by Rob Skinner, Hastings Point, NSW
Last night I attended a party celebration and what can only be described as a true celebration of the Love and Joy that we are.
The occasion was a masquerade ball organised by Natalie Benhayon, Curtis Benhayon, Michael Benhayon and Emmalee Benhayon, to celebrate the birthdays and lives of these amazing young friends, as well as ALL the guests who attended.
I have been to many functions and parties in my 48 years on this planet, and even organised some pretty flash events myself, but what I attended last night has totally re-defined for me what it is to truly celebrate.
Upon arrival I was met by hundreds of people dressed in the most amazing masquerade costumes outside of Venice, and the most beautiful faces and smiles I have ever seen and felt anywhere.
There was no alcohol, just water and a little fruit punch; none of the usual cheap or stimulating party food, but a massive spread of the most divine, carefully planned, made and presented delicious food ever brought together. Even the labels on the food were done so thoughtfully – describing the ingredients, the flavours and in some cases, the inspiration behind the delicious creation.
No tacky, stimulating or emotional party music, but rather song after song of divine tunes that have been written from the heart to celebrate the love that we ALL truly are, and performed without great productions, effects or volume – in fact many of the songs had no background music at all – to over 300 people who all felt like the songs had been written about them.
What a music concert and what a way to celebrate!! Many of the songs were written by Glorious Music to express the love and inspiration we receive from each other, and as they were sung I could feel that every word, every sentence and every song was absolutely true.
People dancing together as one, some with partners, many with friends, men with women, women with women and even men with men, all comfortably looking into each others’ eyes without reservation, and all dancing with harmony and joy, more like angels than people.
What an absolute joy to be dancing and expressing within a group where at no stage did I feel self- conscious or feel any judgement, jealousy or comparison in the whole room; rather, every time I looked around the hall, I saw play-fullness, grace and joy.
As I was driving home at 8:30pm – yes, the ball was all over at around 8pm so that young and old could be home and in bed at a self-loving time – I reflected on how I was feeling. What I felt was amazing. Five hours of partying, dancing and singing and I felt an absolute stillness and joy in me. I was not ‘buzzing’, left wanting more, feeling tired or drained, simply glowing in the love that I had been immersed in today, and reflecting on the fact that I had just attended the greatest true party celebration on planet earth.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Rob if I had read this years ago, I would have laughed as my type of party would have been to get drunk, eat, late nights and pay for the consequences the next day or days after. This no longer occurs as what has been shared in this blog, is how I live and prefer to live. Parties can still be fun without the alcohol and late nights, you actually get to meet people in their truest form.
When this is shared with others, people still have a problem when I share that I go to bed early and I don’t drink anymore. And yet I have had countless dinners and get togethers with little ramifications of the event.
Life is fun and can be fun if we allow it to flow in its natural cause. I much rather get to know someone without the alcohol and see them for their truest form, then pretending to be something they are not.
There can be the greatest forms of party celebrations on planet earth, if we are willing to receive that there is another way to party.
Coming back to this blog reminded me that in a few months’ time an event will take place where for 2 days a lot of alcohol will be consumed. That is really the main reason behind the event, it gives people a reason to over indulge with the excuse that they were entertaining clients. I was talking to someone about this event and asking if they were going to go out partying and was surprised to hear that they would be have an early supper with a client and then going to bed early as they had become tired of the effect that alcohol had on them. This is a massive shift in attitude and so I wonder if we are at last recognising that alcohol actually doesn’t change anything when it comes to solving life’s problems they are still there the next day plus we then have a hangover to contend with so we could say we are worse off because now we have two things to contend with instead of one.
Mary this comment reminded me of the days I was one of those people who would drink till the birds were tweeting in the morning! And there was a point when my body could not handle the after effects, it was horrible and I shudder the amounts of hangovers I woke up with. Eventually the liver kept saying no and the recovery was longer and longer.
So for some there comes a point when they have no choice, and for many it is a matter of a choice…
I remember that party and it was a great party as are all the parties have been since. The music was beautiful to listen to or dance to, there was not a drop of emotion in the words because of this. The music didn’t invade our bodies to stir old emotions.
To live, work and play in a way that is non invasive I have discovered is the best way to live and celebrate life.
What a great party celebration, ‘ What I felt was amazing. Five hours of partying, dancing and singing and I felt an absolute stillness and joy in me.’
“Five hours of partying, dancing and singing and I felt an absolute stillness and joy in me. I was not ‘buzzing’, left wanting more, feeling tired or drained, simply glowing in the love that I had been immersed in…” This is a great reminder for life’s in general, we can be in our stillness all day (imperfectly) and still feel centered and with ourselves each evening…. work in progress for me but what a beautiful purpose.
