ReLoveUtion Spirals Up!
ServiceSpace
--Joserra Gonzales
8 minute read
Aug 5, 2016

 

“It is time to put together the Inner Revolution with the Outer Revolution” 

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                                                 One Earth, One Flag

Last days have been an incredible spiral of events and gatherings!

We can call it many names but the ReLoveUtion in this part of the planet has definitely spiraled up! A dear friend says that for social change we cannot really do anything but create the conditions for that ReLoveUtion to happen. It looks like we are letting some things happen!:)

Last week we had our 7th Karma Kitchen evening in the part of the planet we call Burgos, Spain! It was a wonderful gathering with many volunteers and guests! Some pictures show it better!

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We had friends from the parts of the planet we call India, UK, Portugal, France… A very international flavor to it!. We gathered again in the spirit of service and generosity, without really knowing what was going to unfold… We served around 50 dinners with a lot of smiles and joy! There are always tests in human interaction, but we navigated with a lot of skillfulness:). More pics here :)

After Karma Kitchen, next day we started our weekend gathering! Again, pictures tell it best.

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The gathering can be described in many ways, but words will have it difficult to transmit all the magic that happened!:). From amazing circles of sharing and listening, to silent walks, to inspired leadership talks or visit to a monastery… Everything flowed magically in the village of Castrojeriz.

Catrojeriz is a village in the middle of the Camino de Santiago (the famous pilgrimage path), just 40 kilometers away from Burgos, the city were they found the eldest European human fossil till now, a city with a very big and old gothic cathedral, with a great museum dedicated to the Human Evolution and with the spiritual vein which is the Camino flowing through it (this is my local pride coming out,:) ). The context is really magical.

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Few months ago (from what we know) we were already preparing for this wonderful event. First logistic thing we did was to rent a hostel for 30 people. A dear friend of us connected us with Javi from Albergue Rosalía… Javi was incredibly kind and generous from the beginning… He was moved by the intention of the retreat and he decided to offer us food as a gift! Food for 30 people and 3 days! Amazing!

Then we were looking for a room to do all the activities and circles… We had many options that were also generously offered! We ended up in this beautiful place, donated by the local corporation:) Thank you too!

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With people, food and shelter ready, we only had to do little more!

More gifts started to get ready. In a conversation with a dear nun from the nearby Santa Clara monastery she was also moved by the intention of the retreat and she decided to offer an activity for the weekend, apart from more food and inspiration and friendship. We were thinking to go and listen to them chanting and praying, and then they offered us to offer words, songs or prayers for world peace. I told them we are not from any particular religion or creed, but they were happy to open the doors of their church and listen to our diverse petitions and songs who are very much connected to their daily prayers and contemplation for world peace. It was one of the most beautiful moments of the retreat! Miki offered a song for Nature, Rose Marie offered the Our Father prayer as it was originally translated to German from Aramaic, Madhu, Diken, Mukesh and others offered prayers from India, including Gandhi’s all religion prayer, Bea offered Golpe a Golpe song and so on… For me personally it was an incredible feeling to witness the richness of our diversity in such a temple. And it was also beautiful for the nuns… From the inside of their monastery behind the bars, they were giving heartfelt applauses to all our interventions:). In the gathering we were reflecting on how spirituality and healthy sense of humor are closely connected… In that spirit Miki thank the nuns for the opportunity to have such spiritual karaoke.

During the weekend we also had few presentations! Joserra and Miki gave a little bit of context for the group in the form of stories and shifts.. They shared about many of the local and global experiments that are igniting our collective journey towards greater good in the World.

José Juan (JJ), a very dear friend and expert business man, coach, and what not, talked about the 4 “H”s that every authentic leader should have… In Spanish: Honestidad (Honesty), Humildad (Humility), Humanidad (Humanity) and Humor (sense of Humour)… 4 values that he has been practicing for many years… Soon you will have more material about him, including the video of the speech and an interview!:) He talks a lot about servant leadership or ladder-ship …Talking about these kinds of leadership, he shared how beautiful it has been when he has found leaders that asked him: How can I serve you? What can I do for you? This type of leadership is so far from the model we usually find in our companies and organizations nowadays… What can I get? How can I get more? This is the underlying question that explains many dynamics in nowadays societies… In this sense JJ usually goes to the root of it… Laddership talks about leaders as facilitators for others, people that make your life more beautiful and easy and not the opposite.

