Passing through Corfu – September 2010

Pratibha poked her head into the Buddha Hall while we were preparing it for the next group. What a synchronicity it was that we had just finished a Voicing class which was given to us by Niskriya, one of her certified students. The class was so powerful that I was glad to be able to work in a corner with brooms and shovels. She came to visit Corfu to check out the possibility of running a full geared Voicing seminar here next year. She was stunned by the beauty of the hall which she called “wonderful and majestic,” by the mediterrenean life style, the landscape and the friendliness of the local people. It took us only 4 hours, over food and drink, to catch up on the twenty years since we had last seen each other. I came home refreshed and with a big smile on my face. Soon she is off to her home in Ponte Tresa, Switzerland, and then on to give an intensive training in St. Peterburgh. A great video interview (Part 1)… Her website: www.voicing-institute.com

Sarita has been coming to Corfu for the last 18 years, so the fact that I had not seen her for that long is all my fault for not being here! This year, to have a holiday on the beach and to meet friends, she added some weeks before and after her workshop. Traditionally, the final level of the three year Tantra Couples Training ‘Soul Mate Tantra’ has always been held here in August at the Alexis Zorbas. But next year she wants to be back with an open group. Needless to say, she was hugely impressed by the new Buddha Hall.

Nisha and Shivananda had their Completion Celebration on the 10th of September. ‘Our’ beach in Arillas at sundown was the perfect setting and Sarita the perfect celebration master. Nisha and Shivananda, breaking up after 15 years of marriage, declared, each one in turn, what they appreciate the most in each other  (in the present tense) and the reasons why they have now decided to separate. When the thumbnail of a new moon was setting behind one of our islands a fire was built to symbolically burn the marriage vows. With snacks and champagne and Shivananda’s ubiquitous guitar the celebration went on deep into the night.

Nikhila showed up and – with the help of Vasanti – the local residents became guinea pigs for a Gurdjieff Movements + Feldenkrais experiment. This turned out to be very successful (and powerful in my experience), so much so that the two are already brewing up something for next year. Nikhila returned to the UK where she practices and teaches Feldenkrais classes and courses in Totnes and soon also in London (she is still looking for a place to teach there). She also intends to facilitate the Osho Body/Mind Meditation again, for which she has a particular soft spot. Her website: lifeworks4.me.uk

Paritosh visited Daya and Sandesh (also from Totnes but now residents here) for a short while. She says “It was a really special holiday, from enjoying the warmth of the sun (England somehow manages to be sunless in August) to swimming naked and covered in clay in the ocean (also impossible in England), to meeting up with so many ‘old friends’ at the evening meditation in the exquisite Buddha Hall. Fantastic – I will certainly be back…” Paritosh lives in Totnes where there is also a large community of friends and teaches Yoga and Meditation classes and workshops.

Premartha has been here for 6 weeks running the singing group ‘Sing Dich Frei! – Singing into Freedom’ at the Ouranos Club. We have enjoyed his piano playing and singing at Buddha Hall every Saturday and on Tuesdays his concerts at Ouranos. He is returning to Munich where he lives and composes music. He will miss us all! www.oskar-werner.de

Shruti came on a holiday for a week to unwind from Croydon Hall, one of the biggest holistic venues in the UK, a special place in the heart of all the sannyasins living in the Southwest. After one and a half years in the position of general manager, she has decided to leave her post by the end of the year. She might treat herself to a little well-deserved time off … unless, of course, her partner Gupi comes up with an intriguingly good idea which she cannot resist. She loves to work with him.

Rajan who has not travelled out of the UK for the last 30 years was dragged to Corfu by Shruti and Gupi. He was in Medina on day one and in Croydon Hall on day one as well, literally turning on the water and the electricity (Amiten could testify to this as he was there on both occasions).  I cannot resist re-telling the story of how he took sannyas: It was 1975 and there were two lines for the darshans , one was for those taking sannyas and one for visitors. He ended up in the ‘wrong queue’. Osho asked “What is your name?” “Luke, but I do not want to take sannyas, I am in the wrong queue!” “Your new name is Rajan, will it be easy to pronounce?”  The story is not finished: When he left the ashram he went blind and ended up in a gutter where he was rescued by some sannyasins who brought him home. For two days he was cared for by a sannyasin who was a nurse and who kept telling him: “It will all be fine!” Asked how he likes it here, he commented with a “Brilliant!” Not sure if he means the beaches, the olive groves or the third-world plumbing he inspected behind our house.

Tura, who travels with Rajan, took sannyas at Croydon Hall after working there for nine months. That was in 2001. She then stayed on working in the community for another few years. They both stay in Williton, a neighbouring village to Croydon Hall. Thanks for the visit!

Narayani is just back from a Satori group with Ganga on the isle of Lesvos and here to lead a workshop at the Ouranos Club called ‘Singen aus vollem Herzen – Singing from the Heart’. The reason why we have so much music in the Buddha Hall is all thanks to her. When she came for a visit in January she spontaneously decided to sing a couple of songs for the Saturday evening meditation, under the condition that I would accompany her with my little percussions. After she left we wanted to continue and formed a little band, some of us total beginners on guitar and keyboard, and the tradition has held through all these months with special appearances from Miten and Deva Premal, Kalyan, Premartha and now also from Shivananda. The whole island of Corfu is drenched in music. Corfu town has a well-known Music Academy and holds music festivals with brass bands coming from many villages. In our corner of the island Alexis Zorbas offers concerts and singing workshops by Anadi, Pari and Saatya and the third centre, the Ouranos Club, always has a singer offering a workshop, last week it was Premartha, the coming week it will be our beloved Narayani.

Paritosh’s story is by Nikhila.