Day 2, May 24: I hadn’t realized contact lenses would be such an issue. During the morning exercises, when we separated into groups of men and women, one of the dudes I was matched with suggested I take off my glasses. We’re doing a lot of gazing and the spectacles get in the way. So for the rest of the day I tried wearing my contacts, but the air is so dry in the conference room I was blinking like a fool while gazing into the souls of the two women with whom I did exercises.
These exercises, for those of you as unfamiliar with tantra as I am, are basically designed to open you up with a complete stranger–to learn to be intimate with someone you’ve just met. The exercises are built in stages, so that by the end of them you could be shouting, crying, or, as was the case here, telling someone you wanted to, er, have your way with them.
That was how the day ended, around 10:30 p.m., with Deida instructing us on amping up the (non-physical) communication. The day began with, as mentioned, men’s and women’s exercises led by Deida’s assistants, followed by a lunch break, then a question-and-answer period with the man himself. I’ve noticed a distressing pattern–the couples seem to have taken over these periods, with women in relationships (sometimes with their male partner, sometimes not) asking most of the questions, nearly all of which are about expanding intimacy with their guy. Meanwhile us singletons are left out in the cold. Except for, in the evening, one dude asking about taking the afternoon’s exercise out in the real world. Deida had five men from the audience come up onstage while the women were asked who they would trust the most. He then gave the guys tips on standing so that their purpose in life was reflected in their stance.
One complaint I’ve heard from a few of the folks in attendance, particularly those who have attended other workshops (especially those held by Satyen in Langley, B.C.) is that there are too many rules (the workshop is being run like a bootcamp, with no talking allowed and locked doors at a certain time) and that Deida is inaccessible–he arrives from a side door in the conference room, accompanied by one of his male assistants. Otherwise though everyone seems satisfied with the direction he is taking us in. We’ll see what happens today, our last in Bellevue, WA.
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