YOU ARE THE WORLD

The Summer Festival, 25-30/7/17 :: A BLOG

I rarely listen to music on the radio, or on CDs, when I'm driving, prefer the sounds all around, but sometimes I switch on - maybe there's something I like or have liked in the past; then the day before we motored up to Parimal for the Summer Festival, in the car I switched on - and it was that well known song, part of that classic Movement for World Hunger, made with lots of famous music artists joining together, back in 1985, We Are The World - a title much in tune with the Summer Festival to come, You Are The World - and of course we played that song for a while towards the end of our time there together...

To Parimal from here is quite a long ride, more than 6 hours with a stop, Tiago and daughter San Chi with us, Mishka & I sharing the driving.

Same room to stay in as last time, facing the garden, with space, bathtub - and some flies for companions. The weather pretty awful till the last day. But no matter.

We were around 70, so the Buddha Hall there was pretty full - becoming 90 when we were joined one afternoon by 20 members of Parimal Community. They always have a good time when they come, those who come, but for almost all - but not all - it is a one-off experience - a few have become Wild Geese and even joined our Trainings - and many there just love our last night discos - they pack in for that - all that Goosey music almost all from my own collection, now and in the past, ("Only when you were there!" says Mishka!) they die for it. Go mad.

Themes of the Festival: The Unity of Opposites, not just the transcendence of the duality in the Energy Space but the moment's possible containment of both: speech and silence, stillness and movement - also movement with stillness, love and anger, and of course The Zero and the One.

Being in the Moment too, of course, but are you in the moment in you - or are you in the moment?

Dancing in the Moment, or is the Moment dancing you? (Quite different.)

Then Buddha's last words: Hold fast to the truth as a light. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Work out your own salvation with diligence.

 That's 3 fingers 'pointing to the moon'. The light is the cosmic energy connection, the lamp is that light reflected in you, and 'the working out' is the work in the world with all the people you meet and have to deal with and relate to in one way or another.

An afternoon session towards the end of just right-on music, soft, heartfelt, romantic, lovingness - at the end a participant let out terrible screams - I went to her, enquiring. She said to me 'I became vast, and I wasn't afraid! (I had mentioned in one of my talks, how Bodhidharma - the founder of Zen - had responded to the Emperor of China when he arrived there, and was asked by him, "What is Truth?" Bodhidharma answered: "A vast emptiness, nothing holy.")

I had some back and leg problems there - and got some great help from Varena, an osteopath who was on the Festival. I looked in at the disco - Mishka as usual dancing like crazy, Tiago too, and with my painful leg I sat on my chair there - then suddenly I was up, Energy Dancing crazily with a number of different people - just like years & years ago, quite astonishing - not only to me!

Akali, who assisted very beautifully along with Mishka & Tiago at the Festival, writes: This was a fantastic festival, so flowing, strong, insightful and so joyful.

And Ramado, my top music man, writes: What a dynamic SF. Feel totally satisfied. And it still works very much. An SF with never-ending depth sessions. Old Goosies re-seen. From my Energy Training ten years ago there were 6. It's a phenomenon: when we meet again, we can all connect again to what was between us. Absolutely beautiful. (Yes, this is so always, as we connect with the timeless.) Another phenomenon: to experience you dancing again. My heart hopped with joy. Just this energy dance was limitless. And the dance circle...from the SF title "You are the world" to the song, "We are the world." This one-being song, it was so filled with love. Wow! It all still carries me through the day.
Thanks & Love Ramado

And from a new Wild Goose, Miridya: So many things fell off. Other things were put in place. Nothing left, just essence. What a miracle! And the essence dissolves into the One and All. Touched so deeply. Thank you very much!
Lots of LOVE Miridya 

So it was - and then 2 days later we - Tiago, Mishka and I, plus Abava's arrival from England, were off once again with the new OPT6, numbers a plus on all the past ones, participants from Australia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, plus from us Teachers, England too!

For 6 days in Parimal, we were the world. And now so again.

LOVE
Michael