September in Amonines

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Asharum Amonines Journal August

Autumn in August

August was a mixture of summer and autumn. We see the changes in our garden and in nature around us. Everything still looks lush and green, the streams are full and flowing with great power. Blackberries are already ripening, while tomatoes stay way behind. Mushrooms are abundant and huge, as if it is already October. Occasionally the temperature drops to 15 degrees during the day so we already lit the wood stove twice to make it comfortable for our guests in August.

 

 

Light in the garden

The summer part of this month was great. Not too hot, with a little wind. Perfect weather to work in the garden. We are creating a lot of space and light in the garden. Much pruning was done, culminating in the thinning of the bamboo. The bamboo was done with courage, care and a keen eye for the end result. It has never been thinned this far before and it looks beautiful.

 

The in-trance gate

Also belonging to the garden, but requiring a very different skill is the iron entrance gate. In June Brigitta worked for two weeks on the first half and has now come back for the second half. She takes off the old paint with a small knife, devoting herself to the gate with one-pointed focus from early morning until the sun goes down. Luckily, she has an occasional helping hand from our guests.

 

Connections with the castle in Fisenne

It was a practical month and that also allowed for perpetuating social relations in our direct environment. This sounds a bit official, but it means that we had very joyful encounters. There is a community in a castle in Fisenne and every Friday they sell vegetables from their own garden. When the sun is out they have a little ‘bar’ with free coffee and tea. It was a great occasion to meet all the residents and learn that one of them is a French teacher. She relished the prospect of giving us conversation lessons. She invited us to join every table to have a small conversation with the people present.

 

A devotion of involvement and concentration, The Active Devotion week(end) in retrospect

Sometimes the physical work with bare hands is just what we need. A favoured task was taking off the ivy that was destroying the wall surrounding the garden. When rain interrupted this joint effort, the team went inside to tackle the electricity grid in the shrine to reinstall the light. Also the history written on some walls by the leakages of the past was erased with one lick of paint. We all enjoyed visibly reclaiming the house from the forces of nature and the working of time.

Attractive in its practical approach, active devotion is also an instrument of attunement:

Active Devotion implies devoting yourself fully
And with utmost care for something of which
You are not the direct beneficiary

Yoginâm 2022

 

Inner experience

The experience you have during your regular stay, a yoga-, meditation-, or other retreat is the experience that you need in that moment, no experience can be forced upon you, when you are ready for a specific experience it will present itself from within. Therefore your experience is very personal and still needs the freedom to move in all possible directions and gain meaning for you. When you want to share it with the world often a few lines are enough to touch on the depth of your experience: without revealing its full meaning.

 

Dear Asharum,
Stay as it is…
Perfect for me in all its forms.
Grateful

Participant Yoga Retreat

 

I enjoyed a lot these four days and the yoga classes.
I felt like being in a cocoon, warm and roomy enough to spread my wings.

Participant Yoga Retreat

 

With the discomfort of a restlessness mind, I gifted myself a four-day stay in Asharum Amonines.  The fine energy, the silence and the delicious meals made my body quietly thaw and find peace again. This complemented by a wonderful deep Shiatsu experience completed the picture for me.
Thank you for letting me experience this again!
I am still thoroughly enjoying it.

Regular visitor


I booked a 3-day meditation retreat at Asharum Amonines, expecting a time out with like minded people. 
But then I was the only participant and I got an intensive one-to-one retreat with wonderful all-around care from Irma. 
Although it was my first retreat, I felt safe and taken care of the whole time. 
The small idyllic place, the Asharum peacefully situated in it, the people – everything supported my retreat into my inner being.
Irma answered all my questions. She held the space and was there for me. 
It was a wonderful experience to find peace and myself surrounded by wonderful people living peace and love. 
Irma and the Asharum Amonines are making this world a better place.

Ute

 

 

August in Amonines

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Asharum Amonines Journal July

A transformation from living into post-living

This last month Boris – one of the residents of Asharum Amonines – died or to say it in Yoginâm’s words: transformed from living into post-living.