How beautiful, to feel that connection and for it not to be influenced by the music or what you were eating and drinking. We think that this kind of experience needs layers and layers to happen, party planning is a big business after all! Yet what you offer here is a much more long-lasting memory because the experience set a new standard of normal, clearly.
Very few celebrations consider finishing early enough to allow everyone to get to bed at a time that supports the body and allows it to be vital and ready again for the next day. This is the same considering the alcohol that is often found at other celebrations, and which depletes the body asking for a day or two of recovery. This celebration that has been shared, is one that is full of self care and regeneration and appreciation of self and the body – a true way to celebrate!
Thank you Rob – you have shared of a true celebration of who we are rather than a distraction from who we are into the what we are not.
So many words carry a True relationship with energy and the energy at a True celebration stays within the participants so no hang overs for this bunch.
After growing up with the experience that parties mean lots of alcohol, cheap snacks, sleaziness, late nights etc it is wonderful to discover how awesome a real celebration can be without any of these ingredients.
What you are sharing Rob is gold that we can have such fun and enjoyment with each other but it is not draining on our bodies and that we come away from these parties feeling very alive and yet so very content and how many people in the world today can honestly say they are content and brimming with life.
To celebrate, to be with others and not loose ourselves to buzz or stimulation, to leave with a connection to the stillness in us, that is a gift we can give ourselves; for in anything we do in life, it’s about staying connected to the stillness in us.
Yes and sometimes we need to hang out with others who are committed to return to that way of living so we know what it can feel like and then fine tune it away from that hanging out.
Yes, a celebration of all the amazing -ness that we are without doing anything! What a concept. It is like the continuos party that young children are in all the time, without even trying.
Yes, beautifully said.
That is indeed a totally different way of partying, were it is about love, playfulness and true connection with people, which doesn’t leave you with hangover of any kind afterwards or the day(s) after. I have attended parties from Universal Medicine as well, and they all organized in this same superb way. Game changer.
Certainly no hang over – but a realization that we don’t celebrate enough like this!
The feeling and the movement of oneness is always a feast, a beautiful stream to bath and swim in.
True celebration comes from the foundation of celebrating our true worth and amazingness.
Thank you that is lovely. A lovely start of looking at music and finding your way to truly understand and observe the quality of movement in music.
You can celebrate in full, without all the abuse that usually gets thrown in and makes you feel like truck was driving up and down you the next morning. The reason… so you can equally celebrate the next day as well!
So true! I have felt that truck way too many times! After a while of feeling better when I didn’t drink alcohol at these events, what really shocked me was feeling ‘the truck’ the next day even when I didn’t drink alcohol, that it was to do with a whole collection of things. I realise looking back now that that is when I started to remember that life is about more than what we see and there is a whole sea of energy we swim in that affects us equally when we do not choose to be aware.
I love celebrating and coming together. Before UniMed this was all based around loosing control and doing things I would never want to. This was because of mostly alcohol and drugs. At UniMed when the band and performances are on stage I can feel like I’m on the stage too. The feeling in my body is heavenly and totally healing not harming. It’s the way life can be celebrated!
What is so cool about celebrating in the way Rob described occurred at the masquerade ball was how the people who attended it actually grew more love and connection in their lives through the party with the way they were with each other, as opposed to the usual party where people are abusing their bodies with alcohol or drugs, looking to prove themselves witty or intelligent through their ability to remember things, and eating food that numbs them, overstimulates them, or is super heavy and dulling. All in order to check out of life, rather than engaging fully as in the masquerade ball.
You give the perfect barometer for every party with singing and dancing here after, if you don’t feel immersed with absolute stillness, joy and love something is ‘off’.
The celebrations held by the Benhayon’s are a true celebration because it is an opportunity for everyone to express more playfulness, joy and to feel how powerful the love and connection is between us all.
Yes, these celebrations take ‘celebration’ to a whole new level.
A celebration without the hangover from too much emotion, rich food or alcohol sounds like a genuinely joyful way to party.
Celebration has to be a moment of repose, an act of confirmation, to keep going. Usually, it is about relief and openly trashing the body in the name of let’s have a good time. Two very different patterns of movement under the same heading. It is up to each one to decide which one suits him/her.
Beautifully put, Eduardo, a true celebration is a moment of repose, an act of confirmation and as a follow up expansion can be felt in the body.
When a Student portrays any event because there is always so much Joy and Love that is shared, it is almost impossible to put into words the Truth of what has happened, my feeling is that this is a stellar job Rob, as it captures the event.
If there is one thing that Universal Medicine knows how to do, it’s how to party in a way that truly celebrates everything that we are, with all that we are.
