Here is one of the events very close to my heart: Adina’s birthday. This year (after more than 10 years) we shared her birthday celebration in a larger circle of friends.

I decided to share this event here, as homage to her and what is she for my life.

Friends, teachers, lovers, and students of NATHA, arranged a surprise party for her in Concordia. It was wonderful to see how many people participated in the preparation of the party, and without Adina knowing almost anything. I say ‘almost’ because with her feminine intuition, she tried to push me to say something by using the strategy of ‘ making arrangements’ for the evening of the 12th of June , so that I would then have to say that it’s not  possible due to ‘other’ arrangements… but i didn’t say anything!

A big surprise

(THE PICTURE GALLERY IS A THE END OF THE ARTICLE)

The idea was to give her a gift of love and transfiguration in an exemplary way, as for many years she has celebrated her birthday in a very small group of friends, and rarely celebrating with a party.

Adina’s day had been quiet, she had spent many hours meditating and she arrived in Concordia serene and completely unaware of the wonderful surprises that were awaiting her!!! I had told her that I wanted to take her for a romantic walk in the park and on the way we would have to pass by  Natha because I had left a book there.

The night had been prepared with a lot of love and great care of Adina and what most fits her. The gestures of love and the heartfelt thoughts were openly expressed and this was somehow the mark (highlight) of the evening. Even how the room was decorated in a beautiful, feminine, romantic and delicate way perfectly matching Adina’s soul and her qualities….

“The theme of the night was ‘Adoration of Shakti’!!!

The party was organized in the largest yoga hall in Concordia – Ananda, Ananda means bliss in Sanskrit, and the setting for the night was truly blissful!

As Adina entered the hall, the room was in almost complete darkness and her eyes were closed while she was greeted by all the guests who had made a long passageway for her to walk through, we call it the “angel walk”, she was gently caressed and touched as she was escorted person by person into the center of the room… (this is usually one of her favorite exercises in the camps but now she was in the center of attention!)

The angel walk

It is a very special experience, the sensation of gentle touching and caressing evokes a feeling of expansion and opening at the level of the heart… and there she was…

Adina in a ‘blissful’ state

At the end of the passage of angels, she was gently lifted in the air, giving her the sensation of flying… an important experience for an air sign like her. After she was placed on a chair… opening her beautiful innocent eyes she was met by one of her dearest friends Cami, (Cami was also part of the surprise: having flown from Romania as a gift for Adina…)

Special friends – Cami and Adina

One of our dear friends, Celestine, made a special dance whereby she was worshiping Shakti in Adina, in a ritualistic transfigured way. Indian music played whilst a Celestine dressed in traditional Indian costume danced around Adina, symbolically purifying her with holy rose-water, and sprinkling on her frankincense and rose petals.

The ritualistic dance of love and transifugration

Then it was the time for the girls from Adina’s famous Shakti groups: they made a fascinating “parade” around her (see the pictures) displaying various forms of femininity and beauty in overwhelming nuances.

The women from the Shakti groups expressing their love and admiration

I observed the men in the room straightening their spines and proudly pushing their chests forward in a discreet sign of polarization and adoration. The fascinating parade moved in two circles clockwise around Adina and each Shakti offered her a mudra (mysterious sacred gesture) or a spiritual gift. This was a very touching moment evoking a sacred atmosphere, emanating from the amazing attitude of these wonderful women who were giving their love to one of them in such a specific feminine manner. You can say that the beginning was lacking rhythm but this was only because of judging in a masculine manner. As soon as you were letting the heart to exalt, you were caught in the secret rhythm of Shakti and all the moments were revealing a secret rhythm.

It was then turn for the Vira (the men aspiring to be a spiritual Hero) to express their adoration! The guys came to Adina with declarations and expressions of their love.

The Vira’s, expressing their love and admiration!

This was a very humoristic and special moment. Each one of the Viras expressing their love in  their own unique manner, there were poems and serenades, jokes and even a samurai dance.

Adina and the audience were enthralled!!

Further surprises came in the form of some messages from Adina’s family in Romania! Her parents, sister and small niece had made a recording of their birthday wishes, it was a very touching moment with tears and laughter as Adina listened to her family’s greetings

… More wishes and expressions of admiration were to follow in a short movie made by some of Adina’s friends  and students, each were asked some questions about what Adina represents to them and the inspiration she offers to them in their lives… the movie was indeed a great idea and we all enjoyed seeing how Adina is giving inspiration and even strength in her feminine way to so many people.

Then a selection of pictures of Adina were projected, to compliment the pictures Julie and Nori had chosen some beautiful poetry that they read aloud.

Following this I spoke, telling Adina what she represents for me. Preparing this party I realized some of the things I haven’t told her for some time and I decided to remind her some of the things that make her what she means for my life. I also wanted to tell the others some things about Adina that, out of modesty, she is not saying and they might go unnoticed for the careless observer. I am sure that after this moment many of the people around her will be more careful to value this precious gift Adina is for all of us.

Happy ecstatic birthday my love!

For more pictures see the picture gallery

For Adina’s birthday, this year we decided to go on a trip that we had  planned for many years but we had never found the right time for it: ICELAND.

During the trip Adina started to write some of her impressions and I asked her to make a description of the trip in order to share the wonders of this magnificent journey.

The aspect that impressed me the most – besides the wonderfully amazed eyes of Adina when she was staring into some of the natural cracks in the ground or at the hot water springs – was the amazing presence of the four elements in a continuous and powerful interaction: the earth power as immense mountains and the land molded by the earthquakes, the water as glaciers making deep cuts in the mountains and also interacting with the inner fire becoming hot steam, the powerful winds that are blowing constantly a freezing cold breeze over the hot ground emanating sulfuric gases. In these lands, man is an insignificant creature that is just adapting to life and is using in an intelligent way the power of nature… when the nature allows.