JJ brought 4 big “H”s made of cardboard… and in the end of the retreat we realized that the 4 together make a perfect Ladder!!!!!!!:) Amazing! In his talks he always states that we all are leaders… We all have our areas of influence where we can do our little bit to create positive change in the world, through small acts or small practices; at least that, and from that, what not? He says that at least we are leaders of our own selves, and that’s already a lot to lead:).

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Another beautiful sharing we had was Geno’s one! Geno is doing a lot of experiments with different kinds of wealth in Madrid! She is an expert in social coins, local coins which try to enhance a more altruistic way of relating with people, other beings and material resources. She gave as an incredible graph were we could see how the derivatives from the stock market are more than 70 % of totals global economy nowadays.. That means that most of the numbers we use today to evaluate our economy (like the GDP) are largely affected by these derivatives, which are usually based on speculative investments were the only thing that matters is to earn fast money, without caring about the consequences that those speculative movements may have in the real economy and real life.

Geno is part of an experiment in Madrid, were they are turning waste into active capitals for the community. They have connected with many dumping sites and they are collecting the waste to turn it into compost. They are also connecting with restaurants and other institutions that produce waste. In that process a net of people is emerging and a social coin is in the process to come:). For Geno, the shift in relationships is crucial if we really want to call these new coins, social.

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The first day then, the Head day, was the launch pad from where we jumped into the sea of our weekend experience. As Gandhi used to say people need to develop equally their Head, Heart and Hands. Before, in between, and after having some food for thought and reflection time, we moved towards other parts of our being.

During the whole weekend it was amazing to see how everyone contributed cooking, cleaning the spaces and decorating them! So many love magicians were always on the move making mandalas, cooking delicious meals or making sweet cones where people could leave kind notes to each other:) . The beauty of all this was that it was self organized and self managed… The difference between volunteers and participants was very thin and that gave everyone a great sense of ownership on the spaces and the retreat. All together we created a great offering of beauty and community which is already rippling out in so many ways…

During the weekend we also had some breakout sessions to talk about Laddership and Leadership, Collective Spaces, Inner Transformation and Social Action, and Money and other forms of Wealth… Soon we will add a recap of these conversations:).

Sunday was the culmination of our retreat, and many gifts emerged too that day! Tati offered a wonderful Biodance class. Biodance is a process were one learns how to relate to oneself and to others through body expression and movement. It is very much connected to the heart, as these images of the process show:).

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It was incredible to look to each other’s eyes and realize that we are all the same:)

After dancing and connecting with our heart and each other’s hearts, Madhu shared some of his inspiration and wonderful heart stories, and we proceeded to visit the Soul Hospital, another magical space in the middle of the Camino. It is a beautiful home which the owner decided to keep open for the pilgrims during the day… Mau (the owner) created a space which breathes harmony and love. Talking about invisible leadership, he doesn’t stay in the house most of the day; he just keeps the door open for everyone and people can go in and feel the space… He says humbly that the space doesn’t need his disturbance to be experienced:). Pilgrims usually find it by surprise and the harmony inside attracts them to enter organically. Then magic happens… And this is what happened with us too, as we walked inside this temple, we connected with the best of ourselves…

We ended up with yet another circle, were everyone expressed the feeling in their hearts… We were all filled up with a lot of love, hope, and generosity… We really felt the power of the circles, the power of being together with an intention to grow inside and serve outside, the power of many, the power of one!

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ps: After retreat experiences:)

Awakin Circle for World Peace on Monday August 1st!

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Volunteer gathering under a centenary tree.

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Our hope is that these gatherings are not a separate and isolated experience but more of a field to explore and experience the culture we want to bring about collectively:) So this is just the beggining!:) Ripples are in motion so you can check: ReLoveUtion websiteReLoveUtion facebook pageKarma Kitchen facebook pageMore photos from the July gathering And next retreat: 2,3,4 september.:) Connect if you want to come:) …

LOVE LOVE LOVE!  

 

Posted by Joserra Gonzales on Aug 5, 2016


3 Past Reflections