I had the privilege of attending a Art Of Silence (erstwhile known as the Part II or Advanced course) at the beautiful Sri Sri Ashram in Regan Wells, Uvalde, Texas. I did not have the foresight or will to carry my camera so the above photo is from the Ashram website. Likewise photos below are from the internet or were taken by other participants.
One word describes how I felt upon boarding the flight to San Antonio - Disbelief. One word describes how I felt upon reaching the Ashram - Disbelief. One word (ok two) describes how I felt after the course - Intense Gratitude.
Our teacher was none other than the Divine Tanu Ma (Tanuja Limaye), wife of Rishi Nityapragya. I had attended a couple of satsangs with her before but an entire Part II course was a whole new experience all together. Word fail how the days just zipped past in a flurry of sadhana, seva, knowledge, meditation and satsang.
Sriram (a wonderful Sri Sri Yoga teacher from TX) led the morning sadhana. An amazing personality - you have to meet him to know him.
The rest of the day would be spent in intense, beautiful, enlightening and humorous sessions with Tanu Ma. The evening satsangs were amazing. So many amazing singers, so many good instrumentalists, such a rich variety of bhajans - just bliss.
It isn't possible to put a Part II course in words, so I'll stop trying. So if you are curious, just go take one. (of course you need to have done the Part I course first).
The last 3 years have been interesting - both painful & enlightening at the same time. I was looking back an an old blog post from 2007 and was wondering how the last 3 years seems like such a dream despite its trials and tribulations. One thing that was totally affirmed after this course was how Guruji has held my hand and cared for me so much all these years when I could not do a single course. And now this shower of blessings in the form of a silence course. I am in awe and surrender.
I met M in the flesh - actually in the spirit :-) - on the course ! An amazing coincidence given that we were simply following each other blogs for the last year.
My gratitude goes out to Tanu Ma, the organizers and the other wonderful folks on the course that made it such a cherish able experience. A special thanks to S who on finding that I was shivering in the Texas (YES TEXAS) cold, gave me a sweater and prevented me from freezing to oblivion.
As Guruji said in a knowledge tape on the course (not verbatim) : Wake up and see - there is no suffering. If it is still there, give it to me. What an amazing state to be in - one with no suffering !!!
Gratitude stays, the longing for the next Advanced course begins. Until then "Jai Jai Radha Ramana Hari Bol......." !
Jai Guru Dev,
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