Tuesday, 12 November 2002, New Delhi: Osho lovers and disciples must take all possible steps to stop the insensitive destruction of the Buddha Hall where the Enlightened Master delivered his discourses and many thousands had their first glimpse of Osho, said Ma Yog Neelam, Osho's Secretary for India, commenting on news of the destruction of this structure.
"This is the worst sacrilege of the lowest order," she said, "Osho worked so hard in his lifetime to create and maintain the purity and sanctity of this space and now all this is being systematically destroyed to wipe out his personal presence," she said.
"Osho strove so intensely to create what he called 'a Buddhafield' in this hall where people can go into deep meditation very easily. This took a great deal of time as for many years people remained totally silent and meditated deeply in this hall and these sacred vibrations, this magnetic aura, this sacred space is now being demolished, "she said.
"This Buddha Hall belongs to all who came to be with Osho between 1975 and 1990 and no one - absolutely no one - has the right to demolish the space where thousands upon thousands had their first experience of the bliss of meditation, the experience of being so close to the Master seated in his Japanese Pagoda style podium and the benediction when, on his arrival, he greeted everyone of the ten thousand presents with an eye to eye contact. How can anyone who claims to be working for Osho even think of destroying it?" she asked
"This hall belongs to the global spiritual heritage and is as sacred as the Golden Temple to the Sikh devotees," she added. "Everyone who has ever been close to Osho will be disgusted at its destruction. Work must start immediately to put back the roof and preserve the Pagoda from where Osho delivered his discourses. We must seek recourse from the courts, from the media, from public protests and individual efforts to keep Osho's legacy safe from these vandals," she said.
"The photographs, the video recordings of Osho are mostly taken in this hall and destroying this hall is destroying the venue where he lived. In this light, the next building to be razed down will be Osho's samadhi!" she added.
Constructed in 1975 at the Koregaon Park Commune, thousands of Osho sannyasins have strong emotional attachment with the Buddha Hall. It was in this large, circular hall with a canvas dome, marble flooring and seating capacity for over 1,000 people that many visitors had their first glimpse of Osho. This was where Osho gave discourses and initiated disciples into meditation for three years till his death on January 19,
1990.
