Sunset scene with orange glow over a dark treeline and cloudy sky in the distance.

Newsletter: The ability to shape your future lies in the Now

To each person is the ability to shape the future

People are attached to their memories
They identify themselves with what they were
They relate everything of now to their past
They selfie themselves through the present
In an urge to solidify their past
With that habit they reject the present
More serious is that by identifying with the past
People ignore their ability to shape their future

Individually and in ways that are unique
To each person is the ability to shape the future
In the Certainty of Nâm and its Trust in the present
As always being ‘What Is’ as the Consequence
Of the Cause that we are, we have the ability
To create what we shall be tomorrow

Yoginâm, 2020

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Person with a blue sweater seen from behind, hands clasped, walking along a gravel path beside a brick building with lush garden plants around.
Person wearing a blue shirt stands with hands behind back on a grassy garden path, framed by dense green bushes and trees.
White-flowering shrub in bloom dominates the left and center, with a person in a light blue shirt walking in the garden on the right behind trees.

Memories and identification

The atmosphere of the Asharum - its tiled stone floors, Yoginâm’s writings, Rumi’s books placed in the living room, the scent of jasmine in the garden - seems to touch directly on something deeper, specifically when our guests have an Arabic background. In their reactions there is wonder along with curiosity. Often, that’s what leads guests to share something more of the story behind what they feel.
To stay with this specific example, sometimes, when it turns out that there has been a break with the - in this case Islamic - tradition in which the person grew up, the unexpectedness of the encounter appears to open something. Contemplating on the words of Yoginâm above, I wonder whether this sudden encounter with something so familiar in such a seemingly unrelated place postpones the automatic identification with the past tradition, providing the opportunity to view the relation to this tradition from a different perspective and thus creating another future.

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Sunlit garden with tall green stems and broad leaves in the foreground, a shaded shrub background, and a tree trunk on the right edge.
Rock-bordered pond in a lush garden, surrounded by tall grasses and leafy shrubs with flowering red stalks nearby.
Dense green garden scene with large tree trunks and thick leafy shrubs filling the frame

In the case of our two most recent guests, both raised in Iran and now living in Germany, recognition brought with it a feeling of belonging—of being at home. One of them wished, for a next stay, to bring her mother along, who still lives in Iran. The other, during her time with us, was reminded of a poem by Rumi— she wrote it down in Farsi in our guest book—and afterward I searched online for its translation:

How could I know

How could I know that this longing would drive me so crazy
That it would make my heart a prison and my eyes a river?

How know tears like a flash flood would carry me away,
And hurl me like a boat into a vast sea of blood?

Those waves would beat and split this boat board by board
Until each board twists away from all the many tortures?

That the sea-monster would rise Its head - and swallow the sea
That such an immense sea would go dry like a desert plain?

That the devouring sea-monster would then split this plain
And suddenly pull me down into a pit, like Korah, in wrath?

When these transformations occurred naught remained
What do I know, when why and what swallow each other?

O how many the 'I don’t knows' there are - but I don’t know
For I have swallowed the foam of opium, to forget that sea!

 

 

Wondering

To be present in the moment is also to surrender, without knowing what you might expect, and being able to stay with your own thoughts during a period of vulnerability. It’s the art of living to remain still, perhaps even slightly unsteady - on one leg - without losing your balance. That’s not easy in a world that constantly urges you to keep going and thus pulls you away from the here and now.

A Personal Meditation Retreat offers the chance to be present with yourself in the moment, and a ten-day retreat allows this movement to deepen. One of our guests described his stay as transformative, which evoked a sense of wonder.

In gratitude, and as a photographer, he wanted to offer a number of his photos to the Asharum, with the wish that: “they may become a beautiful contribution to the process of wonder of your guests”.

For the Asharum, we still need to make a selection, but with his approval I’ve already chosen three photos to share here, hoping that, in this way, they may bring a little wonder already.

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Person wearing a straw hat sweeps with a long broom in a smoky, sunlit courtyard beside a concrete wall.
Monk in maroon robes holds a bowl while looking at hundreds of hot air balloons over ancient temple ruins at sunrise.
Close-up of an elderly hand with turquoise and gold bangles and a floral ring on the index finger.

