October in Amonines

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Asharum Amonines and the theme of manifestation in October

 

Manifesting an Ayurvedic kitchen

At the beginning of October the Asharum was rented out for a yoga workshop. As residents we had contact with the yoga teacher, but we had nothing to do with the students. Being only present as staff was an interesting experience. It also gave a new perspective on how the meditation room can be used…

 

During these days the emphasis for us was on cuisine. The challenge to cook all the meals completely in accordance with the Ayurvedic principles was taken up with care. This way of cooking appeared to have a beneficial effect on our own health as well. As a result, the ‘Kitcherie’ recipe has currently become a regular part on our menu.

 

Manifestation in dynamic movement

Followed by a second letting out to the Qigong workshop, the Asharum's own yoga workshop and the Weekend of Silence, October was a month of one event after another, with weeks of a fully booked house. The atmosphere was good, the weather beautiful. Beforehand we were clear on how we wanted things to go and we planned accordingly, we looked ahead and arranged staff. However you cannot foresee all aspects. So when someone fell ill, this might have caused us some concern. But there was no sense of pressure. A feeling of pressure mostly gives a feeling of incompleteness, which feeds anxiety. A feeling of anxiety blocks the view of other possibilities that might be available.

Somehow there just seemed to be trust that things would work out. This allowed us to stay in the moment, which keeps the door open. And the door was open, people stepping in and out, we could feel them already as part of the Asharum and they just manifested themselves in being present at the right moment.

 

Trusting seems to be the key, but from where did this trusting feeling come? So many people are involved to make the Asharum happen. Before we have a meal already food has been produced. It has been bought and prepared. A car has been used for us to go and buy it. A website has been maintained so that people can find us. To be aware of all this makes us realise how we are part of a web of interconnectedness. Realising that we are part of this web helps to arrive at a feeling of trust. And then life, through us, is taking care of itself.

 

Embraced by silence

One of the events in October was the Weekend of Silence. Here follows how one of the participants experienced it.

In everyday life silence mainly means the absence of sound. So then it sounds like a breath of fresh air to take part in an Asha Silence Meditation Weekend, to spend Friday evening to Sunday morning in complete silence and thus especially in complete tranquillity in Asharum Amonines. No talking for a while, no giving opinions, no small talk. Remaining silent for hours on end. The Asha Silence Meditation retreat goes even one step further. Because in such a retreat, silence is also the absence of sign language, of significant head movements or the search for eye contact to communicate ‘good morning’ to the people around you - who in turn also seek silence. Staying fully and only with yourself is the motto. And so the smartphone with apps, mails, music and games can be switched off. Even reading books may be omitted for a while, except for the texts of Yoginâm, because these are a guide to finding your way to silence. Gradually, after hours of quiet silence, interspersed with Asha meditations, it seems as if the silence lovingly closes around you and embraces you. Like a space, a space where you are allowed to be, where you are welcome, a space of silence that thus becomes a state of Being. Of well-Being. Experiencing silence is, at first sight, a strictly private experience. But sharing silence is something you do with each other, and remarkably, you can sense how warmth and love grows, even between people who have met for the first time in what for some is a very new setting.

 

It seems quite striking that many young people also managed to find their way to this retreat. Apparently these so-called ‘digital natives’ feel strongly drawn to this formula of seeking silence. While it can certainly be difficult for them to abandon that self-evident gesture of checking their phone. Still, they rise to the challenge.

Silence is not that popular, especially not in this time. The things people come up with to break the silence! At first glance, choosing silence is choosing a difficult path. At the same time, or perhaps for this very reason, silence also commands respect. It sometimes seems like a form of martial art, a form of noble martial art, to not speak where everyone else is talking and watch the squabbling without comment but in gentle silence.

The silent hours fly by, the weekend is over before you know it. ‘Good that this place is here,’ says another participant as he says goodbye, looking at the Asharum, the garden, the forest in the background. And that really says it all.

Marjolein, participant of the Weekend of Silence

September in Amonines

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Solving inside that which manifests outside

The last newsletter ended with the beautiful review on the blog about Marjolein’s experience of the 5-day intensive Meaningful Living. Reading Marjolein’s text one gets a feeling of a continuous movement of expansion and coming back to the middle as the participants try to fathom the statement ‘Attunement in affirmation is the meaning of human living’.

 

 

So many participants, so many worlds, ideas, experiences and reflections. For this moment we want to take up one idea that came up about conflicts, as one of the participants realised that when she deals with a conflict, she deals with the conflict within herself. Remembering Yoginâm saying that we ourselves are a community with all the different voices, views, interests, opinions, emotions and considerations, it might be interesting to look at a community as an example of how to deal with inner conflicts.

Living in a community means taking care of each other and letting the other be at the same time. Respecting the other and yourself, with the qualities and pitfalls alike. This is not always easy and sometimes conflicts arise. We should be aware that they do not happen for nothing and that in order to function well, we need to overcome them. So we learn that we must stand together, and not opposite each other. At the same time serving the community is one of the tools to do this, both as a form of meditation and because the common purpose transcends the personal, in which we can find each other again.

