In January 1995, a decisive moment led to the creation of Nirarta. Standing on what was then a grove of clove trees, Peter Wrycza recognised that this upland setting — with its stream, green hills, and position between sea and mountain — was exactly the place he had been searching for. He faced a clear choice: remain in the familiar landscape of work and life in Europe, or take the risk of buying land in a distant place and building a center where people could reconnect with the deepest core of their lives. For him, the answer was immediate. To remain true to himself, he had to follow this path. What began then has continued to unfold ever since. The informal opening of Nirarta in January 1999 marked the fulfilment of a personal dream, and something he feels he helped shape as a direct expression of who he is — and also as a gift, or even a calling, from life itself.
Peter comes from a mixed Italian, Polish, and English background. He grew up in East Anglia, England, where his education with the Christian Brothers encouraged him to question and explore the meaning of life. He studied Modern Languages, French and Italian, at Liverpool University, where his enduring interest in meditation and higher states of consciousness began. Later, his MA dissertation at the University of East Anglia in Comparative Literature examined how mirror imagery can reflect states of awareness in poetry. After spending three years in an ashram in the Magic Mountains of Switzerland, he completed a PhD exploring the role of heightened consciousness in literary creativity.
Trained originally by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Peter has been teaching meditation since the early 1970s. He also worked with Tony Buzan’s Learning Methods Group, reflecting his long-standing interest in how people learn. His training includes Person Centred Expressive Therapy in California with Natalie Rogers, as well as spontaneous movement with Gabrielle Roth and others. He is a certified Trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and has been active in this field since the early 1980s, teaching at an advanced level internationally.
In his more recent work with Jan Ardui, Peter has drawn together many influences, including Balinese philosophy and practice, to shape the philosophy and approach behind Nirarta: “The Way of Unfolding.”
Peter spends most of the year at Nirarta, surrounded by flowers and butterflies, with his wife Dayu and their two daughters, Maya and Mira. Life in Bali also allows him to spend time easily with family, friends, staff, and guests, while writing, researching, and teaching. For around three months each year, he travels internationally to give seminars.
Awareness is described as the source and foundation of all thinking, feeling, and perception. It is also the basis of learning and knowing, and therefore the key to effective action. Meditation, in this understanding, allows mental activity to settle into that simple and subtle Awareness that reflects all experience. At first, this Awareness may appear only briefly, before gradually revealing itself as our true nature and the Source of all that is. Awareness Meditation is a gentle, innocent settling into one’s own being, without effort or attempts to stop thinking or force concentration. Peter is a meditation guide with nearly 40 years of experience in both practice and teaching.