What Participants Have Said:
“I have to say our retreat was just perfect. Fabulous teachers! Both worked well together, linking sessions and themes and so good that both were there for every session. The style was very feminine with flow, allowing, spaciousness and grace. I loved the gentle and logical progression of the journalling and the variety in the yoga and dance was sensational. Excellent retreat design.
It was a great opportunity to share 5 gentle and stimulating days with a diverse range of women. Thank you both Sarah and Tina for your professionalism, knowledge and generosity in sharing so much with big open hearts and grace. Loved it ”
Betty, Sydney (2010)
“Fantastic, really relaxing experience. Lots of really valuable input from everyone.Thank you all for a wonderful experience! Back to reality and wasn’t as bad as I thought,due to being a whole new refreshed and fully recharged person!! Thank you!”
Nicola, Perth (2010)
“The retreat was everything I hoped it would be and much more. Sarah is an excellent facilitator, a compassionate listener. Tina is a great yoga teacher. I really liked that both Tina and Sarah were facilitating and part of the group at the same time. It created an open and safe environment were wisdom could emerge.”
Anja, Belgium (2011)
“I found heaven in those few days in Bali. Both the setting and my experience throughout the retreat helped me find joy that I had thought I’d left behind in my younger days. The women were open and generous in their sharing and all so approachable. There was a great mix of structure and free time, with many of us using the free time to continue with discussions started earlier. It was such fun being with these previously unknown women that we feel that a bond has been forged that will not be forgotten readily. Many thanks for a wonderful experience.”
Maria, Melbourne (2011)
“One hundred percent blessed and so grateful to you and Tina for your love and attention. It is given me both strenght and serenity to go forward.”
Georgie, UK (2011)
“Loved it. Wish I was still there.”
Message from a traveller from the East
By Naomi, Participant in Women’s Integral retreat
A little introduction about myself
Born and bought up in a very simple traditional Bangladeshi Middle class family, ‘Western woman’ has always been a mystic inaccessible figure to me. I could only access to them through Hollywood movies and some books. To me, they were always like a happy women, without any tears!
When I started my first steps in the academic world of feminism as a toddler, I learnt the big theories of feminism which has explained very convincingly that why western and eastern women are so different – thus universal sisterhood is a nothing but a big myth!
My works in the legal aid NGOs of Bangladesh, observation of the miseries of poor women of rural Bangladesh and my own thrust for freedom made me again and again appreciate a ‘life’ that Western women enjoy.
Fortunately, I got an AUSAID scholarship – through divine intervention in my life! It bought me to the West and gave the scope to celebrate all kinds of freedom as a woman. At the same time, I came to know the life in the West is is also perfectly imperfect in many ways. I got the innermost scope to explore my spiritual quest through Tibetan Buddhism under the guidance, help and instructions of the Western spiritual friends and teachers. This quest got manifested in my dissertation for M.A in human rights in Curtin University.
To understand women’s spirituality in a more neutral way, and from a feminist perspective, I decided to participate in Women’s Integral Retreat in Bali. Without doubt, the grant of a scholarship for the retreat facilitated greatly my participation there.
What I have seen, heard and felt in the retreat
For me, the retreat was like a book, as well as a movie and an experience. I always consider myself as a traveller. This retreat was like an island for me, where I rested for while, introspected my whole journey, and learnt to plan my next steps for the journey.
I think for six days in this retreat, I just read, saw and felt the magnificence of women’s spirituality in today’s world – through the marriage of Eastern and Western Wisdom. It really turned out to be really interesting story!
The spiritual retreat – organized by Australian facilitators, touching Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, in fascinating place like ‘Bali’, in a ancient palace like resort ‘Honey Moon Guest House’ where all the figures of ancient tantric Hindu and Buddhist deity’s amazingly crafted statues were in the doors, walk ways, windows and walls – the place, surroundings and the symbols – a divine setting that a woman feels to love for knowing herself .
In every afternoon, we, the six soul sisters (five participants were from Australia, UK, Belgium and USA) shared our life journey through writing and discussion. Those moments were like flying like petals across the time – cause the surrounding of Honeymoon Guest House was of very ancient royal style, at the same time our outfit and languages were extracted from today’s world, and we listened and discussed the spiritual stories of ancient mystic women!
If our discussion, story telling, writing auto-biography were like flying across the time and place, exotic dance and Yoga were like dancing like Goddesses across time and space – because of the union between Eastern and Western streams, the surroundings and our ever-blooming presence.
