Shiram ballad

BY TATIANA CINZBURG

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL RUSSIAN BY ALYSON EWALD

Perhaps it is

A field that softly spreads within a pine forest,

Or an encampment by the river in summer,

A cottage in the village that we have been building for nearly ten years, little by little,

A banya where we take steam baths, con­versing intimately about the nature of reality, about the path to Enlightenment,

A workshop, which, as we built it, taught us to lay brick and to build a foundation,

The bridge we built over the stream, according to plans by da Vinci,

Or perhaps, the field that we have not yet bought, but over which we have already

     Crossed swords many times?

-

Or?

The roof we rebuilt on the banya after the fire,

Our bread that came out perfectly the very first time,

The mandala that I spent a whole year creating, slowly, quietly, calmly, deeply immersed,

- Or the puzzles that many people's hands have crafted?

Or my experience of Meaning, which came to me at Shiram seminars?

Or the unity I felt with everyone and everything, while lying in a grave in the forest dug by myself for this practice? Or the birth anew that we experience through the process of rebirthing breathwork?

Or, perhaps, the games we played in the evening, while drinking tea?

Or the coolness of water permeating one's body after bathing in the river? The floating smoke of a camp fire, seen from afar when

approaching in the evening, The secret word one must speak, to go north with the

others?

Or perhaps Shiram

Is the idea of a space where Tife, Play, and Self-Knowledge are a single whole, The shape of an environment where human development

is the top value, Above all the other values—survival, comfort, pleasure,

and meeting each other's expectations, TJie concept of a community where Truth may be sought

while building a house or ploughing a field.

Or perhaps

is the plan of a spaceship for those who have matured enough for global change and, having torn away from daily life, are ready to fly up...

Yes, it is a plan.

And it is also

A place where I have learned To use a chainsaw, To lay bricks,

To communicate effectively, sharing sincerely my many concerns,

To look for things in common with those I don't like,

To make efforts to birth the common process,

To get up early to make breakfast over the campfire for everyone

(even if it is cool, or rainy, or I feel sleepy),

And to practice Fu-Sin meditation...

And perhaps Shiram means heated arguments in the evening

Whether G., M., or A. should be given a merit called "F?" Whether a particular person deserves the status of one of the "Peopl Whether she caused harm to anyone or, on the contrary, helped the

her active consideration and participation in the process? And whether what he did was an effort aimed at creating Shiram?

And it is also

A place where I have learned To use a chainsaw, To lay bricks,

To communicate effectively, sharing sincerely my many concerns,

To look for things in common with those I don't like,

To make efforts to birth the common process,

To get up early to make breakfast over the campfire for everyone

(even if it is cool, or rainy, or I feel sleepy),

And to practice Fu-Sin meditation...

And perhaps Shiram means heated arguments in the evening

Whether G., M., or A. should be given a merit called "F?" Whether a particular person deserves the status of one of the "Peopl Whether she caused harm to anyone or, on the contrary, helped the

her active consideration and participation in the process? And whether what he did was an effort aimed at creating Shiram?

Tatiana Ginzburg is a PhD in transpersonal psychology, leader, a professional breathworker, a facilitator of Transformational Games from Findfhorn and an organizer of many international conferences.