Attunement brings you into the Now

Attunement
The direction of the spiritual endeavour is Attunement
Reaching optimal Attunement is the Task of Human Living
The transformation that is involved
In performing the Task of Human Living
Is the purification of the niche of human living

Attunement is only reached with
Attitudes and Behaviour that express
The transcendental nature of human living
For the application of Nâm Thinking
There are nine Instruments of Attunement
That are useful and beneficial for generating optimal Attunement

Yoginâm, The Book of Nâm, p. 255

The Feast of Greater light

In the Feast of Greater Light we celebrate Attunement in Abbah.
We come together in the aspiration to living in Attunement.

Yoginâm, 2023

 

The Feast of Greater Light is celebrated through recitations, songs and a ritual dance on the day of the summer solstice on June 21. And although Attunement is not something reserved only for the Feast, because it is something permanent, recitation and ritual is one of the nine instruments of Attunement.

Most important for the Feast though is the gathering of the people, because, as Yoginâm says; it is the gathering of the people that constitutes the Feast. And this is exactly what we experienced.

The fact that June 21 was on a Sunday, made it possible for some people to arrive two days in advance. On Saturday we all worked together in preparing the dinners for both that day ánd the celebration day. There were just a few of us this time, and because we’ve known each other for so long and give direction to our lives in the same way, there was a deep sense of trust. No demands were made, and everyone could simply be. The ease with which we were together, like a family, brought an immense sense of joy.

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Side-profile of a woman wearing glasses, light sleeveless top, and a hair clip, hands clasped, seated indoors with white curtains in the background.
Women in white robes sit cross‑legged on cushions reading from small books in a bright, curtain‑lit room with flowers and a screen showing a video call or presentation.
Two women in white clothing sit quietly on a carpeted floor, with a vase of pink peonies in the foreground and sheer curtains behind them.
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Group of people serving themselves at a long dining table in a bright kitchen area, viewed from behind.
Woman in a white blouse with glasses stands with arms crossed in a bright room, flowers in the foreground.
Assorted dessert cups: beige pudding topped with sesame seeds and white custard cups with a mint leaf garnish.
Woman kneeling by a small pond in a lush garden, tending plants beneath pink blossoms.

Newsletter: Self-analysis in a greater perspective

The challenge and delight of the Nâm Weekend of Silence

 

Knowing oneself is concerned with discovering what both you, the wearer of the ‘persona’, and the mask consist in.

Yoginâm, SIWEB, Dimensions of Experience, 2023 / p.38

 

In daily life we often long for reassurance, that underpins our sense of security. The roles we adopt -being a loving mother, an attentive friend, or someone always ready to help- affirm that we are important, wanted, seen, and not alone. Yet this dependence on external validation brings uncertainty and traps us in identification with our persona; losing them feels like losing the reassurance we believe we need most.

Participating in a Nâm Weekend of Silence interrupts this self-reinforcing pattern. Though you are still with others in a group setting, which may trigger familiar roles, the silence prevents their enactment. In this stillness, we may discover a different way of connecting—with ourselves, and by extension, with others.

This discovery is the beginning of a form of self-analysis that moves beyond examining our reactions and experiences, touching on something greater than ourselves that cannot be known, only acknowledged. It affirms that, beyond experience, we are transcendental beings:

 

The unknown of something or someone is OK and it should not always be filled with anything.

Participant of the Intensive Meaningful Living, April

 

Two people stand by the front door of a red-brick building, with a white decorative balcony above them.

Four adults sit around a small table on a sunny brick patio, chatting with drinks in hand.

 

 

 

 

Meaningful Living: The quality of asking questions and taking action

 

The Sufi mystic and poet Ibn ‘Arabi said:
Reflection without action is avoidance.

 

When the perspective shifts from misguided identification with roles and patterns to an affirmation of our transcendental nature, of which the divine is an integral part, we create space for transformation:

For instance you may suffer from a natural feeling of insecurity. It will be obvious that this is rooted in programmes that were formed in early childhood. You may understand these programmes, but it is very difficult to transcend these programmes without the awareness that they are contrary to the Natural State of our transcendental being.

Yoginâm, Self-analysis, 2018

 

The Intensive Meaningful Living is a journey where questions are met with counter-questions, not a conscious striving for letting go and acceptance, but a space where these concepts find you by surprise. As you discover that lightness and fun can accompany life’s serious questions, a realisation may grow that action or transformation lies not in conscious understanding, but in where you direct your attention.

Self-Analysis as is meant here is not a psychoanalysis
It is not a methodology to understand oneself better
Understanding oneself is always an illusion
And constitutes an illusion about an illusion
One cannot step aside for objective observation
Observing oneself always expresses
The current Habitual Programmes of Perception
That determine what one is

Yoginâm, The Book of Nâm, 2020 / p. 289

 

Participants sit cross-legged on red mats in a circle around a large blue stone sculpture on a pedestal; papers are scattered on the carpet.

