"Selling air" - A tribute to Leonard Orr

 

A tribute to Leonard Orr.

I have already given a lot of tribute to Leonard in my blog posts: On the Path of Breath and On the Death of the Immortal. In this article I will only add a few more personal stories and a few previously unpublished pictures of Leonard and his family. They are all from the summer of 1986, when I had a chance to visit with the Orrs in California.

After I spent a couple of weeks on the East Coast (NY, Boston), Leonard invited me to come to California and generously paid for my ticket to Reno, NV. At the time, he was touring a few states offering Rebirthing seminars. He asked me to take his Pontiac station wagon and join him in Idaho. I have never driven a car like this, in America (!), so in itself this was quite a thrill. I loved this car, which allowed me to see the most beautiful parts of America, and which often served as my shelter (I slept in it when travelling).

I believe I joined with the Orrs near Boise, ID. Leonard travelled with his family in this impressive motorhome, only renting motel rooms to take a shower.

Leonard Orr with his daughter, Spirit, in 1986.

I helped him with the workshop he was giving near some hot springs. (I noticed during our subsequent travels that, whenever possible, Leonard tried to have his overnight stays near hot springs and there were plenty of them in the Western USA). Leonard loved doing workshops in such natural settings. The first day of the workshop he spent over $100 of his own money in the local hardware store, buying all kinds of pipes, connectors, etc. The purpose was to harvest the hot water into a series of small pools, where the hot water mixed with the cold water of the creek. All of us had a lot of fun with this project and it was also a fine form of Karma Yoga.

Leonard with his wife, Katarzyna, and daughter, Spirit, in 1986.

I believe this was the first time I could observe Leonard in his role as a husband and father. He played these roles with his natural charm. It was still a good time in his life – Leonard was “full of energy and enthusiastic about life!” He skillfully balanced time with his family with the necessity of providing for this family. And he had two wonderful beings to take care of. His seminars were well attended. Nothing seemed impossible for him! They all seemed very happy!

Katarzyna and Spirit, 1986.

It was only in Campbell Hot Springs (CHS), Leonard's home and most prized possession in California, that I noticed some tension. It became apparent at some point that taking care of a 10K mortgage every month was quite a burden for Leonard. He was looking for different ways of easing that burden. Perhaps because he insisted on being a sole owner, he didn’t seem to receive enough support from the Rebirthing community. A few of years later, he made a deal with some church that no one could understand, which eventually led to the loss of the best center Rebirthing ever had.

Still, in 1986, Campbell Hot Springs was a place of bliss. Besides regular residents, there were about 30 people from all over the world staying there. We took baths in the tubs set in the middle of the forest. We spent lot of time with the fire. Maintaining that fire was my favorite duty. We practiced wet and dry rebirthing sessions and all kinds of Karma Yoga. It was surely a place to be happy.

Central fire spot in CHS, 1986. Sitting Yashu Deschanes. 

However, Leonard had to work, so typically, after a few days of rest, he would hit the road to do another seminar. I accompanied him to most of these seminars – in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Hopiland, Phoenix, etc.

During my stay in CHS, Leonard also organized a trip to India. He invited me to come along and graciously paid for my plane ticket. His wife Katarzyna and myself, both Polish citizens at that time, required visas to India and Germany, so we all went to San Francisco to get visas. This led to the following adventure: I pursued Leonard’s motorhome through the busy downtown streets in the station wagon. Leonard initially was entering intersections on green lights, then on yellow, and toward the end on a couple of red lights. Not quite sure where we were going, I followed him closely, with somewhat trembling hands. Leonard also confidently parked in front of the consulate, where, I believe, parking was not allowed. This all illustrated his basic attitude: “the world belongs to me!”

Leonard and Katarzyna Orr in Babaji's chamber in Haidakhan. Author taking the picture.

In India, we visited Haidakhan and Chilianaula. Though Babaji "left his body" in 1984, one could still feel his energy everywhere. To get to Haidakhan at that time, you had to cross the river on foot a few times. In a sense, we were symbolically washing our feet before putting them on holy land. An incident that also stayed in my mind was that Leonard insisted that our taxi driver take a bath in Gautama Ganga. The fellow initially resisted the idea even though, it was believed that taking a bath in the Ganga assured one’s liberation. But after a few hours on a taxi from New Delhi, we all were a bit “smelly” so Leonard insisted that we all, including the driver, take a bath.

With a group of Americans, we also embarked on a trek in Nepal that year, supposedly trying to find Babaji’s new body. The location was disclosed to Leonard by a psychic. To the disappointment of all, we didn’t find Babaji, but the whole adventure was in itself memorable.

 

Leonard Orr at Shisha Lake, Nepal, 1986.

We bid farewell shortly after reaching Shisha Lake. Being a “young father,” I had to return to my family (my wife was very gracious to me that year and granted me extensive “leave of absence” though my younger son was only a few months old).

Altogether, I consider the summer of 1986 to be “the best time of my life.” Practicing spiritual purification techniques daily – you didn’t have another choice around Leonard – I believe I had the purest body energy in my entire life. I felt “light” and it was a fantastic feeling!

The next time I met Leonard and Katarzyna, was during the seminar I organized for him in Montreal in 1990. What a difference a few years can make. Leonard appeared much older. He seemed confused a couple of times when driving a car. He appeared tense and had lost his sense of humor. He seldom smiled.