Sometimes the fight between the elements wipes out in few hours all that the humans have built in that area in many years. But after that, humans return and rebuild everything as it was, with an optimism that might impress the gods of these forces…at least for a while. When seeing all this power at work, one will feel humbleness in front of nature and will realize how little our powers are when alone in this trip to tame the forces of nature.

And before giving Adina the word, one last advice: if you go whale watching make sure the whales are also having their human watching hours in the same time, else…the only whale you will see is yourself reflected in the sea because of the very thick costume you are wearing….

For my birthday this year my beloved Mihai gave me as a present something priceless, especially for these crazy times we are experiencing together at the moment, due to so much traveling and courses in all four corners of the world…:a little holiday only the two of us, in the most remote and very dear place to my heart: Iceland!

Iceland, mon amour!

(FOR MORE PICTURES SEE THE PICTURE GALLERY AT THE END)

How did I hear about Iceland?

There is a mysterious connection between my soul and Iceland… It started with Grieg (who else ) showing us the documentary “Investigation about an invisible world”, about legends and beliefs from Iceland. We felt very inspired about this documentary, and in the end he said to Mihai and I: “You shall go and visit those places in Iceland and see how you feel them”. I was very happy about this, wondering already how we can get there. But after this time, all the big scandal with Grieg’s asylum removed the idea from my mind.

Until one day, when I was searching for a place to spend my birthday so that the astral configuration as presented in the so-called ‘sun-revolution chart’ would become more beneficial that it looked like if I would have spend my birthday in Copenhagen or other town in Europe. Looking carefully, as a passionate astrologer I am, I found out that the more west I could be on my birthday in June 2005, the better for my life in the year to come… The only place suitably close enough to Europe was Iceland.

The Icelandic saga begins..

In 2005  it was only three days, but enough to amaze my soul completely, beginning with the landing at Keflavik airport at 1.30am, but in so much light, as if it would have been only 6pm!

Of course it was not enough to get more than a teaser of the wonders Iceland hides.

So I came back again in 2006 for a full tour around Iceland and my heart was so delighted that I started to insist upon us opening a branch of Natha in Reykjavik, with the advantage of having a teacher born there (Serafim).

Iceland inspired also my desire to organize spiritual trips in special places, so in 2007 we had the first excursion of Kama Travels. And, with that occasion Grieg had inspired us to make the first triangulation meditation with Stonehenge, Snæfellsnes (the famous volcano that Jules Verne had written was a gate to the center of the earth, considered by the occultists one of the three most pure places on the planet) and a forest in Finland.

Thus the tradition with the solstice triangulation meditation begins.

The following year, 2008 I was again in Iceland. This time the group was even bigger because a team from Ganesha publishing house were rewarded with the special time in Iceland.

And I qualified almost as a professional travel guide for this amazing realm.

Iceland fifth time!

Finally I believed with that trip it was resuming my Icelandic experience, but… Natha has opened a school in Iceland as it was foreseen… It started a bit shy but grew stronger. And the unexpected stroke me again this year, the fifth time!

Mihai invited me in Iceland as a birthday present! Of course I have tried to convince him to come along all the other times, but he repeated that only when we will have a yoga school in Iceland he will come. So was it! After me insisting 4 years, on the 1^st of June 2009 we have landed at the same midnight hour in the international airport of Keflavik.

It was Mihai’s turn to be amazed with the white night, deeply pleased that it gives such a freedom because you are never limited by the fact that it’s getting dark and that you can’t do some things you want to do.

We had the first romantic trip along the promenade of the harbor, enjoying the very fresh air of the North and the amazing silence of the biggest town of Iceland. With a population of only 300.000 in an area of 100.000 km2 (about the size of Great Britain or a bit less than half Romania), and from these people 250.000 situated in the capital area (which in this way competes with Braila J), Iceland is, for us, a very remote location, where we did enjoyed the solitude to its fullness. After very crowded areas like Chennai (India, 8 millions persons) or Buenos Aires (Argentina, 13 millions) that Mihai has visited in the last months, Iceland was looking almost virgin, for the big amazement and happiness of our hearts thirsty for a bit of intimacy and relaxation.

The town was really quiet and the orange light of a sunset merging with the sunrise (Reykjavik is a bit away from the polar circle so the sun goes under the horizon for around 2 hours) was so special…

Moreover, what was amazing to perceive clearly (as we are used with the process of meditation) is the fact that the common subconscious level is so clean and… quiet! It is a feeling hard to be described, since my first visit, it was what has enchanted me the most: one can enter spontaneously states of mental void, effortlessly and naturally, due not to a meditative process but only because, the nature is so pure, and the people so few that the subconscious level is not-polluted!

Wherever I have meditated or practiced yoga before, and especially in the city,

I could always feel the subtle interaction with the persons around me: being them in a block with many apartments, or even in the country side. Not mentioning that this feeling of being merged in an ocean of humans pulsating with impulses and thoughts, gets to its peak when I am in India… But there… just quietness and peace… A phenomena of  spontaneous transfiguration happens, just because when the subconscious is not bombarded with stimuli from around, it rests in its inner light, going deeper to its source, the soul. The closer comparison I can find is with the state one gets after some hours of laya yoga with good expansion into a state of purity and transcendence, and even this comparison is still far because you cannot compare the sublime resonance with mystery and virginity of a place so big and so deserted with anything from the populated world.Incredible enough, the physical reality reflects this subtle one: there are no wild animals in Iceland (and never were, at least the last centuries, except some small foxes), there are not even rabbits, there are just sheep, goats and horses. And a lot of birds mostly seagulls and swans, puffins in the north, all making the landscape amazingly idyllic.

