Knowledge base
Interview with Bruno Caverna
The Truth reveals itself in the question "Who Am I?"
A child doesn't plan his life, he just follows the life flow
For the most part of my life I have a persistent dialogue with my body. Body is the main instrument for working out your spirit, and I thank my lucky stars that I began to work on it when i was just a little kid. Difficult to realize, why I began to do something that represents the base of my life activity now. Usually, while you are a child you do not plan your life, but just follow the life flow. That is a very essential feeling, which I aspire to keep in myself and in my students; such perception of life is really natural for us and gives us a great freedom.
Analyzing my childhood, I realize that I've never imagined or planned anything. Aged 10, I saw a TV broadcast about capoeira, and something inside of me was deeply affected by it. With age I understood that it was kind of a body response, or intuition that helps us in taking the most important decisions in our life. So I shared my feelings with my parents, they supported me and brought me to capoeira classes. I was very happy. I remember me being the only child there… So since that time I still keep on discovering the dance, martial arts and other ways of work with the body and spirit – that is my way, the way which leads from one step to another ad infinitum.
For the most part of my life I have a persistent dialogue with my body. Body is the main instrument for working out your spirit, and I thank my lucky stars that I began to work on it when i was just a little kid. Difficult to realize, why I began to do something that represents the base of my life activity now. Usually, while you are a child you do not plan your life, but just follow the life flow. That is a very essential feeling, which I aspire to keep in myself and in my students; such perception of life is really natural for us and gives us a great freedom.
Analyzing my childhood, I realize that I've never imagined or planned anything. Aged 10, I saw a TV broadcast about capoeira, and something inside of me was deeply affected by it. With age I understood that it was kind of a body response, or intuition that helps us in taking the most important decisions in our life. So I shared my feelings with my parents, they supported me and brought me to capoeira classes. I was very happy. I remember me being the only child there… So since that time I still keep on discovering the dance, martial arts and other ways of work with the body and spirit – that is my way, the way which leads from one step to another ad infinitum.
Dance — is a way to work with the inner essence of a human being
Most of the people live very limited life. Seems like we are in a kind of mental boxes, made up of nowadays culture patterns, and the more we are absorbed in them, the more self-limited and conditioned we are. For example, nowadays people are mostly concerned on aesthetics and outer beauty. As in dancing almost everyone is concentrated on the external beauty of his body movements, so that only few realize, that the dance, in its pure sense, is a way to work with our inner essence.
I believe that through the body work we are able to interact with something very significant that is inside of us. The words can't explain it, as this process belongs to our Spirit and not to our intellect. Each of us has the inner source of great and endless opportunities. But we do not realize this source, as our attention is moved away from it to any kind of social rituals and conditionings, which are forcing us to a very limited way of thinking and a life vision, leading us away from the core.
Most of the people live very limited life. Seems like we are in a kind of mental boxes, made up of nowadays culture patterns, and the more we are absorbed in them, the more self-limited and conditioned we are. For example, nowadays people are mostly concerned on aesthetics and outer beauty. As in dancing almost everyone is concentrated on the external beauty of his body movements, so that only few realize, that the dance, in its pure sense, is a way to work with our inner essence.
I believe that through the body work we are able to interact with something very significant that is inside of us. The words can't explain it, as this process belongs to our Spirit and not to our intellect. Each of us has the inner source of great and endless opportunities. But we do not realize this source, as our attention is moved away from it to any kind of social rituals and conditionings, which are forcing us to a very limited way of thinking and a life vision, leading us away from the core.
Modern films, radio, TV programs and internet — it's a school of inattention
We are constantly pressed by fluctuations of the mind that push us into concepts and artificial wishes. Our awareness is overwhelmed with outer information and persistent mass media noise, in the result we are not able to go through this and to show our worth, as we can't reveal our real esteems anymore.
Therefore the principal impulse or my art is to go back to our full attention as for example animals have. They are «now and here» all the time; they are not pressed by the mind fuss. Children are also close to this kind of perception, they don't need any explanations about how life is, they don't have to seek for self-inquiry, as they are always aware and look around, taste and experience the life, and they play with it. That`s why I aim at moving my and others attention to the core, essence, to the simple «I am». I offer people to be fully in 'I am' through interaction with each other. One of my practices called Play-Fight is about that. This is the method to bring back our body mind, body perception, which we forget with age.
