28 January, 2010

Uploaded Xavi's video

Though it took for two months to upload Xavi's video, finally done.
I recalled his long process toward the last integration of this peice. I know that he could not sleep well so many nights by struggles against the unconscious thinking came up and disturbed to listening in the darkenss of body.
Please read his feedback text of one year experience at the following collum. Especially I recommend it for new students. There are so deep gap between your western mentality and the subbody method. In the beginning many students must feel so stranfeness against my teaching. He slso sutruggled a lot against it. And finally he got so transparent eyes to this whole process.
His last subbody butoh peice contains so many mysteries, secrets, and flowers which is not being noticed even for him, because the creation was not by him, but by his subbodies or by his life.
I am so happy to hear from him recently that he still continues to perform it and polish it in various places with different situations, because it is very necessary way to communicate with subbodies to bring up and grow up together. Through dancing it many times for many years, the mysteries, secrets, and flowers which are hidden in the peice will come out for him and for others slowly and it must give him so rich awareness and suggestions. The subody will become his most intimate friend and important teacher.

28 January, 2010

A letter from old student to new student
What happened in one year experience/ Xavi


Dear students from past, future students and everybody who is visiting  this page or is having some interests in the subbody school.  

I would like to share with you my last few months, my thinkings, my revelations and insights and in general I will try to put light in some things that I don’t know why they are big truths without argument, just by living life dancing nine months in this school.

A western mentality.

During the first semester I had many struggles which still now I have to work on them to become more transparent during my dance. I had to change my way of being on scene. The main problems were how to stop thinking, how to calm down my ego, how to throw out my theater habits, how to release from the tension of showing something to others, how to release from my judgment about what is butoh, the judgment with the rest of students, how to learn deeply resonating with others, how to keep some magic moments with the outside and the inside in my body for creation, how to understand the instructions from Lee...

Many work to do which apparently seemed impossible made me many struggles. So, during the first semester I couldn't solve at all this problems. But after coming back from holidays I realize that not me, my body was becoming friend of some movements, also I could control more my body, and listen more subtle. Some body borders (deep sensations, movements, hidden parts...) were crossed, and this give me the force to continue. This was a deeply living revelation for me.

So, next step was how to become more transparent during the dancing. For me, become transparent, means to find real movements, necessary movements which my life is asking deeply, overcome more borders, make the invisible imaginary more visible, be moved, just be without intension or tensions, become empty, go out from my human actual condition (maybe become another kind of human which could be in another moment in the universal history). Many interpretations or ways to understand or put some intuition using words to a living experience. Then, suddenly, I don't know how and why, I started to remember the dance and the self-research of Aska (a student from first semester) during my meditations in movements her subbody spirit visit me. It was guiding me in many ways: the best way for to follow the instructions, the way to follow my most necessary tendency becoming oneness with my mind and body (with all, I mean also with my ego, thinking and judgment behind my ears). I started also to play with the state of my mind when my body is between falling down and not, going deep on the relation with the gravity, when my body is very tired or sleepy, and with spontaneous movements.

To follow Lee's instructions, I understand that sometimes they are not completely instructions as we understand like students and a teacher in modern conception. At one point of this nine months process, for me they have to be understand not by thinking, by body, life and real necessities. This means that sometimes I didn't hear them, sometimes they became good suggestions to explore, sometimes not, sometimes I developed my own suggestions and sometimes I just resonate with his voice or with his body. The first step is to listen to my body and my life, that means my body condition (which is able to change at any moment by the power of the imagination forces) and asking myself what I want to do the most (a response which comes without the language channel). My teachers were the rest of the students, a monkey in the swimming pool, a suggestion from Lee, a plant swaying by the wind, an empty space, an object, an insect, the himalaya mountain, a movement to develop, an state of mind, a memory, an imaginary, an emotion...Infinite.    

Like this I open new doors to follow the condition of transparency.

A necessary dance.

