Perth Satsanga 2011 Report

Well the Perth Satsanga has come to a close and a very successful week it was too.

Mr Lambie was delighted with the way the whole event proceeded, the venue and it’s surroundings. The weather was great in the first half of the week and only turned wet on the last day or two.

Each day commenced with dedication and then a period of ‘brightening’ or physical work for about 45 minutes, then meditation and breakfast. This was followed with a study session, my group studied a verse from the Brahmajñānāvalīmālā of Ādi Śaṅkara ‘nityaśuddhavimukto’haṃ’ which means “I am eternal, pure, liberated”. We reflected on this verse over the week, and were asked to look within and discover what the verse could highlight for us in our lives, and not to be too hard on ourselves no matter what might arise.

After morning tea we all met for a session with Mr Lambie to study the Katha Upanisad. This is the story of the conversation between Naciketas and Death. We were asked in one meeting what we thought about ‘Death’ as ‘teacher’.

Next on the agenda was singing, yes singing. Lead by the very talented Michael Kruger who had even those who thought they couldn’t sing singing. Just the thing for uplifting the soul.

Then came lunch. The Yanchep Inn did a fabulous job in making sure all 110 of us were well looked after with hot food options at all meals. Which was just as well as our strength was needed for the work session in the park grounds after lunch. The park rangers had a host of activities for our groups to attend to particularly in the light of the fouler weather which we were expecting later in the week.

The afternoon sessions were split into two sessions starting at 2.15 pm with one group doing an elective and the other group on a shower/change break and then at 3.30 pm swapping over. The electives included Art, Calligraphy, Illumination, Archery, Gospel of St Thomas and Singing. Calligraphy for example was excellent for the attention and watching the movements of the mind.

We then again met together at 4.30 pm, some with Mr Lambie and others with their tutors. At this time our group studied Shakespeare’s play ‘As You Like It’ with our tutor. Very insightful and so good to spend some time each day looking into it. We also watched a DVD of the play to give us an overall sense of what was going on.

At 5.40 pm was meditation followed by our meeting with Mr Lambie. These meetings with Mr Lambie were a chance to ask questions. Mr Lambie also took the opportunity to tell us a little about his trip to India last year when he met with Vasudevananda Sarasvati.

Dinner was again superb and this was followed by a presentation of some kind or meeting in groups. On one occasion Mrs Lambie told us of the newsletter called ‘Insight’ which she is now producing giving news of events in Schools around the world and to which you can subscribe at Insight. Mrs Lambie also told us of the New York School’s On-Line Philosophy Classes.

On the last evening a concert was held in the Crystal Cave. This was the highlight of the week and was kept very secret. Brian and Katherine Kruger played violin, Michael Kruger and his group of singers from the singing elective on the week performed and Lindsay and Thomas performed an ‘Aussie’ version of Romeo and Juliet. Jean and Penny did a fabulous skit of ‘Plato’s Cave’ which the setting lent itself too admirably.

Well, that is the daily run down, but the whole ambiance, sense of togetherness, and uplift to the spirit cannot be described in any way which would do justice.