European Tour Rolls On

our first visit to san sebastian in northern spain
a beautiful old seaside and cultural town, reminiscent of brighton in england
...only with a bit of sun maybe

we enjoyed the fresh sea air and explored the old city

evening on the beach

concert venue – kursaal (we never found out why it has a german name)

colourful theatre

the kirtan wallahs ponder life, the universe and each other...

while in the auditorium...

the concert begins
and we look inside for the soul of the mantra

after - concert energy at the cd table

we visited the guggenheim museum in bilbao on our way out of spain
the building – a sculpture in itself – is totally mind blowing

it's so weird the mind cannot compute

as for the exhibits, the giant flowery dog was cute

the spider was...well, fun

but inside, there was a kind of nausea

i guess kids are familiar with violence as an expression of art

it was too much for manose - 'what a waste of plastic tape!...'

‘...and time...’

"Everything modern is a little crazy because modern man is a little crazy, off the center. Gurdjieff has divided art into two categories. The modern art he calls subjective art.... Subjective art is like vomiting. You are feeling sick, nauseous; a good vomit helps you to feel good. The poison is thrown out, you feel relieved. It is good for you, but not so good for others....

"Objective art means something that helps you to become centered, that helps you to become healthy and whole. Watching the Taj Mahal in the full moon, you will fall into a very meditative space. Looking at the statue of Buddha, just sitting silently with the statue of the Buddha, something in you will become silent, something in you will become still, something in you will become Buddha-like. It is objective art, it has tremendous significance."

- Osho,The Dhammapada V9

more hugs
this time in cologne
we arrived in time to celebrate osho uta’s 30th anniversary
the concert, naturally, was full of ‘osho’

the great peter makena joined us on stage – a treat!

you can see peter – then known as anubhava - in full flight in osho's ashram circa 1979
[he's the one with the guitar and the hair!]

in antwerp 150 people joined us for a day of chanting

we love to see the kids enjoying the chanting and absorbing the mantras

sufi dance may be a simple meditation, but meeting strangers eye-to-eye and chanting together is a profoundly liberating experience

a meeting place of friends

"Dear Deva, Miten and Manose,

"I was at your concert as well as workshop in Antwerp. It was a unique experience and I still feel the energy and the love.

The reason I write to you is because I want to tell you something out of gratitude and to proof the workshop goes much further than mantra singing.

"November last year I was with a group of people on a spiritual journey in Peru which was a soul lifting experience. December first the journey ended abruptly because we had a very traumatic bus accident : 8 people of the group (27 persons) were killed and most of the others (including me) were badly injured. Once back home I faced a very long and painful recovery although I realised it was also a given opportunity to reset my life.

"Your workshop and concert were the first two times I left my home. I hesitated to come to the workshop because I didn't know if I could sit up for so many hours (I still wear a corset because of broken backbones). But Jean convinced me to come and he took very good care of me.
"
The most surprising thing is : when my husband drove me to the concert (35 km) I had to wear my neckbrace during the morning part of the workshop because of the pain. After the workshop we drove home and : THE PAIN WAS GONE and it still is gone ! It feels like my body received a major healing during the workshop because since then I can move around without pain and it feels like I'm reborn again !

"I wanted to share this with you as a living proof of what you achieve with your music, your being and the love you radiate to all of us.

"I feel so much gratitude and you are in my heart forever.

"I realise you get a lot of e-mails but I hope at some point you will get the chance to read this one !
I embrace you with all the love of my heart and my soul !"

...but sometimes life is just too much for a road manager – jalal

hannover
many of you have commented on the stage lighting for this years tour
thanks to our new light tech york wegener - who brought a new dimension into our gatherings

yes, sometimes we do stop...

juttagita, yogini and our hannover promoter

almere, netherlands
one of our favourite venues

here's a letter from a new friend of ours, who is so physically disabled that he cannot walk, talk, or do anything without 24 hour assistance.

his name is niek zervaas

he attended the concert in a special bed that was erected by his assistants, up in the balcony.

the thing that is so amazing about niek is, that although he is incapacitated in a way that to any of us, would be a nightmare, beneath it all he is an amazing soul who is totally awake, totally creative and full of love and light.

it appears he has chosen this physical form in this incarnation to share and generate love

he obviously has inspired those around him – it was an honour for us to meet niek - you can find his website here.

he wrote this letter to us after the concert:

"DEAR DEVA AND MITEN,

"WITH ALL MY HEART I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YOUR PERFORMANCE IN ALMERE WAS WONDERFUL.

"IMMEDIATLY AFTER ENTERING THE THEATER THERE WAS A LOVING ENERGY SPARKLING AROUND AND THIS SPARKLING GREW BIGGER AND BIGGER. I COULD FEEL AND SEE IT!

"THE DIVINE LIGHT WAS ALL AROUND US. LOVE WAS ALL AROUND US AND I IMAGINE YOU TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD AND LET THIS LOVING LIGHT SHINE WHERE EVER GO WHILE SINGING YOUR SONGS. ALL PEOPLE ARE DIRECTLY CONNECTED IN THE HEART. SPARKLING LOVING ENERGY IS SPREAD OUT ALL OVER THE WORLD. HOW HELPFULL FOR GAIA.

"I AM VERY GRATEFUL THAT I WAS THERE. DEVA AND I LOOKED EACH OTHER INTO THE EYES AND HOWEVER MITEN CAME WHEN MY BODY WAS ASLEEP.... I AM ALWAYS AWARE OF WHAT IS GOING ON. I WAS THERE!!! AND WE MET MANOSE JUST BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE AND HE SAID: I PLAY FOR YOU NIEK TONIGHT! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND YOUR LOVE. AS I ALREADY SAID: WE ARE RECONNECTED IN THIS LIFE. IN ETERNITY WE ALWAYS ARE AND WILL BE.

"THANKS TO YOUR MESSAGE ON FACEBOOK THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO VISIT MY WEBSITE SO I THINK IT IS TIME FOR A NEW STEP IN MY LIFE. I ASK MY MOTHER TO DO SOME TRANSLATIONWORK SO WE CAN GO WORLDWIDE!

"AS YOU KNOW MY FRIEND RISHI CHAMMAN ( HE IS A FILMPRODUCER) WILL PRODUCE A FILM OF MY LIFE AND FROM THE FIRST MOMENT HE ASKED ME WHAT MUSIC SHALL WE USE IN THE FILM I TOLD HIM THAT IT IS MY WISH TO USE SOME OF YOUR MUSIC. THE FILM WILL TOUCH THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE AND YOUR MUSIC DOES THE SAME! OF COURSE I DON'T KNOW IF THAT IS POSSIBLE AND OF COURSE RISHI WILL CONTACT YOU ABOUT IT, BUT I DON'T LIKE TO LOOSE TIME, BECAUSE EVERY SECOND OF OUR LIVE IS PRECIOUS.

"THIS IS IT FOR NOW. WE ARE CONNECTED AND IN MY HEART I TRAVEL WITH YOU AND I WILL BE THERE TOO!

"I GIVE YOU A BIG BIG HUG. MY HEART IS SMILING AND DANCING!"

NIEK

consternation in sound check as sakha attempts to extract a fly from deva's ear

...or maybe he's just fixing the positioning of deva's head-set

..better drum...!

and here's our trusty and ridiculously handsome tour manager and tour photographer – right way up

jalal

with love!

next stop frankfurt, nurnberg and munich...then we drive south – to corfu