Smiling woman in a white robe kneels on a red mat as another person sits on a red mat writing in a notebook nearby in a yellow-room setting.

Woman with curly hair sits on a red cushion on a carpet, smiling and clasping hands, indoors near a yellow wall.

 

To lift a corner of the veil on one of the themes covered during the Intensive, you can read Irma’s blog, where she shares her insights and demonstrates, in practical terms, how self-analysis in the context of transcendence can help transform you and your world.

Read Irma's blog here

Older man in a striped shirt sits on a brick building's open window ledge, looking down at a small object in his hands.

Person peeking over a dark slate roof from a dormer window, cloudy blue sky in the background.

Person seated on an outdoor chair on a brick patio, looking down, with shoes on the ground and a sunny yard with trees in the background.

 

Newsletter: Experiences of Meditation, Healing, and Devotion

The Causal Investigation - Shamanic Retreat

One of the events in October was the Shamanic Retreat with Anna Montis. Anna Montis, a shaman native to Sardinia, has inherited her shamanic gift from her ancestors, which she has further developed in a spiritual context following her encounter with Yoginâm.

It was wonderful to have Anna back in Amonines. Her powerful energy and strong focus, combined with deep compassion for the participants, created a solid foundation. Within this space, the group of eight — diverse in background, orientation, and age — gradually opened up to the intensive shamanic journeys and the exploration of the Soul.

In causal investigation and causal exploration, you enter a very particular state of Witnessing in which the passive and unconscious aspects of Soul are combined with the active and conscious aspects of Mind. It is a kind of lucid dreaming in which you remain active enough to set the course and passive enough to allow Soul to speak in images.

Yoginâm, SIWEB - Dimensions of Experience (2023)

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The retreat had taken the participants to unknown places within the inner landscape.

Especially the third day spoke of a deep sense of inner movement and contemplation as everyone received a personal healing.

For some participants, who are regular visitors to Amonines, shamanism was entirely new. Curious, but without really knowing what they were stepping into, they had signed up because it was facilitated by the Asharum, which gave them a sense of trust.

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They were very enthusiastic about the retreat:
It was truly something very special — beyond words. It has changed me as a person; I’m no longer the same.

Two days later, they booked the Advanced Shamanic Retreat in Níjar, from the 21st to the 25th of May.

Also it was a lovely surprise to receive a message of one of the other participants in the language of Soul; the language of images and symbols:

How beautiful it can be to observe your shadow (side)

A weekend of turbulent weather: storms, rain, wind, darkness, but then the sun breaking through, a beautiful reflection of what happened during the retreat. And all of that embedded in the warm nest of the house with the crackling fire in the stove, the well-prepared food and a lovely group, not to mention twice-daily Asha meditation. Two weeks ago already, still having meaningful dreams. And another piece of development set in motion. Very satisfied.

Asharum Amonines and The Garden of Nâm

The Garden of Nâm and Asharum Amonines are both homes of Yoginâm, though he resides in the Garden of Nâm.

Anna Montis found a beautiful way of capturing what makes these two places at the same time one and yet distinctive:

Before arriving at Asharum Amonines I was expecting somehow to feel the physical absence of Yoginâm during my stay there, used as I was to his presence during many years. But surprisingly I didn’t find any trace of his absence. Instead his presence was tangible and warm through the love and kindness that emanate from the residents of the Asharum. Outside the sky was grey and it was raining incessantly but inside the sun was shining fully because of the harmony that reigns in the house.

Asharum Amonines in Belgium is a different place than the Garden of Nâm in Spain, but not less magic. It is just a different expression of the way of Nâm since diversity is obvious in a tolerant path as Nâm.

Her prediction

To both places pelgrims of all kind come for spiritual inspiration and to drink the water from the source of Nâm. In contemplation of these places a memory of about thirty years ago emerges again: I was with a friend sitting on a balcony, looking at a photo of Yoginâm. From the adjacent balcony a woman asked to see the photo. She reacted astonished because she recognised in Yoginâm her former neighbour in another neighbourhood. She was sensitive and clairvoyant. She took the photo in her hands - her eyes to see the future - and with strong determination she said: "He will succeed in the realisation of his great project". While I enjoy the beauty and harmony of places like Asharum Amonines and the Garden of Nâm, I realise that her prediction was right.

