WHOSOEVER
meet the master behind the work
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a child was born in 1942. his grandfather named the child jivandas. when the child was sent to primary school, his father changed the boy’s name to hari chand. later hari chand passed his matriculation as harish chander.
he met his spiritual master osho in 1969.
in 1970, when osho started giving sannyãs, harish chander was given a new identity as swãmi chaitanya bharti, by his master. from 1974, as instructed by his master, he started conducting meditation camps. since then, he was addressed as swãmijee by all.
in 2002-2003, in his first 40-day osho meditation intensive in goa, some participants were not comfortable addressing swãmi chaitanya bharti as swãmijee – since they themselves were also called as swãmis; they realized that swãmiji deserved to be addressed with more reverence and devotion, better suiting to his work as a guide, as a master. since then, they lovingly started calling him gurudev instead of swãmijee.
but after his first 40-day osho meditation intensive in goa, while responding to the letters of his friends and fellow-travellers, spontaneously, he started signing off as whosoever at the end... and then, on april first, 2010, as usual, while reading out a letter, written to a fellow-traveller, he suddenly requested to those present: from today onwards, please address me as whosoever.
to everyone’s amazement, and a question mark on their face, he started explaining:
"at this age, and the last phase of life, i don’t feel to keep any identity anymore, so i would like to live and leave without having any identity behind."
"furthermore, until now, all the identities were given to me by others. they were all perfect, as far as functioning in this world is concerned. so for functional purpose only, for the remaining part of life, i would like to be called as whosoever. otherwise, where is the need of an identity!"
"long ago, i lost all my identities as a person – as someone, as somebody. as one day, i appeared in this world without a name, so one day, i would like to disappear without a name. during this journey of life, i always respected your feelings. now, it is your turn, to accept me as whosoever. that will make me really happy."
since then, he is addressed by all, as beloved whosoever.
"tell chaitanya bharti to continue conducting meditation camps; he has the capacity to lead people deep into meditation." osho
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the master and the disciple
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on the pleasant evening of 4th October 1969, a 27 year old photographer met osho for the first time and silently handed him a note. it said...
"please look into my eyes and see if they can be set aflame... if they have the potential to see the light. if yes, then i have all the energy and courage to move on those paths which are unknown."
on reading it, osho looked at him, smiled, and said... "ab aa gaye ho to wapis nahin laut paoge" - now that you have come, there is no turning back. since then, the young photographer never looked back. when osho started initiating disciples into neo-sannyas in 1970, this photographer was fortunate to be amongst the first six disciples to be initiated into sannyas by osho. he was given a new name - swami chaitanya bharti.
and for the next 21 years, he did everything his master asked him to. he worked as osho's personal photographer for many years, edited numerous hindi discourses, designed many of his hindi book jackets and also worked as the coordinator of the pune communes audio duplication department. and whenever he got the chance, he immersed himself into intense meditations along with long periods of silence and seclusion. in 1974, when osho stopped conducting meditation camps personally, he appointed him to conduct them on his behalf.
since then, swami chaitanya bharti - now lovingly addressed as whosoever - has conducted over a hundred meditation camps in india and abroad. he also spent six intense months in nairobi, africa. guiding a group of 150 sannyasins into the deeper realms of meditation.
currently he lives at osho devlok, a place of his vision, developed by him step by step, detail by detail - where he continues the meditation camps for true seekers.
"this is my way of repaying the master for all the blessings he has showered, all the wisdom he has shared, all the love he has poured on me... a debt which is basically impossible to repay."
in this way, whosover continues to forge ahead with the torch set aflame by his master.
he is also the creator of oorja music and the author of several books.
in all these years, our beloved master whosoever has transformed many lives by sharing his love, wisdom, laughter and meditation. his meditation retreats have become a mecca for many sincere seekers from all around the world. and although many call him their master, he insists that he is just a friend.
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na bandhurna mitram gururnaiva shishyah...
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when you take someone as your guru, as your master, you consider him to be a person, that is because you believe yourself to be a person, who has some identity but he only can be a guru, who has lost his identity, his individuality–in every way; who has known that he is not a person, but that nameless, formless pure consciousness, which has become one with the universal consciousness. from outside, a guru appears to you as if he is a body, but when he looks at himself, he finds that no identity of any sort is possible for him.
that’s why i often say that even for a moment, the real sadguru never feels that he is a guru; he finds himself beyond all identities, which have been mentioned above; he finds himself free from the name and form, which is the foundation of an identity.
guru appears to us a physical form, a body, but not even a single line of the body can touch him, he is transcendental to the body.
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whosover, book "shivoham shivoham"
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"a master provides guidance only; the one who shows the path, is called a guide. but you have to follow that very path, because the need is yours; and that path is not outside of you, it is within you.
"with the blessings of my master, by the compassion of my master, i have found that path within me–i have found out where is what!"
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whosoever
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