The dynamics of community living show that you have a choice. To use the often used example of the drop and the ocean, one can set oneself apart as a drop in the ocean or one can be aware that everyone of us is the ocean. For the drop to change its perspective it needs to be attuned and willing to drop the ‘drop-ness’. How does one let go of one’s programmes and trigger-points that sabotage beautiful intentions and make one give up?

 

 

There is no easy answer to that, but we can point to Living Nâm where Yoginâm provides us with a fundamentally different way of thinking, which has its basis in a phenomenological approach. With his texts and talks Yoginâm constantly encourages us to take nothing for granted, to keep on asking questions and go back to the essence by asking ‘where did this originate? This approach may bring one to perceive the illusion of one’s being a drop, which is often the source of the conflict. It may give the sensation of hearing or seeing things for the first time, which keeps the door open for wonder instead of feeling unconcerned or becoming nonchalant. It becomes possible to see what is happening from a wider perspective. And on another level, it can be imagined as a way to stay alert and stalk one’s own sabotaging programmes. To stop being controlled by detrimental programmes, which define and determine one’s way of seeing things, we need some distance, a space to detach oneself from these programmes, and this opens the door for transformation. This space is created by doing The Breath.

 

The Breath is a sound combination

That carries a certain intensity of resonance

It is not a sound that refers to anything

It is the fullness within itself

Synchronising this sound with breathing

Purifies each physical breath

....

The Breath, once it becomes a focus

In ordinary daily life situations as well as

In moments of contemplation or meditation

Creates an emotional resonance

That supports the gradual replacement

Of detrimental Habitual Programmes of Perception

By Habitual Programmes of Perception that are

Beneficial for gradually strengthening Attunement

The Book of Nâm, Yoginâm

 

It is the affirmation that all the movement and challenges are happening within a wider whole. You áre experience and that living experience is a sharing. Coming back to the phenomenological approach we might ask, who is it that is having conflicting emotions? If the drop and the drop-ness is an illusion and contrary to sharing, which is living, then we might better drop the drop-ness and remember the ocean. Like during the 5-day intensive Meaningful Living where there is room for everyone’s personal account which, at the same time is effortlessly placed within the great story that the group forms together.

 

In living you become from

the ocean a drop

In living too you become from

a drop an ocean

Ocean and drop, drop and ocean

The sameness of water

Fragments of Voice, Yoginâm

 

Course Meaningful Living - A participant speaks

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~ Translated from Dutch into English ~

Garden of Eden

The garden of Asharum Amonines may be compared to the Garden of Eden. All those flowers and plants, those scents, those colours! Insects buzz around sweetly, the water of the fountain sounds like a soft melody. A curious robin wonders from his hiding place in the bushes what those new, as yet unknown people are doing there. A languid cat stretches on the gravel path and understands it very well, he does exactly the same as those people who walk around there: catch your breath, breathe in beauty and love and gather strength for a possible next step.

The red thread

The statement ‘ Attunement in affirmation is the meaning of human living ’, is the guideline for the course. It sounds a bit ambitious, trying to understand the meaning of life in five days. At the same time, what is not possible in five days is probably also not possible in five lives. So you might as well try it. Irma is our guide these five days. Step by step, day by day, meditation to meditation, she takes us to an answer. She does this very patiently, with a quip and a lot of understanding, with room for everyone's personal account, which she effortlessly places in the great story that we form together.

How do we deal with today's events?

As different as the background of us as participants is, it becomes clear that we also struggle with the same questions, each in our own way: how can we live, maybe even survive, these days which are full of incomprehensible developments, terrifying ideas and hair-raising events? Should we accept quietly and endure everything? Democracy is not for fearful people, is a saying. But can we counterbalance, offer an alternative that goes further than stop watching news out of self-protection? How? How to offer an alternative without losing yourself in political disputes and above all: without making the opponent stronger by your resistance? While we bend over the meaning of attuning, of affirmation, of what it is like to be human and we ultimately also contemplate the meaning of meaning, these questions form a common thread throughout the days.

The insights and answers to the issues come, on stockinged feet. With every meditation something changes in us, something that cannot be captured in words. I see my own changes reflected in the other participants. Their faces become softer, their voices firmer, their gaze radiates more strength and conviction by the day.

The answers are within ourselves

Answers are already here waiting for us deep within ourselves. We take first steps to get in touch with what else is there. With All that Is. And try to face that unknown without fear and prejudice. Perhaps spirituality, like democracy, is not for fearful people either.

Our journey can begin by realising that we are more than an ‘ opinion ’, more than the experience we experience. We are introduced to new concepts such as ‘ I-World ’ and Irma explains the phenomenon of resonance on the basis of a simple mathematical figure.

