22-25/1/2005 at UNACHO
A Blog
So there was silence, plenty of it, from the beginning – silence in the breaks as well as in the grouproom. All the way through till Saturday night when speech was allowed.
And all the time, studying the self. As the great Zen Master Dogen wrote in his famous book Shobogenzo, considered in the Zen world to be the most profound and outstanding of all Zen writings on the subject of Zen teachings: To study the Way, is to study the self. To study the self is to lose the self, To lose the self is to be enlightened by the myriad (numberless) things.
So that was the project, sitting, standing, moving. And being with the music that was played from time to time.
But also. To move from that studying of oneself, to include what else was there, there with that self. Well, of course, all the other 28 people in the room. And then the energy in that room, rightly called I believe: Extraordinary Space. A room in which more than a hundred seminars have taken place, mostly energy groups, and so packed with all kinds of energy, and especially cosmic energies, of course. Then beyond the room – everything else that is. With each person at the very centre of all that.
It was different. I did do also some energywork with the participants but more as a demonstration of the power of presence, awakening and establishing the pure presence of each and everyone there. It was not so easy, for some (and we had 5 new people), but very rewarding.
That was clear:
“I realized that I often look in my daily life at what other people are doing. But now I see I have to look at what I do all the time. In this moment I see a big wall before me. This wall I see often, and it stops me totally. This time I think, maybe there is a way round the wall, or a bridge over the wall. In this moment Michael starts to play music, I stand up and the tears run all over my face. I can feel myself, the energy and the group. It was wonderful.”
“The Wonder of Silence and Presence. And so it was, In my heart now always.”
“How fresh and pure the moment is. It’s a seed. A space that widens out and touches everything around without me doing anything. The space my whole being is longing for becomes more powerful and bright. Again and again and again…”
The people in the team above us in the house also became strongly affected by this powerful silence, one guy deciding to go into the silence too, throughout.
In the sessions over 4 days I gave 5 talks, all short, between 10 and 20 minutes, pointing the way. These will be collated soon into a booklet.
At the end half the group ordered the complete talks, many bought books, CDs, ordered many energy drawings – probably the busiest shop ever here after a group at UNACHO. Which also shows the energy generated in the participants.
That is how it was these days: the generation of much energy, and that was partly because silence stops energy leaking away – often on trivialities.
So quiet, so powerful, so effective and I believe, so lasting too.
Next WOSP – January 2016!
LOVE
Michael