Friends Of Gayatri

Angelika reports from Bert Hellinger's 85th Birthday Celebration
18th December 2010

A friend and I found ourselves sitting next to each other in the front row in the “Kur-Guest-Centre”. My friend had to leave at the end of the first part, a training seminar, so she asked me if I wanted to write something about the rest of the gathering,”.

I am just mentioning a few highlights of the rich experience.

Seeing it was Bert’s birthday celebration,  let me begin with a Rilke poem that was recited for him, I forgot by whom.

Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort.
Sie sprechen alles so deutlich aus.
Dieses heißt Hund und jenes heißt Haus.
Der Beginn ist hier und das Ende ist dort.

Mich bangt auch ihr Sinn,
ihr Spiel mit dem Spott.
Sie wissen alles, was wird und was war.
Kein Berg ist ihnen mehr wunderbar.
Ihr Garten und Gut grenzt geradezu an Gott.

Ich will immer warnen und Wehren:
Bleibt fern! Die Dinge singen hör ich so gern.
Ihr rührt sie an; sie bleiben starr und stumm.
Ihr bringt mir all die Dinge um!
I am so afraid of the word of men
They name all the things with articulate sound:
so this is called house and that is called hound,
and the end's over there and the start's over here.

Their thinking also scares me ,
with scorn they have fun;
they know all that will be and that was;
no mountain is sacred to them any more:
their garden and land, nearly bordering God.

I want to warn them and stop them: Stay clear!
Hearing  things singing is my delight.
You touch them, and they remain stiff and still.
You're killing all the wondrous things!

I will just mention a few of the guest presenters in the second part.

Colin Tipping talked about “Radical Forgiveness “. Originally he encountered it as an American First  Nation forgiveness ceremony. People stand in a circle to bring their grievances to the circle. In the centre of the circle dwells the great spirit. In walking through the great circle, you make a healing journey. By the time you reach the other side, you have surrendered it to spirit, and spirit has lifted it from you, and you are at peace.

In the end, the method does away with even the wish to forgive, because there is nothing left to forgive. He made the case for a world in which we see everything that happens as a gift to us that makes us grow. Everything happens for a reason as part of the divine plan, so anything that happened to us really happened for us. He said, just being a little bit open will be enough to benefit. Belief is not required. Before he took us all through a part of the process, he asked how many of us were willing to truly forgive. I only saw a hall full of raised arms. That in itself was powerful.


The energy of the whole large group was warm, heartfelt, certainly enhanced by the many members of the countries that still share the ancient Russian soul, and the Mexican energy, augmented by South Americans, brought lightness, singing and dancing to the large group.

 
The contribution of Angelica and Alfonso Malpica had that quality, too.

They told us about CUDEC (Centro Universitario Doctor Emilio Gardenas), an institution covering education from preschool to post graduate studies.

Angelica talked about the educational side of the institution that focuses on good relationships between students, teachers, and parents. She herself is a living example of radiance that melts obstacles. She gave us examples of how she helps children who do not want to learn or who cannot sit still. Her question is: Where does the attention of the child go? She only does brief interventions  with the children and their parents, so it comes to light where the child’s attention is fixed, and for their, healing sentences arrive.

She did a few interventions like this with participants of the workshop.

Alfonso is a son of the founder of CUDEC, which has now been working for 37 years. He presented a model for entrepreneurs with heart, about the

10 essential elements that need to come together in a successful enterprise.
  1. The product must be something that is needed. (In this case, education)
  2. The clients (here the parents) must be given consideration.
  3. The staff need to feel they belong, they should be inspired, further training is the best investment. When people feel wanted they can stay.
  4. Management. Leadership needs to be both sensitive and strong.
  5. Competition. Competition is important and necessary, as in nature. Take your competition into your heart!
  6. Subcontractors are treated in a way that they enjoy working for us and giving their best.
  7. Risk management.  We must safeguard and protect our enterprise, for many people depend on them, especially our employees. The financial health of the enterprise must be nurtured.
  8. Success and happiness for all.
  9. Ownership and social responsibility. Whose enterprise is it? It belongs to those we serve. The shareholders only hold the shares. They have no right to an inheritance. Otherwise the enterprise has very little chance of continuing on.
  10. Innovation. This is essential nowadays. Nobody wants an outdated product. We can see this here with our teacher who is always up to date.

Alfonso also worked with a number of people on entrepreneurial issues.

 
There was one guest who was treated with the same overwhelming love and respect as Bert. And both seemed quite fine about it. This was TATA CACHORA, formerly known as DON JUAN MATUS, and the NAGUAL.