We are constantly pressed by fluctuations of the mind that push us into concepts and artificial wishes. Our awareness is overwhelmed with outer information and persistent mass media noise, in the result we are not able to go through this and to show our worth, as we can't reveal our real esteems anymore.
Therefore the principal impulse or my art is to go back to our full attention as for example animals have. They are «now and here» all the time; they are not pressed by the mind fuss. Children are also close to this kind of perception, they don't need any explanations about how life is, they don't have to seek for self-inquiry, as they are always aware and look around, taste and experience the life, and they play with it. That`s why I aim at moving my and others attention to the core, essence, to the simple «I am». I offer people to be fully in 'I am' through interaction with each other. One of my practices called Play-Fight is about that. This is the method to bring back our body mind, body perception, which we forget with age.
The Truth reveals itself in the question "Who Am I?"
When we were very little babies, we didn`t have any attributes and we were free. But while growing up, we start to associate ourselves with tags and labels that are specific for our birthplace and social environment. And the problem is that we believe in these tags and then start to protest and protect them, forgetting that these are just imaginary and worthless labels, while the Truth is formless and mind-unreachable, and it can be revealed if we do not question: who we are indeed?
But I don't declare you to forget about all social norms and to fall into nirvana, i just point at their conditional nature and show people how to play with them. It`s like in theatre, when people use dresses and decorations to create the image, but they know when the play starts and when it finishes and when starts the reality. So the same is with life, but people often identify themselves with the roles they play, forgetting that we are much deeper than what we are trying to play. We lose our actors and spectators, and keep only one role, stagnated and frozen in neurotic spasms. Whereas actually our nature is much deeper than all the roles we play. If we could just understand that there is no scale of values, that one belief is no more important than another one, that everything is just multicolored decorations, than we would treat each other in a slightly different way, the majority of conflicts would just lose their sense. Unfortunately, still there are people who try to do their best to sustain the partition paradigm in the society. They manipulate with ideas, values, and ideologies to divide people and to rule over them.
I do not know what to do with it and how to deal with it, but I have an opportunity to return peoples` look into recognition of who we really are. There is something extremely important in us, that had appeared much earlier than «I am Russian, I am Georgian, I am German». We simply are, and this is the only thing we may indeed know about us.
When we were very little babies, we didn`t have any attributes and we were free. But while growing up, we start to associate ourselves with tags and labels that are specific for our birthplace and social environment. And the problem is that we believe in these tags and then start to protest and protect them, forgetting that these are just imaginary and worthless labels, while the Truth is formless and mind-unreachable, and it can be revealed if we do not question: who we are indeed?
But I don't declare you to forget about all social norms and to fall into nirvana, i just point at their conditional nature and show people how to play with them. It`s like in theatre, when people use dresses and decorations to create the image, but they know when the play starts and when it finishes and when starts the reality. So the same is with life, but people often identify themselves with the roles they play, forgetting that we are much deeper than what we are trying to play. We lose our actors and spectators, and keep only one role, stagnated and frozen in neurotic spasms. Whereas actually our nature is much deeper than all the roles we play. If we could just understand that there is no scale of values, that one belief is no more important than another one, that everything is just multicolored decorations, than we would treat each other in a slightly different way, the majority of conflicts would just lose their sense. Unfortunately, still there are people who try to do their best to sustain the partition paradigm in the society. They manipulate with ideas, values, and ideologies to divide people and to rule over them.
I do not know what to do with it and how to deal with it, but I have an opportunity to return peoples` look into recognition of who we really are. There is something extremely important in us, that had appeared much earlier than «I am Russian, I am Georgian, I am German». We simply are, and this is the only thing we may indeed know about us.
Overcoming the borders of your personality is the main method of improvisation
My classes gather people of different nationalities with different life looks and traditions. First time it is hard to cooperate, but within the improvisation process we go deeper and interact on such a deep level, so that all borders are vanishing. All the borders are just the products of the affected mind, which we calm down during the training process. We stop our inner dialogue and start to see the world as it is indeed, without any interpretations and appraisals. Now we are surrenders. When the mind is still, it accepts everything without values and noise. Only impartiality is left here, driving us to the real Knowledge.
