with Veeresh, Chandrika and Vijay
19 July 2005

The first week of Tan-Ju is under the motto 'The Humaniversity Campus', where participants learn how to create a life based on personal integrity, authentic communication and celebration. During this week Veeresh asked the participants to follow three rules: no sugar intake, no smoking of cigarettes, and no alcohol drinking. These rules help to bring awareness to body, mind and emotions. Some of the Tan-Jus had a lot of difficulties with following these rules. Veeresh was holding a Darshan to talk with the Tan-Jus.

Veeresh: In the Middle Ages, in history, the times of chivalry and King Arthur and all that, you hear about amazing things that the English were doing – charging each other with lances and fighting with swords. They would say, “I give you my word,” which means, “I back up what I’m saying.” If I give you my word, I’m ready to do what I say. They were meaning it because they would back up their word, or they would back their position up with their life. If I say, “I give you my word I will be there and I will be ready to do battle with you, if you didn’t do it, you had to really pay for it, man. You’d be ready to give your life because you’d broken your word.
It’s a good thing that we don’t live in the Middle Ages, for those of you who said, “I will stop smoking; I give you my word I will stop smoking for one day.” Then the next day, oops! It wasn’t even the next day; it was just, “I give you my word,” and then five minutes later, “I smoke.”

Girl’s voice from Tan Jus: Three hours.