Huge fields of dark lava, with nothing above make some parts of Iceland to look like from another planet. In other older parts, over the strange formation lava builds, it grew moss, the famous Icelandic moss (as a good participant to the Shakti groups I have studied about the great effects of the Icelandic moss in sublimating menstruation, but I could never find it in Romania at the nature shops…). Icelandic moss was here plenty, all around, lying over huge distances, grayish with green shades, enlightened by its incredible purple or pink sweet little flowers, grouped in inflorescences about the diameter of a plate, shining their beauty under the pure sky.

Ahh! And NO TREES!!!

First time when I was in Iceland, after two days of  visiting, amazed by the beauty of the unspoiled nature, breathing in the crystal clear air and drinking water from the streams bobbling on our way, contemplating astonishing waterfalls, glaciers and hot springs, I started to feel strange, inexplicably something was missing. And with the time passing the feeling has became more and more intense, until I realized: over hundreds of kilometers around Iceland we met NO TREES!

Nobody told us this before, but after discovering that, we have inquired and found out that the Norwegian Vikings colonizing the island, they were using the woods, cutting the trees without any care, probably believing that they will grow back as in Norway, but the very rough climate of Iceland made so that the trees never grew back! So, one more thing making the Icelandic experience unforgettable is that one can notice himself missing the trees, moreover, the subtle interaction with the trees!!! It is hard to catch in words this amazing world!

The continuous light, dimmed in the evenings, passing unnoticed into mornings to rise up in the middle of the sunny days brighter and clearer that I have ever seen in my entire life, huge mountains of ashes with snow hats, astonishing beaches with black sand (first time when I have seen one I couldn’t speak some good minutes, it was totally opposite that how my mind has experienced the sea before: instead of white (whitish) sand with waves of bluish water, black scintillating like onyx sand with waves sparkling amazingly white on top of them! I simply couldn’t understand it, so my mind gave up for some minutes to let my soul just be overwhelmed in wonder!

In this June, it was Mihai’s turn to be deeply delighted to the bottom of his soul, contemplating the fascinating mysteries of Iceland.

We had visited Hafnarfjordur, with its residence of the elves king (as described in the documentary I mentioned in the beginning), feeling the communion with the world of little beings inhabiting the stones into another dimension, interacting less and less with the world, but still highly esteemed by the Icelanders who will never remove a stone even from a construction site without asking a psychic medium to intermediate in the moving, so that the elves living in that stone wont feel offended and therefore revenge against the humans!

On a lovely day with a sunny clear sky, we went along the Golden Circle (above all we were also tourists!) admiring the colossal rift were the North American and the Euroasian plates moving apart from each other, making Iceland to grow some centimeters every year. Due to this continuous activity of the two plates, the volcanic life of Iceland is still manifesting all over. In this way hot springs represent one of the main sources of energy, all the houses in the country are heated with their water and, to our surprise, all the hot water that comes out of the taps smells stronger than in Herculane! One has to get used to that!

We continued towards the famous Geysir and its brothers, finding out that what we commonly know nowadays as being a geyser, in reality is the personal name of just one of them! The biggest but dormant one since some good years now.

Besides it,

Strokkur is still rising out a column of 100 degrees hot water, high up to 40 meters, every few minutes, to the big delight of all the visitors. You cannot stop to compare the phenomena with an explosive orgasm, the stone yoni of the geyser (deep whole going under the surface down to tens of meters) is full with hot water and when the pressure gets over a certain limit, it forcefully expels the steams and hot water high up, moaning with pleasure!…

And, such as if we were not enchanted enough, the wonderful Godafoss waterfall,

outstanding for its beauty, stand as a proof of a colossal earthquake splitting the course of a huge river into two floors with  steep margins. The entire scene is breathtaking… we spent quite some time admiring the unleashed forces of nature: huge water wiping the stones, again and again, over centuries in an eternal battle for supremacy!

Mihai explained to me the entire perspective in a very spiritual way, describing everything as a war of the four elements: earth, water, fire (in the volcanoes) and air, to model the surface of Iceland, how the Eternal Artist is still working, changing from “time” (His Time) to time the face of the valleys or the course of the rivers, maybe not pleased with how they look like and than trying again.

Another day we flew to the North, to touch the Polar circle, to experience also the white nights! Akureyri with its wonderful bay awaiting us on a cloudless noon!

We took a small cute red car and went on, towards Husavik, so I could finally present to Mihai some of my unusual friends I have fallen in love with in Iceland: the whales! Every single year returning from Iceland I told long stories to Mihu about how amazing these creatures are, how they are coming close to the boat we could take a whale watching tour, and he was always cool about it.

Therefore this year…. They didn’t come!

We had an astonishing three hours tour in the bay of Husavik, under a blinding bright sun and blue sky, clear water and very cold air, but no whales!!! This was a first time happening for me, and, of course, the rest of the trip it was the preferred subject of Mih to make fun of Adina: “you and the fish tails we saw while freezing on a boat”! My conclusion was that we had a ‘whale watching tour’ but the whales probably didn’t have time for ‘human watching’…

Going further we had homing in Myvatn area, my best favorite place of the entire Iceland. In the middle of another world famous tourist tour: the Diamond Ring! We spent four dream days there: romance, love, passion, fruitful ideas, me taking care of him in the sweetest way I could, him answering with devotion and gratefulness for those great precious moments of intimacy.

Thanks God the nights were white, so we could also visit a bit around!