Asharum Amonines and The Garden of Nâm created by Yoginâm are Mighty Portals that carry us to different fields, states and experiences, letting us come back again safely after that, to the daily level of existence, but enriched by a strong impuls and with more colour in ordinary life.

These two jewels are reminders of what Yoginâm says: "We are not material beings with a spiritual life but instead spiritual beings with a material expression".

About Asha Meditation with drum

The drum is the shamanic instrument by excellence; its vibration enters the brain deeply and when the rhythm is correct, in a passive listener an adequate receptive state of mind can be reached for the resonance that is collectively generated.

Yoginâm, 2024

Meditation is doing nothing
With Meditation one creates space
For what is hidden to become apparent
The so-called meditation exercises
Are skilful means to lead Mind away
From its natural flow of thoughts
Often expressed in an inner dialogue
With which impressions are managed

In order to prepare the active brain for meditation
It is subjected to a special rhythm
That has as an effect a tranquil alertness
Which is the optimal state to enter Meditation

Yoginâm, The Book of Nâm (2020)

Asha Meditation is practised daily in the Asharum and part of all our programmes. You can also participate online twice a week. And  if you like to experience an intensified programme including Asha Meditation, please feel invited to join the Nâm Retreat of Silence,

Active devotion

On our website the beauty of Active devotion is presented. In response to that we received a request from Valérie to come to the Asharum to stay for a couple of weeks. In Asha she offered her help for October, which was very welcome because of the absence of one of the staff members visiting Yoginâm in Spain, while the others were occupied with the maintenance of the house.

Valérie stayed for a couple of weeks and being experienced in the kitchen, she prepared healthy and delicious meals which were very much enjoyed.

She shared that being in Amonines and her participations in the meditations touched something that resonated deeply within her.

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A quick update on the maintenance of the house:

The first half of October the electrician worked hard to get the electrical network up to standard in line with regulations.

On the day of the inspection the inspector and the electrician walked through the house, accompanied by a solemn silence. When the inspector finally asked how we were doing, adding kindly that “if you’re doing well, then I’m doing well too,” We couldn’t help thinking that, in this situation, it was rather the other way round. After the inspector had left, to our relief the electrician shared the good news: we made it — the electrical work was approved!

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How can I prevent myself from overstepping my boundaries?

How can I prevent myself from overstepping my boundaries?

How can I prevent myself from overstepping my boundaries. This is a frequently asked question that I sometimes hear from our guests or read online. But actually, from a spiritual perspective, this is not a helpful way of thinking. And when you start making decisions based on this mindset, such as “I must learn to say no”, you actually end up further away from home, or rather, in this case, “further away from yourself” than you would like. With this way of thinking you just limit yourself, this can have far reaching consequences.

But what is the right way? How can I feel better without thinking in terms of boundaries and without limiting myself? 

I will explore this theme further in this blog.

Let's first look at the approach of 'boundaries'

You must have read about it and may even already embraced the idea which is the foundation of all serieus spiritual traditions in one or another way:  We are Sharing in a wider Whole. We are of a Oneness we cannot know.

And this is not just a nice idea, everyone seriously exploring this can draw these conclusions, even science comes up with these conclusions these days.

Exploring and embracing this we can do by implementing it in our thinking and in our way of living.

So the first question relating to the theme is: "If all is One, how can there be boundaries?!"

It depends on perspective

Ofcourse there are different perspectives and in our daily lives we continuesly switch in perspectives.

Indeed if you try to open a door that is locked there is a boundary, if you bump yourself against a table you feel a boundary.  So indeed from one perspective only, you could say we have boundaries, and you may need to deal with that on a very practical basis which can include a no.

But I am talking here more psychologically and from spiritual perspectives. This level of everything sharing in Oneness is transcendental and shimmers through all other levels. This also means that with regard to for example a level of thinking this influences other levels and can be a cause of a consequence you cannot oversee.

Oké let's decide there are no boundaries

If we drop the idea of boundaries can you imagine a whole world opens up? Without boundaries suddenly limitation changes into potential! And now I hear you thinking 'but....what about this headache I get everything I cross my.....'

I get it, you have a headache, or a sense of stress, digestion problems, skin rash, difficult emotions or anything else that may appear whenever you cross....

You can't cheat life!

So let's reframe this in a more helpful way. If we want to look at this from the perspective that we share in a wider whole and we don't want to put that perspective aside, we don't want to make an exception like 'yes we share in a wider whole but only...', no we cannot do that, it's cheating and you can't cheat life!

