Testimonials

Below are comments from some of the participants from the first module - the Experiential Enquiry.

"In a way the [first module of the Sammasati Support-Person] training has been an exercise in sobering me, in grounding me more, in bringing my understanding closer to basics facts in life about this body, this life, this human nature. While I would have thought that abandoning so many old dreams, fantasies and beliefs would create a sort of desperation and vacuum, interestingly enough, this process has not made me sad. Quite the opposite; in practical terms in my daily life it is making me bolder in that I am asking for what I want/need, very well knowing that this is the time (and no other in a future to come), that there might not be other chances, that there is no space for stupid fears or polite limitations. I ask more, I care less, I move faster or more decisively.

"I think this training is coming to my life in the right moment. Many other processes converge in this moment. It seems the time is ripe for this training to create a big breakthrough for me and in my understanding of life. This workshop has switched on a light in my awareness. I cannot see things as before. I am more conscious that everything has a beginning and an end, for instance.

"A window has been opened where I can be more real. I no longer need to close my eyes to my imperfections in order to defend myself, and at the same time to pretend I am special. I can be me. There is a new acceptance of the little me. A new wave of health is coming up in my psyche. I am a human being. I am vulnerable. I am finite. And despite all that, I still can be. Life happens. I am myself. I, as a human being granted with awareness, am also a miracle. Things can be fascinating without needing to be anything in particular. I do not need to be special. I can be human, simple, weak, vulnerable, and still worthy. " (Priya Alvarez, Spain)

My whole life style and priorities have changed much in the last year and further since our group. Living a life where each moment I am preparing for my own death is very different from living with the focus on being right, getting a date, making money, avoiding pain, etc. Long story short, I sit quietly for many hours a day with a level of peace I have never known before. I move when I am ready, and before long, look forward to sitting again. I have found a child-like interest in my sitting, a vitality unknown to me in the past.   (Nityanando, USA)

  

'I have done many groups and courses in my life; this was the best ever. I had a sense of waking up, of greater connection with my body, and seeing life as a dream. There was such loving energy throughout, in the workshop, and for me personally a great amount of learning, and golden keys to work on myself in my everyday living'. (Cristina Grassl, Italy)

"[Since the workshop] fear of death and dying has given way to a huge curiosity, and excitement and a desire to go and experience this journey; I am present to the fact that I may die at any moment.  I can't feel dying as a big problem any more, I see it as a logistical incompletion (wills, power of attorney, decisions etc), and opportunity, another lap of a journey.  I feel as if I have died and been reborn into my own daily life; so it has a different feel, there is a slightly different edge to everything, as if I am a stranger in town seeing all that is going on impartially, dispassionately, and I am also here enjoying it all the more, at the same time."                                                                                                                  (Gabrielle Paras Richards, UK) 

I have done many meditations, workshops and group processes: in them I never felt I could go into tears as easily as laughter. Even during any cathartic session or long 'flushing' sessions I could never touch that emotion in me.

This workshop was unique in that I could connect with my emotions very easily, and that felt like the ultimate luxury. Why this group experience worked, compared with other ways, is because of the element of love in it.

I had thought before the workshop, that I need to 'live my life' before contemplating on death. In fact I can and will contemplate on death in life, in parallel with the enjoyment of life. I feel the seeds of enquiry on life, death and love have been planted inside me. I am going to nurture them for the rest of my life.   (Dr S Nagaraju, India)

 
[Since the workshop]I have realised how many more challenges I have to face. The comfort and ease of my leaving this life is up to me to a great degree. Some of the discomfort of death, be it known of or sudden, can be dealt with now. Other parts can be worked on from now. But I also have learnt to open my eyes wider to what is my life now...not to analyse it but to live it more consciously...not try to solve the puzzle, as I have struggled with in the past, but just to go with it...trust it, moving towards what we all know is inevitable with a smile...embracing it all. (K. Rudder, UK)      

                                            

 

Video Testimonials at the end of the 2012 Sammasati Support-Person Training

 

Testimonials From Other Workshops, Retreats & Sessions With Maneesha

Beloved Maneesha

I want to thank you for making it possible for me to come on the workshop (Support for a Meditative Dying) in Buckland-on-the-Moor, in April. It was just wonderful. It has really deepened my experience of what’s happening, and given me what feels like new ways of just dropping deeper and deeper. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to thank you. I got a fever soon a few days afterwards, and felt pretty rough for a while. But now, getting stronger, feeling very grateful that I can just sit in this wonderful spring sunshine, and even though I feel quite weak can just let go. Still struggle with pain, and fear of pain, but again I thank you for giving me more tools to be with that.

You are doing such wonderful work, Maneesha – thank you.

Diana Brueton

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(From a workshop for student psychotherapists and counsellors, Jansen Newman Institute, Sydney. Wednesday August 18th  and Monday September 20th, 2010. The feedback below was submitted via an official feedback form, on which students were not expected to provide their names; hence the comments below are anonymous.)

* A very helpful and informative session.

* A great example of what can be achieved through meditation. [The facilitator has] a very gentle, respectful, nurturing presence, with a great knowledge of the content.

