If you had asked us last year, “Where do you think you’ll be next year?”, never ~ not in our wildest imaginations ~ would we have predicted where we are now. We certainly had no idea we’d be in “the happiest place in the entire US” ~ and no, it’s not Disney World or Las Vegas ~ it’s San Luis Obispo, or SLO, as the locals call it. (more…)
How can one still be stressed while spending a year living in the serenity of retreat centers and in the beauty and stillness of nature?
Mainly it’s because we don’t stay still. We are constantly moving ~ from one kind of retreat center to another, from one national park to another new city or town, and from one life-changing experience to the next. One day we’ll need to just stop so we can integrate them all.
But for now…the journey continues. (more…)
~ Winnie the Pooh
One of the parts of this trip that I honestly hadn’t anticipated was the constant leaving. We are always leaving someplace, something, or someone. Beginning with the big ones ~ our home, our beloved city of Charleston, our family, and life-long friends. It wasn’t easy.
Now, on quite a regular basis, we are leaving new places and new people that we’ve fallen in love with along the way. This journey of traveling to and from spiritual centers around the country sets the stage for having deep, rich experiences and building close connections. It can be intense. And when it inevitably comes time to leave ~ it’s always a bit sad. (more…)
After three days in Gettysburg, we got in the car and headed east on Hwy. 30 (the Lincoln Highway) towards Philadelphia. It was a straight shot. I don’t know how we got so lost.
Michael is the designated driver and I am the co-pilot ~ the navigator. We have the navigation system on our new car and Mapquest on the IPad. That might have been the problem.
I had dueling electronic gadgets (both with voices) telling me two completely different routes. It was like having two virtual backseat drivers. After finding ourselves in the downtown slums of York, Pennsylvania, we finally had to pull over and stop. (more…)
Truth is One. Paths are Many.
~ Swami Satchidananda
These words are carved into the gates of the LOTUS shrine in Yogaville, Virginia. As a matter of fact, they are found throughout the ashram ~ on doorways, plaques, and t-shirts. This is one of the central teachings of this spiritual community.
The Truth being referred to here is that we are all spiritual beings embued with true divine nature and that we all have a divine calling back to the same source ~ God. Swami Satchidananda says we are all traveling to the same mountaintop. However, the paths to the top are many. (more…)