Ma Prema Veena: Difference between revisions

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(R.L.Schlegel, BA, B Ed, Cambridge RSA CELTA)
(Rosemary L. Schlegel, BA, B Ed, Cambridge RSA CELTA)
[[Image:Veena01.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Shanghai, China 2019]]


Having travelled overland to India, Veena met Osho in Mumbai in Dec 1971 and took sannyas at a meditation camp held in Matheran, a hill station in the Ghats between Mumbai and Pune, in Jan 1972. In March she went to the first Mt Abu meditation camp in Rajasthan and directly afterwards was sent by Osho to join a ‘[[Shree Rajneesh Kirtan Mandali|Kirtan Mandali]]’, led by [[Sw Narendra Bodhisatva|Swami Narendra]], travelling around Gujarat.


[[Image:Veena1.jpg|200px|right]]
Osho then asked Veena to open a meditation centre in London and towards the end of the year, with the help of Shyam Singha, she opened the [[Nirvana Meditation Centre, London|Nirvana Meditation Centre]] -- the first Osho meditation centre in the West. Supported by Shyam -- then for a time by R.D. Laing, then Paul and Pat Lowe ([[Sw Ananda Teertha|Teertha]] and [[Ma Anand Poonam|Poonam]], who ran a new-age growth centre called Quaesitor) and Michael Barnett ([[Sw Anand Somendra|Somendra]], who ran another such centre called Kaleidoscope) – the centre rapidly became popular and many people took sannyas and went to India. Among well-known sannyasins who directly or indirectly went to Osho through the Nirvana Meditation Centre were Leela, Yoga Pratima, Sudha, Veeresh, Anam, Shunyo, Garimo, Maneesha, Anurag, Devapama, Somesh, Hugh Milne (Shiva) – and many others.
[[Image:Veena4.jpg| thumb |200px|right| 1969 just before meeting Osho]]
[[Image:Veena6.jpg| thumb |200px|right| Osho and Veena in Woodlands, Bombay, 1973]]
[[Image:Veena5.jpg| thumb |200px|right| Osho, Veena, and Shyam in Woodlands, Bombay, 1973]]


Veena returned to India in Jan 1974, spent 5 months at Osho’s experimental ‘new commune’ called Kailash near Chandrapur in Maharashtra, then lived in the new ashram in Pune where she started editing and helping to publish Osho’s books. She was invited to be one of Osho’s mediums during this time. After 5 years of editing, she started to sew Osho’s robes and household necessities, to make hats for him, and to design and make the many costumes for photo sessions. She did this until Osho left his body -- apart from two other jobs in Rajneeshpuram in the USA, first as a ‘Twinkie’ in the PR department, and then in the construction department.


The success of my first booklet, '''''Meeting the Master''''', has encouraged me to continue writing, as it seems that many people are interested in my stories about the time I spent with Osho. ‘Meeting the Master’ was, as it says, a short account of how I came to meet Osho in 1971, before the world knew about him, and the change of direction that my life took as a result.  
After Osho left his body, she urgently needed to make some money, so she went to Japan where she taught English. It was a difficult time because she was seriously ill for 10 years, spending the last 2 years at Croydon Hall, the Osho Centre in Somerset, UK. Recovering from the illness, she got a job as a Youth Hostel Manager in Scotland, quite near to where her old friend, [[Ma Yoga Punya]], and her husband [[Sw Anand Amiten|Amiten]] were living. Together Punya and Veena started the online magazine OshoinUK. This later became the world-wide [https://www.oshonews.com/ OshoNews] online magazine, still run by Punya and now [[Ma Anand Bhagawati|Bhagawati]].  


I have just finished a second book, '''''A Seam for the Master''''', much longer this time, about the 12 years I spent as his tailor and hat-maker.  
In 2008 Veena’s life changed dramatically when, after seeing a BBC documentary, she embarked on a 12-year-long spiritual adventure, visiting the most sacred mountain in China: Song Mountain. Here she traced Osho’s connections with Taoism, Zen, and,especially, Bodhidharma.  


Being quite good with the English language, and having done a lot of teaching and editing through the years, I am offering my skills to anyone who needs to get something out to the public or prospective clients in good English e.g. a website, a brochure, an article or a book.
Veena has written 5 books: ''A Seam for the Master'' (out of print) about sewing Osho’s clothes and making his hats; ''A Vanished Road'', about her trip overland to India in 1971, ending with a strange introduction to Osho; ''Glimpses of my Master'', about her time as a disciple of Osho (includes the text of ''A Seam for the Master''); ''A Mountain in China'', about her time living alone in a small village in the foothills of Song Mountain, meditating and discovering many connections with Osho; ''Gulun Kung fu'', which she co-wrote with a Chinese Kung fu student, in consultation with the Kung fu master, Master Wu Nanfang. She is currently writing another book, ''Farewell to Song Mountain'', about many more Chinese and spiritual adventures. She regularly writes articles for OshoNews.