He had only gotten a visa to leave Mexico on the very last day before the journey, through a connection the Malpicas had, but then it came straight from the president of Mexico.

Amazing strength, forbearance, naturalness, humour, wisdom, and his knowing, all mixed together very well, plus a lot of warmth between Bert and him.

His overriding theme was la Madre Tierra, mother earth. He spoke of the camino rojo, the red path.

Tata Cachora was born in 1914. He feels more like a sturdy 70 year old. A little anecdote: I went to greet him and told him that my father died this year, not quite making it to 96. He asked me if my father had smoked. “No”, I said. “Why did he die then”, asked the Nagual.

He gave us a long question and answer session. And then he gave us riddles to answer about what signified what. We guessed for a long time what the Cosmos stood for. After commenting for a few times: “Cold”, he moaned: “Oh you holy professors, you don’t know this?” All in Spanish, of course.

He invited people to come and look for him. Address: California Baja.

 

There was a double red thread, or rather a triple one, winding along with us.

First, one thin red thread which Ariadne the daughter of King Minos of Crete, gave to Theseus as he had to enter the labyrinth in order to kill the Minotaur who devoured people. Without the thread, there would be no way out for Theseus. Thanks to the thread, he made it.

Then there is a thick red rope, which we use when we grope in the dark, but it is not very long. So when you are in the labyrinth, you can’t go very far.

Now Bert offered a better solution in a meditation. Yes, we have these red threads. They both have their purposes. Yet there is another one that is really fine. When we run out of rope, and we not only want a way out, but actually a way forward, none of the towards others can help. So there we are, deeply disoriented in a labyrinth, with the rope that has come to the end of its tether, in one hand, the thread in the other, that can only take us back. But now we sense a really, really fine thread, and we let it run through our palm, and fine as it is, barely noticeable, it begins to actually pull us, and we follow it. This thread knows the secret exits from the labyrinth, and worlds beyond that have not been seen as yet. And we follow this fine thread, sense its fine movements. And suddenly, there we are, finding ourselves in a beautiful new world, with the fine thread still running through our hand, and no end of it in sight.

The last day was birthday all day and into the night.

It began with a Rilke poem, recited in an amazing way. We sat spellbound.

Ich ließ meinen Engel lange nicht los,
und er verarmte mir in den Armen
und wurde klein, und ich wurde groß:

und auf einmal war ich das Erbarmen,
und er eine zitternde Bitte bloß

Da hab ich ihm seine Himmel gegeben,
und er ließ mir das Nahe, daraus er entschwand;

er lernte das Schweben, ich lernte das Leben,
und wir haben langsam einander erkannt.
I didn’t let go of my
angel, for a long time.
and he became poor in my arms
and small, and I became big.

and suddenly I was mercifulness,
and he but a trembling plea.

That’s when I gave him his heavens,
and he left me the near, from where he departed;

he learned floating, I learned life
and we slowly began to know each other.

Beautiful presentations of countries happened on stage, the Mexican singing made us want to pack our bags and go back with them. But other invitations were also tempting, like - thanks be to Mother Russia- some of her reunited children showed us the Volga with her songs; a mainland and island Chinese co-production taught us Chinese dance greetings, so Bert had us all honour him the Chinese way.

And then so many take-away presents, like from a Lithuanian, who brought sacred objects from his homeland, from a time when they all believed in the one great mother that holds all her children in her heart. He came with an amazing stone that looked like a mountain that was complete, with beautiful lines going all the way around it. He had carefully drilled a small whole into the top, so that a metal symbol from later times, but still belonging to the times of the mothers , could be put on top of the mountain, these two are a miniature version of what the ancient sacred places looked like which the Lithuanians had kept alive through crusades of all kind of persuasions, and to this day, the Great Mother can be seen over the Baltic Sea. The Lithuanian man said the rocks were getting restless, had a need to talk to other rocks, to tell human beings of the earth’s long history and her knowing, and so old cultures come together, Tata Cachora, Australian Aborigines, their knowing is needed, to help look after Mother Earth.

Well, I don’t know where to end, these are just some few impressions.

 

And then there was the birthday afternoon with beautiful music, with a grand piano on the stage, classical songs with great performers. But perhaps what moved many of us the most was a lady from Azerbaijan who was of stunning creativity, making moods audible, at the same time transforming them into their vibrant essence, their radiant  purity, transcending into joy, her fingers often dancing at a speed where we could no longer see them. May be it’s time to visit this country.

 

The evening celebration took place in Bad Reichenhall’s festive Hall, with a lavish banquet, great music and mood, dance, and finally fireworks.

If all the wishes for a long life for Bert come true, he will outlive all of us. And Tata Cachora reminds him that 85 is not old.