Kira's Blog

Hello dear friends,

Satori time in Byron bay, Australia is coming closer once again, Dec 3-9th held at Sangsurya Retreat centre - in case you feel inspired to join or feel to encourage a friend to participate the details can be found at:
/calendar-2
Or request further information by email: bookings@kirakay.com

I have noticed for many people this year has been a powerful time of upheavals and changes - Satori retreat can be a nourishing place to explore and integrate truth and understanding into your everyday life. Personally I find us coming together in "Satori space" is a time of diving deeply into clarity and opening into the wisdom of who we really are as we share this communal time together. I find it accelerates our process when we come together to consciously experience truth.

This year after Satori I will be once again facilitating a five day Intuition intensive, Dec 12-16th, which is a nice compliment to the Satori retreat, and I am thankful that Tony from Sangsurya has allowed me to host the event at Sangsurya and he is open to people staying on after Satori for the Intuition group (which is a non-residential seminar) that can be a supportive integration post Satori, to continue to be together and exploring what arises: /calendar-2

I am right now in my beloved Nepal, involving myself deeply with the communities in rebuilding after the earthquake. I am deeply touched by this experience and it most certainly gives me a lot to continue exploring of myself and others - if you would like to know a bit more please have a read here:
www.handswithhands.com/news.html
Plus I am, along with Rafael Ebner, hosting a Meditation & Yoga retreat here in Nepal in November: /calendar-2

I hope to see some of you soon in Australia (either at Satori or after gatherings), if our paths do not physically cross, I wish you deepening and opening life experiences!
Warm hugs & heartfelt love, Kira

I leave you with a few favourite Zen stories:

Concentration
After winning several archery contests, the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull's eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot. "There," he said to the old man, "see if you can match that!" Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain. Curious about the old fellow's intentions, the champion followed him high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log. Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit. "Now it is your turn," he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground. Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target. "You have much skill with your bow," the master said, sensing his challenger's predicament, "but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot."

Holy Man
Word spread across the countryside about the wise Holy Man who lived in a small house atop the mountain. A man from the village decided to make the long and difficult journey to visit him. When he arrived at the house, he saw an old servant inside who greeted him at the door. "I would like to see the wise Holy Man," he said to the servant. The servant smiled and led him inside. As they walked through the house, the man from the village looked eagerly around the house, anticipating his encounter with the Holy Man. Before he knew it, he had been led to the back door and escorted outside. He stopped and turned to the servant, "But I want to see the Holy Man!" "You already have," said the old man. "Everyone you may meet in life, even if they appear plain and insignificant... see each of them as a wise Holy Man.
If you do this, then whatever problem you brought here today will be solved."

The Moon Cannot Be Stolen
A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift." The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away. The Master sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, " I wish I could give him this beautiful moon."

Spider
A Tibetan story tells of a meditation student who, while meditating in his room, believed he saw a spider descending in front of him. Each day the menacing creature returned, growing larger and larger each time. So frightened was the student, that he went to his teacher to report his dilemma. He said he planned to place a knife in his lap during meditation, so when the spider appeared he would kill it. The teacher advised him against this plan. Instead, he suggested, bring a piece of chalk to meditation, and when the spider appeared, mark an "X" on its belly. Then report back.
The student returned to his meditation. When the spider again appeared, he resisted the urge to attack it, and instead did just what the master suggested.
When he later reported back to the master, the teacher told him to lift up his shirt and look at his own belly. There was the "X".