Most of Fridays I had another struggle: why I have to perform today? Why the audience is there and I'm here in this part of the stage? I tried many things to release from this struggle which makes me not find the necessity of dancing in these precise moments and not just being during dancing. So I tried many things. I said once to Lee: today I don't perform. And I taste this sensation of not performing. Another day my performance was based just to walk in the garden, feel the audience, the sun, the grass and the wind, the mountains and the spirits around and don't react at all. Like this experiences and meditations with the struggles I could slowly release from the pressure of perform and I could find that the moment of perform is a gift, a precious opportunity to share a magic moment with the world.

What is dance?

These words came to me as a big revelation one day after a Friday performance. If dance is life, why I just have the necessity of dancing and being moved during the school timing? One day I was in my room washing dishes with music. Suddenly I realize that  my body was making a daily action but also at same time I was moved by music like an inner necessary  instinct. A big non-logic truth appeared to me: there exists a subtle delicate balance between what's my body asking for and an inner instinct of being moved  by anything (sound, imaginary, character, wind, emotion...). That Friday, I put music, I opened all channels and I didn't put a choreography on stage or something.. Like this everything could happen in any moment without prevention. Starting from these inner instinct of being moved by sound, a very rich and fresh experiment appeared. Because I surprised myself in a lot of moments, the audience was also surprised,  I could share the unexpectedness. My concept of dance completely change after this experience. Now there  can be a direct connection between life and dance. Dance as a way of life, not as an attitude, not as a job, not as a definition or a conception of ourselves as dancers, not as a culture, not as a classification of dances. Another door is open to give light about the question of what is dance. After the integration of  this conception, my daily life started to sway from outside between a healthy madness and chaos because I could dance in every moment everything.

The Possessed body.

When we work about the possessed body, another door to explore was opened for me. We study a little of shamanism. We dance and try with music, being possessed. A revelation for me was that we could easily enter in the non-dual world by the non controlling movements or states of mind, freaking out, releasing from everything. A very dangerous work, because by this way we can really go deep without controlling or taking distance from things that can hurt us. But we were already trained for this. So it was for me another step to enter in the non-dual world without controlling but being conscious that I'm not controlling, be friend with these state without scares.

The Creation

One of the most big struggle for me. I couldn't find the necessity of creation, nothing deeply to dance and share. My dance already became a dance from improvisation and transparency, so outside it was very rich for me because many stimulations and qualia appeared. But now I had to keep something, and I didn't wanted to lose the real, necessary movements and the transparency. I started to think too much and that's why a big dualism appeared to me: improvisation against choreography. This problem also appeared to me during the creation of the first semester which I couldn't solve. That's why my first experiment was completely a choreography of precise movements and states which didn't give me a non-logic sense at all. Now,  when I improvised  I couldn't keep the interesting moments from the improvisation and when I danced with a choreography, nothing happened to me and it was a fake dance. But I didn't give up. There must be a way. And the facilities and relaxing situation in the school with just three students were perfect to work on it. For five weeks of creation process, only last two weeks I could find a way. In a position of rolling on the ground I improvised, in a character I improvised, with a big cloth and a hat I improvised. Things that I don't know why I want to work on it. By dancing it many times I realized that there were patterns that repeated by an unknown necessity. But the last point was how to find the connections and the ending, like a total whole piece. I tried many times by thinking, making different structures. Many insecurities appeared. Then Chiara told me one day to just dance it many times without planning parts and the responses will come. Like this I could paste many parts. Finally Lee suggested me to dance all parts and subbodies and struggles and spontaneous movements at same time with a crazy music, as I did in one of the parts before, at the ending. Like this a deep necessity came for ending of my last performance. Dancing it many times and leaving spaces for necessary or spontaneous movements. A choreography which allows the improvisation it becomes something that is not completely an improvisation and not completely a choreography. 

