Letters to Bhagavan
Letters to Bhagavan, answered by a Brahmin scribe, carried the Master’s imprimatur, preserving his teaching and direct spiritual essence.
December 2021
Christmas Retreat
23 – 28th December
Open Sky House
Residents of the Community
Here is Parvati who Takes Daily care of the Community Kitchen and cooks Wonderful Meals
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO PLAY
Last Call for India
You may imagine to yourself that you have parted from God, but know that He never parts from you.
Ramana Maharshi
Vichara – Self Enquiry
Ramana Maharshi’s recommended Technique
for Self Realisation
The Analogy of a Bull
“It needs commitment, it needs to be practised. You have to keep at it and not give up. The practice slowly changes the habits of the mind. By doing this practice regularly and continuously, you remove your focus from superficial streams of thoughts and relocate it at the place where thought itself begins to manifest. In that latter place you begin to experience the peace and stillness of the Self, and that gives you the incentive to continue.
Bhagavan had a very appropriate analogy for this process. Imagine that you have a bull, and that you keep it in a stable. If you leave the door open, the bull will wander out, looking for food. It may find food, but a lot of the time it will get into trouble by grazing in cultivated fields. The owners of these fields will beat it with sticks and throw stones at it to chase it away, but it will come back again and again, and suffer repeatedly, because it doesn’t understand the notion of field boundaries. It is just programmed to look for food and to eat it wherever it finds something edible.
The bull is the mind, the stable is Heart. When it wanders around outside, looking for pleasure and happiness, it just gets into trouble, but when it stays at home in the Heart, it enjoys peace and silence. Eventually, even though the stable door is always open, the mind will choose to stay at home and not to wander about.
Bhagavan said that the way of restraint was the way of the Yogi (practitioner of Yoga). Yogis try to achieve restraint by forcing the mind to be still. Self-enquiry gives the mind the option of wandering wherever it wants to, and it achieves its success by gently persuading the mind that it will always be happier staying at home.”
Letters to Bhagavan, answered by a Brahmin scribe, carried the Master’s imprimatur, preserving his teaching and direct spiritual essence.
Mrs. Piggot recounts her farewell to Bhagavan, highlighting his quiet knowing, grace, and teaching to live as the Self.
Mrs. Piggot recounts her serene visit with Sri Ramana Maharshi, describing the Sage’s profound silence, grace, and life-changing presence.
11 – 13 February
This special Vipassana Retreat is a great opportunity to understand how your mind and body are operating and to meet yourself in a deep way.
You will spend a whole weekend with yourself, sitting in silence in the supportive energy of a meditating group and the Open Sky House Community which has been guiding people into their heart and essence for 15 years.
14 – 20 February
28 March – 3 April
Join the flow of the community and take the chance and discover how spirituality can be lived in every day life. Come one week for free as a volunteer, meet like hearted people and take part in the daily activities of the community. Each evening we will have a workshop and daily yoga, meditation and heart dance.
25 – 27 March
Satsang, Mantra, Herztanz,
Yoga, Active Meditation
Meditation is food for body, mind and soul in the hectic distraction of our everyday life. It helps us to draw our attention inwards, to trust life and to trust our intuition. In this weekend we explore different kinds of meditations and practices to open the heart and bring the mind into silence.
14 – 18 April
This retreat offers a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the energy field of Satsang. There will be daily Satsang with John David, Mantra singing with Live Music, Heart Dance, Yoga, Meditation and delicious vegetarian food. The Retreat takes place in the beauty of the Open Sky House Hitdorf, directly at the banks of the river Rhine where you can enjoy walks in the beatific spring nature.
Anything you would like to share or ask?