The Midnight Sun is an extraordinary spectacle in these northern latitudes: around the summer solstice,

the sun sinks down just to touch the horizon before rising again in breathtaking tones of red and gold as you can admire in the picture.

We spent great moments visiting Dimmuborgir (the Dark Castles). They are very strange volcanic rock formations to the east of the Myvatn lake. The area is characterized by numerous forms of mystery and imagination, carved in lava, created in the violent throws of an extensive volcanic eruption. The best known formation is “the Church”, a cave open at both ends with a high dome-shaped roof.

We climbed up the volcano from the back of the house, we visited Krafla (the active volcano nearby) not so pleased with our intrusion, so he revenged back burning Mihai’s hand, when he had slide over one of its sides and touched the very hot and yellowish sulfuric mud. Closer to this site is the “Hell’s kitchen” big pots of boiling mud filling up the atmosphere with an unforgettable smell!

And, hence, not to forget, the deep and soooo pleasing and relaxing time we have spent in the Myvatn lagoon! An incredible place: a natural basin with turquoise soap like water, coming from the depths of the volcanoes, containing the oldest organism of the planet, a bacteria able to survive in the hot springs, giving to its water the hue of blue-green nuance.

We spent three gorgeous evenings there. The first one had a symbolic value, while we were still amazed by the entire landscape: big boulders of black lava encircling the awesome turquoise so hot water (in some areas of the basin we couldn’t go because it was simply too hot!), we were speaking that the entire evening was surreal, like a cut from a fairy tale. Almost midnight, the sun still up in the sky, light dimmed and reflecting in the mountains of the volcanic ashes around (still steaming vapors from some little cracks from time to time)… all these gave us an impression of not belonging to this world anymore, when….. some unbelievable sounds started to manifest: when we got closer, we noticed a bunch of approximately 50 people, gathering slowly into the middle of the lagoon, the voices growing into an angelic choir! That was, as we say in Romania, piece of heaven! We were told afterwards that in the region there was a choir festival, and the German choir had an evening in the lagoon with us. Inspired by the beauty of the moments, they couldn’t stop singing! They touched our souls to tears, while we were relaxing in the hot blue water listening to their angelic voices!

We took it as a great synchronicity, proving the spiritual integration of our entire romantic trip.

And, to be even more sure about that, whilst we climbing up the dormant volcano (Hverfell) close to Myvatn, chatting about the spiritual significance of us, together, succeeding to arrive in the top, enjoying a great view over the entire Myvatn area, Mihai had the idea to look in its pot. On the bottom, in an angle we could have not noticed if just passing by, there were written with big arranged stones, A+M,

our initials, standing there, waiting for us to contemplate them! This synchronicity filled our souls with amazement and  gratitude: we then understood some mysteries related to our relationship and got bigger wings for us to continue!

Ahh! I shall also not forget , the fulfillment of the promise Mihai made to me long before, that he would visit Iceland only when the yoga school will be there: we had (of course) a touching wonderful meeting with the students of (very) Northern Academy of Tantra and Hatha Yoga (NATHA) of Iceland! A lovely bunch of people (not all of them true Icelandic Vikings as we could expect) but very charming, alert and curious, embracing us with the unmistakable energy that will make us go to the end of the world to teach: the thirst for spiritual Truth. So the promised was also accomplished and I had the most amazing gift Mihai gave me as a birthday present until now.

Thank you, my love!

P.S. As a last sign of the spiritual integration of our sweet Icelandic romance, on the flight back from Akureyri, above the core of the island, the clouds made a very clear and huge shape of a heart… the divine embrace that embraces us permanently.

For more pictures see the picture gallery

Atman Celebration Weekend

On 28^th February and 1^st March yoga students, teachers and aspiring teachers from across the globe came together in Natha Yoga Center for a weekend of celebrating spirituality and welcoming our newest yoga teachers into the world.

The whole event was a heartfelt, harmonious and unifying experience, a place and time where old dreams could be fulfilled and new dreams were being designed.

Emotions ran high throughout the weekend. Our third generation of aspiring yoga teachers sat for their final exam, bending, twisting and rotating their way to being one step closer to becoming qualified yoga teachers, while the previous group of aspirants graduated in a magnificent ceremony, marking a very important moment in the history of this school.

Here are some images from the exam in which you can see the aspirants being tested on their correct performance of certain Hatha Yoga postures and techniques; their flexibility, ability to concentrate and immobility in the position all being taken into account.

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The highlight of the weekend was the highly charged graduation ceremony, a night in which big dreams were unfolding. There were tears of joy and sadness, ecstatic happiness and great rejoicing for the success of the newly crowned teachers.

One by one, the 70 new teachers’ names were read out and they climbed the stage to receive their diploma and a rose, and to express their feelings about this tremendous moment in their lives. All those in the hall were touched and even intoxicated by the enthusiasm and aspiration of the ones who successfully graduated.

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The event marks a high spiritual peak for those who are stepping into the dawn of a new day as teachers of the Atman yoga system.

The climax of the evening came when the new teachers received a message from Grieg. His message was a very touching address to their activity as teachers and provided all with a strong impulse, especially those embarking upon this new and very important adventure.

The Atman Federation meeting also took place during the weekend. Teachers from the international schools met to discuss the bigger issues of the school, to hear experiences from each other and to be united as a group.

NATHA’s team organized the weekend in a very heartfelt way, taking great care that all the guests were looked after and felt a home, many people commented that they felt like they were in a great spritual family – and the whole ambience was like this. Even though there were many people here, it was a smooth and harmonious event and indeed it felt like a uniting of one very big family.

