So here it is folks... www.balimeditation.com Gee, I feel special :)
View from the lotus pond at Saranam Eco ResortSaturday 13 February 2010
Bali Usada features my Testimonial
When our meditation teacher Pak Merta asked me to send him my testimonial in English so they could put it up on their website, I didn't expect that it would featured on the HOMEPAGE!
So here it is folks... www.balimeditation.com Gee, I feel special :)
View from the lotus pond at Saranam Eco Resort
So here it is folks... www.balimeditation.com Gee, I feel special :)
View from the lotus pond at Saranam Eco Resort
Monday 8 February 2010
A Singapore earth encounter
Lai Hock and some of the GUI members. One of the best kind of Singaporeans you can meet.We spent 2 lovely mornings (one for me, 2 for bjorn) with Lai Hock and the GUI members at Bottle Tree park in Khatib planting seedlings.
I think I mentioned before, GUI stands for Ground-Up Initiative and is a 2 year old NGO in Singapore that focuses on sustainable, organic living in our ever so urban Singapore.
Its the first time for us Singaporean, doing 'wwoof' work in Singapore! How ironic. And though we werent deep in the country side, the park is peaceful and green enough for soul-searching people like us to connect with the earth.
We met other volunteers, Singaporeans and residents from different walks of life. We started first at sunrise with Agnihotra which involves burning of a cow dunk cake as offerings, spreading the good energy with a short meditation to the seedlings. Definitely not a sight you usually see in the middle of a basket ball court in a park in Singapore! But it was a sweet and beautiful ritual the GUIers learnt from their trip to India in December.
We then did 30 mins of standing up yoga. Great stuff. A quick fruit breakfast and then its straight to good ol muddy, sweaty digging and planting!
After the 17 of us (a nice good number to get lots of planting done!) finished almost 2 rows of the terraces planting peanuts, black eye peas and other legumes, we sang Rasa Saya to them and called it a morning. (it was almost 11am and scorching hottt!)
The most delightful thing about it all, is the people that we meet. Usually in Singapore, its so difficult to get a smile or even an acknowledgement from strangers. At restaurants, lifts, even at your regular yoga classes. But here at Balik Kampong (the weekend farm work GUI calls it, which means 'back to your village' in Bahasa Melayu), smiles were generous, sincere and heart-warming. Truly and utterly non-pretentious, good people. We knew we all shared a common bond. That bond of wanting to find meaning in life. The desire to slow down and smell the roses.
Bjorn and I are so grateful we found this group here in our hometown, Singapore. And we'll always heart you guys!
More photos here from Soo Pin, GUI's resident photographer (and a great one at that!):
06 Feb: Transplanting seedlings of peanuts, black beans and black eye peas
- 20 people came
07 Feb: Transplanting sweet potato leaves
- 18 people came and 10 of them were Scouts
PS: Lai Hock, see I got link the site from my blog hor!!!!!! :)
Thursday 4 February 2010
Bjorn and Crystal meet their Harmonious Minds
The last time we left you, about 2 weeks ago, you can say that we were more ignorant than we are today. But that’s the premise of this blog anywhere isn’t it? The road from ignorance to enlightment.
From the 24th Jan to 30th Jan 2010, we were in the mountains of middle Bali, staying at the peaceful Saranam Resort with Bali Usada, not speaking, reading or writing for almost 6 days. In very clear, simple instruc, we were taught how to train our minds to stay in the present. To be aware of now.
It was a very powerful and profound weekend, where we awoken to new concepts about how to face life. Learnt to control our forever straying minds, and we listened to many many beautiful stories from Pak Merta Ada, our teacher.
There’s so much to say and describe, but I feel probably its best to leave you with a
testimony that I have sent to Bali Usada for them to hopefully upload to their website:
Crystal Tan Age: 29
Nationality: Singaporean
Occupation: Still searching Bali Usada 1 Tapa Brata student, 24th to 31st January 2010
Peace and Happiness needs to be found from within and not always from external environment.
I guess I can say that life is not going to be the same again after going for 7 day 6 nights Tapa Brata. It is so clear to me now that Tapa Brata is so essential to life, The learnings from it, I truly believe is as important as how a child needs to learn how to read and write. In fact, if it were up to me it should be introduced to all school curriculums.
Let me tell you a bit of my life background. I’m 29 years old, and my husband Bjorn and I were working in the advertising industry for seven years when we decided that what were not on the right path. The job was life-draining. It was hard work and stressful during the day, sometimes the challenges were so impossible, deadlines so tight that we used to say “I’m losing the will to live” quite regularly to each other in the office. The salary was good though, and the parties were abundant. So our lives were basically work work work, then drink party party. On the weekends, we had no energy left for anything and usually slept through it or watched mindless TV just to ‘rest’ our minds and body. Life was essentially just flashing right by us. We were depressed and spiritually sick, knew we had to get out before our bodies give in too sooner or later.
So we quit our jobs and with our savings went travelling around the UK (we were working in London at that time so it was convenient) through WWOOF – Willing Workers on Organic Farms where we went to 10 different little organic farms around the country to help in exchange for food and lodging. The experience was indeed very healing to our souls. Working with plants, the earth, the outdoors filled our hearts with life.