Even though we cannot know it, we can relate to this wider whole

It is very helpful when we start relating to this unknowable wider whole in a sense. We don't need to know or understand in order to embrace and relate.

We can say; "Within this wider Whole, in which I share, I can witness Signs. And I always have the choice and responsibility to listen to them or to ignore them". These Signs can be inner Signs or Outer Signs, they give ongoing direction and Guidance in daily living.

So a headache becomes a Sign

So a headache becomes a Sign, a skin rashe, stomach pain, stress, emotion, attachments ....But also the angry neighbour, the annoying colleague, your partner behaving strange...

Do you see the slight difference in te way we put it? And can you see the keys that come with this different perspective?

A little change in thinking can be the cause of big life changing experience!

It may be subtle, but on very unconscious levels this resonance may have a big influence in your daily inner and outer life.

We will dive deep into the basics of this during the event 'Meaningful Living'.  Join in and explore how this can change your life and help you become the creator of your own life!

A closed 'No' changes in an open 'Yes'

Observing these Signs, listening to them, working with them keeps an open mind.

Instead of saying "no, I don't want to cross my bounderies" you say Yes to the Signs and you ask what is needed to do something with this, this is a change in attitude that opens doors. It invites reflection, contemplation and with that answers and solutions will come, you can dive as deep as you want.

It can be helpful to take some distance from your daily life sometimes by leaving things behind and visit a retreat centre.

We facilitate an environment that support this kind of reflection and contemplation. For example during the event 'The Essence of Meditation'. 

A compass for living

This different way of approaching life is not only practical, it generates much more meaning and potential, beyond your imagination! In a sense, by starting such a relation with living you start building an inner and outer compass, something many people these days have lost!

The very basic principal to this way of living is absolutely beyond understanding. You can't read yourselve into Wisdom as Yoginâm states. Therefor we facilitate the incredible powerful 6-day Nâm Retreat of Silence.

Don't forget, everything is resonance!

Because everything is resonance, including our thoughts, ways of thinking and believing, this influences the Whole, which is resonance as well.  Therefor it is just practical as well as wise to take this into consideration. Even to become more aware of how you think and what you believe.

It is this resonance that has a creating force and creates our everyday living, over and over again in very subtle and unconscious layers.

So if you can change the believe that you have boundaries which need to be protected and with which you limit yourself into an attitude of 'Listening to Signs' you start creating a different world for yourself.

You want to explore this in a supporting environment with like minded people? Book a Personal Meditation Retreat

By changing this perspective you start creating a different world for yourself

This is also because the energie of boundaries in a sense has a conclusion on the level of intent. It is a fixed thing based on earlier conclusions. This stops movement, you are convinced about it and that can be a closure of doors. This als is a closure to potential solutions and a potential different  course. A boundaries will not likely change unless you make an effort to widen the boundaries but again you just move the closed door a little bit further away, but you keep it closed.

Keeping the doors open

If you want to keep the door more open in a more exploring way using the idea of Listening to Signs can be a great help. You can also still draw conclusions but they are not fixed, you keep moving in openness.

For example: 'you got a headache because you crossed...oh no... you got a headache because you forget to sit down and drink a kop of thee, or you started shaking because your blood sugar level dropped because you forgot (or didn't give yourself time) to eat something.

You want to explore this topic through a body approach sign in to one of our Yoga Retreats!

You are always responsible

So you still may need to change behaviour which is nothing else than taking responsibility when a Signs is asking it of you. Looking at Signs in daily living is a way of approaching life in movement, it is always open for change and adaptations when necessary.

Visit our Retreat Centre Asharum Amonines as a regular visitor, work along with others in the house and the garden and explore in depth what this can do for you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to deal with Loneliness

How to Deal with Loneliness

Recently, the theme of loneliness appeared repeatedly in my life. It came as a question—first from one person, then echoed by four others in close succession:
“How do I deal with loneliness?”

Each time, the question felt sincere and raw. It touched me. In some cases, it was heartbreaking to witness the struggle.

How do I deal with Loneliness

Confronted with these stories, I also realised something: I don’t really know this theme personally.
I have been blessed with a life in connection which is mirrored in my living in Asharum Amonines.  A sense of being accompanied—by something greater—has always been present.

But then, I asked myself:
Why is this question crossing my path now?
What can I offer when I haven’t lived that same pain?

