2007/06
The Dreaming Festival will be held from 8 to 11 June 2007 at the Dreaming Festival Village near Woodford, Queensland. Woodford is on the Beerwah-Kilcoy Road, off the D’Aguilar Highway, one and half hours north of Brisbane or 40 minutes south of Caloundra.
The Dreaming, a 3 day 4 night Festival, is a marking of the annual ceremony time of the Indigenous peoples from Australia and around the world, and will be a comprehensive showcase for their arts and music. It is hosted by the Jinibara people who are the traditional owners of the area. It has been organised by the Queensland Folk Federation.
A Sahaja Yoga presentation stall will be a part of the Festival.
For more information about the Festival, go to www.thedreamingfestival.com.
Have you ever looked, really looked, without thinking, at the unopened coils of a tree-fern frond? If you give yourself time to absorb the shape and contours you find your attention becomes one with the plant. It’s so mathematically perfect and alive at the same time. You can almost feel the force of life that will gradually unfurl the coils as the fern grows.
As artists and writers we love to find examples in nature of what happens inside us when we enter the meditative state. So, drawing a tree-fern really appeals because we can relate the uncoiling of our own energy to the pattern of the fern’s growth. Spiritually, we are born from the light above, and in that light we can see our own true potential for the first time.
Several of us gathered in a friend’s garden in front of her tree-ferns and looked intently at the plants for some time until our attention became one with them. Then we examined runner bean seeds by separating the different parts to look at the primule and storage material and to search in vain for any image of the bean plant it would have become.
From that we closed our eyes and put attention on the base of the spine where the earth is represented in us and from where the wisdom and innocence needed for our growth into the true self come. Next the attention moved up the spine to the “seed” germinating within the sacrum bone and rising to meet the nurturing energy from the light above. With attention at the top of the head we watched the silence between the thoughts in the same way that we had observed the fern and the seed.
Afterwards, one lady who was new to meditation said that she had experienced a gap between her thoughts for the first time ever. So, we talked about the Kundalini as a mothering, nurturing energy expanding our creativity as we grow closer to our inner potential and about how to use this attention during such activities as drawing and writing. She was able to feel the Cool Breeze coming from the top of her head. We sat in meditation again for some time.
The next step was to write in silence and continuously for about ten minutes on the subject of “myself and my art”. All of us felt it was easier to write after being in meditation and that what we wrote was valuable for our growth in spirit as well as in art practice.
Finally we drew a self-portrait with the aid of hand-held mirrors, while focusing on the thought, “Am I what I see?” You may find this an interesting activity whether or not you are an artist.
Christine Driver
About six years ago we had the desire to know more about the traditional culture of Australia. The real Australia! We went to an Aboriginal philosophical farm two years in a row. Aboriginals and Maoris were sharing some of their knowledge with any interested foreigner to this sacred land. We had the opportunity to give Self-realisation to some of the people attending this event. At that time we knew we were not really ready yet to share our knowledge about Sahaja Yoga, as we were not aware of their important protocol such as acknowledging the traditional owners of the land, their ways of teaching/sharing so different from our Western ways.
In 2002 I met an Aboriginal Elder at Sydney Town Hall in front of the Queen Victoria Building. Spontaneously I asked, “Is it true that each and every human being has the Rainbow Serpent within himself?” Surprised, she replied, “Yes!” I continued, “Is it true that we can feel this Rainbow Serpent as a cool breeze in our hands, on the top of our head and in our body?”
Even more surprised, she agreed and said, “The Rainbow Serpent is the Beauty, the Emerald City each and every human being is looking for. Go to Northern Territory. Go to Uluru, but do not climb the Rock.”
I absolutely agreed as we all know that Uluru is sacred. I told her that in Sahaja Yoga we teach about the Rainbow Serpent known also as Kundalini, Holy Ghost, Tao, Ruh, for free, to anyone interested, to help people to reconnect themselves with the Land and their roots. She was happy, and while she was shaking my hand on leaving, my body became suddenly completely cool and remained cool for a few hours.
Two years later we went to pay respect to Uluru and It was beyond our imagination. Incredible vibrations, depth, gravity, innocence, silence, joy and a deeper respect for the guardians of this Land are some of the unforgettable feelings you get in front of His majestic presence.
As in the outstanding movie “Ten Canoes”, it is another never-ending story! But everything comes when the time is right. A week before the Western Tour in November 2006, Kelly organised a meeting with one of the Elders of the Wiradjuri People. Her name is Aunty Jill. She runs the Kelso community centre where we were going to hold the Bathurst program. I told her my encounter with the Elder from Sydney, and she confirmed that the Rainbow Serpent is the Kundalini, that the Rainbow Serpent has nothing to do with Aboriginality but with our Spirituality. The Rainbow Serpent is our Connection.
I asked her what was the protocol for the welcoming ceremony. She told me a few sentences to say. Then she offered to come herself if another Elder, Uncle Bill, was not able to come. We were so thrilled!
Back home we contacted Uncle Bill who accepted our invitation. We met Uncle Bill a few years ago. He showed us some of the Bathurst sacred sites. One of them is Mount Panorama! When we all were together on this sacred hill, so many vibrations were coming from Mother Earth that I had to remove my shoes. He told us that now there are only two tribes meeting on Mount Panorama. Can you guess? They are Ford and Holden!
On the actual day of the program we waited for Uncle Bill to perform the welcoming ceremony, along with Merenia, a Maori lady. Some Aboriginal children would not come in until Uncle Bill was there. In the meantime we started to give Realisation to some of the children. They could feel the cool and their eyes were glowing. After the welcoming ceremony we found Uncle Bill carrying the sorrow of his people and at the same time astonished by the powerful Maori welcome by Merenia. The children went to sit around him and on him. They were waiting for the music and the stick dance, especially a little girl, 7 to 8 years of age. Dancing with her was such a joyful experience as one could see and feel the inner strength of the Aboriginal community in her big, happy eyes.
Uncle Bill was very content and mentioned that he would be interested in coming back as his people need a lot of healing.
For anyone in the Bathurst area who is interested in finding out more about Sahaja Yoga, programs are held at the Kelso Community Centre, 24 Bonner Street, Kelso every Saturday at 10.00 am.
Madhavi Rome
(Photograph courtesy of the Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage)
The Sahaja Yoga musical group, Music of Joy, will be travelling to Taree to participate in the Taree Envirofair on Saturday 9 June (Queen’s Birthday long weekend). The Music of Joy performance will be from 1:00 to 2:00pm. There will also be a Sahaja Yoga stall at the fair, for anyone who is interested in finding out about Sahaja Yoga meditation.
On Sunday 10 June at 3.00 pm there will be a Music and Meditation concert at Bobin Hall, a lovely rural hall about 40 minutes outside Taree. The concert will feature Music of Joy and Sahaj Qawali.
The events are being organised by the Wingham Sahaja Yoga group who would like to invite people from the Manning Valley area to join them for a lovely long weekend, sharing these two events. There may even be a chance to visit the beautiful Ellenborough Falls.