So now I realize that I create something, a fetus of my own dance style which is open to be develop in everything and in every place, something from where I can polish and cut and add. For example the cloth that I'm using I already painted and give it life as a friend of my dance, as a spirit which is guiding me. Like this I find a process of creation which has just start and I hope I would be able to continue for the next uncertain future. I hope to continue learning from others, exploring different parts of my body, connections between body-mind-outside, discovering and dancing while living. Because now for me dance is life and this dance can be everything of human and not human, this world and other worlds, movement and stillness, daily life, visible and invisible, logic and non-logic, language and silence.

This is the method of the non-method in which slowly you can overcome your own struggles and create your own dance far away from conceptions and classifications. With your own effort which results more pleasant. To release from I want to do this or become like this and just find the responses from listening our lives throw our bodies. For me this and the other revelations above are the most rich gifts that I take after nine months in this school. Thank you Lee also for your big effort trying to manage all subbodies from all students through your dreams every night and your dedication. Giving and creating thousands of suggestions to help us, becoming flexible as a real guide, becoming a source of knowledge in all the ways, supporting everyday our training and dance and maintain the school with passion and love.

Hope to meet next year in the first edition of the Himalaya Butoh Festival,

Xavi

22 January, 2010

Happily uploaded "Chiara's Ancestral"

After her performance, we have to wait to upload the video for two months because of broadband disconnection.
Now, happily we can share it with the world.
This subbody piece has a possibility to be a treasure of the world, I believe so.
It was digged out from the darkness of body after one year digging, and succeeded to be born as a integrated butoh piece. It's birth is so rare thing. It is full of flowers, secrets and mysteries of the darkness of body. Everybody can taste it and study it transparently.
But the age of this subbody is just one year old, it is necessary to bring up by performing many times, polishing and deepening, through reborn and reborn it is able to transform an eternal life.
To pursue it is the creater's responsibility for life.

   

Feedback of one year / Chiara

So…time to leave. One year, it sounds so long but it was so fast and so many transformations happened. Now that I’m trying to leave some thoughts about this experience it’s so difficult to find the words.

So because it’s so difficult I want just to share a dream that I had few days ago after the last performance.

 I was in a place to perform and I was looking for something, a costume, a music, I don’t remember, suddenly the stairs were changed, modified and in a daily logic impossible to use, but in my dream I just had a moment to react and I saw myself dance and my body resonating with the structure around without judging, and in this dance I was moving freely, suddenly I was just resonating and everything was fine!

So many times during this year I was bound by my patterns and by the question what is dance, which is my necessity, which is my flower, may be I don’t have anyone, and I struggled a lot inside and outside, looking for an answer, looking for a meaning.

After the first term I had a difficult moment where I thought to leave the school but before to take any decision I went to meditate and during the retreat I discovered my body dancing during the meditation, and I finally could open the deep resonance in the silence of the judgments.

I just realized what was the transparent body that Lee was telling us, what was resonating, and even if with a huge challenge at the beginning to overcame the strong patterns of my mind, the result was a simple, fragile, natural flowering for my body and my soul.

I don’t really know how this happen, but it happened.

In July I saw on my hand the transformation of a butterfly and I was touched by this incredible and tiring process.

In the second term I could experienced my own transformation, as same as that butterfly I didn’t realized what was happening but at the end I just tasted the feeling to being reconnected with the Life.

“Butoh has an aspect of “body archaeology”, digging out something buried deep in the body, forgotten or socially suppressed things, either good or bad, sometimes came up to the mind-body during the process”(Kasai), and in this process the butoh performer release emotions and ancient connection, revitalize streams with the Life. For this reason butoh can be sometime a dynamic numinous pray.

This was what I was looking for, this was what I felt the first time that I saw my first butoh teacher, Atsuschi Takenouchi, dancing.

So in this school, in the silence of the Himalaya, I could finally catch a glimpse of my pray, of my being flowering.

It was a long process, up and down, but I’m really glad to Lee that with patience supported it.

I learned a lot from him even when I was disagree; thanks to his method I could find my own way, my own dance, this was difficult to appreciate at the beginning, I had to overcame my laziness, search to my necessary dance, and I felt the emptiness and I was scared….but I could overcame also this.

