The group for “Soul and Satori”- a spiritual retreat.
It all started with a random hunch! A mind-boggling thought raced through Raghav’s mind- whispering and occasionally speaking to him to conduct a spiritual exploration session, much like a spiritual retreat at the very grounds of Divine Tirthan. Although this thought was one of the driving factors behind the naming of this property, the idea of organising such an event seemed unattainable at first, so he kept brushing it under the carpet until he crossed paths with Aruna Goyal ma’am and Himanshoo Khosla sir.
On a fine morning in March, as the trio were planning some exclusive Divine Tirthan Retreats, the name for this event came into being. Despite being two separate words, the phrase ‘Soul and Satori’ has a distinct meaning. ‘Soul’ literally means ‘the spiritual or immaterial essence of human beings’, whereas ‘Satori’ is a Japanese concept that refers to ‘an instant of sudden enlightenment’. When fused, these two words indicate one magical moment in time when people can discover and decipher their true purpose of existence. A specific divine purpose that keeps them alive and kicking through the days as they ride through life’s crests and troughs and keep sailing ahead.
Our hosts, Raghav, Himanshoo Sir and Aruna Ma’am
In July, the trio started pulling the strings required to conduct this magical event. The next few months flew by in meticulously mobilising and aligning each element required to make ‘Soul and Satori’ a pleasing experience for the participants. From spiritually crafting customized stationery to day-wise planning of the sessions along with their timelines. From chalking out the locations to conduct outdoor activities to charting each ingredient for each meal and ensuring that they’re satvik in nature before finalizing them for the menu, these three humans dedicated their brains, and hearts and poured their love to breathe life into this three-day spiritual retreat.
As day one began and the buses arrived, we greeted the guests and Aruna Ma’am placed a holy tilak along with a spritz of the divine spray for aura cleansing. The very first task of the event was bestowed upon us; that is selecting a ‘spiritual name’. The spiritual name would give us a chance to be something that we connect with and for the next two days, we had to address each other only by these names. The day ended with an introductory session on Holistic Spiritual Support and forgiveness by Aruna Ma’am and of course, a delicious dinner.
At 5 am on day two when the valley slept peacefully in the dark, our host, Sumit Vij lulled us out of our slumber by making us stretch and dance to some groovy music. Shortly after, we started our silent walking meditation session where we walked through the Great Himalayan National Park and meditated in a forest amphitheatre nestled amidst the tender hustle of the leaves, the loud bustle of the racing river and the melodious symphony of birds’ songs. This hour-long session was concluded by Aruna Ma’am teaching us the method to perform aura scanning. We were then given a fun task! We had to see five things, touch four things, smell three, taste two, and evoke one emotion as we walked back from the park to the hotel.
A scene from the Theta Meditation session by Aruna ma’am.
Post breakfast, we gathered in the in-house cafe of Divine Tirthan and Aruna ma’am conducted a unique Theta or DNA meditation session. The impact of the session was imprinted on each face. Some smiled, some seemed at peace, while some had tears streaming down their face. It seemed like our souls were transported to a different world. With a quick kawa break, we resumed our place in the cafe and Himanshoo sir took us off on another soul transportation session called the Naad Bhrama meditation. Through our Spiritual Journeys, sir guided us and we had goosebumps when the voices harmonized and the universe listened to our humming sound. Shortly after, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and Aruna Ma’am conducted an extensive session on chakras. She gave us an in-depth knowledge of the importance, relevance and improvement of our chakras through food and meditation.
For the second half of the day, we had to clad ourselves in white and Himanshoo sir began the evening with a session on sound healing. As we immersed ourselves into a meditative state, he hovered the Buddha’s singing bowl over each of our heads and prayed for our health and well-being. He then played ‘Hari Om tatsat’ and asked us to keep our hands on our hearts and look deeply into each other’s eyes. ‘Despite having Diverse Spiritual Paths, we’re a soul family’ he said as we went around looking deeply into the eyes of each other. While souls connected, worldly emotions overwhelmed us and we started smiling, hugging, crying and praising the universe for bringing us together. This wonderful evening was concluded by the presence of two extraordinary Himachali artists singing bhajans and sufi songs for us as we worshipped Lord Ganesh and celebrated the joy of meeting with our soul family in this big wide world.
Divine Tirthan decked up for the Sufi night celebrations.
We began day three with some light stretching and grooving and without further ado, we walked down to the gushing Tirthan River. It was a pleasant morning and a few street pooch tagged along to join us on our riverside activity. Here we formed groups and stacked stones to create structures with meaning. Surprisingly, every tower looked different and each group had a distinct story to narrate. We assembled back at Divine Tirthan’s cafe and Aruna Ma’am gave us extensive knowledge of the various planets and how they influence us. This was undoubtedly one of the few Personal Growth Retreats with the best farewell lunch; a classic Himachali Dham. Our host, Theva ji blended a heart full of love, added a sprinkle of culture and personally served authentic Himachali dishes made from organically grown vegetables.
Presenting, one of our rock balancing towers.
With a belly full of food, a heart full of love and a rejuvenated soul, we boarded the bus and let ourselves soak all the positive energies we had received. As we started moving homeward, we realised that ‘Soul and Satori’ had lived up to its name. The Spiritual Growth at Divine Tirthan was a one-of-a-kind experience that nourished our souls and led us to our ‘Satori’ moment.