So the Play-Fight makes a person to take a risk and to be fully interacted. It seems like people are doing very simple things, as walking together, but they are so concentrated on it, so that their point of perception is starting to move (remember the terminology of Don Juan, Mexican shaman), facing something unusual and new inside of our nature.
A lot of people get scared of this step, of tag detachment. They get to the understanding that they can transform themselves and totally change their usual habits and life patterns, which limit and restrict us. Suddenly one starts to ask himself who he is indeed. The majority of others just stop on this step out of a big fear. It's really hard and scary to leave ones` habitual personal image; it's like the fear of death. But only if you go through this, you will reborn and know your true self.
My classes gather people of different nationalities with different life looks and traditions. First time it is hard to cooperate, but within the improvisation process we go deeper and interact on such a deep level, so that all borders are vanishing. All the borders are just the products of the affected mind, which we calm down during the training process. We stop our inner dialogue and start to see the world as it is indeed, without any interpretations and appraisals. Now we are surrenders. When the mind is still, it accepts everything without values and noise. Only impartiality is left here, driving us to the real Knowledge.
So the Play-Fight makes a person to take a risk and to be fully interacted. It seems like people are doing very simple things, as walking together, but they are so concentrated on it, so that their point of perception is starting to move (remember the terminology of Don Juan, Mexican shaman), facing something unusual and new inside of our nature.
A lot of people get scared of this step, of tag detachment. They get to the understanding that they can transform themselves and totally change their usual habits and life patterns, which limit and restrict us. Suddenly one starts to ask himself who he is indeed. The majority of others just stop on this step out of a big fear. It's really hard and scary to leave ones` habitual personal image; it's like the fear of death. But only if you go through this, you will reborn and know your true self.
You are where your attention is
A lot of people ask, from what to start to get rid of the mind noise and begin to listen to yourself clearly. Everything is simple. Watch your every movement, every feeling. This practice is available for everyone and you can start it right now. This is a work
on the simplest actions. But when we are more and more absorbed in them, it turns out as a very difficult process. It is really hard to control your walk, your bearing, hard to focus attention on something one, hard to meditate. The reason of such difficulty is that all this are real actions, not the talks. And these actions require a lot of energy and time; this is what is called "spiritual way".
Due to the spiritual practices people are able to stop their mind functioning. Then they can see the variety and multiples of simple things and actions. And no matter what they are doing right now because if you aware now, you can see the ocean in the drop of water, to find the whole world in one simple movement, to recognize the whole structure in one little element. It is kind of fractals, self-repeated structures. And suddenly you recognize the unity of everything, suddenly you feel the source. So all my work is to get this practical experience of self-discovery. From this point I am not urged to make people just happy as there are more important things than just happiness. The most important for me is bringing people back to themselves, to this essence, what we lose due to extra-involvement to the daily routine called culture.
A lot of people ask, from what to start to get rid of the mind noise and begin to listen to yourself clearly. Everything is simple. Watch your every movement, every feeling. This practice is available for everyone and you can start it right now. This is a work
on the simplest actions. But when we are more and more absorbed in them, it turns out as a very difficult process. It is really hard to control your walk, your bearing, hard to focus attention on something one, hard to meditate. The reason of such difficulty is that all this are real actions, not the talks. And these actions require a lot of energy and time; this is what is called "spiritual way".
Due to the spiritual practices people are able to stop their mind functioning. Then they can see the variety and multiples of simple things and actions. And no matter what they are doing right now because if you aware now, you can see the ocean in the drop of water, to find the whole world in one simple movement, to recognize the whole structure in one little element. It is kind of fractals, self-repeated structures. And suddenly you recognize the unity of everything, suddenly you feel the source. So all my work is to get this practical experience of self-discovery. From this point I am not urged to make people just happy as there are more important things than just happiness. The most important for me is bringing people back to themselves, to this essence, what we lose due to extra-involvement to the daily routine called culture.
Paper: Vitaly Akimov, The Strangers Magazine
Text: Bruno Caverna
Film: Noir Films
Photo: Maxim Eruzhenez, Marina Brezhneva
Music: Long Arm
Text: Bruno Caverna
Film: Noir Films
Photo: Maxim Eruzhenez, Marina Brezhneva
Music: Long Arm