Irma navigates us around the rocks of our convictions. 'Knowing you don't know is quite a lot," she says. It is already a step to accept that there is more and that you cannot understand it. And she radiates an unwavering confidence: ‘ although you are touched by the things around you, your wonder and your love resonate in All that Is. ’ Then the answer to the previous questions also looms, how to deal with today's challenges? She points out that it is not necessarily necessary to have some kind of  'numerical majority ’ to let Love conquer.

Meditation and visualisation

It is a lot and it is big what we are trying to learn. Our ideas and experiences as participants vary widely, but Irma always guides us to a middle with meditation exercises and visualisations, to the place in time and space where the inner and outer world become as one. Symbols also help to get past words. And of course music brings an answer. When we listen to the chant “ The Breath of Heart ’ by Alexander Gustave on Sunday morning, everything that still looked for a place falls into place. Thus, almost unnoticed, the certainty has grown in us that only love is the way, only love can disarm.

Come and experience it too!

Much more happened, the conversations were more comprehensive and the meditations deeper than words can represent. Actually you just have to experience it yourself. And then be quiet.

It is very pleasant to stay at this place in the Ardennes, if only because of that magical garden full of peace and quiet. The food is delicious, the rooms are sparkling clean, the atmosphere is silky soft. Irma, Annebeth, Katelijn and Louise lead the dance unobtrusively, each in their own rhythm and always at the right pace. The Asharum Amonines lives its own promise of love and devotion.

Participant of the course August 2024

 

Find out when a new course starts here

August in Amonines

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Asharum Amonines Journal September

 

Building the new and rebuilding the old

If you look at the cycle of beginnings and endings, birth and death, literally and in terms of energy one sees Nijar and Amonines both mirroring different stadia in this cycle.

A garden bursting into life, new rooms coming into existence, a growing community of people living in Nijar exploring what that means, mirrors the excitement of new beginnings. On the other side Amonines has developed into a stronghold, a place always available to stay with the opportunity to retreat and meditate. A growing group of people feel the comfort to just be without further expectations. Belonging to this part of the cycle there is also decay on the material level, in short a need for renovation and August was the month for it…

 

 

One part of the outer stone wall was falling apart and has been repaired. Our neighbour Guy, who never misses an opportunity to lend a hand on his lawnmower machine, cleared the area in front of the wall.

 

A long standing problem with the leakage destroying the wall of the meditation room has been solved by rerouting the downspout, which will then be connected to the sewer. The wall itself has been newly grouted.

 

Another long-running story was the leakage in the glass extension and the maintenance of the wood to prevent it from being destroyed by the weather. Henny hardly finished repairing the damage when a newly arrived guest joined him who got involved before I could even show him his room. As a professional handyman he was happy to join the maintenance team. A beautiful example of what in Nâm is called Asha. Asha can be seen as a kind of natural regularity, outside of experience, that cannot be known. There is nothing in life that is not Asha, but this situation specifically seems to point to a regularity beyond our comprehension.

 

The wood of the glass extension has a new coat of varnish, the front door has been sanded and painted and the front balcony has been prepared so it just needs a lick of paint.

 

Building the new and rebuilding the old in human relationships

Asharum Amonines is one of the centers expressing community living of Living Nâm. As in all places where people come or live together it is a place where you meet yourself and the other in working together, but the likelihood of themes surfacing in Amonines is considerably higher, since the place invites that. It offers the possibility of mirrors that highlight personal issues. How do you deal with that in Living Nâm and thus in Amonines?

Community living is always an imagined community, but to imagine a community you need something that binds in the imagination and in the expression of it. As I understand it, in the case of Living Nâm one of the things is the understanding that you áre experience and that that living experience is a sharing and not a living that one individually does. One of the instruments and at the same time an expression of being a community is giving service, because it is in this active service that we meet. The fact that you do this service as a way of Attuning is the key to how you deal with each other, when personal issues are being triggered. With Attuning you try to lift the situation above the personal level, not blaming the other for how you feel, left only with the option to take the responsibility for your own feelings and let the occasion reflect back to you what you need to see and possibly transform. This makes a Living Nâm community different from regular communities where you normally converse about a situation expecting the other to take responsibility for his part in your pain.

Truly living the sharing is a constant learning process, because as far as I can see it means there is no escape. Where in other communities there is a selection process of who can come and live there and most of the time a clear definition of the place and role you have, in the Asharum people are brought together not on personal grounds but because in some way they are ready to live in an Asharum, this being Asha. This requires you to build a new relationship with the new person, but it also requires you to rebuild already existing relationships, as no one is being added to the team, it is a creation of a new team.

Another important feature of living in an Asharum is that your place and your role can change daily which makes it difficult to fall back on the security of the tasks that you have. Encountering daily issues, sensitivities, triggers, moods and having no specific place or role to identify with and retreat into, staying available for people visiting the Asharum and for each other sometimes makes the ground disappear from under your feet.

This brings me back where I started, realising that the living experience is not something you do individually, but a sharing in something that cannot be captured in words makes that, through Attunement, the service you give is not in order to gain anything from it, you do it for what is beyond words and is at the same time what you are sharing in, in Living Nâm called Abbah. Personally I might say that every time I remember to Attune the personal dialogue can stop, the weight lifts, hopefully opening my world for the possibility to transform.

