Who Are You in the Jungle?
Observations of spiritual community living
The jungle was dense with rich sounds, colors ,heat, yet expansive, paralleling the community. My senses always filled with the experience of meeting myself in the mirror of others at every turn.
The paradox of expansion was always happening amongst the condensed richness of familiar daily life. Never had I been in a place where so much inner work was happening underneath the layers in the midst of nonstop interaction with other humans also walking the path in learning the self. There was a balancing of the opposites, allowing for true self to emerge with each rising sun.
This community considers itself without a specific religion per say. They are based in the Osho tradition and began 18 years ago. Similar to the Osho Meditation Resort in Mumbai, India, their vision is people creatively participating in everyday life, while also coming into silent meditation. Pachamama offers many different workshops such as breath work, body cleanse, dance therapy, yoga, accupuncture, and silent retreat, to name a few.
There is a current here. A current to ride while you explore the depths of connection with life. In the default world, people tend to hide in times of darkness or difficuliy. We are conditioned to only show face when we are “happy”. It was strange for me to be here, where the work we were doing was not for monetary gain, but to essentially “know thyself”. This inner work can sometimes be challenging, bringing up many emotions. There is no hiding in the jungle. You face yourself amongst everyone else, and it’s ok. I found here, that it’s ok to just be whatever you are and feel what is coming up so you can transmute it.
These workshops all consisted of the body in connecton with the mind. I found this type of therapy to be extremely useful when dealing with our physche. In order to make the unconscious conscious, it seems that coming into the phsyical induces release. For example, when you get the flu, it could be your body’s way of forcing you to slow down, to go within, and clear out. This can have a tremendious effect on your mind as well as your body, and following the expereince, integration can come forth.
This had me thinking of diamonds. How diamonds are formed. With immense pressure and heat, the coal transforms into a diamond. Or another example of the catepillar into the butterfly; the imago cells as a blueprint for a new being to emerge from the cocoon. Out of darkness comes light. Sometimes, we have to go through darkness, pressure, and uncomfortable states, in order to evolve. To be the butterfly. To get the diamonds.
When you leave your comfort zone, the edge becomes more diffuse. The place you thought you could go gets softer and you may start to see that you’ve gone beyond that edge. You start to see that you are much more capable than you thought. This pushing of the edge is what solo travel can do. You see the world through a new lens and with that a new light shines on how you perceive yourself.
The normal questions and identifiers like, "What do you do?", were not as important as who you are in this moment. "How do u feel?", "Where will that lead you today?". Tapping into the instincts matching the frequency of the call of the wild. Using your senses to just be in the world. To live and be. And the doing just happens
Life was simple, but there was always this underlying current of digging into something deeper.
Things were always happening while nothing was really happening at all. Days were passing all seemingly the same yet completely different. The only guide you have is your own inner compass, emotions. "What feeds what?". "Why do I feel differently today if it's the same as yesterday?". Allowing these human conditions to arise without judgment. Just awareness.
The karmic return, the lessons so quickly being revealed in this acute reality. Always discovering the unraveling chord of life that has been wrapped up. "Who are you in the jungle?, without your masks". There's nowhere to hide and there's no reason to.