But then, we had to go back to Singapore and face life in the city again. Singapore, as you may know, is a thriving dynamic city, as much as I love it and call it home, it is very competitive, intense and filled with modern technology, skyscrapers, crowds rather than peace and nature. Soon, my husband and I became unpeaceful again. We constantly got agitated over the littlest things and we were constantly distracted by tv, internet, people that we weren’t mindful about things. I became extremely forgetful, and most of all, we were confused about what to do in life. It was then, we met new friends who urged us to try meditation. They both meditate regularly and we could see that even though we all shared the same self-sufficiency/organic food ideals, they both seemed a lot more calmer, more peaceful and more accepting of life, even in Singapore.
So Bjorn and I travelled to Bali and chanced upon a positive news feature on Bali Usada. We decided to sign up for it, not knowing what to expect, especially since we’ve never done any meditation at all before. What we got from the 7 days 6 nights Tapa Brata (Usada 1) was incredible. We were all not allowed to talk, read or write for the next 5 days. As a result of this ‘quietness’, I was able to get my ‘harmonious mind’ by Day 2 afternoon after a few sessions of constant mind drifting and aching back. My body felt light, my spirits and senses heightened. In beautiful garden of Saranam Eco Resorts, it was as if I was seeing nature for the first time. Every leaf, caterpillar, bird, flower was more beautiful and filled me with so much happiness and bliss. I was much more in the present than I have ever been in my life. It’s so sad that for most people in everyday life, this beauty passes us by because we are never in the present, always somewhere else.
In the following days, there were sessions where I was distracted and filled with pain in my legs or back, but there were sessions where I felt calm and bliss which was wonderful. It was “Anicca” – the state of constant change, where everything is impermanent – what Pak Merta Ada was teaching us the whole time. Further to the meditation sessions, the day was interspersed with lovely talks given by Pak Merta. He shared with us many many stories, some of his patients and students, plenty from the teachings of Buddha, Islam, Christianity and especially Balinese Folk stories. They were beautiful stories and some moved me to tears.
What really impressed me about meditation and tapa brata is that the learnings are all essentially logic and science. We were healing our bodies and memories, not by some supernatural way, but merely with the power of our own mind and how its connected throughout our body. This was not magic, it was science.
The climax of this experience for me was on Day 7 when we went to visit Forest Island, Bali Usada’s future centre. A really special place where the energy from the earth is very powerful. It was there, Pak Merta told us the story of how only very few times in his life, he’s asked for something from the universe and it came true and that while we meditate there, it is ok to ask for something. At this point, I had been obsessed for the past few days about this family problem that have been on for almost 8 years now. It is not resolved and it brings me pain to think of it. During our “love and kindness” meditation sessions in the past few days, I sent love tediously to my aunt who I know needs help and also refuses to speak to my mother for the last 8 years. My mother pined for her, but my aunt was not moved. But I came to terms with it on Day 5 as I had to accept the ‘Anicca’ in this matter. But at Forest Island, I knew it was my chance to ask for it once more. Right after the session, I received an sms from my mother that my aunt had reached out and sent her a text. I could not believe it. I could not believe it. For 8 years, my aunt had not communicated with my mother despite my mother constantly asking for her. But that very day, on Day 7, it happened.
This was amazing. Of course, I burst into tears as I was so completely emotional and ecstatic because it was what I wished for. Pak Merta said to me – congratulations and was happy for me. My fellow students showered me with hugs and shared my happiness with me. Although we had spent 5 days in silence and only 1.5 days communicating and speaking with each other, we had unconsciously created a strong bond amongst ourselves. I think simply by being in the same room, meditating day in day out together, our energies merged and we all ‘felt’ each other more than we thought we would.
As an atheist, I used to believe that life is just filled with random things happening to random people. But since Tapa Brata, it seems like everything was falling into place in my life. Even if it was just little things during the day. Possibly, it was that my outlook changed and, if I remembered that everything was ‘Anicca’, I’m facing life positively anyway, that’s why everything seems fine! In our lives, we are all really seeking for one thing at the end of the day. And it’s to find that inner peace inside ourselves. So if you keep putting off the things that you know will equip you to face life in a more happy and peaceful way, you are just putting off life as a whole. So do yourself a favour, take one week off and sign up for Bali Usada 1 right away!
Nationality: Singaporean
Occupation: Still searching Bali Usada 1 Tapa Brata student, 24th to 31st January 2010
Peace and Happiness needs to be found from within and not always from external environment.
I guess I can say that life is not going to be the same again after going for 7 day 6 nights Tapa Brata. It is so clear to me now that Tapa Brata is so essential to life, The learnings from it, I truly believe is as important as how a child needs to learn how to read and write. In fact, if it were up to me it should be introduced to all school curriculums.
