I don’t see myself as a victim at all. I see myself as a winner and a learner: Ma Anand Sheela

BW Businessworld in association with Humans for Humanity and Sipping Thoughts organised BW Dialogue with Ma Anand Sheela on Thursday (31 October) in New Delhi.

“Ma Anand Sheela is a traveller not literally, but because she has travelled through a lot of emotions and has an authentic journey,” said Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld, introducing her to the room full of eager listeners, some of whom had travelled from various parts of the country just to catch a glimpse of her.

It took her 34 years to come back to India because she was trying to get back on her feet after much turbulence in her life. She did not want to see her parents in pain because of her misery therefore, stayed away.

The engaging conversation had the audience wanting to know more about this intriguing personality.

Here are the excerpts from the chat:

When asked about whether she sees herself as a victim or a warrior, she stated, “ I don’t see myself as a victim at all. I see myself as a winner and a learner. I have been learning all through life and this learning has brought winning.”

This lady with immense inner strength seeks no validations, when asked about the mantra behind her fearless attitude she said, “I don’t require validation because I never saw my parents doing it and am simply copying that. You require validation because you have expectation.”

She firmly believes that one should never compromise their integrity for anything and should always remain true to oneself. “Examination of your own inner self is respecting yourself. You can do it through introspection. You have to be ruthlessly honest with yourself and accept your reality without blaming others. And that is what I have done which makes me so positive.”

In regard to the recent attention she has been receiving she said, “life has been wonderful to me. Life offered me an opportunity to love and be with a man like Bhagwan, and then also to walk away from him. I believe once someone takes your love for them as your weakness, it is time to move on and I moved on.”

“Life offered me a possibility to be in prison for 39 months and learn from it. I learned from prison the importance of time and patience. In prison one’s perspective of time changes and you are available for others. 39 months in a prison takes a lot of patience.”

Speaking of Gurus she said, “When you place your expectations on others, be certain that you will be disappointed. With your expectations, you take the freedom away from others to be themselves. I went to Bhagwan because I fell in love with him. I did not want to become spiritual or enlightened, I was just a young girl living her life, exploring and experimenting like any other young person.”

About her attraction to Bhagwan, she said, “his oratory skills were flawless, his vision of creating this international community was incredible, his ability to bring together people from various communities and backgrounds was remarkable.”

During the conversation she mentioned that she tried to correct him when she found out he was misusing drugs. “Bhagwan was trying to create controversy. Due to high doses of medicines, the logical part of his mind had stopped working. Addiction had affected his sense of balance.”

When asked if she was spiritual she stated that she has no definition of spirituality. “I am as not spiritual at all. I love parties. I feel happy in my own company and in my own space.”