~ February Newsletter

(Para ir a la versión en castellano desplázate al Rincón Latino situado al final de la página.)

(Photo: Arunachala, by Katurah.)

In this newsletter

~ News
~ The Monthly Theme--Verge, by Jaya
~ A Poem, from Jaya
~ Interesting Links
~ Upcoming Events
~ Rincón Latino

~ News

Interviews 

Jaya will do one-to-one interviews of 10-15 minutes each via Skype on TOMORROW Friday, 15 February, between 11am-noon India time. If you would like to schedule a time for an interview, please email interviews (at) opendharma.org.

Radio Dharma

Jaya will give a radio dharma talk over the free internet radio site blogtalkradio.com on Saturday, 16 February at 4pm India time (11:30 in Western Europe.) Please go to blogtalkradio.com and search for "Jaya Ashmore" to join. And if you don't want to miss these events, then click on "follow," just under the Open Dharma logo.

March in the UK
Open Dharma will offer a three day retreat 8 - 10 March in Eastbourne in the UK, an opportunity for deep rest, silence and genuine inquiry in a beautiful natural setting near the seaside. For more information write to info(at)retreattogayles.co.uk

Retreat Cancellation
We are sorry to announce that the Jin Shin Jyutsu retreat planned for March in Rishikesh has been cancelled

During a retreat in January this year, something happened which we hope may never happen again.

One of the retreatants passed away. The family has understandably asked us to keep all the details private, and we appreciate your help in honoring their wishes.

In these intense circumstances over the last month, we were and are amazed at the heartfelt gestures of cooperation and support by more than 50 different friends from India and from abroad. All of us worked together to help support everyone through the many physical, emotional, psychological, medical, political, and spiritual shock waves surrounding the loss.

Thank you for all of your support of the family and of us during this difficult time.

~ The Monthly Theme

Jaya offers the monthly practice theme for February ~ Verge

It started gradually: not knowing when I would have my morning coffee, or whether I would have breakfast when I intended. I thought it was just a phase when my son was very young.

Then the next step, something still practical but considered bigger-- would we have enough money this month to pay the owner-financed loan for our house? This uncertainty also, due to living on gifts rather than a salary, could be dismissed as a short phase, which is now over.

But then this living on the verge of the unknown started happening in every area of life. When leading improvised movement on retreats, I keep repeating, Stay as best you can on the edge of the unknown, where you do not know what movement comes next. Where to live, with whom, and why?

Will I ever get enlightened?

The word itself--verge--used to mean "owned, marked territory," and curiously the meaning shifted to mean "boundary of a territory," and also "to move very close to, lean towards." For years, we may still assume this not-knowing will turn out to be a time of struggle leading to a new order, to a new owned, marked territory still on some kind of map.

Instead, this runway acceleration of not-knowing takes off into flow powered by other kinds of knowing.

by Jaya

(Photo: Rishikesh, by Katurah.)

~ Interesting Links

~Jaya sent in this link to an American radio story, "just to just to understand better how sensitive some people are," she writes, "how different our individual experiences can be..." (To hear the story link here.)

~ This link to a blog post, from Jessica, talks about Akhilandeshvari, the Broken Goddess in Hinduism. (See more here.)

~ Jessica also offered this link to a blog post on building empathy through habit. (Follow the link for more.)

~ A Poem

Jaya sent in the second half of Denise Levertov's poem "First Love" to share...

This flower:

suddenly

there was Before I saw it, the vague

past, and Now. Forever. Nearby

was the sandy sweep of the Roman Road,

and where we sat the grass

was thin. From a bare patch

of that poor soil, solitary,

sprang the flower, face upturned,

looking completely openly

into my eyes.

I was barely

old enough to ask and repeat its name.

'Convolvus,' said my mother.

Pale shell-pink, a chalice

no wider across than a silver sixpence.

It looked at me, I looked

back, delight

filled me as if

I, not the flower,

were a flower and were brimful of rain.

And there was endlessness.

