"Ya La Suo!" Yuan Miao & Lama Norbu Offer
Blue Pearl Playshops & Healing Energy Practice

By Denise Williams

As a long-time seeker of understanding about how things really work on this planet, much of my post-college graduate adult life has been devoted to searching for "continuing education" that leads to deeper and more profound spiritual insights.  After many years of attending seminars, retreats and workshops, I've found that the ones that have the most lasting impact for me are those that provide transformative experiences, not just more knowledge.  The Blue Pearl Group "Playshops" every Thursday night at the Rudramandir center in Berkeley, and Susan Sattler's Healing Energy Practice classes, most Tuesday nights at the Ocean Within Healing Arts Center in Petaluma, actually offer both knowledge and transformative experiences.  But it's the peak experiences that keep me coming back for more!

Blue Pearl Group Playshops are the inspiration of Yuan Miao and Lama Norbu.  Yuan Miao is a Chinese woman who is the carrier of an ancient Nyingma Buddhist lineage, transmitted to her by her Tibetan grandmother when she was a young girl growing up in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution.  Around the turn of the century, Miao came to America and wrote a book, "Dancing on Rooftops with Dragons" (published by the Philosophical Research Society), which recounts her life in China, and her journey to the United States.  Lama Norbu (the so called "Blue Jean Lama," since he no longer wears the formal attire of a Buddhist Lama) is a geshe trained in the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism in India.  His journey from childhood in a matriarchal society in Tibet to becoming a Yogin master of Vajrayana is documented in his book, "Love Sutra Lama," published by Legwork Team Publishing.

Trying to convey what transpires in a transformative experiential "playshop" is a tricky task, since much of what one experiences is "tasty" (one of Miao's favorite expressions), but difficult to articulate.  Arriving with an open heart, and expecting the unexpected goes a long way towards maximizing the esoteric practices offered by Miao and Lama Norbu.  A recent playshop opened with a sitting meditation, punctuated by fits of laughter.  Why?  When I opened my eyes from my oh-so-serious attempt to still my mind and meditate, I discovered Miao was making funny faces at us (tongue out, eyebrows askew, dimples rippling), interspersed with pious, I'm-trying-so-hard-to-be-spiritual expressions.  The effect was not only hilarious, but a pointed lesson about our stale concepts of what it means to "look" spiritual. 

A master concept buster, Miao seizes every opportunity to explode old ideas that may be holding people back, instead of propelling them forward on their chosen path of spiritual progress.  Her lineage doesn't emphasize formal knowledge as much as music, mantra, mudras and impromptu movement as ways of expressing Shakti, or divine energy.  So it's not unusual for Lama Norbu to play his flute, or for participants to bring musical instruments, or singing bowls, to playshop gatherings.  At various points in the playshops, participants are encouraged to sing, or move to the rhythm of their own internal energies, and verbally express whatever comes through them.  Sometimes what is expressed is uncontrollable laughter (frequently), tears (sometimes) or other forms of silly, sassy, or even raucous noises one longs to release, but never dares to...except when Miao and Lama Norbu unplug the cork of self-conscious inhibition. 

There is sharing at the playshops; after someone shares, everyone claps and hoots in appreciation as a gesture of "Ya La Suo!" (loosely translated:  Tibetan for "celebration") for the experience shared.  And for those who favor teaching via words, there are Dharma talks, imparting information accessible to all, regardless of whether one has never sat in meditation before, or has practiced for many years.

A staple at the playshops are breathing practices, married with mantras, which align participants with their higher inner nature.  Miao and Lama Norbu are not formally affiliated with any particular denominational faith, or tradition, so there is a sprinkling of references to many different religious terminologies.  One breathing practice taught at the playshops is called "Shiva Garuda," which unites the energies of Shiva, the Hindu God who is always in meditation, and Garuda, or Phoenix, the legendary bird that is reborn after being consumed in flames.  Another breathing practice frequently taught at the playshops is called "Vajra Breathing," which nurtures and supports the liver, lungs, stomach, kidneys, heart and endocrine system. 