In the flow of the events a close friend of Boris, Maria, came the evening before his passing, just in time to wish him farewell. I will use her words to describe the experience that we had during these last two days: “Saying farewell is not something you do, saying farewell is something you let happen”. What she means by this is that not you, but the way the person passes determines what the farewell looks like. Instead of focussing on the bereaved and their loss, as often happens with an orientation in material life:

It is the voyage of the diseased
Which is the focus of attention
Death is seen as a disintegration of living
In which some aspects disappear but others continue

“Dealing with Death’ by Yoginâm

 

In following Boris in his process during the last three months and being mainly concerned with the state he was in, we experienced the flow of life taking care of him and of us. It was a process of letting go. We were able to be with Boris and to look ahead with him during the process of his illness and as it became clear also towards his death. We had to let go of a future, as we needed to live moment by moment. And then, finally we also had to let go of our friend, as he disappeared into the unknown.

 

 

Boris went peacefully, fully trusting in the words of Yoginâm:

“Concentrate on the master at the other side, look for Abbahjí there. That is the joyful anticipation and the end of the Journey of the Return.”

Until the last moment Boris was very outspoken. One day before he passed away we asked him at the end of the day: “Shall we go?”, to which he answered with a very clear “No”, so we stayed with him a bit longer. The next day Boris was mostly unconscious. We were all present with him till the moment of his death.

 

At the undertaker’s we were asked about the details of the burial and whether there should be a cross on the grave. It was clear for us that with Boris it should not be a traditional cross. In the following days one of us suggested the Siweb symbol, which it became. For the people in the village this symbol probably evokes the image of the cross.

 

The funeral was powerful in its simplicity. Neighbours were involved from a distance or physically present, depending on their ability to attend. After the funeral Louise and Maria took care of the grave, putting stones and planting plants. Closing this week with the Day of Remembrance was a beautiful way to allow for the missing presence of Boris to sink in.

Sharing the process of letting go and trusting in the final transformation was a great gift, a reason for joy and it makes the loss easier to bear.

 

On the blog are two articles written by Yoginâm on Dying and Letting Go. You can read them here:

Dealing with Death

The Essence of Letting Go

And Irma wrote a poem relating to her experience with the death of Boris:

A Poem on Dying

August in Amonines

/in , /by

Asharum Amonines Journal July

A transformation from living into post-living

This last month Boris – one of the residents of Asharum Amonines – died or to say it in Yoginâm’s words: transformed from living into post-living.

In the flow of the events a close friend of Boris, Maria, came the evening before his passing, just in time to wish him farewell. I will use her words to describe the experience that we had during these last two days: “Saying farewell is not something you do, saying farewell is something you let happen”. What she means by this is that not you, but the way the person passes determines what the farewell looks like. This, instead of focussing on the bereaved and their loss, as often happens with an orientation in material life,“It is the voyage of the diseasedWhich is the focus of attentionDeath is seen as a disintegration of livingIn which some aspects disappear but others continue”In following Boris in his process during the last three months and being mainly concerned with the state he was in, we experienced the flow of life taking care of him and of us. It was a process of letting go.We were able to be with Boris and to look ahead with him during the process of his illness and as it became clear also towards his death. We had to let go of the idea of future, as we needed to live moment by moment. And then, finally we also had to let go of our friend, as he disappeared into the unknown.

 

 

Boris went peacefully, fully trusting in the words of Yoginâm: “Concentrate on the master at the other side, look for Abbahjí there. That is the joyful anticipation and the end of the Journey of the Return”.

Until the last moment Boris was very outspoken. One day before he passed away we asked him at the end of the day: “Shall we go?”, to which he answered with a very clear “No”, so we stayed with him a bit longer. The next day Boris was mostly unconscious. We were all present with him till the moment of his death.

 

At the undertaker’s we were asked about the details of the burial and whether there should be a cross on the grave. It was clear for us that with Boris it should not be a traditional cross. In the following days the SIWEB symbol proved to be a beautiful answer to that question. For the people in the village this symbol will elegantly appears as the Christian image.