On 29^th and 30th January, Adina and I visited London to host “The Secrets of Tantra” weekend.

This momentous spiritual event was the opening for the new Tantra course in London. Through workshops, lectures, art and performance, we revealed the Secrets of Tantra to an audience of more than 200 people.

The weekend began with a spectacular opening performance by the Romanian theatre troupe, Sophrozin – a ritualistic invocation of the ten Great Cosmic Powers and Shiva. Shiva, the Supreme Consciousness danced His Divine dance of life. Following Him, His ten aspects – the fundamental divine energies – manifested themselves, encircling him, each one offering their gifts and Grace to the audience, (and, symbolically, to the country). It was a powerful manifestation of subtle energies and even those who didn’t have any prior knowledge about these spiritual aspects were visibly moved.

After the sensational performance by Sophrozin, Adina and I gave the opening lecture -An introduction to resonance and the subtle centres of force, the chakras.During this lecture we also introduced the two new Tantra teachers, Andronicus Torp and Maria Porsfelt.

In order to keep with the tantric practice of developing polarity by enhancing masculinity and femininity respectively, the men and women were then separated for the next lectures.

By separating the sexes, we can create an atmosphere where the men and women feel open to express themselves and it gives a chance for certain gender specific topics to be discussed in depth, and during the course of the weekend very lively discussions were to be heard in both conferences.

These conferences were related to a spiritual way of looking at the erotic life and how to explore this part of our existence, to make the best of it and to use its power in order to transform our life into a happier, more harmonious and healthier one. (The Tantra course is for both men and women, but sometimes they have separate specific talks and workshops in order to fully evolve their unique and complementary qualities.)

Reunited once again, Adina took us deeper into the realms of the tantric experience with an enticing practical workshop entitled, ‘The Awakening of the Senses’.  The point of this workshop was to illustrate how in Tantra we can use the experience of the senses in order to expand our consciousness through the experience.

One by one, each sense was awakened through the use of different elements specific to that sense.

What transformed this workshop into a tantric experience was the conscious approach towards each sensual encounter. By choosing to accept or refuse the experience we were able to realise the difference between these two fundamental attitudes.

Over 200 people enthusiastically participated in this set of experiences as proposed by us! They were very open to this practical workshop and exhibited a very relaxed, playful and expanded attitude.

An extraordinary new movie on the topic of sexual continence was shown. Full of expert advice and testimonies from ordinary people, this movie is a very useful insight into the benefits and life-changing experience of making love with sexual continence, for both beginners and advanced practitioners. It is the first in a series of documentaries which will soon be released to the public. Personally I was impressed by the exceptional quality of the film and its documentary value.

The Sophrozin graced the stage once again with their sublime show, “The Divine Game of Life”.

Every time this show has been performed is has been a breathtaking experience, even after seeing it three or four times!

One of the moments which was very well received was the lecture on the subject of “Tantra and Success in Life”. From a spiritual perspective one should redefine what success means, as for most people success is about following their limited individual will and desires. In this way we harmonize our options with the Divine master plan, success no longer being a matter of uncertainty but a matter of time. The huge success one can have, after understanding this game, is to successfully step back to contemplate the Divine manifesting through him/her.

London’s new tantra teachers, Maria and Andronicus made their debut with a workshop about relaxation and awareness. It was a good chance for people to understand the apparently paradoxical and deeply revealing experience of awareness in relaxation and relaxation in awareness for expansion of the consciousness.

Throughout the weekend we received a very positive response from the audience. I was impressed to see how curious, open and active the people were in their participation. It was also interesting to see the level of openness of people in the UK towards Tantra.

The ‘Secrets of Tantra’ was organised by a team from our school in Romania in co-operation with Tara Yoga Centre in England. The English team under a new leadership made a very good event from an organizational point of view and the overall impression was of a wonderful, wholehearted international team.

To close this wonderful event, Shiva and the ten Great Cosmic Powers were there to manifest their Grace, creating a very beautiful and sacred end to an extraordinary tantric weekend.

Tantra course

The new Tantra course has just begun in London. It is a weekly course taught by specialized Tantra teachers. The many students in the course hail from all walks of life, some have prior knowledge about Tantra and want to discover more while others are complete newcomers. The diversity of the students is proof that the Tantric path is suitable for all and the large number of participants shows Tantra is a path of growing interest! The feedback from the course has been very good, with the interest and openness towards the subject leading to many open discussions.

For more information about the Tantra course visit www.taracentre.com

P.S. Immediately after this special weekend ended it started snowing out of the blue, and it continued for several hours until it became one of the biggest snowfalls in the last 100 years in the UK, covering everything in a immaculate, beautiful, white layer.

CONCORDIA – THE YOGA CENTER FULL OF HEART

On Saturday the 8^th of November we celebrated the opening of our new center and a new stage in the life of Natha Yoga School in Denmark. The marathon celebration lasted 18 hours; it started with an open house and ended in the early hours of Sunday morning with a party. Around 500 people attended throughout the day and night.

The organisers had prepared a full programme that began at midday with various workshops, a spiral meditation and an “angel walk”. In the evening we had a special programme hosted by two of Natha’s yoga teachers – Sahaj and Elodia.

Sahaj and Elodia

The efforts that had gone into the building of our new center were crystallised in this important event where the teachers, students, friends and guests of Natha came together to celebrate this wonderful achievement. The spontaneity, humour and talent flowed creating a harmonious and beautifully integrated event.

