Aisho Retreat:  Mahabaleshwar, India

With Uzeu-San and Sarita

Three months before the retreat started, I wrote an email to Sarita saying that I couldn’t afford to come as I didn’t have enough money to cover the costs. I received an answer few days later: “To me, money is energy, so, I read that you don’t have enough energy to come….Is that the case?”

It suddenly occurred to me that, yes, I had plenty of energy and good will to be part of that retreat and money couldn’t be a valid reason not to be there. Although my mind was trying to convince me that my finances were too low, something in me decided to Trust and move accordingly…

The retreat started on 3 February. We were 60 people from 11 different countries. In my position as DJ I had organised all my music selection and felt very fortunate to be sitting right beside master Uezu-San. Just like the previous retreat in France, the quality of silence that I experienced defies any description. Perhaps, even more so this time as I could feel his physical presence so close to my body.

There was, however, one thing that my mind was busy with, a chronic bronchitis that had started three months before. I was still coughing a lot of mucus, and my chest was congested, which made it hard to breathe fully.

One afternoon, as participants were having a pause, Master Uezu-San placed his hands on my chest, exactly in the area where I was having trouble breathing. After a short time, I started to feel heat and a very unusual sensation, as if all of my mucus, was being sucked away by his hands.  When he removed his hands, I immediately coughed, sneezed, and blew my nose, releasing all the mucus left in my body. I could breathe again, it really felt like a re-birth and the bronchitis hasn’t returned to this day.

During the retreat, we had various sessions, all very powerful and healing. Besides the usual “Dhamma Ball” and “Heart Chakra” meditations, we also had wonderful “live music” events led by Shivananda, a Bhajan and Heart songs master…I found those musical gatherings so special in bringing participants together in playfulness and simplicity.

Fergus in Satori

Also, very much loved and appreciated was the walk to the top of the cliffs, a short distance from the resort. We gathered there a couple of times at dawn, in silence as the sun was rising. What a stunning sight! One participant later shared he had a profound experience, known as “Satori” or glimpse of the “No-Mind” state, dissolving for a moment in universal consciousness…

Then, we were all blessed with sacred moments like “Shaktipat” which traditionally refers to offering all our suffering and misery to the master who Himself transforms it and releases it back to us in the form of universal, unconditional love…In this case, both Sarita and Uezu-San were offering Shaktipat. To me, they symbolised in a very real way the embodiment of pure Yin and Yang energy, dancing in unison, in unwavering balance.

Another powerful moment was the “Energy Darshan” where participants received a direct transmission from both Sarita and Uezu-San. A special Aisho balm was created, carrying Uezu-San and Sarita’s blessing. Uezu-San spiralled around the third eye (or Ajna chakra) whereas Sarita was stroking upward from the third eye in a vertical motion. It was obvious that everyone was profoundly touched by this unique transmission. The impact was awesome. I was witnessing Sarita and Uezu-San as two empty beings, channelling Divine Source Energy.

Monkeys join Francis for morning meditation

Perhaps it is because the retreat was being held in India that the whole group could so easily receive this immense energetic offering – India is well known to carry the fragrance of mysticism and spiritual experiences of all kinds. Or perhaps it is the ability of Sarita and Uezu-San to “channel” any past masters that have lived and contributed to expand people’s consciousness.  The energy field created during that retreat was incredibly vibrant, full of love, compassion, dance and laughter…Full…Yet one could also experience the deep Void, the vast emptiness, the magnificent stillness in moments of silence. I believe those moments have nurtured all of us participants to the very core of our hearts and spirits…

I am so grateful that I found in Sarita and Uezu-San, the masters that I have been longing for, perhaps, for lives altogether…Or shall I say, I am so grateful that they finally found me!…

This retreat was, for me, a rare opportunity to experience the unconditional love, total understanding and immense compassion of two individuals who have come to realise who they are, in the deepest sense…It was a rare blend of humour, devotion, godliness, silence and meditation. It was a unique combination of two different flavours, giving us the most exquisite, divine taste of how life can be lived in constant celebration.

Aisho was much more than a week long retreat. It was the manifestation of all the wisdom that has ever existed on Earth and still vibrates today. The wisdom of the East and the wisdom of the West. The wisdom of Male principle and the wisdom of Feminine energy.