Perhaps through a lifetime what I've desired

has always been to return

to that endless giving and receiving, the wholeness

of that attention,

that once-in-a-lifetime

secret communion.

(From the book This Great Unknowing, page 8.)

(Photo: Frozen log, by Jenny.)

~ Upcoming Retreat Dates & Details

16 - 17 February, 2013, Meditation with horses workshop in Valla Tarragona, Spain
Teachings will be in Spanish and English, if needed.
Facilitator: Gemma
Equine expert Francisco Rodriguez will co-facilitate
For information and registration, write to:

gemmaji (at) gmail.com

21 - 28 February, 2013, Dharma Gathering, Sarnath, India

At the Thai temple in Sarnath, India
Facilitators: Christopher Titmuss, Jaya, Zohar and others.
For more information check: bodhgayaretreats.org

23 - 24 February, 2013, Non-Residential Weekend Retreat in Barcelona, Spain
Deep rest, silence and genuine inquiry.
Teachings will be in Spanish or Català, and English if needed.
Facilitator: Gemma
For information and registration, write to:
hedykramer(at)yahoo.es

8 - 10 March, 2013, Diving into Meditation Retreat, in Eastbourne, UK
Deep rest, silence and genuine inquiry.
Teachings will be in English.
Facilitator: Gemma
For information and registration, write to:
info (at) retreattogayles.co.uk

1 - 8 April & 9-19 April Silent meditation retreats at Sattal Ashram, North India
Seven-day and 10-day silent meditation retreats at Sattal Ashram in the foothills of the Himalayas in India
Teachings will be in English.
Facilitators: Jaya and Gemma
For more information write to:
opendharmainfo(at)yahoo.com

20 April - 4 May, 2013, Two-week Jin Shin Jyutsu and meditation retreat at Sattal Ashram, North India
Teachings will be in English.
Facilitators: Jaya and Gemma.
opendharmainfo (at) yahoo.com

11 - 12 May, 2013, Non-Residential Weekend Retreat in Barcelona, Spain
Deep rest, silence and genuine inquiry.
Teachings will be in Spanish or Català, and English if needed.
Facilitator: Gemma
For information and registration, write to:

hedykramer(at)yahoo.es

31 May - 2 June, 2013, Awakening with Horses workshop at Dharmaloca, Spain
Teachings will be in Spanish and English.
Facilitator: Gemma
For information and registration, write to:
dharmalocaretreat (at) opendharma.org
awakeningwithhorses.org

June through December, Ongoing 1 - 2 month apprenticeships at Dharmaloca, Spain
Facilitator: Jaya
For information and registration, write to:
jaya (at) opendharma.org

5 - 17 June, 2013, Silent, down to earth retreat at Dharmaloca, Spain
Transformation through simplicity and beauty.
Facilitators: Gemma
For more information write to:
dharmalocaretreat (at) opendharma.org

25 - 29 June, 2013, Silent Deep Rest Retreat at Le Moulin, Cubjac, France
Teachings will be in English.
Facilitators: Jaya or Gemma
For more information write to:
mail (at) moulindechaves.org

13 - 20 July, 2013, Deep Rest retreat near Ter Apel, Holland
Teachings will be in English.
Facilitators: Jaya
For more information write to:
opendharmaholland(at)hotmail.com

24 - 28 July, 2013, Retreat in Montseny, Catalonia
Teachings will be in English & Català.
Facilitator: Gemma
For information and registration, write to:
retirosopendharma(at)gmail.com

31 July - 4 August, 2013, Diving into Meditation Retreat, in Eastbourne, UK
Deep rest, silence and genuine inquiry.
Teachings will be in English.
Facilitators: Gemma
For more information write to:
info(at)retreattogayles.co.uk

2 - 5 August and 5 - 12 August, 2013, Deep rest retreats at the Stone House in NC, USA
Teachings will be in English.
Facilitators: Jaya
For more information write to:
opendharma.nc (at) yahoo.com

