The Blissful Sport of Consciousness: Winter retreat report

Retreatants enjoying the ashram gardens

Wednesday the 27th of July was the beginning of our winter retreat, titled The Blissful Sport of Consciousness. The date coincided with the 50th anniversary of Bhagavan Nityananda’s Punyatithi or mahasamadhi (when Bhagavan died). To celebrate this, at the beginning of each evening program we performed an arati to the murti (statue) of Bhagavan Nityananda followed by a chant. During the first two evening programs with Swamiji we also watched 15 minutes of a feature film on the life of Bhagavan Nityananda. Swamiji then referred to a collection of statements made from Bhagavan in the book, ‘The Chidakasha Gita’ in his talks.

On Thursday and Friday, Devi Ma ran a self-inquiry session with the retreat participants.  We journeyed through our inner worlds discovering blocks or areas of tension within and then using self-inquiry to shift the blocked energy. Lots of people shared their experiences and Devi Ma, with the help of group participation, used Shiva process to generate shifts in people who wanted to break through inner blocks. The results were very uplifting.

Swamiji giving a talk

During the Friday night evening program Swamiji did a short course in Kashmir Shaivism, referring to great Shaivite texts such as Pratyabhijnahrdayam and the Shiva Sutras. Swamiji expressed that we live in the outer world but also the inner world. We were reminded that our essential nature is Shiva and that, through practice, our inner centre unfolds to allow us to experience the bliss of consciousness. This is described in sutra 17 of Pratyabhijnahrdayam, ‘By the unfoldment of the centre is there acquisition of the bliss of chit (or consciousness).’

In the afternoons, retreat participants had the opportunity to participate in chanting workshops, hatha yoga or personal pujas (a form of worship to the divine to receive blessings). On Saturday there was a question and answer session with Swamiji, where they had the opportunity to ask him questions as well as share their experiences during meditation. Afterwards there was a mantra workshop with Swami Atmananda.

The final Satsang on the Saturday night was very festive, beginning with a palki followed by the arati to Bhagavan Nityananda. Swamiji referred to question and answers with Baba as is his tradition the night before an intensive.

The retreat culminated with a sublime Intensive on Sunday where we basked in the bliss of the Self. It was a very successful winter retreat that ended with a feeling of connectedness amongst all the participants.

Photos from the retreat

Food preparation in the ashram kitchen

Swamiji during darshan

Swamiji and Devi Ma