Buddha statue at retreat centre in Mahabaleshwar

Many people have been transformed coming into contact with Sarita and Uezu-San…I see the Aisho project being another dawn of a wider, collective awakening that the Earth, and we human beings have been longing for…

Namaste…

Dhyan Niten

Malika x

Tameer’s Uezusan tour report

Norway and France, October/November 2009

My visit to Norway started brilliantly after Ryan Air landed me at Torp airport and I caught the bus to Oslo.  The sun shone and the countryside on route was beautiful.  The air was cool, dry and clean – very pleasant after the English rain I left behind.

Champaka and Uezu San, Oslo bookshop event

But of course I went to be with Uezu San – not as a tourist.  The night before the workshop he spoke at an event hosted by a local sannyasin-run bookshop.  The room was prepared for about 70 people but more chairs were brought and by the time we started it was overflowing.  There was much interest and quite a few of the people decided to join the numbers booked for the workshop.  It was Uezu San’s first visit to Norway and the response was tremendous – especially in relation to the relatively small population.

Uezu San’s seminars are mostly a mixture of meditations, discourses and questions and answer sessions – so its good to make sure you have what you need to sit comfortably. But we also did the Osho Heart Chakra Meditation, which is very active. During on of these I felt that my body was just moving in sync with the other bodies while I watched – “all as one”!

In Europe Champaka translates Uezu San’s Japanese into English, so there were words for my mind to get hold of.  But while starting now to write about his words, I remember when I first heard Uezu San in Japan. There was no translation and each discourse was really another meditation.  But when my mind let go of struggling to absorb words it didn’t know, and when it let go of being pissed off by not being able to understand, then I saw Uezu San with no ego – as a simple man transmitting love.  It was enough!  What more can one look for in a master than a transmission of love?

Happy times in Oslo (with Tameer in the background!)

With Uezu San one receives a transmission that is beyond words.  But when Champaka translates the words, he describes the universal nature of religion and spirituality.  From him I heard that Christ consciousness = Buddha nature = god= our true selves = life = love.  He talks of Jesus and Buddha as being men with that enlightened consciousness, which is one.  And of course that gives us the opportunity to resonate with each of the words and notice which generates a positive or negative reaction.

Now I am clear that when Uezu San uses the word god he means the consciousness that is internal within each of us.  Though sometimes I observe myself reacting to words which are also used when worshiping a god as an external being, even though I know that is not what he means.  Then I also see many people from a Christian background resonating very positively to the same words, finding they can directly connect to their concept of god through Uezu San in a way that the traditional church does not offer.  As Uezu San teaches – Jesus, Buddha and other enlightened masters use different words appropriate for their time and for their audience – but the truth is one.

The Dhamma Ball Meditation practice that Uezu San teaches is very powerful in its own right, and easy to continue after the seminar.  But it becomes especially powerful when supported by Uezu San’s energy and presence.  He passes around the room during the meditation session laying his hands on people to offer healing and a transmission of energy.  It was in one such transmission that Sarita became enlightened, in May this year in Glastonbury.  In Norway many people described very strong and wonderful experiences during the meditations.  It was like they had broken through to new levels of bliss and awareness.  And at the end of the three days, everyone left looking radiant and looking forward to Uezu San’s next visit to Norway in the summer of 2010.

Sarita and Uezu San in France

I went straight from Norway to my beloved in France, so we could be together at Uezu San’s retreat in the Ardeche.  There with her I experienced an indescribable melange of love and meditation.  Sarita commented to my beloved she was getting an energy transmission at both the crown and the base chakras and I wonder if this will be the flavour of the six day workshop Uezu San and Sarita are teaching together in India in February – a powerful combination of Shiva consciousness and Shakti energy.

Love and blessings,

Tameer

Now, circumstances are provoking me to come out of the closet.

It is time for my secret to be revealed.

As with all revelations, there is a multifaceted story behind it. In the telling of this story, I bare heart and soul.

My friend Champaka, who together with his wife Ramya, guides the Sacred Japan Tour, has introduced me to two rare and unique enlightened beings, Kohrogi Sensei and Uezusan. I have studied with, hung out with, and adored Kohrogi Sensei for the past 16 years. And I met Uezusan 3 years ago on the first Sacred Japan Tour. Subsequently, I invited him to come and present his work for the first time in Europe. He came to Glastonbury in May 2009 where we did sacred sites touring and a meditation retreat. I love the direct simplicity of Uezusan’s approach, which centers on one method of meditation and one powerful message. His message is, “I am God. God is Love. You are God. Wake up to your true nature.” His method is called Dhamma Ball and is highly effective for opening the door to cosmic consciousness. I love to simply ‘be’ in his presence. He emits a perfume of transcendental wisdom, which is such a blessing to meditate with.