It looked to me that he had trapped himself in the whole Physical Immortality notion. When for most of us the signs of ageing are accepted graciously as natural, Leonard, rejecting the idea that he was getting old and might die, had to interpret those signs in some other way. This is when he became preoccupied with the idea of Emotional Energy Pollution. He believed that other people’s energies were making him frail and sick. This notion was only making him more paranoid. He was constantly measuring his waistline as a means of proving his point. He started avoiding people. For instance, he insisted on a change to the schedule that he himself had proposed a couple of months earlier when he realized he would have to meet with the seminar’s participants … after their breathing session!

The seminar was not well attended, and those who attended reported some mixed feelings to me. It looked like Leonard did his best to minimize contact with the participants. It was confusing people – it appeared that Leonard was selling a breathing technique, while considering the effects of this technique to be dangerous for him.

When I saw Leonard the next time, during a short visit to Chico in 1994, the issues I described above seemed only to have deepen. Leonard looked old, moved slowly, appeared confused at times. One of his close associates shared with me that they were all quite concerned about Leonard. He appeared more chaotic in his actions (he reportedly missed one seminar entirely), reckless in handling his finances (e.g. buying a horse while not having the means to provide for it), and often seemed quite irrational. He was charging his closest associates and their spouses seminar fees, which was, more or less, a sign of financial desperation. All in all, he was no longer fun to be around.

This was also taking a toll on his marriage. Neither Katarzyna nor Leonard seemed happy with each other at that time. I believe they separated shortly thereafter, in 1995 or 1996.

In spite of all the setbacks at that stage of his life (the failure of his marriage, the loss of Campbell Hot Springs), Leonard managed to function for almost another 25 years.  He formed two new relationships, of which the second one, with Elvi, appeared to have worked quite well for him. I believe this functioning was the result of love of all the people around him, who were willing to support him in his gradual decline.

So what is Leonard Orr’s legacy? What things are worth preserving and what could be discarded? I don’t know if I have answers to these questions. It would be easier for me to write what I liked and admired about Leonard, and what were his characteristics I was less fond of.

What I liked about Leonard:

·       Leonard was a thinker who thought “big thoughts.” Although I found his political or economic views to be rather simplistic, he was definitely generating “big ideas,” such as Physical Immortality, or was concerned with global problems, such as overpopulation, degradation of the environment, economical inequalities, etc.
·         Leonard had a gift of perception – he often noticed interesting things that were “under the radar” of the rest of us. He noticed the great potential of a simple breathing method, which, it appears, he discovered by chance, and built his career around it.
·         Leonard was a courageous thinker, not afraid of thinking and sharing ideas that were contradicting popular mores. He saw paradoxes and was, for the most part, able to express them with wit and a sense of humor.
·         Leonard was a “self-made” person, with a talent for “making” money rather than earning money. One could describe him as a “charming bullshitter” capable of selling anything to anyone with a big smile on his face. As Leonard himself said, laughingly, he has become a millionaire by ... “selling air!”
·         Leonard had a tremendous sense of “personal power” – he believed he “deserved it all” – money, success, love, fame, immortality and he was very assertive in pursuing his goals. He even considered becoming the President of the United States!
·         Leonard had a “sense of mission” – he believed it was his duty to give “the gift of breath” (Rebirthing) to everyone all over the world and to teach people the art of spiritual purification.
·         When it comes to spiritual purification techniques, he practiced what he preached. His energy was pure and, for the most part, he was pleasant to be around.
·         Leonard was a generous person (to me, for sure).
·         Leonard had a great love for Haidakhan Babaji and a sense of Babaji’s presence around him.
·         Leonard was a very tolerant, open minded person. I have never seen him have a problem with people of different races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, and so on. He might have had a slight preference toward younger women! 😊

What I didn’t like about Leonard?

·                    His ego defenses, triggered when things were no longer working so smoothly for him – self-centeredness, paranoia, social withdrawal, tension, etc.
·         His irrationalities – some conspiracy and end-of-world theories, relying on psychics for some decision making, acting on impulse, etc. 
·         His sense of superiority and entitlement
·         His attachment to some capitalistic values, such as being the sole owner of the Campbell Hot Springs (CHS)

It appears from these two lists that, as with other unusual people, Leonard was a complicated person.

I would like to finish this tribute on a positive note. There were so many beautiful and rewarding moments I had spent with him that it is hard to choose just one. Like that moment when he was so pleased that I started my own fire without waiting for any prompt from him. Or, when seeing me hesitate to offer Rebirthing to someone for free, how he reassured me by saying (with a smile): “Babaji will pay you later!” Or, when realizing I had nowhere to sleep in CHS, how he offered me his personal dome, the place he used to retreat and purify himself. Or, how when checking if I am properly equipped for my first Vision Quest in CHS, with great enthusiasm in his eyes, he told me I could burn as much of the fallen wood as I wanted!

So, we still “have our poor” – millions of people who could benefit from Rebirthing-Breathwork and spiritual purification – but we no longer have Leonard! I hope that this tribute will help to preserve the memory of him and show Leonard how he really was!

Om Leonard Orr Jay Leonard Orr!

In Truth, Simplicity and Love, Piotr Rajski-Pritam.

Leonard kissing his wife 108 times under the statue of Hanuman near Haidakhan in 1986.