Living in Asha: A continuation of letting go and creation

Slowly the signs of autumn begin to show themselves. The light is dim, mist hangs over the forest, the trees shed their leaves and fruits, and mushrooms sprout from the ground. Life retreats to its roots. The old becomes a source of nourishment for the new that is yet to come. The air is crisp, and the whole spectacle reminds us that everything passes. It is the movement of life itself, as Yoginâm puts it:

 

‘I/World’ is Asha, a continuous spectacle of phenomena in situations.

 

 

The movement of life - an example from daily living

As summer draws to a close, life in Asha takes on a more tranquil pace. We were expecting only one guest, and despite the delay in maintenance work, we were assured that our sewage system would be ready and functional by 3 p.m., so we were confident that we would be able to welcome our guest without any issues.

As the day progressed, however, we discovered that the toilets would be out of service until 6 p.m. Imagine how awkward it is to tell a guest who has just driven for three hours that they cannot use the facilities upon arrival. The idea was a bit uncomfortable, but the guest was probably already on his way. While we were pondering this, we received a phone call: the guest had fallen ill and decided not to come. The situation resolved itself.

At ten to six in the evening, the doorbell rang. There was a new guest at the door, asking if he could stay the night. Now that the toilet problem had been solved and a delicious soup was already waiting for our original guest, we welcomed him with open arms.

Adding to the day's unexpected turns, our cleaning lady, who would normally have come that morning, informed us that she couldn't come because her car had broken down. Normally her absence would have been missed, but given the circumstances, it now seemed perfectly logical.

At such moments, we are reminded of the beauty of Asha—filled with awe and wonder, and grateful for the unexpected twists and turns that life brings. We realise once again that we cannot control life, we can only trust that life will take care of itself!

 

Acceptance of what is

Instead of limiting potential to meet our expectations while protecting our needs, it is possible to be present in the moment and open to whatever comes. When guests come to the Asharum, they bring their own history, their own life experiences, their own desires and needs to find peace and let go. Sometimes people come for a Private Meditation Retreat, but are not yet ready to stay in silence; other times, people participate in the activities and find themselves entering into a deep silence. Being able to trust that everything that is needed will present itself is perhaps the key to fully accepting what is. The same applies to living in a community:

The Nâm Community is primarily sharing in an Ethics. In that Ethics it is recognised that people who are rooted in this same endeavour behave towards each other as a family.

...

Nobody is ever judged, because from the perspective of the community everything and everybody’s behaviour is Asha, and as such a teacher for finding Abbah for those who witness it.

From: Nâm Community by Yoginâm, September 2025

 

Thanks to the community

We were very and pleasantly surprised by the news that Yoginâm was planning to contribute his birthday present to help pay for the maintenance work that urgently needs to be done in Amonines. Thank you for this wonderful gift!

Thanks to everyone who donated -whether for Yoginâm’s birthday or in response to our earlier appeal- an incredible sum of over €9,000 has been raised! This amount will enable Amonines to cover all essential expenses.

All this support – financial or otherwise – nurtures a deep sense of community and belonging and is greatly appreciated. Indeed together, we keep this place alive as a beacon of silence and beauty. Thank you very much!

 

Events

What Came Before and….

In terms of events, September was a relatively quiet month, marked by a Yoga Retreat and the Weekend of Silence. During the yoga retreat, one participant –who turned out to be a photography student– took photographs of the garden; green and vibrant, a testament to a summer of rainy nights and sunny days.

Garden-Impressions by Sarah Rodriguez

 

… What Lies Ahead

The Essence of Meditation

This course explores different ways to enter a meditative state, including the unique practice of "breathing through the skin". Often seen as the boundary between self and world, the skin becomes a gateway—opening us to greater spaciousness and connecting us to a state beyond boundaries.

Meaningful Living

Held several times a year, the value of this programme becomes more apparent with each time. It’s both moving and inspiring to see participants step out of their comfort zones and into the unknown. While it’s natural to interpret new experiences through familiar lenses, this event gently challenges you to let go of that tendency—and open fully to something truly new.