During his retreat in Glastonbury, he was moving around the room offering hands on healing to the roomful of people who were doing the Dhamma Ball Meditation. As he put his hands on my crown chakra, I disappeared as a self, moving through a portal into universal consciousness. Imagine the best orgasmic experience you have ever had, the greatest ecstasy, the most powerful love union. Now, magnify that about a thousand times through the whole body, with crown chakra dissolving into shooting stars, or the sun itself. All is light and love, pulsating ad infinitum. There is no time, no mind. Infinity is revealed as ever present. As this was happening, Uezusan announced loudly to the whole room, “God is now entering Sarita. She is one with universal consciousness.”

Uezusan and Sarita at Stonehenge

He then asked for the microphone to be placed in front of my mouth and requested me to speak. I felt like a virgin being asked to describe her first lovemaking experience as it was happening. It was beyond shocking to find my words echoing out into the crowded room. “All is light. Only Godliness is. Love is our very nature.”

After this, during questions and answers in the group, Uezusan was speaking about his enlightenment, and was careful to mention me in the same breath, as inhabiting the same space. When the group finished, my body went into chaos and became very sick with high fever. It took time to integrate the Glastonbury event. I was very busy with work, and was finally able to rest and recharge in the first two weeks of September. During this period I received an invitation to co-teach groups with Uezusan in 2010. I felt very honored to be invited to work alongside this great master and said “yes!” In my meditation I feel in deep psychic communion with him on an ongoing basis.

Uezusan

In early November, I went to France to take part in Uezusan’s Meditation Retreat. During this retreat, he went on showering me with his love and appreciation. He said, “I am Sarita and Sarita is me; we are one.”  He gave a long talk on the benefits of our combined teaching presence, as it is an experiment, which is happening for the first time, two enlightened people teaching together, a man and a woman, joining east and west, yin and yang. Uezusan and I spoke at length, through Champaka as translator, and he let me know that he would like to teach with me on a regular basis. He said he knew the first time we met that this would happen, that it was only a matter of time. When I am with him, I melt into a devotional way of being, which feels so delicious. His yang element is very powerful, and this becomes the perfect balance for my divine feminine nature.

And so, I find my life spinning into metamorphosis. Uezusan and I come from different backgrounds, and like two musicians playing different instruments, our combined presence creates magical music. I believe Uezusan is extremely courageous to merge his work with a Tantra teacher. As we all know, there are a lot of misconceptions, which abound in the world, regarding the path of Tantra. He appears to care more for truth, and less about his reputation, as he throws himself into this wild river of bliss. And I, in an ecstasy of abandon, find myself living in a world of ever expanding light and love, savoring his divine presence.

As one body can only do so much in our world of time and space, it looks like I will be sharing more of my Tantra work with my ‘dream team’ of Tantra Teachers who have worked with me over the last few years. This will take a clearer form from 2011. As my work with Uezusan increases, my presence in Tantra groups will become more rare, and therefore, something to be treasured. I adore the Tantra work and wish to keep nurturing this exquisite flowering.

With Uezusan, my contribution will be to offer ways of experiencing meditation in everyday life. This means essentially, meditation as a tool to bring transformation to body, mind, emotions and senses. I believe we will be able to touch and transform many more people through our combined presence. It is in fact, nothing short of a miracle to work together like this. We are calling our work Aisho, which means, ‘radiant love.’ I imagine I will be seeing many friends I know, as well as many new friends at Aisho events. We can have a good laugh together, and enjoy mysterious Leela, the Divine Play.

In the last group with Uezusan, some people were feeling confused about whether they should hug me, or namaste me. I started laughing, seeing this dilemma. Just to set the record straight, I still love to hug! Not only that, I still love to tell jokes! And guess what? I still love to cook fabulous meals and to watch funny movies!  In short, I enjoy ordinary and grounded enlightenment. If you see me floating up to heaven, please pull my feet to bring me back to earth. I am a lover of life. It is my sacrament to honor and worship this earth, this body, this moment.

Lotus from Okinawa

Uezusan and Sarita will be co-teaching together in 2010:

• 4–9 February, Mahabaleshwar, India-more info (Please book NOW if you would like to join this retreat, latest by 20th December)
• 21–23 April Okinawa Japan, (as part of the Sacred Japan Tour 2010) – more info
• 15-20 June, Ardeche, France
• 22–27 June, England
• 26–31 October, Paris, France

For more information: please contact info@schoolofawakening.com