11 December 2016
Padma in Middelburg, the Netherlands
The Courage to Come Alive and to Be Free
Wake up to your true nature as Life itself, and discover
how life is lived courageously as an
unfolding free-fall in truth, freedom and love.
We look forward to welcoming you!
MEETING
THEME:
The Courage to Come Alive and to Be
Free
When I don't just blindly believe my thoughts and the socially accepted beliefs about who I am
supposed to be or how I am supposed to live, I fall into an abyss of not knowing. Usually it is
socially unacceptable to admit that we don't know or how lost we really feel. We are all
longing to come home to a sense of Oneness and Boundlessness, but we have no idea that not
knowing is the way. Not knowing is considered dangerous, frightening, threatening, weak,
stupid, but underneath all those beliefs, the truth is that no one knows. We don't want to
appear vulnerable and unprotected. We are all desperately trying to know, to cover up that
vulnerability and sense of lostness. We try to fill that wide open empty gap with as much as
possible, so that we don't have to feel the discomfort of what is really here. For so long we
have suppressed our feelings, our fears, and our longings, that it can feel like if we start to
acknowledge it all, it will be like a tsunami that will destroy us. But it can be even more
painful to live desperately trying to keep a lid on everything. Eventually the pain of
suppressing becomes bigger than the fear of exposing what has been suppressed. It can feel like
such a relief to finally admit to what you really feel and what you really know or don't
know.
Not knowing has
been believed to be a problem to be fixed, and to mean that it is a gap that you need fill with
thinking you know. We have worshipped at the feet of the mind and have believed that
knowing in thinking is the truth. But when we admit that thinking is unreliable, and only a
kind of superficial knowing, we are left with a wide open space. It is this wide open space
that is truly the freedom, aliveness and love that we are all longing for, but perhaps does not
come in the package that we imagined or hoped for. There may be uncomfortable feelings, there
may be fears, it may feel overwhelming at times, but at least there is honesty with what is
really here. The effort of trying to cover it all up is too much to bare. From this wide open
space in not knowing, comes the real knowing and the courage to live as that. No longer
worshiping the mind, but instead sensing what is real, what is really known beyond thought.
Moving and navigating from a much deeper knowing that comes from not knowing.
Courage comes
from not knowing. Courage to acknowledge what is really here. Not knowing has been believed to
be a weakness, but actually it is a well of strength, power and courage. Real courage is not
pretending to be tough and strong, but in acknowledging that you don't know and exposing
vulnerability, knowing that this is not a problem but only more freedom and openness. It is the
courage to live in line with the truth of who you are, rather than what you think.
We all want to
live in the most alive and free way. No matter what we are searching for, no matter what
tradition or religion. Really we are searching to live as the freedom that we truly are. We go
around searching for a way to break down the boundaries and restrictions that we feel in our
lives because we already know the freedom that we search and long for. This is how we know when
someone is speaking the 'truth' or not or whether something resonates or not. It rings a bell
of recognition. Energetically it opens a little window in our belief of who we are, and we
experience a deep relaxation and sense of freedom. However, then we usually think that we need
to do something to maintain or repeat this experience. We give this experience all kinds
of explanations and meanings. We begin to search to find 'outside' what we know 'inside'.
And we get very confused...
Some of us
believe that if we tow the line and live in as safe a possible way then we will get through
life unscathed. Life usually does not allow that to happen. Whether it is an accident or a
loss, life proves again and again that nothing is really safe or known. Towing the line and
trying to fit into society is something people do when they innocently don't know anything else
or when they are scared. When the possibility of breaking free hasn't occurred to them or if it
has, then the fear of losing everything they know, is too great. But if you have had a longing
to break free or to live more fully 'alive', then this usually will lead you to push the
boundaries in life, and in doing so life becomes more risky and can be uncomfortable at times.
It takes great courage to step out of the box, to leap into the unknown and face all your
fears. And to not only leap once but to continue leaping again and again. You leap once but
then quickly the mind finds a new landing foothold. Before you even realise it you have found a
new more spiritual or more non-dual identity. You have become someone who is more
open or more free. You then develop a mental image of someone who is free and imagine how they
might behave or feel or think.
Testimonials
'More than any other retreat, Unmani's intensives leave you
nowhere to go but to come face to face with the truth of who you are. Her openness, honesty and
generosity of spirit has touched me profoundly, and has changed the way I live and perceive my
life to be. The power of this approach is phenomenal! Thank you Unmani!!'
S.B
''The meetings
in not knowing changed something inside of me, I clearly saw that there was no "me” at
times. There is something very special about coming and sitting with you and just feeling
absolute simplicity and not knowing.'
T. R
'Unmani is so earnest, direct, respectful, loving, pure and free,
that there is no way to escape from the presence of what is.'
O.V
'Your eyes are a mirror to my soul. I've no way to express my
gratitude.'
D.W
'Unmani gives
very little oxygen for the ego.'
K. G
'Unmani touched
me very deeply with her non-judgemental, loving and fresh way of responding. Nothing rigid or
out-dated. I fully trust her.'