For reading about Living Nâm and the instruments available for living in Attunement I happily refer to The Book of Nâm by Yoginâm.

 

Active service during events

Next to helping with renovations there is always the possibility to do active service in Amonines during events. The following dates are available:

Oktober 10-13 - Chi-Kung event

November 3-9 - Nâm Retreat of Silence

November 29 - December 1 - Nâm Weekend of Silence

December 12-15 - The Essence of Meditation

If you are interested please send an e-mail to asharum@amonines.com

 

A preview of next month's newsletter

On the threshold of September, we had the 5-day intensive Meaningful Living. One of the participants wrote a beautiful review, which is already available on this blog.

 

 

Introduction into the Breath as a powerful tool

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~ A text by Irma ten Brink - inspired by Yoginâm ~

Do you wonder?

An introduction into the Breath

You may have read or heard it somewhere….someone talking about ‘the Breath’.

If you wonder what this is about, and how this is more than ‘breathing in and breathing out’ which is of course a natural part of it, then this blog article is meant for you.

It is quite impossible to directly tell you what the Breath is. Therefore I need to talk around it.

First of all, for those trying to live in Nâm, the Breath is our most important instrument. Just consider, if you agree on spirituality to be nothing more than living your natural state, how then can the tools to help you find and live your natural state be complicated?

The Breath is a tool of utmost simplicity.

The quality of the Breath, because it is infused by Awareness, is of a complete other reality; beyond words, beyond grasping and beyond understanding.

Breathing is so natural that we often don’t notice we are doing it. Or is it something that happens to us? Or are we a happening altogether which includes this breathing? We can do things with it, manipulate it but ultimately and definitely life as we no it stops when the breathing stops. Food for thought perhaps. And when you contemplate this, then consider as well that the breathing connects us all, we all breathe the same air! It is not for nothing that in many traditions breathing exercises or focussing on breathing is such an important instrument.

As for ‘the Breath’ it may be good to realise that it is small and big at the same time. Small in its simplicity, big in its transcendency. Close in its intimacy, wide in its infinity.

Why use the Breath?

Because the Breath of Yoginâm is given in his name and received in a specific manner it is not of Experience, it is of Awareness (read more about how these terms are used in  the book SIWEB). Without being able to explain what this means, it may help to realise it is and will not become ‘you’ in the narrow sense of the word, meaning it is not part of your habitual self, not part of your programmes. That is where the power of the Breath lies.

The power of doing the Breath makes your attunement in Awareness becomes so strong that your life will gradually free itself from your disturbing programmes. The experience of living will go beyond your habitual self. You may for example experience life living through you or life guiding you. A profound meaning will enter your life in all circumstances.

An important shift in attention ...

Your attention will first of all move from an I-oriented person to an I-World oriented person who realises I and World are intertwined and sharing in a Whole. And with that realisation you will start living accordingly in a very natural and even effortless way.

The Breath is very simple, all you have to do is bring back your focus to the received sounds connected to your breathing. Of course simple is not always easy. You will soon notice when trying how quickly your attention is distracted.

But that is oké, you just try to find and bring back your attention to the Breath. It is the practice of coming back to the Breath that counts more than the losing of your attention.

And with everything else, it just takes practice and consistency. But if you manage this practice and consistency you will find in the Breath your very best friend, a companion for life!

You will notice, in moments of relaxation, the Breath will be accompanying you. When you drive your car, the Breath is there, when you clean your house, the Breath is there. And yes, when life challenges you and presents difficulties that may be hard to digest, the Breath will be there!

However, when struggle hits you with a returning inner dialogue with negative thoughts, triggered by a disturbing programme which we all have, you may need to be strict on yourself in choosing for the Breath. Because negative emotions can pull us hard. But if you practised the Breath often enough in easier days you will find in the Breath your saviour, for it has the power to help you overcome the difficulty, it helps you transform what needs to be transformed.

... ánd an important shift in identification!

In a spiritual endeavour and in fulfilling your task of life the Breath becomes a powerful tool. Not because of some magical trick but simply because it can help you make the shift in identification.

Transforming our daily life events in which we share with our habitual programmes is an ongoing task in life and we are equipped for that naturally. The Breath supports this natural skill and helps to keep our focus and stay attuned to what we are beyond our habitual programmes, Awareness.

In other words, by bringing our attention back to the Breath every time a negative thought comes up or disturbing emotions, instead of pushing them away you shift your attention, this is an act of letting go. And because the Breath is infused with Awareness (which is beyond Experience) in this proces of letting go emotions become transformed and you attune yourself.

This makes the Breath into a tool that shifts our identification with the daily perception of Experience to a wider identification in Awareness, something that happens rather gradually and in this process disturbing programmes are transformed. This shift is what the real mystics like Rumi has appointed as 'the life's task of man'.

Therefore the Breath is the most simple and natural instrument and yet very profound and powerful. A true pearl amongst all instruments that may support a spiritual endeavour.