Veeresh: Three hours! Okay.
I would like you guys to be able to have a value system. So that people, when they listen to you, say, “I respect you. I know you’re a reliable person. When you say something, I know you’re going to do it.” That’s character value and stuff like that.
If you say, “I’m willing to do this and then five minutes later you change it, you become wishy-washy. Nobody trusts you any more. They don’t respect you; they don’t depend on you. And the issue is not so much smoking – it’s a terrible position to have.
I’ll give you an example: I could stop using drugs – and I used drugs for 14 years, a lot longer than some of you are alive today. I would come out of a hospital and they would say, “What are you going to do?” And I would say,” I’m going to stay clean.” And you know what? It was pure bullshit. Because I was just going out there to look for another shot. I was just saying the words to please the doctors, the psychologists, all the people that wanted to hear me say, “Yup, I’m going to stay clean, man! I’m going to go out; I’m going to go to school….” But in my mind, I knew I was just going to go right to the streets and look for that bag of dope again. I didn’t trust myself, let alone that anybody could trust me. I didn’t respect myself. I was a lie to myself.
I got to the point where I didn’t care what kind of dope I was using; I ended up with seven major overdoses in hospitals. Tubes in my nose, tubes in my mouth, tubes in my arms and people trying to bring me back. My face had turned black, I was foaming at the mouth, the doctors were trying to bring me back – pounding me; that’s why my face would be all swollen – and then they would pronounce me dead. And some miracle – I came back! Seven times! And each time I left the hospital, all I wanted was more dope. There’s something crazy about that, eh?
When I look back now, I realize that I wasn’t happy in my life. That’s why I needed something outside of me, like a chemical, to be myself. I used to lie to everybody. I lied so much that I was convinced of my lies. How about that? That’s really heavy, when you’re convinced of your lies.
“ You stopped smoking?” “Yeah, I stopped smoking.” Making a commitment: “I’ll stop smoking.”
I couldn’t tell my mother the truth; if she knew what I was doing, she would have been shocked. I could never tell her the truth. “Where have you been?” “Out.” “What have you been doing?” “Oh, just hanging out with the boys.”
If I’d told her I’d been out there stealing, I’d been out there in a gang war, I’d been out there doing horrible things…. I really couldn’t be honest to her.
So I started to buy my own bullshit; how about that? “How’re you doing?” “I’m okay.” And I wasn’t okay. “Where’ve you been?” “I’ve been out.” “What have you been doing?” “Nothing.” And it wasn’t true.
I would like you to learn what Chandrika is trying to teach you. Another side and it starts with your word. When you say, “I’ll stop smoking,” and you turn around and five minutes later you smoke…. In the days of chivalry, you had to be prepared to take a life. We’re not asking that.
It’s not the cigarette itself. If you say you’ll do something and you don’t do it, people don’t respect you. You’re not reliable. “Can we trust this person to do something?” “No.” “Why?” “Because he’s always changing his mind; he’s never behind what he’s doing.”
For this month I would like you to learn to take a position. To be honest, to feel some self-respect, and then when you leave Tan-Ju of course, you can do whatever you want. But I’d like you to learn that side too.
I didn’t ask you to stop smoking for the whole month, just seven days. I think there’s two days left. Two days left, man!
I tell you, I used drugs for 14 years, heavy drugs, not just smoking. I’m talking about heroin, opium, everything that I could get a hold of that was intoxicating. Finally, I come out of this period of using drugs, I go into a rehabilitation program, I graduate tops of the class, and I get a job in London to open up my own therapeutic community, to help other drug addicts: I’m a great success. I get invited to go to Montreal University in Canada to give a talk about my work in London.
And I get an opportunity to meet my son, who I left when he was three years old. He was sixteen when I met him then. So I go to this university, my son is there in the audience, and I give this great talk because I want to impress on him how great I am. I’ve come out from being a drug addict and now I’m an addiction specialist. I’m working for the government in London, everybody respects me, I’ve changed my life; I’m doing absolutely great.
My son and I meet after 13 years; we’re in a cab. I’m sitting in the back with him and he’s looking guilty! I say, “Hey, what’s the matter? I’m happy to meet you! I left you when you were three.” And he tells me, “I was listening to your talk and I have to tell you something.” I said, “What?” He said, “I’ve been using drugs.” And man, I was shocked! I said, “You’re using drugs?” I was so shaken up, I said, “What kind of drugs are you using?” Because he was being honest with me – I never was honest with my parents. He said, “I’ve been experimenting with pot and LSD and mushrooms.” And I said, “Anything else? since you’re telling me everything.” He said, “No, just these party drugs; I’ve been going to parties.”
And then I said to him, “If I find out that you ever use hard-core drugs, drugs that you get addicted by, where you end up running the streets like a madman, looking for money so that you can get heroin, opium, morphine, all those labels that you’ve heard in movies and things – if I ever hear that you’re doing that, I’ll break your fucking legs!”
Now this is my son! I’m not giving him therapy; I’m giving him my position, my word. “If I ever hear that you’re doing that…because if you do that it’ll destroy me! With my history, it would kill me if my son became an addict. I don’t want you to ever do that.”
And he promised me at that moment. He gave me his word: “I’ll never do that.” Because he knew how much it meant to me. Until this day, he’s never done it. Forty-five years old, old enough to be a father; he never touched hard drugs because he gave me his word. I trust him.
I could’ve played therapist and say, “Why are you experimenting with drugs, and don’t you understand that drugs can end up leading you to heavier drugs?” I could’ve played all that, talked all that bullshit. My parents could not do that with me because they didn’t know how. All they could do was try to support me over and over, in the best way they could.
I’m telling you this about values…. Who really gives a shit if you smoke, because smoking is not the point. Not to smoke for seven days, what’s the big deal about that? It makes me sad when Chandrika tells me, “They gave their word, and then a couple of hours later they smoked.” I said, “Wow, what kind of school are we running here?” You do that stuff outside all the time.
I want you to be able to look anybody in the face and say, “Yes, I’ll do it!” “No, I won’t do it!” That is beautiful. And then you don’t have to go into this guilt cycle that she was trying to teach you about. That’s terrible; it eats you up. You don’t want to look at people’s eyes anymore. They say, “Did you do that?” “No, I didn’t do that.” Your parents ask you a question: “Did you do that?” “No, I didn’t do that.” That’s a horrible position to take. I’d like you to learn to be really honest.
Okay. We go on to the questions? Thank you.

Chandrika: The first question is from Sweet and Sour. Dear Veeresh, I hear some people saying “We’re going to Veeresh,” and other people saying, “We’re going to the Darshan.” Now I’m wondering, why is it called Darshan? With love, Sweet and Sour.

Veeresh: Darshan has an Indian meaning; the way it was explained to me is, when you sit in the presence of your teacher – or what they call your master – and you take in his energy, that’s called Darshan. It’s usually in silence. You come, everyone sits here, and I play the master. Nobody says anything, and you guys are supposed to get something out of it. So it’s sitting in the silence of the master and taking in his energy.
There’s another term, it’s called Shaktipat, and it means when the master gives you a lot of energy and you just feel this electricity coming from him. It’s not so much the words. That’s what happens in Darshan; you get Shaktipat, mind-blown. Those are Indian terms to describe an energy phenomenon. It’s a nice question.
I can’t sit in silence in here, it’s not my way. I need to shoot my mouth off; it makes me feel better!

