Fritha

    [Previous to the below, Fritha writes that she had spent many years as friends with various sannyasins]
    Two years ago while walking a labyrinth at the base of Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire on the Spring Equinox, Osho "came" to me. He spoke to me in an audible voice for what seemed a long time. I had never expected such a thing to happen, nor had I requested it. I was simply seeking guidance for my life at a powerful time of the year. Even so, I was not surprised by Osho's "visit." The event seemed very matter-of-fact to me at the time. Osho spoke to me about my relationship to Him and my place in the sannyas community. He also told me why I had not been on the Ranch or in Pune. It was a deeply personal communication. When it was over He asked if I wanted anything from Him. I said, "Yes, please give me a new name." "You will be called Fritha," he told me. You need a lighter name (my given name was Elizabeth) with which to go forward into the new millennium." Then He was gone. 
    I shook myself soundly and spent the next thre days wondering if I had been hallucinating. But clearly I hadn't. I had a new name that I loved, a name that felt just right, even though I had no idea what it meant. I later researched the meaning of "Fritha" and discovered that it means "Strong Peace." 
    After Osho's visitation I decided to take sannyas. How could I not? I did so at Bravo America [a sannyasin music tour] in New York one and a half years ago. In ecstasy I was formally given the name Ma Nirava Fritha, Silent Strong Peace.

(excerpted from her story in the Viha Connection of May/June 2001)