Those who know me might remember that I was one of Osho’s first editors and was involved in the publication of his books for 5 years in the early Poona days.


After Osho left his body I got some more qualifications and taught English as a foreign language for 13 years, specialising in the Cambridge Certificate Examinations.
;Contact Details  
 
I took some editing and proofreading courses to further hone my skills.
 
I am a writer myself. Beside being the author of the above books, I wrote numerous articles for the ‘Osho in UK’ website, for ‘Viha Connection’ and various other sannyasin publications.
 
Punya and a young Chinese friend, Yujie Zhao, both experienced translators, are working with me to offer translating services in English, Italian, French, German and Chinese.
 
 
 
'''Contact Details'''


;address  
;address  
:Wanlockhead
:Dorset
:UK
:UK


;phones
;email
:3books88[[image:666.gif|link=]]gmail.com
;email
 
;websites
:[https://veenaschlegel.com/ veenaschlegel.com]
:[https://amountaininchina8.com/ A Mountain in China]
:[https://shaolinwugulun.wordpress.com Shaolin Wugulun Kung fu Academy]
:[https://gulunkungfu.wordpress.com/ Gulun Kungfu]


;website
:[http://www.songmountain.co.uk/ Song Mountain Editing]
:[https://3booksblog.wordpress.com/ 3books]


;bibliography
;bibliography
:[[Meeting the Master]]
:2000: ''[[Meeting the Master]]''
:[[A Seam for the Master]]
:2004: ''[[A Seam for the Master]]''
:[[A Vanished Road]]
:2011: ''[[A Vanished Road]]''
:[[Glimpses of My Master]] (Chapter 5, ''Editing Osho's Books'', is quoted in full [[Glimpses of My Master#chapter 5: Editing Osho's Books|in this Wiki]].)
:2012: ''[[Glimpses of My Master]]'' (Chapter 5, ''Editing Osho's Books'', is quoted in full [[Glimpses of My Master#chapter 5: Editing Osho's Books|in this Wiki]].)
:[[A Mountain in China]]
:2015: ''[[A Mountain in China]]''
:2022: ''[[Farewell to Song Mountain]]''


;see also
;see also
:[http://www.sannyasnews.com/Articles/Veena3.html ''A Seam for the Master'' - An Introduction by Veena]
:[https://www.facebook.com/booksbyveena Books by Veena on facebook]
:[http://www.sannyasnews.com/Articles/Veenareview.html ''A review of ''A Seam for the Master'"]
:[https://web.archive.org/web/20080506095435/http://www.sannyasnews.com/Articles/Veena3.html ''A Seam for the Master'' - An Introduction by Veena]
:[https://web.archive.org/web/20101219072523/http://sannyasnews.com/Articles/Veenareview.html A review of ''A Seam for the Master'']
:[[Twinkies]] -- stories from the Ranch's PR dept
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1gmg3BAN0g Veena interviewed by Keerti], 2022-07-30 on YouTube.
 
:[[LoveOsho podcast E003 Veena]] - interview on 22 May 2018
:[[LoveOsho podcast E060 Veena (on Nirvano)]] - interview on 11 December 2019


;photo gallery
:: <gallery heights=300px mode="packed">
Image:Veena4.jpg|1969 just before meeting Osho
Image:Veena5.jpg|Osho, Veena, and Shyam in Woodlands, Bombay, 1972
Image:Veena6.jpg|Osho and Veena in Woodlands, Bombay, 1972
Image:Veena07.jpg|Mt Abu 1972
Image:Veena08.jpg|Mt Abu 1972
Image:Veena09.JPG|Mt Abu 1972
Image:Veena10.jpg|As a medium in Poona One
Image:Veena11.jpg|As a Twinkie in Rajneeshpuram 1983
Image:Veena12.jpg|At Bodhidharma's Cave, Song Mountain, China 2012
Image:Veena13.jpg|Dunhuang, China 2019
</gallery>




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[[category:Wanlockhead |Veena]]
[[category:Wanlockhead |Veena]]
[[category:Writers & Journalists|Veena]]
[[category:Writers & Journalists|Veena]]
[[Category:Sannyasin authors on Osho |Veena]]
[[Category:Sannyasin authors on other than Osho |Veena]]

Latest revision as of 12:46, 2 February 2024

(Rosemary L. Schlegel, BA, B Ed, Cambridge RSA CELTA)

Shanghai, China 2019

Having travelled overland to India, Veena met Osho in Mumbai in Dec 1971 and took sannyas at a meditation camp held in Matheran, a hill station in the Ghats between Mumbai and Pune, in Jan 1972. In March she went to the first Mt Abu meditation camp in Rajasthan and directly afterwards was sent by Osho to join a ‘Kirtan Mandali’, led by Swami Narendra, travelling around Gujarat.