Chandrika: I thought the Sanskrit translation is seeing, because the master sees. So it can also be that he explains things to you, and because he sees much further and has a much bigger vision, you can start to get insights; then you see.

Veeresh: I had a photo session with Osho. They told me he wasn’t allowed to talk because they had taken out all his teeth. When there was a pause to change the camera, Osho suddenly turns to me and starts talking, saying, “How are you Veeresh, how is your health?” I was so shocked that he was talking, because they told me he couldn’t. I looked around and said, “My health is fine. How’s your health?” And then he started to laugh and we were both laughing.
I was so shocked that he was talking, and he wasn’t supposed to be. There were a lot of people there changing cameras and taking pictures of us. Then Osho gave me his left hand; normally people give each other their right hands but I was feeling awkward, so I took his left hand with my left hand.
And everybody stopped…they were looking and I thought, “This is it, Veeresh; here’s your opportunity.” I started to kiss his hand – and then when I looked, there were tears all over his hands. Then I thought to myself, “Oh shit, I’m contaminating my master with all of my tears.” So I grabbed my robe and started wiping them off. When I looked at him, he was laughing and I was laughing! I looked into his eyes, and he looked into my eyes – and we were just laughing like two kids.
That was complete Shaktipat. I’m giggling and he’s giggling, and I’m trying to take my tears off of him because I think I’m getting him dirty or something. The energy in my body just completely exploded – and all the lights went on! That was a Darshan and Shaktipat all at once. I got totally lost in his smile; he was seeing me, and I was just so happy that I could touch and kiss his hand. That’s when I got enlightened. All the lights went on – now you know.

Chandrika: The next question is from Grumpy. Dear Veeresh, Don’t the staff get bored with wearing black all the time? And what is your real name? Why do some people’s sannyasin names not start with Prem? Love, Grumpy. PS. I don’t think I’m very grumpy.

Veeresh: I’m sure the staff must get bored. What happened is that Osho sent me a message that he wanted us to be connected with the Osho Multiversity in Pune. If you work in Pune as a group leader, you wear black. So out of respect for this connection, I asked all my therapists to wear black. It’s only for when they’re doing sessions. I think the theory behind it is that it protects you. Like the priests wear black because it protects them from negative energy. That’s the theory: it’s true.

Chandrika: I’m also doing primal work, early life issues, which include a lot of emotional work and heavy negative feelings. Before I was wearing black, I would get sick afterwards, I would get a cold or very tired in my body. Since I’m wearing black, I don’t have that any more.
Sometimes I get bored with wearing black, because black is not my color actually. I like soft colors much more. But when I work it is easy; the colors all fit together because it’s all black; you can wash it all together. And it’s also good for the group room, because people see immediately where the staff is. Because when you come into such a big group, with you and the Wowies together, where is the staff? We’re all black, that makes it clear.

Veeresh: The answer to your next question. My real name is Denny Yuson, which means son of Yu. It’s Pilipino and it can be traced back to China. Son of Yu: Yuson. Denny Yuson and I am Junior. And my son is the third. So I used to call him Trig: trigonometry? Hey, Trig! So that’s my official name: Danny Yuson Jr.
And the third question: All sannyasin names don’t start with Prem. Prem means love; and then there’s Anand, Anant, and many others.

Chandrika: There’s Anand, Anant, Divya, Yoga, Deva, Antar…. There are many different qualities. And some people don’t even have a first name.

Veeresh: Many different ones. Are you interested in becoming a sannyasin? Do you want to be called Prem?

Veeresh: Your next question: you don’t think you’re grumpy. What’s a better name for you? If you don’t like “Grumpy” and you don’t think you’re grumpy, what’s more accurate? Be careful of what you say, because that might be your next name!

Grumpy: Can I get back to you?

Veeresh: Yes. Think about it; that’s very good.

Chandrika: And then we have Loudmouth. Beloved Veeresh, I have seen all your wonderful artwork hanging around the Humaniversity. I love your artwork so much I have decided to ask you, with all respect, whether or not you could please paint me a piece of artwork. I won’t be offended if you say no, as artwork is a hard thing to do and some art equipment is expensive! Yours lovingly, Loudmouth.

