Australia’s First Bhava Spandana Program!

The first Bhava Spandana program in Australia happened from April 25-28, 2014 with over 100 participants and volunteers. Here are a few incredible and inspiring sharings.

Volunteering for Life.

We are BSP, merry merry BSP.
- Arnab, Isha Australia Volunteer

We arrived at a camping retreat near a small town called Kyneton, an hour’s drive away from Melbourne. Months of careful preparation and keen anticipation had culminated to the point when Bhava Spandana was just a day away. All of us came from various different places in Australia, but then, there were a special five of us who flew all the way from Singapore to volunteer.

At five o'clock on 24th April, with eighty-nine participants and twenty-nine volunteers, the Bhava Spandana program began. The participants were immediately taken over by the beauty of the place, its rolling grasslands, and the boundless view over the fields, a lake that reflected the brightness of the sun. The following three days and nights fused into one single day, where everything happened with incredible briskness and intensity, sweeping each one of us on a breathtaking ride where events followed each other in a continuum and overwhelming experiences drove our inner core into higher pitches of ecstasy – as if one restless ocean was churning out one monumental wave over the other.

All the volunteers were high on energy. Inside the kitchen, they were involved in activities from shredding a near infinite number of carrots, to cleaning a “mountain” of vessels at the wash sink. After the program, there were some volunteers who claimed to have gained “world-class” expertise in cutting veggies, some had developed an ingenuous talent towards using white cloths and other means to elevate the aesthetics of a place, while some others confessed that cleaning those vessels was, in fact, a deep cleansing process for their inner being!

As the program progressed, the deep transformations, which the participants went through, were also reflected in the way they looked. They had become joyous and we could see how the grace of Sadhguru has touched and moved them. They all looked newly born, without a single line of worry on their faces, which in turn, had became
radiant with such brilliant smiles. All of them seemed to have found a new intimate involvement with everything around them. Indeed, the whole place itself had transformed into a beautiful home where we all lived together as a family, as
we strived towards having a greater perception of life.

On the final evening, the music was turned on and everybody was dancing, ecstatically, teary eyed and embracing anybody whom they came across. It was as if the whole place was throbbing in resonance with the heartbeat of one soul as the music played through each one of us. There was unbounded bliss and joy pouring out of everyone in an uncontrollable manner. All the unknown shackles that held us from within had been broken and we danced celebrating this new freedom. A rapturous Bhava Spandana was now coming to a close by bringing this new
beginning to all of our lives, an example of how to live and to be completely immersed in the life happening within and around us, and the compassionate grace of Sadhguru which flows and pervades everything we touch.

Participants’ sharings

My BSP Experience – Stephen Dack

Looking back now, the most obvious word I can think to use for my BSP experience is “intense”. I was quite nervous when I arrived, and still felt a little nervous during the first day, but once we got started and everyone started to bond, all my nervousness evaporated.

It seemed that everything in my inner world had been put on super fast-forward, and many of the things I wanted to change about myself were, in hindsight, largely achieved during the program. It was hard to tell at the time, always trying to give 100% effort every moment, not dwelling on what the effects might be or comparing how I felt then to how I felt before, just trying to be there totally 100% of the time. Having had about 10 days pass since the program, a lot of the results of the BSP are much more obvious to me.

These are some times that I experienced during the program that I will always recognize as extremely significant in my life. I have never felt so natural, primordial, at harmony, at ease in my own nature, so forgiving of myself and of others, so active and alive, but not restless at all. The BSP program enhanced all of these sensations in my experience, and it hasn’t stopped since I left. There was one night that I thought I was in a dream, but I was awake; there are dreams I had there that I thought were reality. I keep remembering a night I was outside under the stars, I felt so unified and right. It felt as though I was right where I was supposed to be; being as though I should be being. In my mind I had already begun to understand the intimate relationship I have with everything else, but at BSP I began to experience it. The tree I was touching and the ground I was standing on, the moon and the sky were all just different parts of me. It was so liberating, and it felt so natural and seemed like such an obvious thing.

Sashi

To know the meaning of words is something. To experience it is something else. I had only heard of words like devotion, bliss, oneness and love. But I experienced all this in BSP. And words would be petty to thank those wonderful beings that made it happen. I'm filled with tears of gratitude.

Alena

My experience of BSP was an explosion of different emotions. I feel that I finally experienced first hand the things that I used to read here and there. Some moments brought pure joy, I felt like I was a child again and could see life just the way it is without my ideas or opinions. I find it affects the way I look at myself, my family, people around me, plants and animals. I feel much more connected to all and definitely more alive.

Elizabeth

Sadhguru's BSP program was life changing for me. It devastated every part of what I knew as me – physically, mentally and emotionally. Incredible energy led to experiences hard to put into words. I experienced that which is beyond the usual duality – a wholeness I have experienced previously but in a way I didn't understand at the time. The most significant part of the BSP program has been since leaving the intense, warm and supportive retreat. My meditations have deepened, my body has relaxed and opportunities have happened in my work and personal life so that I am more in tune with life. My deepest gratitude to all those touched by Sadhguru's Grace and Energy, I know I am truly blessed having had this experience.

Editor's Note: To experience the Bhava Spandana Program in a location near to you, please see here.