On Kenya Safari, Swami Vedant Made Big News for Osho
Working non-stop with his total energy for 45 years to share Osho’s vision, Swami Satya Vedant left his body on 18 March 2022. A huge group of Sannyasis accorded him a royal farewell with music, dance and meditation at Osho Dham, New Delhi.
Thirty years ago in March 1992, Swami Vedant visited Kenya and made a mega media impact by sharing Osho’s vision. News coverage started before he landed in Nairobi and continued right through his month-long tour. As the Chancellor of Osho Multiversity in Pune, India, his distinguished academic achievements as a university professor in USA became his impressive asset.
His Nairobi visit came three years after creating a unique Osho environment project, Osho Teerth Park in Pune which transformed a filthy, smelly, barren land with a black-sludge stream full of engine oil from nearby railway yard and waste from bordering slum. Osho Ashram transformed it into a lush forested park with sparkling water stream, lush greenery and meditative spaces.
Swami Vedant’s visit made headlines in Nairobi which is the world headquarters of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and HABITAT, two global organisations concerned with environment. The documentation of Osho Teerth Park attracted tremendous attention as a template to transform other neglected locations and was thus presented to these global bodies.
So, Swami Vedant’s meeting with the then UNEP Director General Dr. A. Ramachandaran became a major news story. When Swami Vedant addressed the Kenya Institute of Medical Research (KEMRI) he talked about AIDS which was then sweeping the world. Talking about medicine and meditation, Swami Vedant said medicine treated the physical disease while meditation treated the patient’s mind and soul as well. The two highlights of his media interaction were a live 45-minuted Press Conference on the national television and a two-page article on Osho Teerth Park in a major Kenya newspaper.
He addressed a well-attended meeting of local profession at the Premier Club and other organisations. He presented a slide show in Osho Teerth Park at the Kenya National Museum followed by a visit to the seaside town of Mombasa where he addressed two meetings. Plus, he conducted numerous meditation sessions for Nairobi sannyasins.
The climax of his visit was O-Show, a book exhibition at a Nairobi five-star hotel inaugurated by the then Indian High Commissioner. All this coverage was documented in a special report ‘Osho in Africa’. Such was the record of this media coverage that when he shared it with friends, he was invited to attend the Rio Environment Conference in Brazil three months later.
Swami Anand Kul Bhushan.
1 Comment
Bansi+Dhar+Bhatt
Swami Vedant always had a gle on his face. Even after coming back from hospital after the heart attacks he had calmness and peace on the face. Truly an emancipated soul.