Author: livarei

Why do we live in a community? by Jutta Weiske

“Life is so easy on your own, no one to argue with, we can do what we want and organize our lives just as we want too. Sounds familiar? Sounds amazing?

On the first look, all of this sounds so inviting, but as we all know, this kind of life has its limits. Yes, we can see friends, go out entertain ourselves in many different ways, but do we really experience deep and committed relationships? Are we deeply satisfied with being on our own or with one partner?
I have found myself while experiencing community as well as in different times plain family life with my husband and son and also times in which I lived alone on a constant and more or less subtle search for something more meaningful.

Here I am , founder and part of an intentional community, part of the Awakened Life Project, very happy and deeply satisfied. I made a commitment to give myself to relationship, no matter what. I made a commitment for not seeing problems, but opportunities to grow and found beautiful people which made the same commitment. While we are on this journey together, we all start to develop new “muscles” of courage to speak what has to be said and to be interested to listen beyond our own projection . We found, by training this new form of communication more and more together. We found, in a group we are able to manifest our dreams must faster, as long we are willing to integrate everyone opposed to compete and having the need to be right. We see that miracles can happen on all levels, when we are trusting in the guidance of something which is not our personal will, but a collective knowledge.

It is beautiful to be on a journey like this together. I feel that in a community I am able to evolve so much more than alone or with one partner, because I get in touch with a love which moves through me, which is not bound on what I expect to get back. I can connect and am able to share so many different parts of my being, as we represent as a bigger body so much diversity.

Writing all of this, I am aware that the mere fact of living together does not guarantee all these beautiful outcomes.
As earlier said, we are a group of people with a deep commitment to go beyond the little “me”, we are committed to meditate regular and face each other opposed to avoiding. Through this commitment we found a deep trust. This blog wants to open the possibility to ask questions and go deeper in all of the suggested subjects.

Please dear reader, leave comments, ask questions and start to engage with us, so we make it into your blog as well and start to create an even bigger community.
Much love, Jutta”

Jutta Weiske, Founder of Avidanja

Life is a Celebration

“We spent the weekend with our spiritual family from the Awakened Life Project at the Quinta da Mizarela and we are still blown away by the 2 days of immersion in bliss and deep Happiness.

Words cannot describe the richness and perfection of our annual celebration this year.

Everyone from the sangha poured their heart into this event and we were bombarded by one spectacular performance after another and an abundance of creativity in the form of decoration, food and the crafts market.

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Out of an idea to make a performance that would portray our lives in Avidanja, the Avidanja musical was born. It was created spontaneously in the course of one week with a lot of fun. We are still in awe of how effortlessly every piece came together and the way we flowed together in the process.

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As a sangha, we came together to celebrate another transformative year with very powerful retreats for both women and men.

Floating in a timeless zone, being together, diving into intimate conversations.

Making new relationships, strengthening old ones – there’s a relaxation and an ease of being, we are Home.

And of course taking a lot of dips in the fresh, cool water of the waterfalls!

Laughter. Joy. Beauty. Peace. Simplicity.

Making the extraordinary ordinary, living together a life without limitations and witnessing the Power of Creation taking over every single one of us. It is truly a blessing to be alive and sharing this beautiful journey with each other.

And it is only possible, because we are constantly saying YES to life. We are not holding back, making ourselves available for all that wants to happen. The road is bumpy, mistakes are inevitable, but we see them as gifts that have the potential to liberate us. We are here to support each other, fueling the fire that burns inside of us with more passion. The explosion of ecstasy during the celebration is the result of us answering the call over and over again in our daily lives.

As we are all committed to a life of non-separation, love and Freedom, it just gets better and better!

How would your life look like if you were not holding back?

A big thank you to our teachers Cynthia & Pete and all my sisters and brothers! “

-Nina, Resident of Avidanja

Cleaning with devotion by Liva

” When I first came to Avidanja as a volunteer I realized very fast that I am not always such a caring person as I think I am and that showed in relationships, in work and also in cleaning. During the last 3 years I have lived here and become a full resident and co-creator of this beautiful project, it has been an ongoing learning what it means to clean. How is it possible that I learn so much through such a simple action? Well I find that the way we clean is a reflection of the way we relate to nearly anything in life.

Being in a project with a spiritual ground, daily meditation practice and ongoing inquiry and retreats is part of our lives therefore a natural awakening process occurs and how I can describe it in simple words is I start to actually see. To see more and more of layers and limitations I put onto myself, seeing the other person and learning compassion and true care, seeing nature, seeing the tree I never noticed for years passing by it, seeing a friend in pain, seeing happiness in the midst of chaos, seeing the mystery in everything. I feel like I am just getting a flavour of what it means to see reality.

And suddenly the tape slows down and I notice that my father is not the person I always thought he was, realizing that world is not a utopia, waking up to reality that life equals death and suddenly seeing that the house is full of dirt.

That being said, a simple thing like cleaning shows me in each moment where I am at in my awakening process. I am starting to feel and see dirt in places I never even looked at. I feel more and more the need to slow down when I clean and do it with love and care, purifying and cleansing the space. Not for me, for everything and everyone including me. But it starts in caring for myself deeply and only then can I start caring for the whole. How willing am I to care about the whole and not just me?

Living in a community can be a powerful process in answering this question, especially when it comes to cleaning as that is where the most friction occurs !” – Liva, Co-Creator of Avidanja