The Sanctuary

Welcome to The Sanctuary! Everyone who enters this calm oasis away from the hustle and bustle of town, always says that it feels like home. It is! It’s our home and we all live and operate from The Sanctuary.

We are a gurukula. A gurukul (Sanskrit guru "teacher" or "master"; kul domain, from kula, "extended family") is a type of school in India and the East, residential in nature, with shishyas (disciples) living in proximity to the guru, often within the same house.

In a gurukul, shishyas (disciples) reside together as equals, irrespective of their social standing, learn from the guru and help the guru in his day-to-day life, including the carrying out of mundane chores such as washing clothes, cooking, etc. The guru-shishya tradition (parampara) is a hallowed tradition in The East and appears in other groups from this area, such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

The guru-shishya tradition, lineage, or parampara denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in a traditional discipline, and literally means an uninterrupted row or series, order, succession, continuation, mediation, tradition. In the traditional residential form of education, the shishya remains with his or her guru as a family member and gets the education as a true learner.

In some traditions there is never more than one active master at the same time in the same guruparamaparya  (lineage). In the paramparā system, knowledge (in any field) is passed down (undiluted) through successive generations.

In our home, we have a yoga room or studio that we use for all our classes and some weekends we hold small workshops and courses. We also have a therapy room for massage or healing therapy.

In the evenings after all our classes are finished we settle down as one big family, we cook our dinner, spend time with each other and see how everyone’s day has been and give each other any support and guidance needed and lots of hugs!

We also have our pets around us (we have cats, for those of you who have allergies, we recommend that you use your own brand of antihistamines, when visiting).

As you can see, we view it as a very special place where a lot of healing is done. Every month we cleanse all the rooms using esoteric healing rituals and give the place a loving smudge.

Years of love and healing, instigated by our teacher, have been put into our home, to create the safe haven of peace and tranquility, you have come to expect from The Radiant Hand and The Sanctuary.

Others have said that The Sanctuary gives them inspiration to learn, a place where they feel safe and nurtured, where you can just be yourself, others view it as a sacred space to relax and unwind.

However, you see it, we hope you feel welcome coming into our home and ask that you respect it in the same way as you would your own. Please remember that office hours are between 9.30am to 5.30pm. Any calls for classes outside of these hours will be ignored. A big hug!

Satsang at The Sanctuary

 

Satsang; in Sanskrit ‘sat’ means ‘true’ and sanga means company so it can be interpreted as ‘copmpany of the ‘highest truth’ or ‘in the company of a guru’ or ‘company with an assembly of persons who listen to talk about, and assimulate the truth. This sometimes involves chanting and singing, listening to or reading scriptures, reflecting on, discussing and assimilating their meaning, meditating on the source of these words, and bringing their meaning into one’s daily life.

Satsang at The Sanctuary is an inspiring evening where yoga students at The Radiant Hand have the opportunity to come and enjoy an evening with Stephan Coburg, our Guruji, Director at The Radiant Hand, and his disciples. It is a wonderful opportunity to come and ask questions, or get to know one of the instructors better, or just come to experience the wonders and joy of satsang.

Satsang at The Sanctuary usually involves the sharing and eating of a home cooked vegetarian meal prepared by our guruji, a session or two of chanting and/or singing, healing techniques, creative visualizations and meditations and interesting discussions on yogic and spiritual philosophies and on many other areas of life and spirituality.

It is a wonderful experience of bonding, healing and meeting other people of like minds. Keep an eye on the timetable and newsletter for satsang sessions, as places are limited and go very fast!