Do want to make use of this instrument in your daily life as well?

The Breath can be received upon request, please feel free to ask for more information.

Please contact us for questions and if you are interested in receiving the Breath.

August in Amonines

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Asharum Amonines Journal July

An extended Retreat

During an extended period of three weeks in July Anna became a much appreciated part of our life in Asharum Amonines. Quietly fitting into the picture as if she had always been there. Anna gently communicated her need to come for a longer period to retreat and reflect, asking us if this was possible. Anna is a garden architect and despite her need to leave her daily life behind, she seemed seduced by the garden, working with the plants and bushes, creating different shapes in the full acknowledgement of Louise’s adagio of Live and let live.

A true artist in the garden as well as on paper….

 

A quiet invasion

Nowhere do you find as many scouts as in Belgium, where this is a real lifestyle. The groups walk or cycle a certain amount of kilometers, taking everything the way it comes and trusting they will find a place to sleep that night. We are used to scout groups knocking on our door asking if they can spend the night in the Asharum. If the situation allows, we let them sleep in the living room. This time, however, we were somewhat overwhelmed when we heard that the group in question consisted of forty scouts. They were cycling from Leuven to Gouvy, a trip of 150 kilometers in three days. We did not want to send them away. The bigger the group the more obvious it becomes how quiet they are. They ate and watched an important football game in the car park. When they went to sleep we peeked around the door and realised that they were lying there in the living room like sardines in a tin almost on top of each other. It was an endearing sight.

 

 

In The Kitchen

 

The essence of meditation

An insight view into the experience of a participant in this three-day course

At a crossroads

A lot of people do meditation, why would that be? And is it more than listening to a story and paying attention to your breath? And if so, what is it then? And would it be something for me? With these questions, I signed up for the three days course 'The essence of meditation' at Belgium's Asharum Amonines.

I arrive there on Thursday afternoon, along with dog Brody, who is fortunately allowed to come along. Asharum turns out to be located in a beautiful, three-hundred-year-old house. Not somewhere far away and out of the way, but literally at a crossroads in a small village of well-kept houses by the river Aisne. A couple of women are working in the garden and welcome me. I meet Irma, who will let me experience so much that is new in the coming days. But first she shows me the room where I will stay and makes tea. In the introductory conversation, we soon go into depth. A promising start...

There are other guests, but no one interferes. This feels strange and uncomfortable, as one is used to getting acquainted and tuning in to the people around one. "Who are you, what do you do, where are you from?" are questions that are not asked here. And that actually turns out to be very pleasant, we let each other be. At 6 o'clock I join the first Asha meditation and I find out a bit of what's going on. Gradually I learn that the blanket is not for sitting on, but that there are mats for that. And that the cushion you sit on during meditation is not in the middle but on the edge of the mat. That way, on the mat, there is room for your legs, feet and ankles.

And so start three days of new experiences. Where you can enjoy the craftsmanship of, say, a carpenter or an artist, the same goes for 'the meditation game'. Irma takes me through various forms of meditation, with humour and enormous calm and introduces me to new ways of looking at the world, my surroundings and myself. The Asharum is literally at a crossroads and also turns out to be figuratively at a crossroads where you can go in different directions. In and around the house, there are many pleasant places to reflect on all these experiences and literally dwell on what is happening to you.

After a few days, I notice that I feel energised, because of the meditations, the peace and the delicious food. I am welcome here and so is Brody with whom I explore the beautiful surroundings. My questions have been answered: meditation turns out to be much more than conscious breathing and it is definitely for me. Fortunately, I may come back to the people of Asharum Amonines.

 

Taking part in Asha meditations online

From September 4 you can join live Asha meditation broadcast from the Asharum. On Wednesdays at 6 pm and on Sunday at 10 am we broadcast through Zoom. The practical details are on a page protected with a password. Would you like to join the meditation? Please fill out the contact form on our website and you will receive the password. You can find the contact form here.

 

Resting

We are pleasantly surprised with our returning visitors this summer:

May in Amonines

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Asharum Amonines Journal April

 

Renewal

There was a lot of renewal this month. Renewal in the sense of clearing out the old so that life can blossom, as the blossoms and greenery around us show so abundantly.

With several major gardening projects on our list, a real team is now starting to form. Top of the list for this month was creating a healthy pond environment. If you want to achieve this, the presence of ducks in the water is the first thing to avoid, as they bring parasites and their droppings pollute the water. To clean the pond, we had hired a special hoover, but it turned out to work only for aquatic plants and dead leaves. Although still a bit cold, the only way to achieve our goal was with our bare hands, or actually the bare hands of Roelof.

 

 

The presence of ducks in the garden brings something special, but we had to think of something to prevent them from entering the water. We stretched a net over the pond, of which the structure got better and better as the protesting ducks persisted.

 

With these changes we see the ducks less often. On one of their last visits they witnessed how one of the branches from the cherry, heavy from the cherry blossom, could not withstand the wind and broke off.