When I came in the retreat, I used to know no one amongst the participants. But we never realized how we became soul sisters within six days! We could only feel how much we would miss each other’s grace when there was a time for departure. Suddenly we realized we would no more sit together in the lazy afternoon to share our life stories, we would no longer start our day with Yoga postures, we would no more have night out in the restaurants of Bali, we would never cry together on our grief!
The connection we made there, gave us a blissful light to see each other in our crafted spiritual mirrors. And whenever we would see ourselves, we would definitely see our souls sisters also, across the whole word – yarning to have a spiritual connection with the divine.
What I gift I got and what gift I gave
Apart from having seven soul sisters (along with two facilitators), the retreat has also bought new gifts in my life. Firstly, it introduced me the garden of women’s spiritual awakening which is full of diverse flowers – they may be different, but they all are waking up, offering mind blowing scents, and belong to the same garden.
I discovered how diverse are the ways in which women experience exploring themselves – it might me like me who love to sit in meditation, it might be like my soul sisters – sister from UK who finds the rhythm of life through horse riding, or sister from Belgium who gives service to others as a self development coach, or sister from Melbourne who dedicates her whole life to serve kids, or sister from Sydney who maintains a dairy of gratitude, or a sister from USA who loves to walk on the paddy field and fly across the sky, or Sarah who inspires women in spirituality through organizing retreat in Bali or Tina who forgets everything when she teaches Yoga !
Since this retreat, my write up has changed very significantly – it has been touched, and hugged by the stories I had heard, the feelings of my soul sisters in the retreat, the writing exercises and the mystic aura of Bali. My words now yarn to be the Tibetan Buddhist deity ‘Tara’, who liberates other blissfully with compassion– softly, gently and radiating light.
Thirdly, it has given me new ways to see, feel, smell, hug and explore women’s inner beauty. I always loved to be a healer.
In this retreat, I have found a new way of healing – that is drawing and writing story on individual woman’s own beauty and message for life. I don’t know how it happened to me, but I just discovered this phenomenon in me in Bali! I did drawing of my individual soul sisters identifying them with mystic figures and natural objects, and wrote a story on the basis of that.
I never felt myself so useful to others as I felt when I gave these gifts to them. I found a new way of doing healing which I am carrying at the present moment and finding great joy. My soul sisters were just like the angels who came from all over the word to present me their lovely positive energy in Bali.
As I mentioned, Western woman was like a white beautiful independent women to me. But this retreat has given me new specs to see Western women. I am honoured to listen the life stories of Western women and their thrust for awakening. More importantly, I have touched their tears.
For me, the tear drops of the West are glaring examples for all woman hood. Cause they blush like pearls with the message that woman’s liberation does not end up with the economic and social power – it is more than that, it lies in the journey of awakening to kiss the enlightenment.
A woman finds herself in complete when she discovers her ever blossoming nature in communion with the universe – that is the true beauty of women. And In this journey, East and West cannot be a barrier for universal sisterhood. Universal sisterhood is very much possible through exchanging our tears, joy, wisdom and love. Through this exchange of hearts, we can craft our common ship to sail on the oceans of infinitely.
Streams of gratitude
Lastly, this write up will be incomplete if I finish it without gratitude. My heartfelt gratitude to Ausaid for so generously funding my study in Australia without which I can never imagine to have all these wonderful moments of my life. I always keep all Australians in my prayer for giving me such ever growing learning experience. May you always enjoy the bliss of prosperity and happiness.
Thanks goes to my lecturers, supervisor, and staffs of international office of Curtin University who have always supported me to try my ideas on spirituality in the academic world. I am also grateful to my Gurus and teachers, specially my friends and teachers from FPMT (Foundation for preservation of Mahayana tradition) who are so kind heartedly teaching me spirituality through Tibetan Buddhism.
And lots of love and hugs for the organizers of the retreat who have kindly given me the scholarship and opened the gate of an unknown horizon, specially to Sarah who so patiently listened my words and ideas.
I hereby conclude with my favourite prayer visualizing the warm presence of all my soul sisters all around the world in these lines:
‘As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, may I remain to dispel the miseries of whole world ‘- Prayer by H.H The Dalai lama
Good bye and a big Love
Your soul sister from the East
Naomi
Perth, Western Australia
Human Rights Centre, Curtin University