 

The funeral was powerful in its simplicity. Neighbours were involved from a distance or physically present, depending on their ability to attend. After the funeral Louise and Maria took care of the grave, putting stones and planting plants. Closing this week with the Day of Remembrance was a beautiful way to allow for the missing presence of Boris to sink in.Sharing the process of letting go and trusting in the final transformation was a great gift, a reason for joy and it makes the loss easier to bear.On the blog are two articles written by Yoginâm on Dying and Letting Go. You can read them here:

Dealing with Death

The Essence of Letting Go

 

And Irma wrote a poem relating to her experience with the death of Boris:

A Poem on Dying

A poem on dying

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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

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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

The alchemy of a relationship with a spiritual guide or yogi

A relationship beyond your imagination

/in , /by

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

June 27, 2022

A relationship beyond all of your imagination

There are many different kinds of relationships. In this blog I would like to share with you a very special and quite unknown one.

I am talking about the relationship between the Beloved and the lover, the Master and the devotee, the Guide and the student, many names are given to this very special relationship. Here I choose the one closest to the language of western people, the Spiritual Guide and the student.

From my perspective this is the most beautiful relationship and yet the least understood.

In the West we only know the relation with a teacher and we project that knowledge on the relationship with a Spiritual Guide thinking it is the same, also because in our culture we just don’t have a reference to anything else.

However this is not very helpful and you will miss all extra benefits of the relation with the Guide if you keep looking at him as a teacher. A teacher has knowledge about certain things, he tries to teach you knowledge. This can be very beautiful and valuable but a real Spiritual Guide does something else. Or perhaps he does nothing and he needs nothing and that is his quality. His Guidance relates more to his state, from which the student can benefit, than to teachings.

I consciously use capital letters indicating for example the Spiritual Guide while writing the student with small letters. This does not indicate a hierarchy or inequality but rather different states. And by making the distinction it is clear the students want to move towards a different state. Also it indicates the nature of the Guide as being an instrument.

How it started

From the very beginning, now almost twenty year ago, I was aware of a certain alchemy happening every time I was in the presence of my Spiritual Guide Yoginâm. This presence can be in silence, while he is playing the harp, during a conversation or just in passing by. But also from a distance, by thinking about him, doing the Breath, asking inwardly for help, by writing an email to him, reading a text from his hand or listening to a recording of a former HarpMood. Fulfilling practical tasks, buying him a present or giving a donation, the alchemy is always there. And the more attention you give to all these different aspects and actively use them the stronger the transformative alchemy becomes.

Now is the Spiritual Guide doing all this? Is he creating a certain alchemy, doing something magical? I didn’t understand. Once I spoke about this topic with Yoginâm and he says he doesn’t do anything, he just responds to the question or wathever input as a normal daily activity.  So what happens then? What is causing this alchemy that can transform just about anything?

The alchemy

If you aspire such a relationship it is good to realise you will have to bring life into this relationship yourself, then the Guide will reflect you back. The Guide has no needs or wants, he is in service, you are the one who needs something, longs for something and the Guide can help you find it and help you heal what needs to be healed to become more open and more whole and with that closer to your natural state, your authenticity.

The Guide, who also went through the same process, is because of his specific state of being as a clear mirror in which you are projecting yourself. All the different inputs you give into the relationship are ways to project yourself in that mirror and in that happening the alchemy is there which transforms you, it is something that happens naturally in openness. Sometimes you can really experience it, more often however you have no idea about what is happening in different more unconscious levels, you just find yourself changed somehow later on.

Bit by bit your transformations are making you a different person. You start projecting less and less and the mirror which at first was perceived by you in a troubled way becomes more clear. Eventually, because the mirror becomes clear, you start to see the real you, that which you are in Essence.

This all happens in reflection with the Guide being the mirror. Only a Guide, because of his state, can provide such a mirror, this is his task and this is what distinguishes him from a teacher or a therapist.