This is the benefit that they know who they and we truly are in the first place… so there is no trying, and no holding back either.
It’s true Simon… It’s like commitment all over again even in celebration you can feel it’s worth.
In the past I’ve left parties feeling battered, as the bass of the music reverberates through my body. I don’t get that with Glorious Music even when my car is vibrating from the volume once off it doesn’t linger.
“every time I looked around the hall, I saw play-fullness, grace and joy.” A beautiful way to celebrate and appreciate all who shared the celebration and the movements that offered a loving energetic imprint to the hall.
Beautiful, that is so true.. Love is always the celebration of who we are.. hence a party without this — simply is no celebration at all.
It’s a celebration of celebrations where everyone gets to celebrate who they are and then bask in the glory of being surrounded by others doing the same.
I attend these parties once or even twice a year and they are exactly as you’ve described Rob. Very light and joyful and at the end many stay behind to pack up and clear down. All finished before 9pm. Allowing us to be bright the next morning.
It sets a marker for how we can share with our children the joy of partying without stimulants. It should be an essential opportunity that once experienced means we can choose the same for ourselves – or not of course.
This was one of the first Universal Medicine celebrations I had attended and was amazed at how I felt every part of me confirmed to the core. It was beautiful to feel celebrated and celebrate myself, but equally so to celebrate the true loving connections that are shared between students of The Way of The Livingness, and the absolute joy and fun that is possible and feels completely natural when just be our real selves.
Its a great point that parties typically leave you exhausted and hung over the next day. Even if you don’t drink there is still that feeling of being smashed the next morning. Attending a party where the enjoyment of being together is open and on show, and more than that truly appreciated sets the new standard for what parties are really about.
It’s refreshing to see that there are ways to ‘party’ that break the mould or the norm. At this point most parties and particularly older birthday parties are a somewhat wild event. Usually starting with the formalities as they are called and those that stay party ‘all night long’ which seems to hang over into the next days. For me it’s great to see a large group of people come together and share a meal, a sing and a dance in a way that truly brings them together with no hang over. This is possibly a sign of things to come and something to remember.
Thanks for sharing Rob, a sign of things to come I am sure.
Great to read this again Rob, I particularly enjoyed this line “and all dancing with harmony and joy, more like angels than people.” Our divinity is the waiting to be expressed in everything, whether it’s a party or a mundane task like cleaning we can be in connection to all the that we all are!
The celebrations organised by the Benhayons are lovely to be a part of, the joy and love in the room at these events is palpable.
Amazing description to the greatest party of all time – and a true way to celebrate.
A Benhayon celebration is such a joyful event, full of playfulness and joy, a great re-imprinting of how to have a party, without the need for alcohol or stimulating food, and is the most amazing reawakening of how we can have the greatest fun, just from being ourselves.
Thank you for sharing your experience of this celebration Rob, what an amazing event, it felt lovely to just read about it.
I love your description of this party Rob. I was there in this occasion and remember having an amazing time even though it brought up a lot for me. When we attend a true celebration it reminds us that most celebrations we see are actually not much more than harmful escapes that leave us hungover and bereft when they are over.
Beautifully appreciated Rob. Universal Medicine knows how to celebrate. My partner and I held an engagement party last night and even the simple fact that we held a party with no alcohol was worth appreciating. The thing I loved most was feeling how at home the kids at the party were, they didn’t have to deal with the imposing energy that comes with alcohol and it was beautiful to feel.
The Universal Medicine annual Balls and other celebrations are amazing, the music is so inspiring and it literally feels like every cell in my body responds. The food is nourishing, the company is gentle yet joyful, and it’s also a very respectful loving environment. People might not think you can enjoy a party without alcohol or junk food but the fun we have is like nothing I’ve experienced before – it’s not about highs or stimulation but celebration of our inner connection.
Yes Rob, I was never a party animal and was quite sedate at them, choosing to not stay too late and did not enjoy the loud music or the behaviours of most there, but when I have attended Universal Medicine celebrations, it is exactly how you describe and so very enjoyable for the body and soul.
Julie I was the same, I never enjoyed the parties much I went to, I wasn’t a fan of alcohol or out of control behaviour, or the way people could often be rough with themselves or others mostly because they were drunk. Celebrating the love and joy we can live together is actually super fun, no one gets hurt and it’s absolutely beautiful going home feeling like I’m filled with even more love and joy.
There is a different way of living to what is so called “normal society”, our hours of sleep can be different, the way we celebrate can be different, the way we relate to one another can be different. By discarding the pictures of how life is, or even questioning whether life has to be that way, there is a possibility of living in a way that is more loving and true for our bodies.
