Monthly Journal, December edition 2024
The longest night is approaching and the wintery cold just kicked in today. For those living in Northern Europe and for the Romanian builders that help us to create our guest facilities this cold is probably not really impressive. But for many others who are used to the intense semi-desert climate, a few degrees above zero is a reason to seek and enjoy the warmt of labour, stove, kitchen and togetherness. Light and darkness, cold and heat, being alone and together and other complementary opposites manifest in December and give this final month of the calendar year a very special flavour.
Building towards completion
Likewise completion and preparation are going side by side in the Garden of Nâm. Due to some donations we have been able to make a start with finalising the building phase. The ruin next to the meditation hall will be transformed into beautiful guest rooms and El Comedor (the dining room) will be renewed and extended with an Arabic style lounge where guests can eat, read, contemplate or just sit, drink tea and enjoy the wood stove that will be installed coming week. Finally our capacity to receive guests will grow to 21, with some creative stretch on special occasions. When donations keep coming in we could be ready with the work next spring! Would you want to contribute, please do not hesitate to contact us. Finalising the building phase can be supported with a donation or simply by booking a stay.
Entering a new stage
That we are entering a new stage is apparent by the number of people who arrive and by the length or frequency of their stay. Some guests prefer to be here for a longer period of time and others like to come and stay on a more regular basis. By participating in the daily rhythm of meditations, meals, tasks and silent moments they seamlessly blend in and hereby contribute to carrying the serene and healing atmosphere. New guests sense this as a natural thing to do and join in that movement. How beautiful it is to see that not just the plants and the trees but also the people who reside here flourish with an increased sense of Well-Being. In addition we see a beginning tendency of regular guests who, in close collaboration with the staff, organise an event. Like an extra Nâm Silence Retreat, Shamanic Retreats, a QiGong retreat or, for instance, a Men’s or Women’s Retreat. This brings about a diversity of guests, a wider carried use of the Garden of Nâm and many inspiring encounters.
New ideas
Although the high season for tourists is over and one can hardly find a casa rural for rent, we had a nice influx of visitors and a few lengthy periods with full occupancy of all rooms. We welcomed some old friends and family members and the yoga events brought new friends to the Garden of Nâm. It appears that many people would like to learn how to cook a healthy and tasteful vegetarian meal. We had several requests to combine events with a workshop veg-cooking and also to offer in the near future a combination of Yoga and Indian dance. So we are exploring possibilities. More news items you will find below and some of the topics will be addressed more extensively in specific mailings or coming editions of this monthly journal. Please keep track of our agenda or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay informed.
Inspirational relief
Being in the Garden of Nâm provides the opportunity to experience life in a very different way. And that is often a relief for those who are temporarily retreating from a demanding and high-paced environment. And then the questions come; “How is a place like this possible?” “What makes it actually work here?” And: “how can we take some of that home into our own lives?” Well, the regular presence of Yoginâm, who lives in the adjacent Hermitage, is of course, a great inspiration for us. Fortunately, his works are made available for everyone to enjoy and to explore. In these works tools and a perspective can be found that helps to continuously remember what we tend to forget in the hectic turmoils of daily life: that we are a sharing in a greater whole – an unknowable unlimited totality that is infinitely wide and intimately close. Putting that remembrance central in ones attention is what provides a completely different and harmonising perspective on living daily life. It provides meaning and a natural sense of certainty. Yoginâm writes:
When you identify yourself exclusively with ´I/World´ and its Experience, it is said that you have a Soul Identification. A Soul Identification is not very stable. It its changeable and ´moves with the wind´.(SIWEB, 2023)1
Like the old Stoics point out that a life that is ruled by emotions creates confusion and suffering. A life enriched by emotions requires proper management. The question: “Who am I?” reaches much wider than just how you feel based on the sum of genetic dispositions, cultural influences and past experiences.
As many traditions all over the world express in their timeless wisdom; a complete life emerges from the deeply rooted realisation that everything is intrinsically connected. “There is no ´World´ without ´I´”, Yoginâm writes, “and no ´I´ without ´World´.” Inner and outer are intimately connected. What you do to the world, you do to yourself and what you do to yourself, what you do to the world. It is a matter of cause and consequence. Yoginâm continues:
Those who pursue a spiritual endeavour evolve from Soul Identification to Heart Identification whereby Experience and Awareness are in harmony.
An optimal cause is open to Awareness and ´Attuned´ to the unknowable ´What-Is´ that stretches way beyond ´I/World´. How cryptic this may sound now, during more than 6000 years of history, humanity has found ways to do so and experience the benefits of a transcendental, more attuned way of living.
The Garden of Nâm is a place that invites to gradually explore and discover that fulfilling aspect of life. That you are not alone but All-One. And that this is not a matter of understanding or pride but a celebration and an ethical way of being. It is, as Yoginâm emphasises, not a truth but a way of living that exists only in the daily practise of attitudes and behaviour. A continuous endeavour…
Did you know …
- That the 2025 agenda for the 7-day Nâm Silent Retreats is set? Starting dates: 23rd of February, 23rd of April, 19th of October (Men) & 28th of December. Please pick your date and make your booking via: Nâm Silence Retreats 2025
- That a live and online Siweb study group is intended to start during the first trimester of coming year. If you are interested, please send an email to contact@nijar.org. We´ll keep you posted.
- That a video book will be released coming week? It presents a beautiful yet unpublished text by Yoginâm addressing the different spheres of Awareness: Eighty-One Pictures of Nâm. If you want to receive a picture a day in your mailbox, please check NâmInside
- That Shaman Anna Montis will visit us again next May? This provides the opportunity to facilitate a basic and an advanced Shamanic Retreat. More info on the latter will be available soon on our website
- After a very nice Music, Movement & Meditation Retreat for Men Alexander has planned a new event in March. To get an impression and for more information please check this video.
- Travelling – Transavia has not decided yet if the connection Rotterdam – Almería will be available coming year. A new option for our Dutch guests is Amsterdam – Granada and then a short ride by bus. Other proven connections are flying to Malaga and then to Almeria by bus. Or to Alicante and then by car. Vueling has flights via Barcelona straight to Almería and with Iberia it is possible to fly to Almería via Madrid. Some guests enjoy traveling by train a lot which is comfortable as wel as affordable. For busses check www.alsa.es and for trains www.renfe.es.
- That it is possible to book a Nâm Private Retreat customised to your requirements? The regular rhythm of life in the Garden of Nâm with the daily meditations, regular delicious and healthy meals, the possibility be and work in Silence and to request a HarpMood or healing by Yoginâm can shape the necessary environment and opportunity that is so rare in the regular daily life setting. If you want to explore options, please do not hesitate to contact us.
- That we successfully made a delicious salty-sweet syrup from the first Sorghum harvest?
- That the Garden of Nâm wil be closed for public but open for friends during and around the Feast of the Lesser Light from the 19 – the 23rd of December 2024? The same goes for the Feast of the Greater Light that takes place on the 21st of June.
- Yoginâm, SIWEB – Dimensions of Experience, The Hague 2023, p. 200. ↩︎