* Would recommend this [workshop].: it would be beneficial for those working in our field. Beneficial for self-care as well as techniques for therapy.

* Loved the chance to practice the techniques; developed my awareness of using meditation to help centre me as a counselor. More sessions needed for us as students.

* I have been resistant to meditation previously but found this class EXCELLENT. I picked up some easy, effective techniques to apply myself, and will pass them onto my (stressed) partner. A+++++++

* An excellent introduction to meditation. More please!

* Very practical and beneficial to us as student counselors. Thank you for the opportunity of this class.

* [The facilitator's] calm manner reflected the subject matter and authenticity. Would really appreciate more meditation/ mindfulness content in course.

* Very good for clients as well as therapists.   [Would like a] more extended meditation class.

* I found the session to comprise an excellent merging of very interesting, powerful and simple techniques, and their strong and integral relationship to the therapy process – more please!!

* Great class. Great, warm, open teacher.

 * Very good with balance of theory and technique. Thanks for scheduling this. My vote is that your next move is to make this compulsory.

 * Very calming and centered.

* Thanks for putting so much into the [workshop]. It was very interesting, relevant and a lot of fun, I am so glad I came along.

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I am a palliative care physician with more than 20 years' experience of caring for people living with a life-threatening illness. My main area of interest is the holistic care of those who are dying. For this reason I have explored and continue to seek ways that may help with the psycho-spiritual and existential issues that often challenge the dying person, their family and carers.

With this in mind, I recently (May 16, 2010) organized a workshop titled ‘A meditative approach to dying’ with Maneesha James as the facilitator. The workshop was experiential and was therefore limited to 12 participants and included a counsellor, social worker, school teachers, yoga instructors and myself.

The workshop had a small didactic component and consisted mainly of discussions and meditation. The discussions focussed on our own fears around death and dying, and how meditation can address some of those fears. The meditative sessions helped us to appreciate how the mind finds it hard to ‘let go’. This is particularly true when fear abounds, as is often the case in the palliative care situation. Such fear not only compromises the peace around dying but also the peace people desperately seek while living. The final meditation session took us deeper into the experience of dying as it gently explored the transition from life into death.

The discussions and meditations were affirming rather than threatening and this was due largely to the sensitivity and compassion Maneesha has acquired after many years of running workshops.

Maneesha comes from a general and psychiatric nursing and midwifery background and has recently completed two years' psychotherapy studies. She is a sannyasin, having studied under a spiritual master for many years. Over the past 20 years she has lived and taught in Western communities and has adapted the knowledge and wisdom she has acquired to our contemporary Western society.

Maneesha has a great drive and passion for the work that she does and I am pleased to endorse her and her work unreservedly.

Michael Barbato
Palliative Care Physician

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Thanks for [the workshop]. It’s so nice to be around like minded souls who speak the same language. What was highlighted for me was how the experience of letting go in meditation and the experience of letting go in the dying process seems to be one in the same. Over the last 6 years being a meditator I’ve gone from total fear of death to an understanding that there is nothing to fear except fear itself. That has come from an experience of feeling the eternal presence of my self that never changes. If we can learn to die alive every day  – that is, to let go in meditation every day to the body and its roles and responsibilities  – then we can fully re-enter those roles and live each day more fully and alive without taking so much stress and sorrow in.
I think the workshop is valuable to everyone not just those working with the dying.
Best wishes with your work.

Warm wishes
Julie

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Thank you for a beautiful day. It’s gorgeous to do meditations and be so peaceful. I loved the silence after the first long meditation. You are very gracious and your manner is interested, loving and allowing. It was wonderful to meet you and I enjoyed the day immensely.

Love, Sadhana

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I loved the way you presented and facilitated – your warmth and at-homeness in yourself, your passion for the subject, and your respectful responsiveness to the different participants.   You do have a very inviting, warm energy that I think people enjoy.   I was very tired but my perception of the day was that it went very well.   I like the way you attuned to people's needs and adjusted the program, yet also stayed focused to put across the day's intention.  

Much love to you and warm wishes for your work. It was so good to partake in it,

                                                                                                                                                       Satyo

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First, I would like to let you know it was a privilege to have been able to attend your workshop, [“AMeditative Approach to Dying”]. I have been truly inspired to continue on my path of meditation. I have always known this to be true but have always struggled. I have practiced meditation on and off over my life (mostly off) but I left on Sunday with a dedicated heart. I know meditation is the answer to many of the problems I face in my life and I know it is the path home!

I have been a palliative-care volunteer for sometime now. It was helpful listening to how you followed through on questions e.g.: ‘So how did that feel? What was that like for you?’ etc. I really do feel that the meditation process would be very very helpful in the palliative care situation as it would be in one’s life situation. I found your meditations very helpful and will definitely get a couple of the [guided meditation] CD'S.

Maneesha, I admire your dedication and feel that although Australians in general are not as open to this sort of thing as they are in the Europe and the eastern world your workshops will find a way to those who will most benefit your comprehensive knowledge.
Again, I thank you.

Peace.
Zoe Krone

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