Yes Heather and strange as it sounds we need permission to go there – to know there is another way! I didn’t realise how many pictures we had till I started looking for them, then it was a bit of a smashfest till I started noticing that I was much more open to the opportunity that was in front of me.
I was just imagining how people would behave if we grew up where there were no norms telling us what is ok in society. Would we then return to our bodies for a reference point of what is acceptable or not? There are norms that we don’t accept in other cultures eg. female genital mutilation, but we do not challenge the norms we have in our culture. Yet parents warn kids not to follow other kids blindly. There are some big contradictions here.
Very true Rob, after just attending another Universal Medicine celebration a few nights ago I can also say these celebrations are so unique in that hundreds of people dancing and enjoying the live music that was available without a single drop of alcohol – it is a true blessing to experience this.
I agree with you Rob – attending any celebration with Universal Medicine is absolutely amazing, everyone having a joyful time together, without one drop of alcohol in sight and no-one trying to impress anyone else.
“…but what I attended last night has totally re-defined for me what it is to truly celebrate”.
The first time I attended a Universal Medicine celebration I remember looking around the room thinking that this was what I had always been looking for. Even though most people in the room I didn’t know so well, I felt like I had come home.
What a night, I remember it well and what you have portrayed Rob is spot-on. Each person was connecting to being the Son of God so ‘to express the love and inspiration we receive from each other‘ as do all the Universal Medicine students at any event.
Thank Rob, Universal Medicine definitely knows how to throw a true celebration party, and Universal Medicine students have certainly embraced what it means to have a party without abusing themselves in the name of having ‘fun’.
A party you are not drained and left feeling hangover the day after. Is that even a party… some would ask? 😉
Love it Rob. This is such a great confirmation of what a true celebration is about. Celebrating who we are through music and sharing a lovingly prepared dinner, both that confirming the equal greatness of us all, the magic that is shared when we live from our hearts, and also inspires us to feel that there is more love for us to claim and live, is a joy-filled event to behold and be part, one that truly supports our evolution together.
How beautiful to attend such joyful celebrations, where you are being held, and there is no alcohol, but pure sense love and togetherness. Loving and nourishing food.
It is rare to experience what you have described… for very few things in life leave you ‘glowing in the love that immersed you’ … as such it is a celebration absolutely worth appreciating.
I have to say I did find it hard to let down my guard and my pictures but I would love to go to one of those events now and see how I was. To take the opportunity to re-imprint previous experiences.
It is so rare and so beautiful to attend a party which honours and celebrates our true sense of self which feels inclusive of all. Pure joy!
A great blog to revisit as we approach New Year’s Eve… understanding what constitutes a true celebration is so important. Entering the next year’s cycle with a hangover, obliterating any real or meaningful self-reflection of the year gone by means we are unlikely to enter the new year with anything resembling the potential for growth or evolution.
I couldn’t agree more Jenny. Parties bring up a lot for people and when I throw a party I know that everything that unfolds as a reflection and it’s not always a reflection I want to see. Universal Medicine has shown me that true celebration is made possible through every moment that is lived before it. Party planning takes on a whole new meaning!
So true Leonne, ‘true celebration is made possible through every moment that is lived before it.’ When I understood that a celebration is a confirmation of what has already been lived, it changed everything in my approach to a party and takes any attempt to make it something out of the mix. If it’s lived, it will be present in whatever gathering comes together in honour of that, if it’s not, there is an emptiness that is present, from which we try to fill with elements that are not in truth celebratory, but harming in some way.
Having attended several similar events, I can attest to the fact that these celebrations have redefined what it means to have a party. A celebration is one where we leave feeling lifted, not one where we have to drag ourselves home or are not even sure how we got home, then wake up the next day feeling horrible. That is no celebration.
How lovely that it IS possible to celebrate in such a way that actually celebrates the whole and NOT at the expense of the individual
A real celebration in my book Rob, having attended many in a similar vein it has changed forever what I feel as a party. What I love about them is they are a celebration of the quality of relationships already shared by those attending… so it is made everything by those who attend, open, joyful and engaged with one another. The music, the food and any dress-ups merely add a bit of flavour to the mix.
I have attended many celebrations organised by the Benhayon’s that leave me just as I am… no highs or lows, not desperate for more or thinking is that it (like after many a party night in my twenties) or not wanting to go home. Just left with a clear reflection of how we can truly be together and how simple this is.
We can’t underestimate what such a party brings to the entire planet – people coming together to express their love and joy together, and in brotherhood, surely this is felt around the world, and marks a new way to celebrate together.
I have attended a lot of parties in my life but agree that the Benhayon’s throw the best parties ever, they have set a new standard for what an amazing party is.