Nâm Retreat of Silence

For those seeking to reconnect with the essence of being and embrace inner quiet during the transition into the new year, we offer the Nâm Retreat of Silence.

Through a daily rhythm of meditation, silence, and shared meals, this retreat creates space for stillness and inner discovery. As thoughts settle, the gentle rhythm of the breath anchors you in the present.

A daily online HarpMood with Yoginâm in Spain significantly deepens the experience, gently dissolving inner barriers and guiding transformation.This retreat brings lightness to daily life and opens the way to a sense of unconditional wellbeing, the inherent potential of all living.

 

Returning to Letting Go and Creation

Letting go makes room for something new. This can happen on many levels—especially in how we think and what we believe. Often, we’re not aware of how these ideas shape the way we see ourselves and the world.

One question that often comes up in this context is: “How can I stop myself from overstepping my boundaries?”

Irma wrote a blog about this, showing how your perception can change the flow of Asha. To read the blog, click here

 

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Snails

In August, with lots of sunshine but also many rainy nights, we had an overpopulation of snails. To save our plants, we catch them and take them to the other side of the road, where they can live on the garden compost. To keep them together before we move them, they are placed in a pot with a moat around it. Although the circle of water does not prevent them all from staying in the “castle”, it works well enough and gives us the opportunity to observe and admire their graceful movements and ingenuity.

 

 

Renovations done

Maarten, a professional arborist who has helped us before, came to prune the old cherry tree next to the meditation room. This has removed the cause of the drain blockage, which we wrote about in the previous newsletter. For Maarten, it's a daily job; for us, it's a spectacular view.

 

The wooden picnic table has been stained and looks like new again. The legs that were rotting have been temporarily repaired until Frederique returns in October with new wood to replace them.

 

It is a pleasure to see how easily and smoothly the sink drain in the small kitchen was repaired and a few leaking taps replaced by René, who spent a weekend in Amonines.

 

Renovations to come

In August, we made decisions about a number of major renovations. One concerns work on the electrical circuit to comply with the guidelines for the Asharum as a gîte. Since our system is very old and maps have never been made this is a big job.

The second concerns a sewer pipe that appears to have a long crack, causing sewage to leak into our basement. With a house full of people, we were glad to have found a plumber who could repair the crack quickly, but he also told us that he hardly dared touch the pipe for fear that it would crumble under his hands. The seriousness of the pipe's condition is forcing us to take further measures soon, which we will do in two stages. First, the pipe will be replaced as far as we can directly reach it, and at a later stage it will be necessary to break open the floor in the hall between the toilet and the kitchen to replace the remaining part of the pipe. It is a ceramic pipe and may be over a hundred years old.

Another important event taking place in September is the replacement of our heating unit, which is due for replacement.

 

Looking back on a joyful event

The event Connect in Heart & Spirit with Movement and Resonance, given by Angela Köhnlein, brought a lot of movement in the house. There were outings where the participants played with the elements of nature, and there was a night-time excursion that brought with it a confrontation with their own fears. All the elements of the course, from painting masks to dancing in the river had an inspiring energy that brought a light and cheerful vitality to Amonines.

On a personal level, I was fortunate to be involved in an assignment where I received a big hug from one of the participants. Later, I heard that this was her way of carrying out the instruction “Leave the room and do something out there”.

 

This is what Eva, one of the participants, wrote about the event:

Although I am somewhat familiar with the Nâm yoga terms Angela used during her course, my mind was regularly asking ‘what does she mean exactly’? But as soon as we got to the actual practice of the terms during the workshops, everything fell into place.

At the end of this 3-day course it felt like way more than three days. Maybe because I did so many things I had never done before. Or maybe because the group transformed in such a way, it felt like knowing each other much longer than three days.

Things I had never done before included getting out of bed at 4 o’clock to dance and lie in a field & watch the stars, while being watched and smelled by a herd of wild boars who were hidden in the mist that was hanging low above the meadow.

Becoming that mist was another thing that was completely new for me. Rolling on a soft carpet in slow-motion like mist, felt like giving my whole body a reviving massage.