Veeresh: I have some already done; I’ll show you the ones that I think you would like and you can choose one: okay? Chandrika wants to say something about you, because we had a discussion, and she wants you to change something in your behavior.

Chandrika: Sometimes I see you ask questions, and it’s like a way of saying, “See me, see me; I am here.” On the other hand, when I give you a hug – and I heard other Tan Jus also say it – you hug very quickly and then you go away again.
And I think that sometimes you talk – you know, your name, Loudmouth –because you want people to see you and be close to you. But sometimes that has a different effect. Instead of people really coming closer, it is more like, “What is he asking again?” So I would say, try to go more into hugging; then you can really feel this warm feeling of being loved and giving love. I think you’ll be happier, and we’ll be happier too.

Veeresh: Stay a little longer and I’ll give you a painting; you can choose it.

Chandrika: The next question is from Agitato.

Veeresh: Is that agitating? Hyperagitato!

Chandrika: Yeah, hyper. Dear Veeresh, I’m afraid of heights. Today, when I was in the penthouse, I felt dizzy. What can I do to improve and win over my fear? With love, Agitato.

Veeresh: Well Agitato, I think I’m the wrong person to ask, because I’m afraid of heights too! I mean, I could be on a plane and it is okay, but if I go to a roof, I have to go kind of slowly because I think I’m going to fall. At one time there was a training where people were climbing out of a rope from the penthouse down, and they kept saying, “What about you Veeresh?” And I said, “No way!”
And I remember, I was in Brazil and they had this running off a cliff with gliders. I got to the hill and I was shocked. I had to sit down. I said, “Look at these people, they’re crazy. They’re just running off the hill.”
There are ways of overcoming phobias like that, extreme fears; they put you in front of a television and then you can control, like looking over the edge of something. When it gets too much, you can turn the TV or the computer down; then if you feel more relaxed, you can look a little bit further out. Then you can go off on a TV glider, and if it’s too much you just reverse it. That’s how they try to recondition you to overcome your fear for heights.
But it’s a very common fear. I don’t know if you’ll ever have to overcome it. There’s hypnosis: that’s really heavy. Somebody said bungee jumping? I look at that and I get shocked! People voluntarily jumping head first: that’s insanity. I can’t believe people voluntarily want to dive off that way.
I have a doctor – he’s coming next week – and he can’t wait to jump out of a plane. Every time he talks about it, I start to get sweaty, I say, “You want to jump out of a plane?” He says you have two parachutes; one is small and the other one is big. And he says, as you’re landing, if the big one doesn’t work, you pull the small one; then, he says, “Most likely you’ll break your legs but that’s okay!” I said, “Very good, I’ll never do it!”
The fear of heights…you have no control if you fall off; it’s a real panic situation. One way is hypnosis; the other way is de-conditioning you: you have this computer where you keep looking very slowly as much as possible over the edge of something until you relax. Neurolinguistic programming is another process where they try to get you to see what’s behind the actual fear: is it realistic or not? But I think bungee jumping would probably blow the whole thing, if you really want to overcome the fear.
You’ve done it? Do you open your eyes when you do that, man? And you did it too? Did you open your eyes or did you close your eyes? He opened his eyes; it’s great! I don’t mind watching it, but I’m not going to do it! (Laughter)

Chandrika: The next question is from Insignificant. Hello Veeresh, There are some Japanese or Chinese signs in the Dojan. Can you translate them? Thanks. With love, Insignificant.

Veeresh: There are three signs: O-Sho-Do. Do means The Way and Osho means Master: The Way of the Master. And that’s where we got our Osho Do School from. It’s The Way of the Master. We kill you with love: that kind of idea! But that’s what it means. Osho Do.
Who’s the one who knows Japanese here? Does it make any sense to you when you look at those signs? You’re our Japanese. You’re going to have to teach a class here in karate. When you get a chance, later on. She’s black-belt karate; you guys had better be careful!
We also have an Osho Do master, Pran, who’s coming next week, and I’m asking him to do a special training with you guys. So that you can stand up and be behind your word! Take a position. If you say, “No”: no! “Yes”: yes! You’re really clear; that’s part of our training: To be able to take a position. It’s important. So – Osho Do: The Way of the Master.

Chandrika: A question from Smart Ass. Dear Veeresh, Is there one main reason why every person is on the planet Earth? If so, do you know why you are here? PS. Are you good at pool, considering you have a pool table in your house?

