rs: Interview with Mitra
My passion is community, and my skills are with the net.
Bringing these together, I've been working to help people use the net to communicate and work together for a long time, I started a service in England for environmental, human rights and social justice groups called GreenNet...
We know you as a founder of www.sannyas.net and sannyas lists. People call you "internet guru"...
I'm not so sure about "guru", but yes, I've been involved with the internet since 1985.
How would you introduce yourself to www.RebelliousSpirit.com readers?
My passion is community, and my skills are with the net, so bringing these together, I've been working to help people use the net to communicate and work together for a long time, I started a service in England for environmental, human rights and social justice groups called GreenNet (www.gn.apc.org), and then helped start a international network of similar groups called the APC. (www.apc.org). It was a natural for me to use this technology to help sannyasins communicate as well.
What does your name mean?
Satyam Mitra means True Friend or Friend of Truth.
Can you tell us about your love affair with Osho? We are currious how did it happen to you? Where and when? What place does Osho have in your life?
I was a student at Cambridge University, and one day I saw a notice for a meditation class being held by the college chaplain (a chaplain is the priest in a university). The chaplain - an ordained christian priest, was also a sannyasin - Chinmaya. After attending a few of the meditations I got curious and asked him who the guy on his mala was. He invited me to a discourse at his house. Osho spoke to much that were questions for me at the time as I was challenging the assumptions that my parents - and most of the other students - held. The next summer I bought a ticket to Pune-1. But before I could fly, Osho left Pune so I spent the summer touring european communes, and took sannyas at a little ashram in France. That summer also introduced me to community living, and I've lived in communes and communities, mostly Osho ones, ever since.
Where are you originally from?
I'm originally from England, although I lived for many years in Marin County (near San Francisco) and now live in Byron Bay.
Are you a hard working man? You are freelance consultant, aren't you?
When I'm working for money, I work far too much, and when I'm not being paid, then usually I'm involved in some voluntary work, for example helping local environmental groups with their web sites. I'm learning to create balance between working and playing, between heart and mind.
How do you bring meditation in your daily life? Is it easy or difficult for you to do intellectual work with the quality of meditation? Do you have some special technique?
I don't have any special technique, although I live in an Osho community, it is five minutes from the beach, so the ocean is my main tool of meditation, there is something about the noise of the waves, and the beauty of the ocean that has, since I was a little kid growing up in a seaside town, taken me into those inner spaces.
How do you see the potential of the internet for the sannyas world?
The internet gives us the potential to reach out to each other independently of both the mainstream, and of any official party-line. It allows us to publicise what we are doing, and to share ideas and grow. It gives the potential for many different flowers to bloom.
Many people in the world enter the cyberspace. Can you give some advice for internet beginners?
Just to explore, and not to be afraid to reach out, I'd also advice people to do a lot more listening and a lot less speaking !
What is the difference between alive communication and communication through internet according to your experience?
There are huge differences, when I'm physically present with someone I can feel what is beyond the words, the things unsaid, that is missing in Email. But .... email lets me communicate with people in other locations, and other time-zones.
What do you think about open communication and open sharing on the net? How much open is good? Do you like totally open discussion or some limitations are needed? Which kind of limitations are reasonable for you?
Of course, the net is also a place where much junk will also be publicised and shared, but I believe one of the strongest tools Osho gave us was the ability to look inside and feel whether idea touches our core or is just appealing to our conditioning. One problem with the net is that some people with over-inflated egos like to dominate the conversation, in the "real" world, we would move away from these people, join other tables at the cafe, ignore them, but that is hard in the online world. I think, that if we are intelligent, just as we have the range of therapies from the Humaniversity to Vipassana, we will have places where anything can be said, in any manner, and places where more respect, love and restraint is shown. Personally I like places online where people can share the most controversial subjects, but can do so in a way that shows the love and compassion that I hope we've learned from Osho.
Do you cooperate somehow with osho.com team?
I used to, sannyas.net existed long before osho.com, and when Amrito was setting up osho.com he called a lot for advice. Originally Osho.com wanted to keep to Osho's words, and publicity for the Pune Ashram. The idea was that everything on osho.com was in some way official and authentic, and anything uncontrolled would be on sannyas.net or elsewhere. But the Inner Circle got very upset when the freedom of the message boards on sannyas.net meant that opinions were expressed that were not all 100% supportive of the decisions made at the ashram. I was blamed for not censoring people's opinions and for keeping sannyas.net as a neutral space that did not take sides in the battle between Osho World Delhi and the Ashram and was open for anyone to express an opinion. I removed the message boards because my name was being associated in the press, with statements on the boards as if they were statements that I agreed with. Of course, given the ease of publishing on the internet, replacements immediately popped up other places like osho-beyond-bondage, but there has been no cooperation since that time.
In which communes did you live? And where do you live now?
I lived at Medina in England in the early '80s, also spent quite a few months at the Ranch. Since then I've lived in smaller communities until I moved to Australia, where I lived at first in Mevlana, and now at Gondwana.
Do you want to share something? Something what is important or not important at all for you right now?
Thanks, but I don't have anything particular to share, just best wishes for everyone in these times of troubles.
Thank you Mitra
Space for sharing
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amano: | Oct 31, 2001 |
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jos: Webdevelopment & living in a commune... | Nov 13, 2001 |
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Katha: I know you are not boring.... | Nov 15, 2001 |
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srikanth: NoPay/Annum Job Vacancy | Apr 16, 2002 |
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Dieter @ how else: you | Jan 9, 2003 |
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Nishkam: RE:Webdevelopment & living in a commune... | Nov 15, 2001 |
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Amrti Satyo: RE:RE:Webdevelopment & living in a commune... | Apr 13, 2003 |
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wer: RE:you | Jan 9, 2003 |
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