 

The next thing that presented itself was the drainpipe, of which the part that went underground was clogged. Fortunately, this could be quickly fixed, preventing the water from the washing machine to run into the garden.

 

 

Opening for the essence

As everything was taken care of, the flow of people continued. They worked in the garden, came to enjoy a course or immersed themselves in meditation and silence during the Weekend of Silence and the Nâm Retreat to open to a wider essence.

After such a retreat you might find small attentive notes like this one:

 

A new perspective: 5-day intensive - Meaningful Living

This month Irma gave the course 5-day intensive - Meaningful Living (before: ‘The Reflection Week’). Participants clearly blossomed during the course and Irma was enthusiastic about their questions and the progress of the course, therefore we like to share a little of that experience with you. In Irma’s words:

 

Looking back on a wonderful 5-day Intensive   Meaningful Living Together with a very enthusiastic duo we explored SIWEB from just one angle. Within a clear structure we used different ways of exploring like imagination, reflection, contemplation, meditation and talking moments.

The two participants entered with no expectations of what was coming, their backgrounds were interestingly different, one being Belgium and the other Indian.

The topics of the intensive led to very serieus questions with a lot of free and open space to explore and wonder.

Cultural differences   Because we had two completely different cultures coming together very different questions came up which showed how relative everything is and how much we take for granted as ‘normal’ or quickly conclude ‘that is how it is’.

For example; “Why do people go to someone, like a psychiatrist, to talk to? My wife does so and all of her family, I cannot understand how that works”. And “what is a depression? You have a postnatal depression, a prenatal depression a vital depression…. these words just do not exist where I come from. When a woman is pregnant and after giving birth she is surrounded by all the people of the village and she and the baby are naturally taken care of, such problems don’t occur or probably (he concluded) if they start to occur they are taken care of naturally in a very early stage of developing so it cannot evolve into something problematic”.

“And if you want to be in a community here in the West you have to arrange that (and it can even be considered strange). While in my language the whole word ‘community’ does not exist! Because there is no other way of living than living in a community”.

What am I?!   The topics, which do invite you seriously to start thinking ‘out of the box’ caused some excitement at moments and there was a lot of laughter

And while the intensive was nearing its end the excitement was growing: “…but then, what really is the I?!” Where is it ? If my body is not my I, my mind is not, my feelings are not….,then where is the I, what is the I…!? Is it all of us? Is it in that in what we share, is it everywhere?” And just to go on…”what happens then when we die? Where does the I go or….what goes on, something goes on, no? What happens then? And if the I is All, what happens then with that?!”

Interesting questions and luckily in the beginning they where warned about going home with more questions than answers!

What could be the task of living?   “Now looking back at what we have been doing these last days, what could be the meaning and the task of human living?” was the question on the last day. Again the answer was answered with another question she thought was more interesting “Who is the one giving the task in the first place?!” Or differently put: “Where does the task come from?”

Conclusion….anyone some last questions before we round off?   Once the programme was finished and there was some open space still for questions they wanted to ponder on the idea of this ‘I’ and where or what it was. The serieus life question “What am I” became the highlight of the week.

We already knew that scientifically in the body the I was never found. So the answer to this question had to be searched for elsewhere. For this we watched this wonderful little promo film in search for answers. And in this film we noticed Yoginâm rather speaks about a ‘sense of I’ and a ‘sense of World’. Perhaps this is done with the very reason that perhaps indeed, there is no I in an absolute sense? There are only identifications with ideas and a feeling of some kind of reality that is supposed to be true? The questions upon questions are inviting to explore more of this topic. Therefore all there is more to say is….to be continued…..

This is what the participants wrote:

 

It made my heart skip a beat, the talks and exercises have awakened a deep sense of warmth, joy, connectivity and a childish curiosity - To think of ‘I’ in a different perspective.

 

The laughing & openness during the sessions, the food!! - That ‘I’, which was quite important and big is actually just a dot in this never ending universe.

 

The silence and living in a rhythm, that all I have to do is living life in a simple way. I have to keep it simple - I take Humbleness with me.

 

Did you know that..?

There is a new resident in Asharum Amonines! We are very happy that Annebeth has come to join our team.

 

A poem on dying

/in , /by

A poem on dying

~ A text by Irma ten Brink inspired by the work of Yoginâm ~

July 21, 2023

Death and Life
It is one and the same
I knew this, for I saw it with my waking eyes already many years ago
Death and Life
One and the same
But life is lived in such a way
That we tend to forget this wisdom
We are forgetful beings
Sometimes, only little moments, we may catch a glimpse
A glimpse of Death and Life
as one and the same
It are these moments that are most precious to me
What a joy was it to know with an absolute certainty
That my dear friend was going home
Stepping over, just a very small step it seamed,
to the other side
A home where time changes into timelessness
Where an illusional difference between Death and Life disappears
‘Search for me there, on the other side’ was the message of his Beloved
And he searched until he found Him!
No sorrow, no pain.
All I want is to celebrate!
What a joy it is, to know our dear friend is back home!
Stervensbegeleiding

The Essence of Letting Go

/in , /by

The Essence of Letting Go

~ A text by Yoginâm ~

 

Many people believe that life is about acquiring something

Acquiring knowledge or acquiring possessions

Even about acquiring age, we celebrate our birthdays

As if we have acquired another year

There are many cultures in which age is unimportant

And birthdays are totally ignored

Acquisition is very different from need

A human culture that is based on need

Would be a very different culture

It would not know the manipulation of greed

That is so characteristic to the Western culture

Living is all we have and as such living is important

But ultimately living will come to an end

And everything will stop in a most drastic manner

It is inevitable, it is the only thing you can really be sure of

The question is: are you prepared?