Dancing with closed eyes while being seen and heard and smelled in every move and afterwards drawing the same dance, was just another totally new experience. Dancing like a tadpole in a stream, in Awareness, while listening to the sounds of nature and Angela’s music was immersive, literally, as well as metaphorically.

A most surprising part of this collective ‘trip’ was the transformation of the group during the course. From perfect strangers, we gently grew familiar, until on the last day everyone decided to stay for lunch in order to enjoy each other’s company for a little bit longer.

The words we wrote to each other on little ‘dream catcher’ cards Angela gave us, said it all. We had seen, recognised and appreciated each other from our most beautiful, powerful, unique, soft and joyous side.

If a follow-up course is planned, I will definitely join Angela again in this unique, transformative experience. I have no doubt at all about Angela’s inspiration and materials to fill this follow-up course!

To read the other reviews and Angela's own philosophical reflections, click here.

 

The Weekend of Silence

After the Weekend of Silence one of the participants shared with us that his last visit had been too long ago. He had needed to reconnect with himself and take a pause to reflect.

These weekends do indeed offer stable support and a way to connect with the silence beneath the fast-moving currents on the surface. Although they are offered regularly, it doesn't matter how much time there is between visits to slowly develop the habit of integrating these moments of rest and reflection into your life. It is not the first time that people share the need to return and we are always happy to welcome them back.

 

5-day Intensive - Meaningful living

The composition of the participants often includes certain interests and/or common themes that help determine the direction of this course. This time, the participants' backgrounds provided an interesting combination with great potential for examining life questions from different perspectives.

There was one woman with a Muslim background, one with a Christian background, one practising Christian and one woman who studies Advaita Vedanta. Underneath these differences everyone is of the same essence. Everyone is of Abbah.

Why is it (made) so difficult to get to our essence and stay there? That was a question of one of the participants that came to my attention.

I was not present to attend the meditations on this question, but shortly afterwards I happened to read a text by Yoginâm that evoked a joyful sense of surprise with regard to this question:

 

In Asha we are divided and multiple
That is the nature of living; in it movement is rooted
It is a vain illusion to assume that one can unite religions
Because they are of Asha they are meant to be multiple

It is only in Abbah that they are all one
Not united, not in agreement, not a unity but a one
That cannot be captured by a concept
Because a concept is always based on Asha

Yoginâm - The Asha of Nâm, December 2023

 

With the end of August, summer is drawing to a close. We look back on inspiring events and many people who have shaped an enriching season. The sun and the chilly – sometimes rainy – nights have kept the garden, and nature in general, lush and green, with the result that even now we are still surrounded by a green landscape.

Looking back on July

July was a vibrant month with summer in full swing - three events, many visitors and a lot of help in the kitchen from people with a heart for tasty and beautiful food.

 

 

The garden, too, thrived with abundance. To our surprise even the young plum trees offered their fruits with branches hanging down heavily. It was a joyful and tasty inventory of the garden, which later provided a rich breakfast of fresh fruit for the guests.

 

Qi-Gong Retreat

One of the events was the Qi-Gong Retreat of Wabke. Wabke has been with Yoginâm a long time and used to give Qi-Gong retreats in Amonines. She has now deepened her experience and has a large group of enthusiasts around her that enjoyed a very beneficial and loving Qi-Gong Retreat, as one of the participants wrote. Due to the overwhelming response and numerous requests, Wabke has decided to come back with another group in October.

 

Strange connections

July was also the month in which we decided to dig a little deeper in search of the answer to where the blockage was in the drain pipe, causing water from the washing machine to run into the garden instead of being drained off. In place of finding the blockage, we found a strange constellation of connected drain pipes. While the issue remains unresolved, we’ve taken the first step by addressing the source: leaves and cherries from an overhanging branch of a cherry tree fall into the gutter, making their way into the washing machine's drain.

 

The Essence of Meditation

After a meditation retreat, many people often ask, “How can I continue my practice at home?” In support of integrating meditation into daily life—whether one has attended a retreat or not—we offer several options:

• A subscription to Nâm Inside, with weekly mystical texts, talks, and the unique HarpMood meditation. Subscribe here
• A twice weekly live broadcast of the Asha Meditation, to help keep your practice going. You can register for free here.
• A Year Card for regular visits to the retreat center, in support of your meditation practice. Learn more here.