A Spiritual Guide is not a therapist

If you have serious psychological problems you need to work on them first before you are ready for a Spiritual path. The Guide has another purpose and is not a therapist. Being with a Guide is helping you let go of programmes that stand in the way of openness, this usually happens beyond the conscious field of understanding, you cannot grasp it. So instead of working with the problems you will have to learn to move your attunement towards trust instead of understanding which is often a form of control. When there are serious psychological problems letting go of this control can be too much or even become problematic.

A Spiritual Guide is a necessity for everyone seriously advancing on a Spiritual Path

All serious spiritual traditions underline this: when advancing on a Spiritual Path you need a Spiritual Guide who knows the path, can Guide you through and around the challenges and pitfalls and who gives you something to hold on to when everything else you knew and understood falls away like detrimental habitual programmes and a sense of control. You will learn to trust beyond understanding and enter the present moment. Advancing on the path without this very specific Guidance can even be dangerous.

Now you might think you have your inner Guide and this is enough, I hear this often, we all think “I can do this alone, I should, I need, I can do it myself now” etcetera but this is actually a dangerous thought. It is true, the Spiritual Guide ultimately leads you towards a stronger connection with your inner Guide but you need a long time, healing and Guidance to learn to hear, listen and recognise the difference between your inner Guide and everything else happening in your inner world. How do you know the difference between inner Guidance and ego controlled voices and visions however uplifting they can be? Only by checking your inner Guidance with a real Spiritual Guide, present in this world, can you learn the difference. Without this check you can easily fool yourself and even hurt yourself and others. Especially because the Spiritual Realm is unknown to you.

Only making use of a Spiritual Guide provides this alchemy I spoke of above and you need this alchemy to heal and unveil what we call Heart, the silent void from which all creation comes. When Heart is covered with veils one can never listen to an inner Guide, it only hears the ego needs and wants, one is slave of one’s own liking and disliking.

Ego

Just to be clear about something, there is nothing wrong with ego. Without it we are not able to live. Spirituality however is aiming at transforming the ego in such a way that it serves the whole which includes ourselves.

It is natural to build ego while growing up and those who were not able, because of (traumatic) circumstances or genetic causes, to build a healthy ego, are not ready for the Spiritual Path. They first have to build a healthy ego, meaning being able to live an adult and responsible life without serious psychological or psychiatric problems. Of course everyone has issues that still need to be healed, there just needs to be a certain stability for such a serieus path.

What can the Spiritual Guide do to help you?

To optimally make use of this relationship the Guide, like Yoginâm is doing, can provide you with tools. These can be meditation tools and an example of life ethics and a helpful way of thinking and experiencing. But he can also give you a specific task or provide ways for you to work together with other students within a certain framework in which all serve a higher purpose, this is a perfect means to transform yourself.

Yoginâm created this possibility by starting first the Asharum in Amonines, Belgium and later Asharum Nijar in Spain. Both built up from the ground and through this building and working together we transform ourselves simply because a higher goal is served instead of personal needs like detrimental attachments and programmes.

Customs

Usually there are customs when being around the Spiritual Guide.

Probably these, for Westerners, strange looking customs often give the idea the Spiritual Guide is worshipped. However nothing could be less the case.

These customs and rituals are mere ways to invite for example a kind of humbleness, or as they also call it in some traditions, a spiritual poverty. This is a knowing in a deep and true sense that you don’t know anything, a state of surrendering to Totality (which we cannot know or understand).

Other customs invite gratefulness and respect. Such attitudes are needed to open yourself and to enter the open states of love, awe and wonder. Therefore the customs around the Spiritual Guide are always there to serve you and not the Guide. He is unattached to such customs, often they are even uncomfortable.

Even when the student serves the Guide with certain tasks, eventually he serves himself through the service which is the tool to transform oneself.

Also the Spiritual Guide does not or at least should not desire being worshipped because this would be in the way of true, pure Guidance. It would ripple the mirror let’s say and prevent the students eventually from discovering their true Essence.