Let me tell you a bit of my life background. I’m 29 years old, and my husband Bjorn and I were working in the advertising industry for seven years when we decided that what were not on the right path. The job was life-draining. It was hard work and stressful during the day, sometimes the challenges were so impossible, deadlines so tight that we used to say “I’m losing the will to live” quite regularly to each other in the office. The salary was good though, and the parties were abundant. So our lives were basically work work work, then drink party party. On the weekends, we had no energy left for anything and usually slept through it or watched mindless TV just to ‘rest’ our minds and body. Life was essentially just flashing right by us. We were depressed and spiritually sick, knew we had to get out before our bodies give in too sooner or later.
So we quit our jobs and with our savings went travelling around the UK (we were working in London at that time so it was convenient) through WWOOF – Willing Workers on Organic Farms where we went to 10 different little organic farms around the country to help in exchange for food and lodging. The experience was indeed very healing to our souls. Working with plants, the earth, the outdoors filled our hearts with life.
But then, we had to go back to Singapore and face life in the city again. Singapore, as you may know, is a thriving dynamic city, as much as I love it and call it home, it is very competitive, intense and filled with modern technology, skyscrapers, crowds rather than peace and nature. Soon, my husband and I became unpeaceful again. We constantly got agitated over the littlest things and we were constantly distracted by tv, internet, people that we weren’t mindful about things. I became extremely forgetful, and most of all, we were confused about what to do in life. It was then, we met new friends who urged us to try meditation. They both meditate regularly and we could see that even though we all shared the same self-sufficiency/organic food ideals, they both seemed a lot more calmer, more peaceful and more accepting of life, even in Singapore.
So Bjorn and I travelled to Bali and chanced upon a positive news feature on Bali Usada. We decided to sign up for it, not knowing what to expect, especially since we’ve never done any meditation at all before. What we got from the 7 days 6 nights Tapa Brata (Usada 1) was incredible. We were all not allowed to talk, read or write for the next 5 days. As a result of this ‘quietness’, I was able to get my ‘harmonious mind’ by Day 2 afternoon after a few sessions of constant mind drifting and aching back. My body felt light, my spirits and senses heightened. In beautiful garden of Saranam Eco Resorts, it was as if I was seeing nature for the first time. Every leaf, caterpillar, bird, flower was more beautiful and filled me with so much happiness and bliss. I was much more in the present than I have ever been in my life. It’s so sad that for most people in everyday life, this beauty passes us by because we are never in the present, always somewhere else.
In the following days, there were sessions where I was distracted and filled with pain in my legs or back, but there were sessions where I felt calm and bliss which was wonderful. It was “Anicca” – the state of constant change, where everything is impermanent – what Pak Merta Ada was teaching us the whole time. Further to the meditation sessions, the day was interspersed with lovely talks given by Pak Merta. He shared with us many many stories, some of his patients and students, plenty from the teachings of Buddha, Islam, Christianity and especially Balinese Folk stories. They were beautiful stories and some moved me to tears.
What really impressed me about meditation and tapa brata is that the learnings are all essentially logic and science. We were healing our bodies and memories, not by some supernatural way, but merely with the power of our own mind and how its connected throughout our body. This was not magic, it was science.
The climax of this experience for me was on Day 7 when we went to visit Forest Island, Bali Usada’s future centre. A really special place where the energy from the earth is very powerful. It was there, Pak Merta told us the story of how only very few times in his life, he’s asked for something from the universe and it came true and that while we meditate there, it is ok to ask for something. At this point, I had been obsessed for the past few days about this family problem that have been on for almost 8 years now. It is not resolved and it brings me pain to think of it. During our “love and kindness” meditation sessions in the past few days, I sent love tediously to my aunt who I know needs help and also refuses to speak to my mother for the last 8 years. My mother pined for her, but my aunt was not moved. But I came to terms with it on Day 5 as I had to accept the ‘Anicca’ in this matter. But at Forest Island, I knew it was my chance to ask for it once more. Right after the session, I received an sms from my mother that my aunt had reached out and sent her a text. I could not believe it. I could not believe it. For 8 years, my aunt had not communicated with my mother despite my mother constantly asking for her. But that very day, on Day 7, it happened.
This was amazing. Of course, I burst into tears as I was so completely emotional and ecstatic because it was what I wished for. Pak Merta said to me – congratulations and was happy for me. My fellow students showered me with hugs and shared my happiness with me. Although we had spent 5 days in silence and only 1.5 days communicating and speaking with each other, we had unconsciously created a strong bond amongst ourselves. I think simply by being in the same room, meditating day in day out together, our energies merged and we all ‘felt’ each other more than we thought we would.
As an atheist, I used to believe that life is just filled with random things happening to random people. But since Tapa Brata, it seems like everything was falling into place in my life. Even if it was just little things during the day. Possibly, it was that my outlook changed and, if I remembered that everything was ‘Anicca’, I’m facing life positively anyway, that’s why everything seems fine! In our lives, we are all really seeking for one thing at the end of the day. And it’s to find that inner peace inside ourselves. So if you keep putting off the things that you know will equip you to face life in a more happy and peaceful way, you are just putting off life as a whole. So do yourself a favour, take one week off and sign up for Bali Usada 1 right away!
Pak Merta Ada and ourselves at Forest Island
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