that’s all.
It was as if a deeper thread by which I was clinged to the so-called life was pulled away in an instant, or like a troublesome tooth was extracted so very suddenly. I immediately headed home. Sitting on a railway station bench, I couldn’t say why I was crying! What one would say if asked what he feels after the tooth extraction? Relief or pain?
On the way back, all that I echoed within me was a statement from the Gospel of Thomas, my favorite Jesus quote -’BE PASSERS-BY’,’BE PASSERS-BY’.
Once we were together at the OIMR, Pune, for the Monsoon Festival. One day in the morning when I was passing through the Plaza, he was sitting alone in that area. He just called me over and asked me to sit with him, and so I did. After some time, another woman whom we both knew came and sat with us.
The beauty is that he was not joking, nor was he boasting his ignorance or incapabilities. He was just being friendly, or sincere and we (at least I) felt so ashamed of doing all that bla bla talk in front of him.
The next morning, I saw him coming down from his room in Chuang tzu, accompanied by Gatha, whowas taking care of him, to get to his car, it was like a movie of wonders. A man of innocence simply gliding, like a gentle breeze. For me, this was one of those the moments of 'laherubhainess'.
I can’t forget the musical event he had arranged in his new home. He himself facilitated the Kundalini Meditation and then said to me ,’Now you can play the flute’. I never saw him as energetic as that day.
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After I settled back to Kerala, I used to visit him whenever I was in Mumbai, . The last two of such visits were really remarkable. Once, when he was talking about Osho, he said laughing,’I really don’t understand what this man is talking about. But daily I listen to two discourses.’ His face radiated with joy. Then I remembered his statement about how he started recording Osho's talks. It was the same reason he had said,’ I didn't understand what this man was talking about. That’s why I started recording.’ But this time, it was different, for sure.
I asked myself,’Do you really understand what Osho is talking about?’ I couldn’t laugh like Laherubhai did.
My last visit was in May 2022. I was on my way back from OIMR. Ramesh Jain was with me. Laherubhai took us to his bedroom. He showed us that he had learned to use a Laptop to play video discourses. He was very happy. He just played a small discourse and looking at Osho, he laughed at himself saying,``This man has immense guts, for sure.”
After the video, he said to us, “For me it is always the same situation, like once he (Osho) told me that he would take my hand and drag me into the ocean - and then leave me there.”
He has explained this incident in detail in his book.
Yes, some masters save the disciples. But some masters leave the disciples in mid sea, so they learn how to save themselves. Inexplicable ways, always.
But Laherubhai, took or realized the sea as compassion, it seems.
In his book, there is a wonderful answer given by Osho (page 156), in this regard.
We need to remember that the original title of his book in Gujarati meant ‘Compassion of Osho’.
The touch of Laherubhainess can be felt in the questions he asked Osho in the Osho Upanishad series; about innocence and about mind & meditation, when Osho gifted Laherubhai a picture. It is something one really can’t forget.
‘The love between the disciple and the master
Is the most intimate, the most ultimate.
You have to rejoice my absence
The same way as you rejoice my presence,
Because I cannot remain here forever.
And do not postpone.
I am not going to come again in the body,
This is the last time.
You have to become as silent, as loving, as meditative
With me or without me.
The difference between my absence and presence
Should be completely lost.’
Dec 16, 1988.
You left it behind
the very laherubhainess, suchness
which shattered all definitions of so-called meditators…
Tears with joy,
Namaste beloved Laherubhai.
love and gratitude.
