Bart Smit

Is it called a meditation retreat but there is a lot more than just meditation… could you explain more?

We begin the Puerto Vallarta Meditation Retreat with meditation because that really brings all of the outer senses inside and prepares a person for a day of inner centering and balance. However, before we begin the Retreat, we introduce yoga first thing in the morning as a gentle way for the balancing between mind, body, and spirit to take place.

After yoga, there’s a little bit of a break, and shortly after that we start. Everyone’s seated at 8 in the morning. Then we go until about 10:50. We have some chanting prior to meditation, then we have meditation. We have teaching for about an hour, hour and a half. During the break, everyone gets the opportunity to go to the beach because I find it is incredibly important for them to integrate what they’ve learned, sit in the sun, put their feet in the ocean, have a lovely lunch, and then rest before they return for the afternoon. We return at 2:45. We have chanting and meditation for an hour. We have teaching for an hour and a half. Then break into discussion groups and we’re done by 6PM.

This is a very unthreatening way for the ego to gradually transcend itself instead of being put into a place where they must be there for 6 or 8 hours at a time. Not only can we not learn or absorb everything in 6 or 8 hours, but it is incredibly important that we take things in waves so that we learn, sit by the ocean, and have a wonderful lunch, then we come back and learn more. You have the opportunity to have a wonderful dinner in the evening. So, it is an integrated experience for the participant who comes to the Retreat.

We integrate spirituality, psychology, quantum physics, and neuroscience into our teachings. It’s incredibly important that we have a rounded experience in our teachings so that a person goes, ah, ha, I didn’t realize that spirituality and psychology and quantum physics have a common denominator. What makes my retreats very unique is that I integrate all these different elements so that I can really bring a person to the highest potential of their own inner wisdom, because you can learn something as often as you want, but it isn’t until you get this ah-ha that we shift. The key to my teachings is to combine numerous different philosophies, including the teachings of the Vedas and the Upanishads. I bring everything into it, so that I can lead you to a moment of going ah-ha, and all of a sudden you have a quantum leap of awareness and Consciousness.

The people who come are exceptional; these are people who are completely committed and devoted to their path. To be in an audience of people who are completely committed creates a quantum leap to quantum Consciousness. It’s really quite profound to watch new people who come because there’s such a wonderful group that has been coming for 7 years, and to watch new people come into this group is so profound because they just settle in. They’re right in their center. They are in their hearts immediately. Usually when you have a group that is all new it takes a while for them to settle in, but because there are so many wonderful people who come every year among the new people, it doesn’t take more than a day or two to get into the groove; it happens quite spontaneously. And that is such a magical experience for me to watch every time.

I chose Puerto Vallarta because I ended up going there for a vacation. Puerto Vallarta is on a ley line. And the best way to explain that is you’re out of the grid system, you’re unplugged from the rest of the world. There’s just a presence. There’s God. If you look at ashrams and most centers around the world, they’re predominantly in India because when we evolve we need the heat. The kundalini, when it rises, needs heat. So we’re in Puerto Vallarta in the mountains, we have oxygen, the ocean, and the heat.  All these elements lend themselves to the unfolding of the kundalini and the unfolding and burning of our karma. I chose Puerto Vallarta, not only because it was drawing me to go there, but predominantly because it is one of those sacred places in the world where you can really sense the energy patterns and energy fields that really bring you closer into your inner world. I find it interesting sometimes to listen to people saying well, I’ve got to go back to the real world. Well in actuality, that is the real world. Puerto Vallarta was chosen because it’s safe, because in Puerto Vallarta people live within their hearts. It is a city where people dwell within their hearts and it is predominantly evident when you walk in Puerto Vallarta.

 

Being a deep trance channeler brings an unique approach to this retreat… Is the entity that you channeled, Dr. Williams, participes to the retreat also?

Every year I choose a subject I’m going to be teaching. A very dear friend of mine who is a psychologist, assists me to bring the psychology, quantum physics, and neuroscience all together, which creates a wonderful combination. It’s a wonderful dance to see the connection between everything. It is always fascinating to see during the days I teach how magnificently Dr. Williams (the entity I channel), brings the teachings to such a profound and insightful, simplistic, manageable, tangible, understanding for everyone. He just takes the audience to a whole new level. It’s always wonderful that I have the opportunity to teach, present, and speak about my own internal experiences, which people can relate to because they can identify with them. You can say, ah-ha, I understand what he’s teaching. I can relate to his experiences. Not only does that occur, but twice during the Retreat the audience has the opportunity to listen to Dr. Williams when he not only enhances what we’ve taught, but takes the entire audience on a journey where they can relate to what he’s saying and to everything that I’ve taught. It helps them integrate the teachings on a deep core level, and that is something tangible that they can work with. Then they can integrate all this great wisdom from what I’ve offered them, and particularly what Dr. Williams has taught. They can integrate all the wisdom into their day to day lives and use it in a practical way. They can hold on to that level of awareness and Consciousness that is so sustainable that even a year later they can say, you know when Dr. Williams talked about that, I remember.  And so people have personal experiences where they integrate what he’s spoken about.