All spiritual endeavour is ultimately rooted

In dealing with the temporariness of life

In this sense people have discovered

Ultimate values that lie beyond that

To which one feels naturally attracted to in living

In a derived sense such ultimate values psychologically

Contribute greatly to the emergence of enviable states

Such as inner tranquility, contentment and Well Being

A drive for acquisition that is considered to be common

In Western society is a bad preparation for death

Death is not about getting something it is about letting go

When the Sufis advice you to learn to die before you die

They are in fact saying: learn how to let go

Before you are forced to let go

Which, when you are ill prepared could be problematic

Learning how to let go has a double advantage

It constitutes a good preparation for the unavoidable end to living

While at the same time it generates

Tranquility, contentment and Well Being in living

Something that cannot be achieved in acquisition

Because the drive for satisfaction in acquisition

Always involves a degree of dissatisfaction

And a lust for ever more

Because people are usually trained to hold opposite ideas

Letting go is generally not well understood

People often associate it with asceticism

Or with an uncaring, lethargic attitude to life

And with a disinterest in the aspects of living

Such ideas are indeed unnatural and often a trap

Because life is all that you are and it is in life that you live

Letting go is something entirely different

Letting go implies to stop relating to life

As something that is of your own

Of course you are the only centre of your universe of experience

And in living you are your universe of experience

Life however is more than experience

Your state of living is an integral whole within a whole

About which proportions and qualities we can have no idea

The letting go that I speak about refers to this whole

It is not restricted to how you deal with the world

Which for instance is the basis of the ascetic attitude to life

Letting go is not something that you do

It is different from trying to overcome your attachments

Letting go refers to you as the universe and the universe as you

Letting go is the ultimately refined expression of

What starts with the effort to overcoming ego attachments

In Letting Go you both flow in development and you contribute to it

In Letting Go everything always goes right

Because in Letting Go you listen first to the flow

In Letting Go the idea of going against the flow does not arise

When things go all right you are in the flow

When things start to go wrong you a diverting from the flow

These are the rights and wrongs of the flow

And not necessarily those of what you like and dislike

Or those of what you consider as important or not

Holding on to likes, dislikes, opinions and beliefs

Is usually an expression of attachment

Letting Go is not fatalistic in any way

It does not mean that you have to give up

Whenever you meet resistance

Your resistance may be part of the flow

While it may also be against the flow

Only open and non-attached listening

May provide an indication

Letting Go can only emerge when it is rooted in Trust

Without Trust there cannot be a Letting Go

There is horizontal trust and vertical trust

Horizontal trust is conditional

It is about who or what you can trust and who or what not

Vertical trust is unconditional

Vertical trust refers to Life in the transcendental sense

Life is geared to optimal living

In joining the optimal living of Life

The phenomenal living of experience

Will equally assume the characteristic of optimality

In the vertical trust there are no conditions

It is not a reflection of circumstances

Vertical Trust is an inner recognition

In Letting Go there is great Well Being

A Well Being that satisfaction cannot achieve

In Letting Go there is Awe and Wonder

In Letting Go all Life is continuously revealing

In Letting Go life becomes a revelation

In order for Letting Go to emerge

You first have to put effort in overcoming attachment

Mainly because such effort will guide you in the proper direction

This will lead you to an ultimate Letting Go

Only in Letting Go will attachments ultimately be overcome

Just trying to overcome your ego attachments

Does not necessarily lead to Letting Go

The necessary ingredient for Letting Go is Trust

When Symeon the New Theologian

Shouted out 1100 years ago

That his hands were God's hands

And that his feet were God's feet

Because he was a liberated theologian

He meant that his hands and feet

Were in the flow of life and that he was not

Imposing his will and his desires on that flow

He was expressing Letting Go

Letting Go is impossible without a profound Trust

It cannot be achieved without the unconditional vertical Trust

Ego cannot let go of ego; ego can only place itself in Trust

Ego can work on attachments as psychological objectives

For Letting Go there must be something to let go in

For this purpose all cultures cherish their gods and revelations

When gods become objects of attachment they become obstacles

And when religions and philosophies become concepts of identification

They lose all purpose and they merely lead astray

I therefore propose Abbah, undefined representing all

Without distinction embracing all transcendence

Abbah is Life and beyond

Abbah is ego and Life and beyond

Abbah is what it is and beyond what we could imagine

Abbah is all states non-living, potential living and living

Abbah is the invitation to Trust

Abbah is ultimate consolation and ultimate joy and beyond

Abbah is the Well Being and beyond

You can only discover Abbah by Letting Go

Ego as Nafs should concentrate on overcoming attachments