Veeresh: I thought about that question, why are we here? And if all the whys always end up with more whys, then you end up with “Who made god?” Because that’s what your whys will eventually ask.” And that’s when you go crazy, because you can’t answer that question.
On a simple level, what I’ve discovered is the reason why people are here on this earth, – why you’re here, why I’m here – is to love, because that’s the creative force. I don’t believe that human beings are here to destroy each other. I don’t think it is god’s plan that we destroy each other, but to create, to bring peace, to have children, family: you know all these positive things. So that’s what I believe it’s about: love, that’s the creative force, the soul force. And if the word god is too much, then I prefer to use love. It’s something that I know is good; if you see it in anybody, it’s good.
When you see hate, then you get this insanity of war and people suffering, and misery and ignorance and all that crazy stuff. Why am I here? I’m here to love, to be as total as possible in my life. That satisfies me. As far as we know, it’s one life, so you might as well live it as totally as possible. How to live it? Live it with love, with friendship, with positivity.
And I’m not the only one who has said this; it seems to be a common denominator down through history. Everybody seems to agree with that, and I do too, from my experience.
If you look at Martial Arts and really see the goal of it, it’s not to destroy the other; no, it’s to meditate, to bring harmony, to bring beauty to the earth. In the end, I summarize it with the word love. It sounds simplistic, but that’s why I believe I’m on this earth, that’s why I believe you’re on this earth, why everyone is on this earth. Make more babies, make more families, all good things, be happy, joy, positive.
Chandrika always has a way out here.

Chandrika: We can even think there is no real reason why we’re here, but the fact is that we are here. That we’re here means we are together here; then it comes down to that you can love each other, be in harmony with each other, learn from each other, support each other; but basically what is important is that we are together. It’s not that we’re alone; we’re not isolated.
Most of the time people are behaving as if they’re alone on this whole planet Earth. But it’s a lot of people together. Veeresh always says that if all the people that are living on this planet Earth would take care for everybody, nobody would have to be hungry. But it’s so crazy: right now; we’re not doing it. For me the important thing is that we start with us – and with whoever is with us – to be together, to see them and to reach out.

Veeresh: As Tan Jus we say, “Friends forever.” That’s another way of saying, “Let’s love, let’s keep this loving spirit going.” But “Friends forever” is easier to take. Vijay, do you have to say something?

Vijay: From what I know, everyone wants to be happy. And what I found so far in my life is that going outside and looking for a job or a nice apartment or a car, whatever, doesn’t give me or other people lasting happiness. So for me, what I’m learning is that happiness is a different quality; it’s something inside. And it’s something that doesn’t happen just for myself. It’s about sharing with other people, giving and receiving, enjoying life, celebrating life. Yeah, I think all the religious traditions you look at will all talk about love. But I also like the feeling of happiness, just being happy to be alive. For a lot of people it’s very difficult; a lot of people are taking drugs and pills and everything to try and be happy. For me that’s what it’s about.

Veeresh: They made a recent study in Australia, and they interviewed lots of people. They wanted to discover who lived the longest, and who was the happiest the longest. Those were the two criteria. It seems the people that lived the longest and are happy the longest are people who have a social network of friends. Friends; not family. That’s interesting; if you have friends, you live the longest and you’re happy the longest. Why?
It’s like my mother and Sambodhi’s mother: they’re sitting together in the house. She says, “Let’s go for a walk.” “Aw. I’m tired.” “Aw come on, let’s go for a walk.” And then they laugh and go for a walk. They support each other.
We’re trying to teach you here…this “Friends forever” with Tan-Ju is on the same principle. When you have friends your life becomes rich; you become happy; that’s the love factor again. So remember; do you want to live long, do you want to be happy? Have a lot of friends who support you and what you’re doing. Like Chandrika said, “If you’re isolated it doesn’t work; you end up not seeing who you are.” Your friends tell you, “Hey, come on man, let’s liven up, let’s go and party.” You’re happy.

Chandrika: The last question is from Bitter Lemon. Beloved Veeresh, I have been given the name Bitter Lemon. Could you please shed some light on why I have been given this name? Thank you. With love, Bitter Lemon.

Veeresh: I don’t know because I didn’t give it to you, but Chandrika does.