Osho then asked Veena to open a meditation centre in London and towards the end of the year, with the help of Shyam Singha, she opened the Nirvana Meditation Centre -- the first Osho meditation centre in the West. Supported by Shyam -- then for a time by R.D. Laing, then Paul and Pat Lowe (Teertha and Poonam, who ran a new-age growth centre called Quaesitor) and Michael Barnett (Somendra, who ran another such centre called Kaleidoscope) – the centre rapidly became popular and many people took sannyas and went to India. Among well-known sannyasins who directly or indirectly went to Osho through the Nirvana Meditation Centre were Leela, Yoga Pratima, Sudha, Veeresh, Anam, Shunyo, Garimo, Maneesha, Anurag, Devapama, Somesh, Hugh Milne (Shiva) – and many others.

Veena returned to India in Jan 1974, spent 5 months at Osho’s experimental ‘new commune’ called Kailash near Chandrapur in Maharashtra, then lived in the new ashram in Pune where she started editing and helping to publish Osho’s books. She was invited to be one of Osho’s mediums during this time. After 5 years of editing, she started to sew Osho’s robes and household necessities, to make hats for him, and to design and make the many costumes for photo sessions. She did this until Osho left his body -- apart from two other jobs in Rajneeshpuram in the USA, first as a ‘Twinkie’ in the PR department, and then in the construction department.

After Osho left his body, she urgently needed to make some money, so she went to Japan where she taught English. It was a difficult time because she was seriously ill for 10 years, spending the last 2 years at Croydon Hall, the Osho Centre in Somerset, UK. Recovering from the illness, she got a job as a Youth Hostel Manager in Scotland, quite near to where her old friend, Ma Yoga Punya, and her husband Amiten were living. Together Punya and Veena started the online magazine OshoinUK. This later became the world-wide OshoNews online magazine, still run by Punya and now Bhagawati.

In 2008 Veena’s life changed dramatically when, after seeing a BBC documentary, she embarked on a 12-year-long spiritual adventure, visiting the most sacred mountain in China: Song Mountain. Here she traced Osho’s connections with Taoism, Zen, and,especially, Bodhidharma.

Veena has written 5 books: A Seam for the Master (out of print) about sewing Osho’s clothes and making his hats; A Vanished Road, about her trip overland to India in 1971, ending with a strange introduction to Osho; Glimpses of my Master, about her time as a disciple of Osho (includes the text of A Seam for the Master); A Mountain in China, about her time living alone in a small village in the foothills of Song Mountain, meditating and discovering many connections with Osho; Gulun Kung fu, which she co-wrote with a Chinese Kung fu student, in consultation with the Kung fu master, Master Wu Nanfang. She is currently writing another book, Farewell to Song Mountain, about many more Chinese and spiritual adventures. She regularly writes articles for OshoNews.


Contact Details
address
Dorset
UK
email
3books88gmail.com
websites
veenaschlegel.com
A Mountain in China
Shaolin Wugulun Kung fu Academy
Gulun Kungfu


bibliography
2000: Meeting the Master
2004: A Seam for the Master
2011: A Vanished Road
2012: Glimpses of My Master (Chapter 5, Editing Osho's Books, is quoted in full in this Wiki.)
2015: A Mountain in China
2022: Farewell to Song Mountain
see also
Books by Veena on facebook
A Seam for the Master - An Introduction by Veena
A review of A Seam for the Master
Twinkies -- stories from the Ranch's PR dept
Veena interviewed by Keerti, 2022-07-30 on YouTube.
LoveOsho podcast E003 Veena - interview on 22 May 2018
LoveOsho podcast E060 Veena (on Nirvano) - interview on 11 December 2019
photo gallery
  • 1969 just before meeting Osho

    1969 just before meeting Osho

  • Osho, Veena, and Shyam in Woodlands, Bombay, 1972

    Osho, Veena, and Shyam in Woodlands, Bombay, 1972

  • Osho and Veena in Woodlands, Bombay, 1972

    Osho and Veena in Woodlands, Bombay, 1972

  • Mt Abu 1972

    Mt Abu 1972

  • Mt Abu 1972

    Mt Abu 1972

  • Mt Abu 1972

    Mt Abu 1972

  • As a medium in Poona One

    As a medium in Poona One

  • As a Twinkie in Rajneeshpuram 1983

    As a Twinkie in Rajneeshpuram 1983

  • At Bodhidharma's Cave, Song Mountain, China 2012

    At Bodhidharma's Cave, Song Mountain, China 2012

  • Dunhuang, China 2019

    Dunhuang, China 2019


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