It would actually make the student dependent instead of independent, in true Spirituality this dependency can never be the aim. It is the task of the Guide to prevent this from happening, especially with those who are programmed in their lives in such a way that they are actually longing for this dependency, a true Guide will recognise this and help the students stand on their own feet by helping them to transform these programmes. Ultimately the aim of the Guide is to help you find real inner freedom, meaning freed from attachments and disturbing programmes and to build a strong relationship with Totality in which all is sharing.

And perhaps this is what distinguishes a real Guide from profiteers who are out for power and prestige and who depend on the dependency of their students.

How do you know you found the right Spiritual Guide?

There is a wise saying from the old traditions: “It is not you who will find the Spiritual Guide, it is the Guide who will find you”. This is what happened to me too and I hear it all around me.

This means you can only prepare yourself, listen to life as best as possible and when you are ready the Guide will call you in his very mysterious and wondrous way. Then all you have to do is say yes and embrace it realising how lucky you are.

Many go to the East in search for the Guide but will not necessarily find him. I also wanted to go East, however life took me by the hand and sent me to America to prepare myself only to be found by him shortly after and very nearby in my own country.

How do I give form to this relationship?

Of course this is a very intimate question and also you have to discover your way, your form because no two relationships are the same. This is also because of my ego constellation, who I am and how my ego was formed. The programmes and genes that made me what I am today are unique. Consequently the relationship is unique as well.

What I can say is this; mostly I try to visit my spiritual Guide Yoginâm as often as possible, I serve as much as possible, regularly I ask for a private HarpMood, one of his beautiful means of sharing. Not because I have a problem but to connect with him and improve my attunement which is making me a better person, able to better serve the whole. When Guidance seems to come from within but there is doubt I double check with Yoginâm through email. When I go through something for which I feel a need to share I contact him, when there are (spiritual) questions I ask Yoginâm. When I have a difficult time my focus is on Yoginâm, I read and reread his books and texts, I go to retreats, in the beginning years I received regular healings, I am using his tools every day and so on….

Of course there is no right or wrong way, only your way. You have to find a way that works for you and there are as many ways as there are people.  I hope this inspires you to find your own way too.

The Turban

Once upon a time, there was a famous Sufi Master in Baghdad. He had the habit of taking a daily walk through the busiest part of the city with a huge turban on his head, which was covered all around with jewels and gold jewelry. He wore a large cloak with the most beautiful and expensive gold brocade.

He was a very famous Master. One day a spiritual seeker came from another city and wanted to meet him. He arrived at the Master’s house just as he was returning from his daily walk. As usual, he was fully decked out with the turban and cloak. This confused the visitor quite a bit.

That same evening after the meal, he was given the opportunity to speak to the Guide. He said, “I’m glad to see you, but I’ve always been under the impression that the Sufi Masters are pursuing a simple lifestyle. When I saw you walking today, I was confused. Surely this is not an appropriate behaviour for a Master!”

To this the Master replied, “You have come here because you want to learn from me. In your words, however, there is a condemnation of my behaviour. That is why I cannot be your Master and I ask you to leave tomorrow.”

“But I don’t want to send you away without helping you a little: Everyone who comes to a Master can benefit from the loving energy of the Master. Through the unconscious exchange of this loving energy, people change, often without realising it themselves.”

“I wear this gaudy turban and this ostentatious cloak every day, so that as many people as possible on the street will see me and look at me. This allows as many people as possible to be touched by perhaps a little bit of the loving energy. And through all the little bits together, they very gradually become better people.”

“If you condemn my behaviour, even if only a little bit, then you close the door and you cannot receive my loving energy. That’s why I can’t take you on as a student.”

 

Was this blog helpful for you? Then you might also like the blog ‘living the natural state’.

My relationship with Yoginâm

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.

 

Introduction into the Breath

/in , /by

~ A text by Yoginâm ~

The Breath 

The Breath is a sound that is repeated inwardly in synchronisation with the physical breathing. The Breath can be infused to everyone who aspires optimal harmony in their orientation of living.

