‘…Stained by tears of joy. We are all one!’

Jai Shri Mataji!

Our amazing second day in Chengdu on July 11, 2010.

If these pages were not electronic but written on paper they would be stained by tears of joy. The experiences of our concert in Chengdu at the public programme goes beyond words and as one yogini so aptly put it afterwards the overwhelming feeling in all of us present was ‘We are all one’!

But before this amazing climax of complete joy we had a beautiful morning checking out the sights of Chengdu. This large city of about 10 million people is the capital of Szechuan province and the birthplace of Taoism is in the mountains just out of town. The deep culture was reflected in the people and yogis of this city. There were many people eating street food and playing Mahjong. At the same time their shopping mall was en par with the biggest in Asia and this explosion of foreign ideas is also evident everywhere.

View Chengdu in a larger map

We went to a reconstructed village from the time of the of the Ch’ing dynasty (1718 ad) where we could really get the feel of the architecture of these times. We then visited the biggest park of the city which had amazing sculptures of the cities famous poets and a walk with poetry engraved in the stone pathway. A man was writing calligraphy with just water and it was beautiful to see these graceful characters gradually fading on the pavement.

We had another amazing banquet lunch – our gracious hosts had asked for the chilli to be toned down as food here is notoriously hot and laden with dried red chilli and the very distinct and mouth numbing Szechuan pepper. Really it is impossible to fully capture the Chinese yogis hospitality and we all hope that one day we can in some way reciprocate their extreme generosity!

The afternoon concert was in a nearby hotel in a smallish room seating about 200 people. All the yogis sat on the floorspace at the front right up to the stage as the room became completely packed. This was the first time a bigger public program had been held here and the yogis were not sure how it would turn out- the response was overwhelming.

As in all the other cities a fabulous backdrop with Music of Joy and the theme for the concert on it had been produced extremely professionally. Before we even struck the first note the room was so charged with vibrations – the amazing puja we had the night before as part of a local Sahaja seminar had been the best preparation.

As we started up with ‘Raining on the rock’ I looked around the room and I could see at least three people ‘fighting’ back tears of Joy as well as yogis meditating with tears on their cheeks – it was incredible. The amazing Frank from the Shenzhen collective had re- joined us, and he is the ever smiling yogi/bliss casualty! If I have trouble smiling in a concert I just look at him as his face is always lit up by the brightest smile- I keep thanking him for his coaching! But in this concert his smile was so huge and his whole face had scrunched up with tears! This joy started me off too and soon I was barely keeping it together to sing.

The heart was just so open and a lot of new people spontaneously closed their eyes and meditated to the music. It was such a joy and sitting so close to the local yogis was wonderful. I really cant remember much of what we sang other than raining on the rock, which always used to make me cry – I since overcame this difficulty in not getting emotional during the song, but the ‘crying’ song is now back!

The heart was so completely open and joyful Qawwali erupted after the main concert. A lady in the audience who was not a yogi, came up to me (we have very long photographic sessions after each concert) expressing her enjoyment and we spontaneously embraced – as I hugged her I just started to sob and just hung onto her and for her exactly the same thing happened – I could feel it very clearly – we just cried tears of joy holding tightly onto each other for a very long time. Where in the world could you hug a complete stranger and feel complete connection and love for a person in this way – I have never experienced anything like it. Mothers love had enveloped everyone and there was NO separation. Soon after a yogini came up to me and said ‘we are all one’ – it could never have felt more true. It reminded me of when Shri Mataji said after departing Australia and arriving in London – She said a few words and they were; ‘We are all very close’…

When we came out of the venue the very grey and dull sky had turned completely blue, and this is something very rare as this city is in a basin. Apparently many locals were amazed at how beautiful the sky had become!

After this incredible happening we went for another amazing feast and at the table spontaneous joyful singing took place – everyone completely elated.

After dinner we were taken to see a selection of Chinese opera, comedy, puppetry and classical music which just topped off a day that none of us will ever forget.

It was difficult to say goodbye to these incredible sweet and open hearted brothers and sisters who will be in our hearts forever. Our love for China and it’s amazing people just keeps growing. Thankfully a few of the Chengdu collective are travelling onto our next stop Beijing with us.

Bolo Adi Shakti Mataji Shri Nirmala Devi Namoh Namaha!

Lene on behalf of the blissful MOJ musicians.

Sent from my iPhone