 

Feedback of the last course of The Essence of Meditation:

 

In this retreat I learned to focus, do things slowly, one thing at the time. Time is not running, we are.

Elie

 

Thank you so much for teaching me about silence. Or perhaps silence taught me... It touched me deeply, right to my core. It was a pleasant, unique, spontaneous, confrontational and enlightening stay. I feel that I have ‘grown’ as a person - or rather, as an entity - and I now view the myriad aspects of life in a significantly different manner. For this, I will be eternally grateful.

Maarten

 

 

The Butterfly

Sitting in the garden, this butterfly landed on the back of a chair in front of me. It appeared to show its beautiful wings to me and I made a picture and the butterfly flew away. I had no way of knowing if it wanted to show its wings to me, but it was a nice thought and I hoped it would return. The butterfly took a very short flight and a sharp turn and landed in the same place and started turning around and half faced me, it took another step and fully faced me with its wings closed. Then it carefully opened its wings and I wondered if I could make another picture. I took my phone and it stayed still in exactly the same position. I made a pictures and looked at it. I would not get a better picture, but I was tempted and took my phone up again to make another picture, but the butterfly flew away and landed again in the same position. I cannot know if the butterfly had really shown me its wings at first, but when it returned and slowly turned around it was a different experience, it felt as if there was a form of communication, as if we had an understanding.

This feeling of sharing happens in soul.

 

Soul and Causal Investigation

Soul is the field of emotions and feelings, of communicating without words, of dreaming and memory. Soul is the dimension in which all living things share outside the restrictions of time and place. Soul is unconscious and only the aspects that surface and are translated in the dimension of Mind become conscious. In the case of an event that is shocking and cannot be integrated, related to or explained, the event leaves an imprint in Soul that can become a traumatic memory against which future experience is measured.

The trauma may be healed by means of a technique which is called causal investigation.

Yoginâm explains it as follows:

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, p. 179

 

Causal Investigation, Shamanic Retreat: Unlocking Soul’s potential

In October there will be such an opportunity to dream purposefully. Guided by Anna Montis, using the techniques of Causal Investigation, all aspects of Soul will be explored. It is a chance to widen one’s view beyond everyday perception, to get in touch with inner forces and energies, allowing them to transform and to communicate on a profound level with one’s feelings. Causal Investigation is a natural magical self-psychology for insight and healing that works on a deep and tangible level far beyond conventional psychology.

This retreat will take place October 23-27 and there is only one place left. For more information and to book, click here.

 

Beyond Soul identification

Soul as the dimension of feeling and memory, is the connection between one experience and the next, which acquire meaning in the dimension of Mind. As human beings we usually identify with what we feel and how we experience the world and therefore identify with Soul. As Yoginâm says:

Soul is what we think we are. It is not what we are. What we think that we are is the identification that we give ourselves.

Yoginâm SIWEB, Dimensions of Experience, p. 139

 

Soul guides our behaviour as an individual, but also as a collectivity and because Soul is unconscious it is not always clear what drives us to do certain things or act in certain ways. From painful past experiences protective mechanisms might have developed that are not necessarily helpful and may even hurt others and, in turn, ourselves. They might also cause feelings of loneliness as we perceive ourselves more and more as separate from the world around us.

 

Loneliness

The upcoming 5-day Intensive - Meaningful Living provides a way of looking beyond soul identification, taking a first step, as Yoginâm says, to realise that you can not be conscious of the most important aspects of what you are.

Yoginâm SIWEB, Dimensions of Experience, p. 199

In the context of this event and in response to the often heard questions about how to deal with loneliness Irma wrote the blog 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?”

 

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.

 

To read the entire blog, please click on this link.

 

The 5-day Intensive - Meaningful Living will be held from August 27 till August 31 and can be Booked here.

The small septic tank has been found (and marked), but where is the large septic tank?