Breathing the Breath surpasses thoughts, emotions, desires and other kinds of human imagination. The Breath serves as an open door for life to take care of itself. As such, breathing the Breath is the most powerful and intimate instrument that you can use, because its direction is not linked to a rational or emotional meaning, but serves exclusively ‘openness’. Unconsciously and indirectly, the Breath facilitates the remembering of what you are. The Breath is a psychological instrument that is infused and carried at the level ‘before experience’, carrying a creative level into the level of experience. Therefore, to preserve the resonance of the Breath, certain conditions are required:

  • The sounds never touch the vocal cords and are never shared or communicated in writing or by voice. This is not because it is a secret that nobody may know but because by not communicating, the Breath retains the resonance with which it was infused. By communicating it, or writing it, you would translate the resonance of the Breath into another resonance: the resonance of consciousness. As a consequence of this translation, the Breath would lose its value. A Breath that in this way lost its value cannot be restored.
    With the Breath you inwardly sing two sounds. The alchemy that the Breath activates is entirely unconscious, outside the parameters of human experience.
  • The Breath must have been received in a specific way and in a specific state of receptivity. Yoginâm is the origin of this psychological instrument: the carrier of the Breath. Yoginâm recognised the value of this particular instrument for a gradual realisation of one’s transcendental nature. The Breath has no connection to any cultural context; one does not need to adhere to any belief or tradition to use the Breath; it is a universal psychological instrument for making our transcendental nature in our daily life, alive. Yoginâm has authorised a number of people who may infuse an applicant with the Breath in his name. Because the Breath is infused in the name of Yoginâm, there are no soul impressions involved. You can only receive the Breath in a particular manner from somebody who has explicitly been authorised by Yoginâm to give the Breath. 

The Breath can be sung the whole day. During the first weeks after having received the Breath, it is advisable to sing the Breath after waking up as the first occupation of the day, while sitting for 5 or 10 minutes. This establishes the Breath for the rest of the day. Once the Breath is engrained in your breathing, it becomes automatic, and as soon as you are not pondering an idea or involved in communicating, there is the Breath. The value and the alchemy of the Breath depends upon whether you allow it to do its work, by being busy with it in the background of your ordinary daily activities. In meditation, the focussing on breathing turns into a singing of the Breath. 

You are the only one who is responsible for the Breath. Nobody is watching you or judging you. Some people are attached to mantras or inner prayers they have received previously. The Breath distinguishes itself from mantras and inner prayer by not attaching meaning to it and not trying to steer into a particular direction, thereby making a connection with a particular state. It is not something that ‘you’ concentrate on but rather something that ‘you’ become. 

The Breath is a very useful tool for quieting down the ongoing inner discussion; putting the Breath instead of recurring or obstructive thoughts and emotions is an ancient instrument that has proven to be very valuable for establishing inner harmony. 

After having promised to keep the Breath secret and abstain from communicating it, and upon receiving a donation of 250 Euro, that balances the Grace of the Breath, the applicant can receive the Breath in a small ceremony.

The infusion of the Breath in Asharum Amonines:

One can receive the Breath in Amonines during a regular visit or during a visit combined with a Personal Meditation Retreat.

A programme will be facilitated as followed:

Arrival day: arrival between three and five p.m.

18.00 Introduction
18.30 Asha Meditation

Second day:
10.00: Asha Meditation
11.30: Receiving the Breath in the name of Yoginâm through a small ceremony
12.30:  Asha/Breath Meditation 30 minutes (in case you choose the combination with a personal retreat)
15.45: A moment for questions
16.30: HarpMood/Breath Meditation 30 minutes (in case you choose the combination with a personal retreat)
18.30: Asha/Breath Meditation 30 minutes

Departure day:

10.00: Asha/Breath Meditation
11.00: Conclusion
12.00: Departure

Note:

Please, let us know from where you have to travel to receive the Breath, so we can suggest possible locations for this purpose.

An appointment on other locations is also possible (in Spain and the Netherlands)

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