Much of the emphasis at the playshops is on healing.  Miao gives "homework" exercises that are designed to help playshop participants heal themselves in whatever areas of their lives need healing, and which provide daily blessings when practiced consistently.  Many of the exercises invoke Guan Yin, the Chinese goddess who symbolizes and embodies compassion.  The playshops often culminate with a healing circle, where participants who are dealing with issues congregate in the center of a circle while Miao, Lama Norbu, and the other participants surround them with love, compassion and healing energies.  To be in the center of that healing circle is an indescribably ecstatic experience, impossible to capture in words.

When I first met Miao at a book signing in 2004, I had been suffering from intense grief and depression at the loss of the love of my life six years earlier.  I literally didn't think that I would ever be able to feel happy again.  After Miao signed a copy of her book for me, I looked at the inscription, which consisted of some Chinese symbols that I didn't understand.  Just gazing at those symbols filled me with a spontaneous bliss.  I asked Miao what the symbols meant.  She grinned widely at me, and explained they meant "Be joyful!"  Since then, every encounter I've had with Miao has engendered fresh dimensions of joy and possibility.

While my healing experience with Miao was one of release from grief and depression, another playshop participant, Susan Sattler, experienced healing of cancer when she blended a practice of mudras, mantras, color visualizations and Yoga of Joy (taught by Yuan Miao on her DVD "The Yoga of Joy & Traditional Healing Mudras") with chemotherapy.  Her healing experience was so dramatic that she now teaches a Healing Energy class inspired by Miao's practices.

In a recent interview, Susan told me, "In January of 2007, I was diagnosed with an advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  I was told that unless I could achieve a complete remission, the prognosis was not good for me.  I had been attending Miao's Blue Pearl workshops for several years, and she spoke often of cultivating a reflexive reaction to life events of 'That's good!' even if they appear to be bad or sad or frightening.  The idea is that we have no idea of the potential good that may be an inherent part of any life experience."

Miao often talks about trust and courage at her workshops, so Susan decided to "set about my cancer journey with a trust that somehow 'it's good!' and the courage to find spiritual growth through the experience."  Susan committed herself to a daily practice of Miao's mudras, mantras, Yoga of Joy, breathing and meditation practices.  "The irony was that, although I had cancer and was undergoing a challenging course of chemotherapy, I was increasingly filled with a sense of pure joy," Susan remembers.  "During my treatments, I listened to Miao's CD entitled 'Love.'  As I listened, I formed the mudras she was teaching us with my hands.  All of my treatment team was amazed at how well I weathered my treatments.  I never developed any kind of infection, which is a huge danger when you are immune compromised from treatment.  I developed no neuropathy, had no heart damage, and my blood labs remained amazingly normal."

Nine months exactly after her first symptoms appeared, Susan, who has been given the spiritual name "Loving Tara" by Yuan Miao, was in complete remission.  She looks at this experience as a rebirth.  Miao asked Susan to create a class to pass on what she had learned to others, since Miao believes that "a noble seeker is one for whom spiritual cultivation is not a refuge, but a form of service to others."

Susan's classes focus on combinations of mudras, mantras and color visualizations designed to benefit specific aspects of health.  For example, some support cardiovascular health, others support healthy blood pressure.  Still others release computer-related strain and tension, or are mood elevating.

Mudras, for those who aren't familiar with this term, are like finger yoga.  They are hand gestures that serve as secret keys to unlock access to positive universal energies.  Mudras are powerful because they activate acupressure points in the hands which are related to different parts of the body.  They involve precise configuration of fingers and hands into patterns that engage the opposing poles in the human body's electro-magnetic field, and the beginning and ending locations of the six energy channels in the body known as meridians.  When uniting mudras with mantras, sacred sounds that are chanted to create specific healing vibrations, and the visualization of specific harmonic color combinations, it is believed in Vajrayana that beneficial results may be generated.

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