 

I saw on various video on your web site and Youtube that you wear a tunic during the retreat but not during a private session, why is this?

Yup, I do wear orange clothes. It’s for the same reason that the Dalai Lama wears sort of a burgundy. There are particular cloths – wools and silks that actually support energy. That’s also why Guru’s always wear a toque. When you see that they’re wearing an orange hat or toque it’s because that holds in the energy. The same is true with a meditation shawl, it holds that energy just like the clothes that I wear hold in my energy. 

Prior to everyone arriving, I have already devoted myself to the Retreat so I am fully prepared; I don’t need to build up momentum for it. By the time people arrive, I am there and I start wearing clothes that support that field of Consciousness and awareness. It isn’t until the end of the Retreat that I stop wearing those clothes. Then I spend about a day or two on the beach or sailing and that gives me the opportunity to reintegrate into the world of obligations and responsibilities instead of a world of just Consciousness. And so, you’re correct, those clothes are wonderfully supportive. I don’t need to wear them on a day-to-day basis, it’s only for the Retreat where I am in one momentous awareness and Consciousness that sustains itself from beginning to end.

 

This is the 7th Puerto Vallarta meditation retreat, How do you see the evolution of the retreat?

It’s been wonderful to watch people’s evolution, because from the first year to this year, not only have people profoundly evolved and grown, but so has their commitment to their path. There’s a great word in Sanskrit called sadhana, these people actually are really divinely on a path. You can see this  in their eyes and in their bodies, and you can hear it in their speech, and see it in their mannerisms. What is lovely to watch is all the new people arriving. New people come every year and they sort of enter into that platform where everyone else is and that makes it a beautiful year because it is a year where people are shining and breathing from their hearts, and celebrating their growth. This is a unique year because people who have registered this year are people who are celebrating life and know how to live with love. And that is the best thing for me because now we’ve got an audience that sings the song of God and that’s pretty profound. 

 

Who goes to this meditation retreat? Are people coming back?

Who goes to the Meditation Retreat? Umm, you know all kinds of people. There are single people, mothers, fathers, mother and daughter, mother and son, and we’ve even had a mother with two sons, the youngest was 6, which, can you imagine, 6 and 13? And I thought for sure those boys would be restless. But those boys were so beautiful and so truly natural and they brought such depth of spirituality. We had a woman who was 85 and she just contributed in the most beautiful way. We have people who are Fortune 500, ex-swami’s, and people who have been meditating for most of their lives. We have psychologists, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, we have Yoga teachers, and accountants. You know, it isn’t what they do, it is their commitment to their own evolution. So, I suppose, what kind of people come to the Retreat? People who are committed to their own path and evolution.

 

Your meditation retreat is located where in Puerto Vallarta?

We chose the Sheraton, or maybe the Sheraton chose us. The Sheraton is on a ley line, and for those who don’t know what that is, it just means that you’re unplugged from the rest of the world, which lends itself to drawing your senses inward. It is a place where time stands still. A place where there is just Grace, and you feel it, sense it, and know it. The hotel is right smack in the middle of all of that. It’s a four star hotel about a 10-minute walk from the city, and it’s just in the right location. They believe in and support what we do, and they’re committed to us being there. Ordinarily their rooms cost $300 to $400 a night, but they’ve made it available to us for $115US per night, plus tax, which is quite unheard of. That’s very inexpensive. Quite often people will take their siblings, teenagers, or spouses with them, and then they will spend the day on the beach or sightseeing while the participant goes to the Retreat. Because it is so affordable, you can do that or simply go on your own. We are deeply grateful for the Sheraton. Some people want to upgrade, and they also have Club rooms; there are a variety of opportunities for rooms. But to have a good, clean, wonderful garden view room, it’s $115, and that is unimaginable and unbeatable in any resort area.

 

What is the meditation retreat cost?

I’ve made the fee for the Retreat itself incredibly affordable at $700US. And I’ve done this because I believe that Puerto Vallarta is where I’m meant to be. I am teaching where I’m meant to be; I’m located where I’m meant to be. I want to make it affordable and accessible to people. So only in Puerto Vallarta do I charge $700. And that is incredibly reasonable and attainable.

 

How do I register?

You can go to my website – www.bart-smit.com, then Puerto Vallarta Retreat, where there’s a brochure that gives you all the details and instructions, topics, and Registration Form as well as a form you can download PDF format. Contact the office if you have any question 416.690.2345, bartsmit-office@rogers.com . The registration deadline is February 29, 2012.