One of The Great Cosmic Powers – Tara

The evening programme began with a special presentation of the Ten Cosmic Powers, otherwise known as Dasha Maha Vidyas. The Maha Vidyas are ten fundamental energies or aspects of God that continuously create the universe. They awaken various qualities in the human being such as harmony, beauty, order, transformation, evolution and so on. Following this was an invocation of the Ten Great Cosmic Powers through an opening ritual. In this ten women representing each one of the cosmic powers came onto the stage offering a symbolic gift and their blessings onto the new centre. For many participants this was a powerful experience, even if they never before experience such an invocation – ritual.

The Ten Cosmic Powers

The night continued with a presentation about our Spiritual Guide Grieg and a short movie about his life. In his inspiring story Grieg speaks about his childhood in Romania, his relentless search for knowledge and his state of spiritual awakening at the age of 19. The whole atmosphere was charged with the spiritual inspiration that was coming from Grieg due to this moment of evocation. People who have never met Grieg had the opportunity to hear the story from Him and following this hear the amazing story of the trial in Sweden and his asylum.

Friends and colleagues from far and wide had been invited to our celebration. Guests and teachers came from England, Finland, Germany, Romania, Hungary they were invited to share with us their thoughts.

Bogdan from London Meike and Doru from Germany

Another very special part of the night was with the karma yoga teams who have been involved in the construction of the new center. The construction team have been the “hard core” of the whole team who have made possible the construction of this new centre.

Me announcing the presentation of the karma yogis

One by one the karma yoga teams were invited onto the stage to receive a gift from the school and also our appreciations for their wonderful transformation. The idea behind such a project is always the personal transformation that is having as an effect the work done for the benefit of the spiritual community. The aim is always to gain the spiritual value inside and that will be reflected outside as the value of what you are creating for the world. I have seen each one of the members of this team significantly transform from the moment when they arrived and took their places in the teams and the result is visible now for everyone as one of the biggest spiritual centre in Scandinavia and maybe in Europe.

Brothers – Mihai and Nick

For me this is one of the most rewarding aspects of all that has been created here, to see the Grace manifested when the individual abandons to the will of God, and be witness to the subsequent transformation through their efforts. The team was an international mixture of people coming to join this project and in the same time to take the serious task to transform themselves.

Each karma yogi has their own story that makes them a fine thread in the colourful tapestry of our center. Each of them put their heart in this process of transformation and gave the best in this process. The moment of harvesting is therefore highly rewarding especially from the heart and I could see many from the audience taking away discreetly a tear from their eyes especially when the images from the construction time were projected on the screen. These images are showing also the atmosphere and the transfiguration of the team, working together in the real spirit of CONCORDIA.

You can see here the slide show with these picture

The ‘hearts’ behind Natha – the teaching team

The next moment was not less intense since it was the moment when the whole teacher’s team of Natha was presented. All the teachers of Natha were invited onto the stage and a short presentation of each one of them was made and they were asked questions pertaining to their spiritual development so that the audience would see them more from their inner vision rather then from some pictures (even though Adina made a very nice and touching picture presentation for each teacher). The yoga teachers of Natha teach in Copenhagen and in the provinces of Denmark, many of them travel to teach and return to the city (some also travel abroad). This presentation gave everyone the chance to see the ‘Hearts’ who are behind Natha’s team.

Mariah and Hans from Ibis

Then it was the time for the students of Natha to shine… the second part of the evening was dedicated to performance. It was wonderful to see the natural talent that lies within the students and for them to have the confidence to express themselves through music, song, dance and jokes. All the acts were a delight for the audience and a spiritual lesson for the artists. First the Danish band Ibis took the stage with music from their new album. Being already musicians and yoga teachers, IBIS were giving a breathtaking experience of spiritual music, a performance that I rarely have seen on stage in any part of the world. The hall transform for one hour in a Divine Cathedral of music, dance, poetry, in a harmonious combination that was bringing the assistance into deep states of spiritual trance. It is worth mentioning here that the music style IBIS is promoting is a natural one, springing from the experience in the spiritual practice and therefore creating sublime resonances without any artistic speculations. Here is their website: www.ibismusic.net

After these wonderful spiritual tunes we had spontaneous acts of creativity provided by our students. The moments of fun were alternating with moments of music and dance, all in an atmosphere of celebration.

Dance group symbolizing the play of tattvas

Some of the acts also spontaneously came from the audience, increasing this way the state of delicious spontaneity.

Louise and Mariah

The evening finished with a party leaving the “hard core” karma yogis and many of the guests dancing until the early hours of the morning.

This was the Grand Opening Day in Natha. Now starts the time to practice and provide the spirituality to all that are open to it…

Thank you to all that were putting their Heart into this project and made it possible.

Thank you to Grieg, our spiritual guide and inspirer

In October I was invited to Tara Yoga centre, the branch of our yoga school in England, to keep a lecture for the students there. The topic was about ‘Spiritual Tantric Couple Relationships’.

The lecture covered aspects regarding: the importance of polarity in the couple, keeping the “door” of the Heart open to the love that God offers to us, transfiguration, preserving the mystery in the relationship, and the positive aspects of multiple relationships. I was happy to realize that many people are interested into these matters, especially those who  are already engaged on a spiritual path and for which the couple relationship  often becomes a genuine challenge for their spiritual development.

Even though parts of this lecture were breaking new ground for some of the audience I was happy to see that they were received with openness and curiosity. Many put very interesting questions during and even after the lecture and the whole atmosphere was of a vivid interest for this topic.

By speaking openly about topics that are often viewed as being ‘taboo’ it is possible to reduce the tensions and inhibitions that have been cultivated in the majority of people from their childhood. This is the first step in creating the genuine interest for the spiritual aspects of life – in areas that have previously been covered by the shadow of dogmatic attitudes.