Chandrika: We were talking about you, because you described yourself as being shy. And then we were looking at, yes, it’s true; you’re shy, but you’re also a bit imploded. We were talking about it; yes, we can give you the name Shy, we can give you Hide Away, we can give you Imploded – and then suddenly we said, well, you’re also a bit bitter. And then we said, “Tangerine juice is sweet and tasty: you’re a bitter lemon!” That’s how it came.

Veeresh: At some point we’ll be changing your names. So you can expect Tangerine Juice to be coming your way!
Does anybody have any questions or statements, or do you want to say anything?
The pool table! Am I good at pool? I look at the people playing pool on television for championships and I say, “Wow, I wish I could do that!” But I can play pool, yes. Am I good at it? Yes, I’m good at it.
Can you play pool? Who plays pool here? One, two, three. We’ll try to have a pool tournament for the Tan Jus. (Applause) Wow, this was a hit! We’ll let the staff arrange a little pool tournament throughout this month. I think the best way to do it is to play in teams, so that it’s more a social network of friends working together. With your partner, you’ll play other partners. So, “Am I good at pool” is really your way of saying you want to shoot pool. Okay, I understand.

Question: I want to ask you how you came to Osho.

Veeresh: I was living in London, working for a growth center, a therapy center. One day the head of the center came from India wearing that color you’re wearing: orange, really loud. And I said to myself, “Oh boy, this famous guy; looks like a Hari Krishna. I can’t believe it. I said to myself: “That’s not what I want to do. Wear a mala with beads, and that color!”
I had worked in London for five years after I left my job at the therapy community, my job, and I decided to go to a place called Okinawa. I had always wanted to go there, to study karate. And I figured I’d give myself five, ten years, get married, have a family in Okinawa. That was my vision.
So I arrange everything, my friends give me a big party; they give me Japanese shoes, Japanese tops and things and I save my money and get to plan my ticket.
Then my ex-wife heard that I was going to Okinawa. She didn’t tell me that she had spoken to Osho about me. She had shown Osho a picture of me and he said, “Where is he going?” She said, “He’s in London and planning to go to Okinawa.” Then he said, “Very good. First send him to me.” I didn’t know that this was already arranged.
She comes back to London and hears I’m going to Okinawa, and then she invites me to where she’s staying. I arrive with a Kung Fu jacket, big mustache and Jimmy Hendrix hair. Marching in, I say, “What do you want?” And she has all these friends of hers sitting there all around her in this color orange.
She says to me, “If, on your way to Okinawa, you can stop off in India, will you do that?” I got very suspicious. I said, “If it’s possible, on my way to Okinawa I’ll stop in India.” She said, “If you stop in India, will you go to Pune and meet Bhagwan?” (That’s what he was called at the time.)
Then I got really irritated and said, “Listen, if it’s possible to go to India, maybe I’ll go to meet him.” She said, “If he asks you to become a sannyasin, would you become a sannyasin?” Then I got really upset. I said, “Wait a second. How did it turn into this? I’m going to Okinawa and suddenly you want me to go and meet this guy, and if he asks me to be a sannyasin, would I be a sannyasin?” And then I thought about it and I said, “If it’s possible to go there, and I check him out and I like him, maybe.” And then she said, “Well, do it now!” I was shocked! I felt this “No” coming out of me; I wanted to scream “No!” and in that very second I said, “What am I afraid of?” and I said “Okay” in a very soft way.
She had a Tibetan robe she had stashed, and she said, “Until you meet him your name is going to be Swami X.” And she put this robe on me and gave me this mala. I thought, “How did I get into this fix man, I just wanted to say goodbye to her and suddenly I’m caught up with going to India.” She knew how to challenge me, because she knew how I needed to be confronted. So she confronted me and I said okay.
So my plan was to stop off in India on my way to Okinawa, to check him out, see if I liked him, and decide if I was going to be a sannyasin or not.
I arrive at the ashram in Pune wearing a black Kung Fu jacket and orange pants: real schizophrenic – I’m not too sure I want to be part of this organization or not, but I want to check him out because I said I would.
I wanted the name Shiva because that fits my image: Shiva. And he sent me a name: Anand Anant, which meant Infinite Bliss. And I thought, “He already missed. If he knew me, he would send me a name like Shiva.
When I got there, there were about twelve people, and I was sitting in the back. And he called me forward, and the first question he asked me was, “What’s your name?” And I was shocked because he sent me this name in London, and I expected him to know it. I said, “My name is Anand Anant. And I can’t pronounce it.” And he said, “What do you mean?” And I said, “It sounds like Anandananotanot….” And he started to laugh; and then he said, “Can you pronounce Veee-re-sh?” And I said to myself, “Oh shit that sounds worse than Anand Anant.” And he says, “Veee-re-sh is one of the many names for Shiva.” And then electricity went up my spine; he understood. And that’s when I became a sannyasin.
So I was manipulated by my ex-wife; she knew exactly how to get me. She challenged me and I took the challenge. I went to meet him – and it was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my life. I’m so happy that I got to meet this man.
I used to read about Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, all those different great people, and I always felt that in some way I missed. I never got a chance to meet them. And here I am, meeting this wonderful person. He wasn’t doing any magic like pulling things out of your hair or elevating; he was just a normal fat, chubby guy, black hair, giggling, and I fell in love with him right away.

