Weekend Mooji Retreat

      Mooji Retreat December 12 – 14, 2014         This weekend event featured video showings of a retreat with Mooji held in Zmar, Portugal, in May of 2014,  The opening Friday night session was attended by seven people and after some heart-felt expressions about what had brought them to the Swanwick Centre, we watched the introductory satsang with Mooji, followed by a silent sit and guided meditation.  Some of the participants at the Portugal venue were obviously ready to jump right in and some serious questions and inquiry took place very quickly.   On Saturday we were joined by two more participants and watched a second satsang (in two parts) and had two more silent sits and guided meditations as well as a dialogue session during which people shared their understanding and experience of Mooji’s teaching and how it is relevant in their lives.  An introductory video was also shown about Krishnamurti’s life and teachings.   There was time during the day for outdoor walks on the property and rest time.  In the evening one more half of a satsang was shown.  Sunday started off with a satang in the morning and there was another one in the afternoon, with a period for sharing before lunch.   The retreat was essentially conducted in silence until lunch on Sunday, after which participants elected to lift the silence but to remain “present” while speaking.  The retreat was brought to a completion by late afternoon.  The atmosphere of the weekend was one of serious but joyful contemplation and sharing.   Mooji’s pointings were, as usual, very focused in asking people to look again and again at their actual experience and to ask “who” or “what” the experiencer is in fact.  One of his main emphases is to help people to see that the “I-me” is nothing but a fabrication of thought and that we are suffering from a false sense of self which then suffers from ideas it has about itself.  At times the conversations with seekers were very humorous, at times quite fierce and challenging.   The participants at Swanwick enjoyed tremendously the explorations of what we are and what we take ourselves to be and reported some significant shifts in their understanding and “seeing”.