The Netherlands, July 20-22, 2017
By Ada Merz
Under the wisdom, knowledge and guidance of Dada Shambhushivananda a group of teachers and coaches from the Den Bosch NHE child centre successfully completed their 3 day training in Neohumanist philosophy. The training was provided by the Lotus Centre, a NHE knowledge centre in the Netherlands.
‘Life is a journey,’ was the topic of the first day. This journey contains three parts: that which we take from our past, from our environment and that which we create by our own ambition or freewill.
On the very first day students were challenged to take a look at themselves by being asked to answer questions concerning their own spiritual journey such as: ‘Who am I, where am I going, where would I like to go, what are the obstacles on my journey, how to overcome them, what are the tools available? ’
It was a thought provoking day and gave the trainers the opportunity to examine their own mind, thoughts, attitudes, strengths and weaknesses, efforts, ambitions etc. It was definitely an awareness-training session for all.
On our journey we need tools to protect ourselves from negativity and tools to cultivate positivity.
Some basic positive tools are daily sadhana, kaoshiiki and bath mantra. The bath mantra was new to the teachers and they surprisingly enjoyed practicing the mudras and deep underlying meaning. Bath mantra is honoring the past; showing our gratitude. Without reverence for the past we cannot move forward into the future, Dada explained.
Basic spiritual topics like the Cyle of creation (Brahmacakra), Life, death and samskaras, Layers of the mind, Chakras and vriitis, Dharma etc. were covered the next two days. It was a tightly packed program but very enriching for the teachers. And somehow they managed to connect the dots and realize how sacred life, especially human life is. Dada added flavour to the day by telling mystical stories here and there, relaying his personal experiences with his spiritual Master, which aroused the curiosity of the trainers. Some have now ordered the book ‘Advent of a Mystery” by Dada Pranavatmakananda, to deepen their understanding of spirituality.