Primal (group)

Primal was a fourteen-day Pune One therapy group led by Divya. The group first started in Aug 1975, one of the first two groups to be offered, and it continued to be offered, as far as we know, until Jun 1981, when Osho left for the States, and possibly a little afterward. The Community to Provoke God brochure gave this as a brief description:

Primal Therapy, originated in the USA by Dr. Arthur Janov, is based on the psychological discovery that each person's behaviour is a result of childhood conditioning. The 14 day group creates a safe environment in which the root causes of the personality originating in early childhood traumas can be re-experienced and resolved. Highly structured, with all normal escapes such as social conversation, cigarettes, rich food, escapist literature and stimulants denied, submerged feelings and anxieties start surfacing and can be released and accepted.

Maneesha wrote about Primal in a Darshan Diary, Hammer on the Rock, in the entry for Dec 29 (1975). Some structural details are different from the brochure's account, likely reflecting an evolution of the group:

The Primal Therapy group, halfway through the fifteen days of their therapy, were at darshan.

The course actually consists of a total of twenty-five days which includes the ten days of the camp. For the last two days of the camp, members of the group maintain silence and remain in isolation (except of course during the meditations). This continues for the remainder of the group.

The entire period is intended to be a meditation, with each thought and activity being observed and brought into the sessions. Individual and group meditations are given as is felt appropriate. Through the process one is helped to remember, or relive, one's past. This reliving is linked with body feelings and sensations. One is taught to unify the body and the mind to form an integrated experience of oneself.

Bhagwan has described it as not so much a therapy as a situation where people can let go into their fears and madnesses, their obsessions and secret hankerings, in a safe and protected environment and where help can be given to see beyond them.

A month later, in Above All, Don't Wobble's groups list, Primal is described as a twenty-one day course. The evolution has begun!

This article about a Pune One group is a stub. To add information or share a story, contact a wiki editor here.