N. F
'I found it
surprisingly so safe to have dialogues with Unmani and to experience through the dialogues
fresh seeing.'
T.S.
The 1-Day Meeting
Date
Sunday 11e December 2016, 11.00 -17.00 hours
Venue
Padma
Verwerijstraat 51a
4331 TB Middelburg
The Netherlands
Padma is located in the heart of Middelburg, the beautiful capital of the province of
Zeeland and definitely worth a visit. The historic center is full of medieval buildings and
surrounded by the canal which is again surrounded by a beautiful trail: Het Bolwerk.
for travel information click here
Program
Time schedule
11:00 -
12:30 Meeting part one
12.30 -
14.00 lunch
14.00 -
15.15 Meeting part two
15.15 -
15.45 Break
15.45 -
17.00 Meeting part three
The meeting is
english spoken without translation.
Lunch
Vegetarian lunch will
be served for € 15:
Home made soup, fresh salad, bread & toppings, fresh fruit, coffee & tea
Cost, booking and payment
€ 55,-
Buy your tickets here
Cancellation terms
€ 25 of your deposit is non-refundable.
Discounted rate
Please contact Unmani for a special rate if you are on social welfare
ABOUT UNMANI
You are already everything that you have
ever longed for,
or thought you needed from someone else
Wake up to your true nature as Life itself,
and discover how life is lived courageously as an unfolding free-fall in truth, freedom and
love
I am Life
itself
'Life is. There is no one living it. It is not 'my life'. There is no 'me' that lives. But I am
Life. This 'I' is not a personalised 'me'. It is not an assumed separate person. This 'I' is
all that is. It is Life itself.
That I am Life itself, is known. This knowing goes beyond knowledge and intellect. This knowing
is a knowing beyond experience, beyond thought or emotion. Knowing in not knowing. I don't know
how I know, except that, I am. As this knowing of what I am, the character goes on playing the
game of being a character in a play. The play is no longer taken seriously, but still
everything can and does happen. It is simply known that whatever happens does not happen 'to
me'. It simply happens.
These words are not pointing to anything new. In fact what is being expressed here is timeless.
It has always been known. It is known. It is most familiar and ordinary. It is what I
am.'
Unmani invites you to
answer your deepest calling to wake up to your true self.
Since she was a child, Unmani has never
identified with being a separate individual, and always felt deeply at one with life. But as
her environment and people around her did not reflect this Oneness, she felt so lost and alone,
and as if she had been dropped on an alien planet. Truth was always her only passion and reason
for living, and everything else was irrelevant in comparison. When she was a teenager, she made
a pact with god/life/herself, that she would be willing to give up all dreams of romance, or
happiness if she could only be shown the truth. She spent years traveling around the world
living in all kinds of communities and cultures. In India she spent a long time at the Osho
Commune in Pune, where she took 'Sannyas' (an energetic ritual, and the receiving of a new
name) as a commitment to her undying love of truth. Eventually her deep prayer and wake up call
was answered when she met the German Zen master, Dolano. Unmani finally woke up out of
self-doubt and confusion, and acknowledged her true nature as that same Oneness that she had
always known since she was a child. Then she began the endless awakening to, and living as that
Oneness, in her very human adult life.
In 2003, Unmani wrote her first book 'I am Life
itself'. This has now been translated and published in several other languages. Soon after
that, Unmani began holding Satsang meetings and intensive residential retreats for groups all
over the world. In 2008, Unmani wrote 'Die to Love' as an exploration of love and relationships
in her own life. In 2013 she met the love of her life, the wonderful musician, and courageous
lover of life, Robert. They now have a son called Sky. Becoming a mother, has been another
spiritual awakening for Unmani in a very earthy and real way. Together, Robert, Sky and Unmani
continue to live a very nomadic life, and for now, have no permanent home base.
Unmani has been working with all kinds of people
for 12 years, and in this time people have been deeply touched by her work: She meets each
person exactly where they are at, and in whatever they need at the time, while at the same time
holding them in the truth of who they really are beyond it all. This combination, and paradox,
of the personal and impersonal, brings so much depth, openness and healing to people's lives.
They wake up to who they really are, and discover how this is lived and integrated into their
daily lives.
Unmani is the author 'I am Life itself' and 'Die
to Love' and is now writing a third book. There are also over 100 video clips on YouTube of her
meetings, as well as interviews on http://batgap.com/unmani/
and several other places.
For more information about Unmani, and her
meetings and intensives,
see: www.die-to-love.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/unmani
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UnmaniLizaHyde
UNMANIs
BOOKS
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Click here for your personal
Google Maps direction to the venue
Where can you park your car:
http://www.padma.nu/Documenten/Parkeerfolder_2015.pdf.pdf
By public transport to Padma:
From The Netherlands, please consult:
http://9292.nl
From Belgium, please consult: www.belgianrail.be
From Germany, please consult: www.bahn.de
From France, please consult: www.voyages-sncf.com
Train: go to Middelburg station, then take a 10
minutes walk to Padma.
In the direct surroundings of Padma you will find
a variaty of accomodations, click here:
http://www.uitinmiddelburg.nl/nl/overnachten.htm