Thanks also to all the people that I met here.

Particularly the last few months, when we shared the creation process in an intimate atmosphere.

Only me, Kaska and Xavi; and the last week only me and Xavi.

(I have to mention  also Shlomtsi,  that with her dance opened a soft space for me where I could enter and taste a subtle vibration.)

Today is really time to leave and it sounds so strange….thank you so much, and also thank you to Ramesh and Pitar and thank you to all the spirits still dancing around in this beautiful place.

22 January, 2010

Letter for new students and readers 4

Explanation of special terms of subbody method

Dear friends
This letter is a simple explanation for specilal terms of Subbody method.

1. Why do we use the qualia?


2. Sen-Shin-Hitsu: method for reseach

3. Jo-ha-Kyu: method for how to compose
4. Ka-Hi-Mei: method for deepening
5. Riken: How to be transparent

20 January, 2010

Letter for old students

How to deepen your research

1. Continue listening for 24 hours
Subbody works for 24-hours without sleeping. For receiving all messages from subbody, listen in your dream at the moment when you wake up immediately. Someone said that he/she doesn't dream at all. Even in this case, you can listen in the subtle bodily qualia in your body without visual image. All dreams have their own bodily qualia. They are the most important messages from your subbody and life, because bodily qualia are the main language of subbody and life. Sometimes it transform into other channels; movement, visual, audio, emotion, relationship, world-self, and thinking channel, but the bodily qualia is the main channel. It is non-dual qualia. Also through the meditation and practice in the day time, concentrate on it for 24-hours. This is the most recent awareness for me. Last year, I just followed the dreams to arrange every day’s teaching in the class. My subbodies could notice the subtlest qualia which students encountered and suffered, though my consciousness cannot notice them. Become a good friend with your dream body and subbody. They are oneness.

2. Listen in subtler and subtlest qualia 
When you get used to listening, try to listen in subtler qualia more than before. Try to segment it infinitely every day, from body size to cell level, become a cell's life. And finally enter into the String level. Qualia are streaming with the resonance of the String in invisible multiple dimensions.

3. Toward the non-dual realm
You can find what the more subtler realm you enter into, the more multi-dimensional and non-dual qualia are streaming beyond time and space. That place is the very place to research in, though it is full of strange, unknown, uncomfortable qualia. But after overcoming them, you can reach the treasures of infinite creativity and originality of life. I guess you are ready to try it now.

4. Open more diverse dimensions 
Try to research more different world than before, more strange, more unknown, more ugly, more faint, more complicated, more weakened, and so on. And travel as diverse dimensions as possible. Become higher flexible traveler in the darkness  of body between dead and life.

5. Deepen the transparency

Try to see and feel everything what is happening between consciousness, sub-consciousness, and body transparently. Open the "Riken eye" in deeper realm.
The beginning of Riken is just to see yourself from outside. But "the advanced Riken" is to see the resonance among yourself, others and the world from multi-dimensions transparently.
Feel the resonance among lives and the world transparently, and share your awareness with your friends immediately. Continue to grow up yourself as a resonator forever. 

14 January, 2010

Letter for new students and readers 2

An entrance guide for subbody world

For new students, I will guide the entrance of subbody world for a while.
Also this is the basic guide of subbody method for readers.

Subbody is subconscious body. In the eastern tradition of meditation there is a similar concept. It is called as 'Subtle body". They are almost the same at the point of stopping "Gross body=Daily body" .
In the subconscious realm, sub-consciousness and body is merging into oneness. This realm is completely different from daily world. It is full of creativity and originality without any restraints as a human. To get the fertilities, we need to learn how to shift from daily life to subbody life. Please practice the following process for becoming subbody, and change your way of everyday life.

1.   Calm down

Find a quiet place which you can be alone, and sit down with relaxed legs position.
Calm down your daily body and mind. Stop your thinking, judgment, and inner talking. These are a habit as a human. Become a quiet body until you can take off all conditions as a human; social role, gender, persona, judgment, common illusions, and so on. This is the first step to become subbody.