Ego as Ruh should elaborate openness and Trust in Awe and Wonder

Ego as Abbah is ultimate transcendence in the annihilation of Letting Go

25 September 2010

What it means to become an Aspirant Carrier of Nâm

/in , /by

~  a text by Yoginâm ~

The Carriers of Nâm

A Carrier of Nâm is somebody who has taken a solemn Intent to search with one’s life for optimal Attunement in Abbah, with the aim of optimally contributing thereby to the performance of the Task of Human Living, in the interest of humanity as a whole.
A Carrier of Nâm thereby aims to live, with Attitudes and Behaviour, the full potential of human living. This is a supreme state of mature human living, however, to claim to be a Carrier of Nâm would be arrogant and such a claim would in fact be its own denial. Those who have made the Intent of Nâm therefore identify themselves as ‘Aspirant Carriers of Nâm (ACN)’.

Mustering the Intent and living life in accordance with Nâm is entirely individual, because everybody is unique as a human being, with circumstances that are unique to one’s life situation. But because all living is Resonance, your individual endeavour resonates in everything into infinity. Like a sound, resonance does not stop. This is the way in which you contribute to collective Asha that shapes human living.
You start the way of an ACN by stating a strong Intent to do so. An Intent is more than the expression of a desire. It is a firm commitment to shape your life according to Nâm. For this purpose, there are a number of instruments that guide your orientation and can lead you. Invariably these instruments do not present a truth or a rule of behaviour. They are rather living infusions that when applied to your daily life, gradually generate a change as from within.

Because our living happens as Resonance, it is advisable that when you make the Intent of Nâm, you do so in front of a witness, preferably somebody who knows what Nâm implies. What happens next is entirely up to the degree in which you take your stated Intent seriously and the degree in which you shape your life with Attitudes and Behaviour that is beneficial for the performance of the Task of Human Living.

The Breath

The major instrument for ACN is the Breath. With it you gradually allow yourself to become opened for Attunement in Awareness. Indeed, Experience has so many facets that it is easy to forget Awareness altogether. The Breath is a constant reminder.
You should always remember Abbah; you should remember that all activities, thoughts, emotions, desires, opinions, ideals and beliefs are relating to Abbah of which they are an expression. Therefore, it is best to consider them as resonance that resonate in all directions. Remembering this by means of the Breath is of major importance.
The Breath is a sound that is repeated inwardly in synchronisation of the physical breathing, and whenever possible strengthened by the use of a string of beads, the Nâm Beads. You cannot select the Breath from a book. In order to benefit from its full resonance, it should have been received by somebody who is authorised to do so, in a particular manner.

The Community of the Aspirant Carriers of Nâm

It is a natural aspect of the human species that we search for each other’s company, particularly when we have something in common. It was in fact what made the Homo Sapiens dominant over the Neanderthals. A community strengthens. When like- minded people gather, that in what they are like-minded is strengthened.
Though the way of the ACN is an individual one, Nâm Asharums have been founded and other activities are undertaken that allow ACNs to come together. Because it is an individual way there is no conformity that rules the community. ACN are discouraged to talk about their way and experience on their way. This would only be confusing for those whose way has a different form. Particularly when the ACN who presents the view is elderly or respected, this may be taken for something to be aspired for as well.

It is the Nâm Affirmation that implies that the ‘you’ that you are is the starting point, every new instant again. Your position is unique and from your position you aspire to live optimally the performance of the Task of Human Living. There are no rules or commandments other than reaching out for Harmony by shaping Attitudes and Behaviour optimally in the corresponding way.

This Harmony however is not necessarily the harmony that you consider as being harmonious. The Harmony of Nâm is the Attunement in Abbah (Attunement in Awareness). Obviously, one is kind and respectful; obviously one avoids anger and destruction; obviously one abstains for exploitation and suppression of others; obviously one generates giving disposition rather than a profiting one.

In the Nâm Affirmation only what is ‘evil’, or against live is rejected. An ACN is a servant of life, supporting life with the optimal performance of the Task of Human Living.

Participating and supporting a Nâm Community is a major instrument to dissolve the exclusive attention to the 'I/World' interests. It is indeed sharing in communal interest of Nâm that is for the ACN a golden way for reaching Attunement in Abbah. In such sharing you meet all the obstacles that are there for you to resolve and that constitutes your specific way towards Attunement in Abbah.
Aspirant Carriers of Nâm are expected to activate the community with activities and financial support. In the Asharums various activities are developed. Some of these activities are directly linked to creating possibilities for as many people as possible to come in contact with the beauty and effectiveness of Nâm as a guidance for living. Other activities provide an income with which the Asharum and the activities can survive.