The sexual aspect of the couple relationship is most of the time ignored and sources of information are adults’ magazines and night movies for most couples. This leads to sexual inhibitions and sexual unfulfillment, with consequences such as contractions, blockages and stress that remain un-guessed by most people. These are the elements that prevent the modern person from living freely and harmoniously and enjoying the gifts of the universe in parallel with their spiritual evolution. Tantra teaches us about freedom in the spiritual way. To be free of all inhibitions within the couple makes it easier for the couple to achieve an intimate communion that will expand the consciousness of the lovers and thus making a faster path to reaching the heart of God.

The lecture was structured in two parts, one in the morning and the other after the YANG spiral (that was done in unison with the whole school.)

The whole day was a spiritual marathon but people were impressively vivid and even in the late hour of the evening the talks were continuing on this topic of a large interest.

With this occasion I came to realize that it is important to meet students from other schools and to share knowledge and experiences together. This completes all the experiences that we develop in different schools and makes in the end a final synthesis that meets the real dimension of the teachings that we have from Grieg.

(More pictures in the photo gallery)

Adina and I were in Chennai in India. Following a successful visit in Febuary we returned to give the second part of the Tantric seminars.

Below is the program of lectures we kept.

More information about the trip will follow soon…

 

 

 

Tantra Seminars in Chennai, November 2008

Saturday 22.11.08 from 10:00 – 18:00

The science of Tantra Yoga for happiness and harmony in couple relationships

Sunday 23.11.08 from 10:00 – 18:00

The traditional science of Tantra Yoga for success and personal development

Saturday 29.11.08 from 10:00 – 18:00

Health, happiness and self-realisation through Tantra Yoga

Sunday 30.11.08 from 10:00 – 18:00

The Power of Shakti & the Power of Vira

 

 

 

The content of these seminars goes far beyond the analysis of ancient spiritual traditions. In a synthesis of the great genuine teachings of Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Laya Yoga and Jnana Yoga, Mihai and Adina Stoian reveal the line between divine wisdom and everyday life, immortal truth and its application here and now. The seminars cover topics integral to the tantric system, including the chakras, sexual continence and the couple relationship and draw parallels between the ancient science of tantra and modern science. Practical techniques for personal development accompany this indepth body of theoretical knowledge.

Shakti means feminine power, force of nature, energy. She is the expression of the eternal feminine, or the Mother Deity, unifying femininity and maternity through her manifestation as the force of Nature. In the Tantric tradition, the term Shakti defines an unbelievably complex aspect of the universe, which bears numerous nuances. Some of these are: cosmic creative force, mother who gives birth to everything, cosmic energy, seductive woman, devoted sister, terrible power who destroys all limitations, Goddess who grants divine gifts, feminine force residing especially in beautiful, vital and spiritual women, fundamental energy Kundalini Shakti, that lies hidden in all human beings and when awakened harmoniously offers the experience of paranormal powers and mastership over one’s life. The Tantrics assert that in order to define Shakti one has to know Her.

Tantra also teaches about Vira, the spiritual hero. Courage, self discipline and awareness are the key qualities of the Vira. He is one who is in Love with Life and sees everything Life brings to him as an opportunity to learn and evolve.  He is a pillar of Constant Awareness – penetrating the Universe – Shakti, which he sees in every woman – with his Consciousness. Aware of the Game of Polarity, he is keeping and developing his Solarity in every Moment – choosing when and how to be receptive to the flow around him, in order to stay on course with his principles, so he can fulfill his Life’s Mission.

ADDRESS OF VENUE –

ASHA VIVAS SOCIAL CENTER, NUMBER 9, RUTLAND GATE,

5TH STREET CHENNAI, 600 6006. TN INDIA.

PHONE – 044 2833 3311/ 28330722

EMAIL – atman.tantra@gmail.com

Dear Friends,

I have not written on my blog for a while, as we have been very busy with moving and renovating our new yoga center. This has been an intensive and wonderful experience and as the final touches are being made I will share with you some of the experiences in the process and future plans.

The new center: Concordia ‘The Heart’

Three years ago some of our colleagues began the search for a new yoga center; as we were outgrowing our previous center and needed to find a larger place that would be better suited to the growing needs of our school.

For two years we viewed many buildings, searching the length and breadth of Copenhagen for the perfect place – not knowing then that we would follow a trail that would magically bring us back to where we started!

Many significant synchronicities occurred in the search for the new place. Thus our new center that we now call ‘Concordia’ was actually the first building we went to see, however when we arrived at the building in Nodre Fasanvej, the estate agent hadn’t brought the key and we were unable to enter. We took this as a sign that it was not the right moment to see the place and continued our search. There were a few places we were close to buying, but the contracts fell through in the last moments, we even considered building our own spiritual center on the site of Prema (one of our ashrams). All the roads we went down eventually led to seemingly dead ends, but in reality they brought us closer to the actual location. One year ago the building in Nodre Fasanvej again came to our attention; we went to view it, this time successfully entering the door!

Even in its unused state we realised within moments that it would be the perfect place for our expanding school. It fitted all our needs, the size, the potential for expansion, the location and the name!

(The top picture was taken when we first visited the building and the bottom picture is now)

Another synchronicity came immediately after signing the contract and was a further confirmation of the choice we had made, as three months before finding this location (in fact coming back to it without knowing) we had started to create a new internet forum with the name Concordia. After we signed the contract for the new center I went out of the building to look at it again from across the street and in that moment I noticed the name CONCORDIA on its façade – it had been written at the beginning of the 20^th century. For this reason we decided to name the new center ‘Concordia’ – and this means ‘with heart’, harmony, union and peace. A perfect name for the building which was to become the new home of Natha, and a sign of things to come.