2.   Listen in the body

When you become the quiet body, slowly it becomes able to listen in the subtle tendencies of your life. It is so subtle. It is million times subtler than daily sensations of the gross body as a human. When you become quiet body, you can feel what so many subtle tendencies are streaming in the darkness of your body.
There are many methods for transforming subbody mode. You will learn them through the year. Today I guide two methods for beginning of conditioning.

Subtle breathing

Breathe in only one cc air from nose or mouth. You will notice that the cells of mucous membrane behind rip or entrance of nostril are resonating with oxygen of the air. Taste it. Slowly shift to deep breathing from whole nose or mouth to your lungs, also each you can notice that cells  of each part of the body are resonating with oxygen. Life of cells are resonating with everything in the environment; gravity, air, light, sound, and so on.

Swaying meditation

When you continue listening, you will notice that your body is swaying with subtle sways. Your life is always resonating with outer environment and with inner memories. And you will notice that your life is resonating with hidden memories, dreams, desires, imagination, visions, bodily sensations and so on. Accept all of them without judgment, taste them deeply, and enjoy them.
Feel you life. Ask your life, “What do you want to do the most?” Continue this question to your life throughout the year.

Please practice this by your self, and prepare to enter the school.
It will help your school life in Himalaya.

Rhizome Lee


(Continuing...)

1 January, 2010

Letter for new students 1

Reconfirmation

Dear students of the year

A Happy New Year!

We are waiting for you.

This letter is the last reconfirmation for 2010.

The school rule has been changed at  the following points last year to attach greater importance to the group process by all students. The whole process to transform subbody-cobody mode from daily mode is not easy, and we need all of you for sharing it from the beginning to the end.

If you agree it,   please send us a reconfirmation mail soon.

(In case of cancellation, please send canceling mail kindly. Because some persons arestill waiting on the waiting list of 2010.)

If your reconfirmation mail will not be arrived until the end of January, you may lose the seat as a student of this year.

1. Course

Only one year course: March 15-December 3, 2010

●The first semester

March 15- July 9, 2010

●Summer vacation

July 10- August 8, 2010

●The second semester

August 9 - December 3, 2010

2. Recommended timing to get Indian VISA

The school term is for nine months, and Indian tourist Visa is maximum for six months.

During the summer vacation, you can extend it in Nepal.

Then we strongly recommend to apply Indian VISA during  January 15 to January 30, 2010.

3. Way of Payment for Scholl Tuition

A. Advanced payment

In case of Advance Payment into the bank account: 2300 US$

IFSC Code: CNRB0002062

Bank name : Carana Bank

Branch name: Dharamsala

Address: Kotowali Bazar, Dharamsala, Distt. Knagra, H.P. India

Account name: Ryuji Oka

Account No.: 6104

B. Direct payment

One year: 2400 US$

You need to pay whole amount on the first day of the school ( 15th March, 2010) by US$, Euro or Indian rupees at currency rate. Traveler’s check is available.

(After you enter the school, if you will stop school, school fee is not returned. But you can change the term to another time.)

4. How to get here

In case of train, Second AC( =air conditioning seat) is recommended.

In case of the first visit for India, I recommend to send mail to Ways Travel to catch you at the airport, to reserve a guest house in Delhi, and to reserve bus or train ticket from Delhi to Dharamsala.

Ways Tours & Travels Ltd. E-mail: waystour@gmail.com

Phone of Dharamsala office: 0091-01892-221988

Phone of Delhi office: 0091-11-23813254

Mobile of Delhi office: 9811289552

5. About guest house at Dgaramsala

On the first few days, you can stay at the guest room of or near the school. And you can choose your favorite guest room around the school. There are many guest houses.

 For more info.  View the “How to get here” page of the www. subbody.net

Please visit our site often, you can get more useful information for preparation of the school. 

See you on March!

Rhizome Lee