Looking more closely, there have been moments in my life when I experienced exclusion—both as a child and again as an adult. The latter brought with it an incredibly intense pain, maybe the deepest I’ve ever felt.
And yet, curiously, I wouldn’t describe it as loneliness. Because it was in that pain that something beautiful happened:
I reached out, inwardly. And the help came.

It was painful—and profoundly blessed.
One of the most transformative experiences of my life, connecting me more deeply to what I can only call my God—a presence that has always accompanied me.

Listening to Someone Who's Been There: Loneliness

Still, I felt the need to understand loneliness more intimately. So I asked someone who had lived with it for quite some time:
What helped you through that time?

Her first answer was simple, but difficult and only possible when there is true acceptance:

“Wait patiently. Sit it out.”

Then she added something truly beautiful:

“I learned that giving opens something. If you feel lonely, don’t wait to receive—start giving, no matter how small.
A smile to a stranger is already something.
And if even that feels impossible, then begin by wanting to smile—life will meet you there.
If you feel like you have nothing to give, then begin by wanting to give. Opportunities will come.”

Such a powerful shift.
Giving—even a little—creates movement. And movement can invite connection.

From Loneliness to a Sense of Connection

Her words made me reflect again:
Why have I rarely felt lonely, even when I was alone much?

I think the answer lies in what I can only describe as a sense of connection.
Since early childhood, I’ve had a deep inner knowing—a God-sense, as I call it. A feeling that I was never really alone.

Even as a child, playing by myself in the woods or near the river, I wasn’t lonely. I was in good company—with myself, with the world around me, and with something unseen but always present.

It reminds me of something Yoginâm once shared:

“Loneliness cannot exist when you realise that you share in a wider whole.”

And when I faced deep emotional crisis in life, I turned to that presence once again. I cried out—not just with my mind, but with my whole being. And I was answered, in a way beyond words.

Not Just in the Mind

This connection is not an intellectual belief. It’s a lived, full-bodied experience—a longing and a response.
Many people have learned to pray to something external, an idea of a God far away.
I once did too.

But through Yoginâm’s words—and more powerfully, through his silence and presence—I discovered something deeper:
God is not out there. God, or however you want to name it, is within.
The source of all that is.
Beyond naming. Beyond believing.
A path of exploration, not of doctrine.

And this path—this exploration—can gently lead you into relationship with your own deepest essence.

Yoginâm’s Teachings

Reading Yoginâm’s books, I find language that doesn’t always follow convention. He sometimes invents new words or borrows from forgotten traditions—not to confuse, but to break open old thinking, to help us go beyond habitual understanding.

Words like God, ego, karma—they carry assumptions that limit us.
Yoginâm offers another view. He speaks of us for example not as an “I living in a world,” but as 'I-World'—in which both 'I' and 'World' are completely interwoven with each other.

When we forget this, we can fall into the illusion of separation.
That’s when loneliness can arise.

In The Book of Nâm (p.144), Yoginâm describes this as:

The Double Illusion of Separation:
The first illusion is the belief that ‘I’ and ‘World’ are separate.
The second is the belief that you - being Experience as 'I-World' - is separate from Awareness, which is your true Essence.

It is a profound teaching—more something you must allow to dawn upon than to grasp immediately.

Living Connected: A Metaphor That Resonates

To support this dawning upon, I want to share a powerful metaphor from (among others)  Fragments of Voice, a small poetic book that touched me deeply:

 

"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

The saint realises water

The wise one realises the ocean

The ignorant one realises

The drop"

 

Join Us in Exploration

If this reflection speaks to you, and you would like to explore more deeply in a safe and guided setting, I warmly invite you to the 5-day Intensive “Meaningful Living”, starting this sprim April 8 and in summer on August 12.

It’s a beautiful and powerful opportunity to contemplate connection, attunement and the deeper meaning of being alive.

Whatever path you walk—whether alone or accompanied—may you remember that you are never truly separate.

You always share in a wider whole.

With warmth,
Irma

 

 

A participant speaks about the event Meaningful Living

Course Meaningful Living - A participant speaks

~ Translated from Dutch into English ~

 

Find here information on the 5-day intensive Meaningful Living

 

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 here information on the 5-day intensive Meaningful Living
Private retreat

Introduction into the Breath as a powerful tool

~ 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.

Nâm Retreat Centre Asharum Amonines

A poem on dying

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

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

Nâm Retreat Centre Asharum Amonines

What it means to become an Aspirant Carrier of Nâm

~  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.