We signed the contract for the building and began the massive renovation work in January 2008.

When we first started the work on Concordia the building was grey and pink, and had an air of loneliness. Over the past year it has been radically transformed both physically and energetically, grey rooms have been converted into colourful yoga halls, “Shambala” ashram, a library, reception area and offices. Life has been breathed into the building which now radiates energy and colour.

(One of the rooms before the renovation……. and now as a yoga hall)

In keeping with the concept of our spiritual school, it is not only the building that has radically transformed; all those who have been involved in the remaking of the new center have been remodelled and transformed in one way or another. Many have participated in the construction of the center, meaning not only the physical framework of the building, each one of them have contributed with their hearts and souls to the life of the center, whatever their task may have been: erecting walls, raising the roof, pressing 20 litres of fresh natural juice for the team every day, cooking for the hungry workers, washing up, answering the phone.

This is something unique in this day and age where the majority of people only know how to take and have lost the ability to ‘give’, paying with the price of feeling lonely and weak. Re-learning the true joy and fulfilment of giving is a pathway to ‘opening the heart’, and gives the knowledge that “the more we give the more we receive in abundance”

Concordia is much more than bricks and mortar, Concordia is more than the sum of each individual who has been involved here, as by giving their hearts to the work they have created a living entity, a HEART, the central point that will radiate for generations to come as the ‘spiritual home’ of Natha Yoga center.

Yoga center

The new center has five yoga halls, two large halls and three medium sized. The halls will be used for workshops, yoga classes, and many other activities such as retreats, camps, spirals, lectures, meditations. There is also a small cinema hall, library, offices, and reception area.

The garden is being renovated and will soon be a place for contemplation and silence.

(Hall before renovation…….. and now as Ananda yoga hall)

On the roof of the new building there will soon be a terrace where people will be able to practice yoga in the sun during the summer months.

The Teams – The backbone behind the renovation of the center

The construction team and the cooking team have worked side by side over the past year. The builders have worked hard in the remaking of the center – reconstructing an entire new storey, converting rooms, installing a staircase, converting the attic, building a new floor and a new roof.  Many of the team were novices at the beginning, but now they have learnt new skills that will last them a lifetime.

(Mihai and Arthur developing their carpentry skills)

As their female counterparts, the kitchen team – or the ‘angels of the kitchen’ have provided constant nourishment and support for the construction team, ceaselessly working with enthusiasm and devotion.

(Some of the angels from the kitchen)

The best part of this “adventure” was the spirit of KARMA YOGA that constantly impregnated all the activities of the team. The work in different areas of the construction was constantly a lesson of communion with the universe and with the Spirit of God, this also brought joy and happiness within the team, even in the most difficult moments. It proved that it is possible in a world in crisis and tormented with suffering and difficulties to gain serenity and peace within yourself, by acting in a detached way and by opening your Heart in the act of giving.

This the opinion of the team leader of the construction team – Florin

I came from Romania to Denmark to teach Ayurveda (I’m an educated physician and Ayurveda lecturer). At least this is what I use to believe in the beginning. Since I mentioned my previous experience in construction (I had my own business in construction in Romania), Mihai, with his angelic smile, told me “well, if you really want to teach Ayurveda here, first you will have to build the halls you need for teaching”. And thus the most challenging and transformative experience of my life has started. I’ve always had to deal with big projects, but this one is really BIG. It has requested my entire presence almost day and night for many months. I felt my whole being reconstructed in the same rhythm with the New Center. I found the Spiritual Guide of my dreams. I made the best friends of my life, or I’d better say that God bestowed his Grace upon me bringing into my life a bunch of real spiritual brothers and sisters. I felt The Divine Absolute manifested in and through me every second. I felt the Divine Will and Power moving everything around in order to fulfil this necessity – The New Center. I’ve understood deeply a lot of spiritual aspects due to the explicit presentations of Mihai. And all these took place in less than one year. I keep thinking that most of the people nowadays hardly experience something like this during one life, so I’m grateful to God for this Divine Gift.

The Vira Camp – “Vira” – Spiritual man / hero / warrior

From boys to men.

In order to integrate all the activity of the team in a spiritual way, emphasizing on the specificity of a male team, we decided to organize the whole activity as a spiritual camp, having as the main objective the awakening and amplifying of the state of spiritual Hero – Vira.

The Vira camp has been ongoing for 31 weeks and is now the longest camp in the history of our yoga school. It still continues…

(The Vira Team performing)

It is a unique and powerful experience to have the teams (men and women) separated during the week days by the specifics of their activity and then for them to come together over the weekend in combined relaxing activities. The separation creates a bigger polarity between the men and women, and in this way the men become more masculine and the women more feminine.

Being part of the karma yoga construction team, even for one day, is a powerful experience that induces in any man the state of Vira. The combination of the physical work and being together as part of a group with a high common goal has had the effect of bonding the men, creating a ‘spiritual brotherhood’ which gives the feeling of unity and oneness, where the members support, care, encourage and protect one other. In the beginning there were some difficulties with the cultural and communication differences, however in time minor problems were overcome and the team began to function as a single entity. Working as ‘one being’ was a secret key to the construction work, as the harmony and discipline generated by this way of working led to efficient actions and integrated solutions as well to a spiritual view upon the daily activities.

Over the past few weeks we worked intensely to finish the center. Students and friends joined forces to help the teams here. It was a wonderful atmosphere and a lot of fun. I want to thank all who have offered a piece of their heart in the creation of this new center – Concordia, ‘The Heart’

I will come with more details and pictures about the Grand Opening in Natha…

More pictures will be available soon in the picture gallery….