 

A quiet flow

June passed quietly, with no events yet a steady stream of visitors. Some of them came and joined in the chores, giving service during the mornings, others came for a Private Meditation Retreat, enjoying four meditations per day, inviting spaciousness, reflection, and renewal.

 

 

The turning of the seasons

With some very hot and dry days the roadside grass is turning dry and yellow. Tightly packed bales of hay, placed in the fields like huge black marbles, mark the passing of spring into summer.

In the garden, we still enjoy the colourful flowers and we sit in front of the house in awe of the majestic linden tree offering its blossom. One of our visitors responded to the tree’s offer and picked the blossom to make linden blossom tea and shared her experience in the little poem below:

 

Beneath the ancient linden tree
I find support and shelter deep within

My thoughts grow quiet
as I drift on the sweet perfume of bloom

Carried gently away
to a world beyond time

Where this moment, the Now,
is all that truly matters

Bees drink eagerly, dancing
joyfully in mid-flight

A gentle breeze sets
the leaves singing

Each their own melody,
yet together — a perfect harmony

Tugba Topal - June 2025

 

 

Looking back on a wonderful Feast of Greater Light:

 

Heart

The inspiration of this month arose organically, from a conversation in the kitchen on a reflection on Yoginâm’s song of advice for Beautiful human beings.

This song ties in beautifully with Angela Kohnlein's event next month in Amonines. The connecting word between the two is Heart.

As we understand Heart, it is in Heart that we do not identify ourselves with what we are as experience, but with what we are beyond experience, realising that with our lives we share in a whole. To the question how we should imagine what this sharing is like, Yoginâm gives the following example:

 

Behind your eyes you stretch out infinitely. In front of your eyes there is

the universe with the limitations that are inherent to matter.

Ultimately it is the infinity behind your eyes that determines the

quality of what emerges in front of your eyes.

 

Yoginâm, About sharing, 2023

 

 

Connect in Heart & Spirit with Movement and Resonance - August 15-17 in Amonines

In August we facilitate a new event organised by Angela Kohnlein. Angela is a familiar face in Asharum Amonines.

During this particular workshop Angela invites you to join her in making room for yourself, others and your environment and think about who you want to connect with.

The curriculum will develop organically with a fixed timetable for the sessions along the following themes:

• Heart bridges experience and Awareness
• Movement and sound are guiding instruments
• When encountering suffering, it will be questioned who it is, that is suffering
• When encountering love, non-judgment and non-possession will be explored
• There will be time to stand still and connect to the subtle forces of transformation
• Archetypes may appear in shared experiences and a neutral vertical connection will be maintained.
• There will be quiet exercise sessions in nature along and close to the l'Aisne River.

 

Beautiful human beings

Yoginâm refers to what we consist in as our essence, as ‘Awareness’. This Awareness is unconscious and can only be detected by how it colours life.
Identifying less with experience of I/World and coming more into Heart creates an opening for Awareness to shine through:

Awareness happens when the condition is right. The most effective way to create this condition is concentrating or just not forgetting that you have in you a range, that is other than the ordinary daily you.

In the Beautiful Human Being, Experience has become Awareness. This means ‘I/World’ is not considering itself as a separate unit, but as a vehicle through which life lives. ‘I/World’ is just ‘I/World’ but life is carried by its meaning and not by overcoming limitations dictated by separation, which is a force that rules the lives of Ignorance.

Yoginâm, Introducing the Guardian (2023)

 

Oh, beautiful human beings,

This is the song of my advice:

 

Discover oneness in multiplicity 

And love it unreservedly

Discover multiplicity in Oneness

And serve it unconditionally 

Discover freedom in beauty

And follow it unabashed

Discover tolerance in openness

And walk in its footsteps

 

These are the principles of Love

These are the precepts of wisdom

These are the preconditions of bliss

This is the Way of

Beautiful human beings 

 

Love each other 

Because you are One

Serve each other 

Because you are One

Destroy the boundaries

Because you are One

Abandon all judgment

Because you are One

This is the way of

Beautiful human beings 

 

Yoginâm, The eye of Beauty, 2013