From the audience: You came to Okinawa after some time?

Veeresh: No, I want to one day, man (laughs). Any more questions?

From the audience: There’s this guy always late for the AUM. What do I do about that?

Veeresh: The next time you do the AUM, you run up to him and you say, “You piss me off! I tell you I’ve had to be on time….” It upsets you. If you scream it out, maybe he’ll listen. Because a lot of times people are just so spaced out, they’re unaware. And you can shock them in an AUM. Really.

Chandrika: Yes, I think it’s time that you really start to confront. You have to go for it; you have to lay your trip. And if you come from a position of wanting to be friends with the person…. We say, when you come from a position of wanting to create love, wanting to have a friendship with the other person, wanting to have it better, then you keep on pursuing that till it’s there.. It disturbs you, that gives you have a power to wanting to change it.
There are many things you can do: if somebody is late, you make him in charge of regrouping, for example. There are many ways, but it’s important that you lay your trip. Put it out; over and over and over and over. Till he or she starts to change. You have to take yourself seriously in that. Because if you see that for you it’s really a problem, and the other person feels that he really makes you unhappy with it and that it’s important for you that he is listening to you and that he’s changing, he will. But your intention really needs to be behind it. Otherwise it’s just like, “Hey, you’re always like this, blah, blah….” Then nothing will happen.

(Inaudible discussion in audience – it sounds like people don’t agree.)

Veeresh: It sounds like you – and you – are in charge of regrouping, because you can see his frustration. He’s trying to do his job and he can’t.

Chandrika: You and Speedy Gonzales know it better. You two are going to be responsible for regrouping. New job, new responsibility; you two together.

Veeresh: So you’ll understand what the position is of trying to get everybody together.
You had a question, yes?

From the audience: Can I play guitar?

Veeresh: We’re going to do some music; as soon as we do, I’ll invite you in. We’re putting together a new album.
Listen, we didn’t tell you yet, but we want the Tan Jus, all of you, to create a song. And that’ll be something all of you who can sing and play instruments are welcome to join: it’s all in this month. We had that in mind. (Discussion in the audience) You’re all losing your voices? Don’t worry; in a couple of weeks you’ll be in good shape. (giggles)

From the audience: Every day they keep on screaming and losing their voices.

Veeresh: No, you get used to it. And then it goes deeper. Because when you contract, like this, out of fear, you squeeze the diaphragm. But if you come from your belly, like in karate, from a power position, you never lose your voice. It gets deeper.
I think that’s it, gang. Oh, you have one question?

Chandrika: I have a question to Carlos. Tomorrow we’re going to do the AUM again. We’re going to do again what we did this morning. First screaming – negativity – and then positivity. But you ran out this morning. It was too much for you.

Carlos from the audience: I ran out just because I was just moving a bit, not really dancing, and Geetee was shouting at me. I started saying, “Why are you shouting at me; I’m trying to do my best?” He told me to go away if I don’t want to move more, and so I went away. This afternoon I went to visit him in his house and he gave me a friendship bracelet and he told me to share about this.

Chandrika: Wow – okay. So tomorrow you’re going to scream?

From the audience: Yeah, yeah

Chandrika: That will be the first time?

Carlos: That’s right.

Chandrika: Okay, that’s good.

Veeresh: “Friends forever” – it sounds a bit weak at this stage, but when you all leave at the end of this month and saying “Friends forever,” you’ll be crying. It’s like summer camp. You know that kind of feeling. Okay, let’s practice. Everybody stand up, go to each other, say 'Friends forever' and hug.