9 - 10 November, 2013, Non-Residential Weekend Retreat in Barcelona, Spain
Deep rest, silence and genuine inquiry.
Teachings will be in Spanish or Català, and English if needed.
Facilitator: Gemma
For information and registration, write to:
hedykramer(at)yahoo.es

For more information about retreats organized by our sister organizations visit www.SanghaCalendar.org

~ Welcome to Everyone

We would love to share your inspiration in an upcoming newsletter. Photos! Poems! Drawings! Musings! Reflections on a recent--or not so recent--retreat! (You can even tell us that you'd like to contribute anonymously.) Please feel free to send any contributions to: newsletter (at) opencentre.es

Rincón Latino

En esta newsletter
~ Noticias
~ Reflexión mensual por Gemma
~ Próximos eventos

~Noticias

Entrevistas Personales
Gemma pronto ofrecerá entrevistas de 10-15 minutos via skype o teléfono en castellano, catalán o inglés. Más detalles próximante.

Culdador de Dharmaloca

durante todo el año ofrecemos una posición de cuidador de Dharmaloca con un compromiso mínimo de entre 3 y 6 meses y con el objetivo de cuidar el lugar y en ocasiones alimentar a los caballos, así como profundizar en el propio proceso personal y dar la bienvenida a la gente que viene para hacer retiros personales. Si estás interesad@ contacta: gemmaji (@) gmail.com.

~Reflexión Mensual por Gemma

India, un idilio de 12 años

Después de doce años dejándome moldear por esta tierra que llamamos India, aún abro los ojos en un día cualquiera y siento el aire transformándome.

Sus gentes, sus olores, sus luces mágicas del atardecer, las campanas y los minaretes…todo cala como el primer día, pero ahora lo hace con la serenidad del que conoce y no teme, ahora no necesito sospechar de todo ni dudar de lo que me piden. Sé qué quieren y lo que piden! Y dejo que lo quieran y que lo pidan…

Hay una relajación profunda en el caos del ir y el venir, entre las vacas, los cerdos y los santos…y aún como en el primer día lo que parece imposible se hace posible a cada momento.

En 12 años tengo la sensación de haber visto a un país modernizarse, pero de repente entro en su corazón y allí siguen las mujeres lanzando canciones con sus pulseras mientras hacen los chapatis y los hombres vistiendo lungis de algodón y transportándolo todo con sus bicis.

He visto nacer el móvil y disfruto descubriendo en qué parte del sari lo esconde cada mujer.En estos años, Bollywood cruzó fronteras y la capital se ha convertido en uno de los centros más importantes de la moda mundial. Las vacas han sido retiradas de algunas ciudades y el omnipresente “ambassador” se ha multiplicado en vehículos importados de otros países.

Y aun así, mis hijos aún pueden disfrutar de algún que otro elefante paseando por la calle, o viendo las enromes mercancías que transportan los bueyes en el sur, algún camello arrastrando materiales de construcción…esto es India! Y el arroz, las lentejas y el chapati de cada día, con el té, y las oraciones con incienso que cada comerciante ofrece todas las mañanas antes de la primera venta.

La montaña santa sigue siendo tan santa como el primer día, pero gracias a esta cercanía con la madre Ganga, el Himalaya y el Arunachala, ahora mi corazón ama todas la montañas y todos los lugares como santos y hay menos urgencia de venir porqué de alguna forma lo que India ha despertado en mí me acompaña dónde voy y hace posible este simple "sacar agua y cortar leña" en Dharmaloca, lo mismo que hacen los monjes zen en Japón y las mujeres y los hombres de 3/4 partes del planeta.

by Gemma

(Photos: por Jaya)

Próximos Eventos

(Aquí listamos solo los que se harán en castellano y/o catalán)

16 - 17 Febrero, 2013, Curso de meditación con caballos en Valls, Tarragona

Las enseñanzas de darán en castellano e inglés si es necesario.

Facilitadores: Gemma Polo y el experto equino Franciso Rodríguez.