Meditation Festival, Amsterdam

A 100 years ago, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi was born, the founder of Sahaja Yoga meditation. In homage of her amazing legacy of Spiritual knowledge, experience and wisdom, which she dedicated her life to spread freely to all who wanted, we are excited to host a free event full of wonderful music, dance, theatre, conferences and, especially, meditation of course!

All items will integrate a beautiful awakening meditation experience, in the same fashion as was conducted and passed on to us by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi herself.

The opening ceremony takes place with dance & live music, marking the start of this wonderful celebration with the exhibition “A Mother for All.” This exhibition delves into how Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi discovered, developed, and spread the practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation across the globe. It will be available for the entire day.

Spannend verhaal voor de kleintjes, en door de humor en muziek ook onderhoudend voor hun begeleiders. Iedereen speelt samen in dit inspirerende sprookje, waardoor het hele gezin kennis kan maken met meditatie. Prinses Mirjam is dol op haar vlinders. Maar de boze heks heeft ze gestolen. Prinses Mirjam is ontroostbaar. Gelukkig is Prins Thomas er om haar te helpen. De boom van kennis en wijsheid geeft goede raad. Maar Prins Thomas heeft vrienden nodig. Gaan de kinderen ook helpen? Zou het lukken om de heks om te toveren in een goede fee? En de vlinders, komen ze weer terug?

Stralend licht, goddelijke gratie, innerlijke verlichting, heilig zijn: stralenkransen in religieuze schilderijen van het westen beelden dit alles uit. Maar welke diepere boodschappen liggen hieronder verborgen? Er zijn lagen van vergeten (of misschien onderdrukte) spirituele kennis te ontdekken in religieuze afbeeldingen van heiligen en incarnaties met een stralenkrans. De vorm, kleur, grootte, stijl en details in deze beelden hebben een speciale betekenis. Robbert Ruigrok heeft er het boek Crowns and Halos over geschreven

Dr Maria Teresa Blazquez from Spain is a practitioner of Sahaja Yoga and has done a lot of research in the field of meditation. Dr Maria is author of the book “Beyond thoughts I exist” (2021) and “In the Mind or in the Self?” in which she describes her experience of living in a state of inner silence for much of the day throughout, the experience marked the beginning of a rigorous investigation of the effects of meditation in our interior following the guidelines of the scientific method.

Nirmalights is a team assembled of international artists from all over Europe, united by a passion for Indian/Pakistani/Persian music and meditation.

Sometimes soft and soothing with the sweet melodies of traditional Indian folk, then exalting with the fiery devotion of their passionate qawwali renditions, they move you on a unique spiritual journey spanning from east to west.

We are lucky to host them with two different performances. In the first slot (17:00), they will put the focus more on the melodious, introspective side of Indian folk and (semi-)classical music, enhanced with a beautiful meditative experience.

For their second run (21:30) the roof is going off! There will be no sitting still with their powerful performance of high-energy Indian, Pakistani and Persian Sufi music. If you feel an irresistible urge, it’s absolutely permitted to leave your chair behind and dance into the night.

Shakespeare’s Women is a moving and enthralling journey through William Shakespeare’s tragic, comic and historical plays, seen through the eyes of some of his legendary female characters. Shakespeare’s Women targets today’s international audiences by interweaving the bard’s original verse with contemporary English.

The production, with its international cast, sumptuous costumes and live acoustic music, is free from set constructions in order to fit in with natural environments such as the interiors of castles, stately homes, museums, galleries, and courtyards.