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An Album of a Spiritual Journey
by Maryon Maass
Greece and Italy was an unintended spiritual journey. I didn’t know what to expect on this trip. I was going to teach in a workshop and help my students with mentoring, and I got more than I could have ever dreamed... I feel blessed and graced by this trip. Here are just some of the highlights I would like to share with you.
It started with a day guided by Georgios Tsagrinos. He teaches the philosophy of Ancient Greece, is a writer of spiritual magazines in Greece, and is a friend to Swami Veda. He took four of us to the town now called Elefsina near Athens. There are the remains of ancient temples; below the temples there are underground caves. These caves, at one time, took one to the “underworld”. These were a natural energy filled spots, where experiences of a higher level were induced. Precise secret rituals were performed by the cult of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Persephone’s myth lies there. (Until 379AD the end of Mysteries of Demeter gave way to Christianity). One had to be initiated into this group to be allowed to experience the elevated spaces. One can still feel something special on this site. We were grateful to our well-informed native Grecian tour guide for the insights that he provided to the history of the Eleusis.
I was honored to be part of the staff at the workshop with Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati in May, which was sponsored by Sofia Foteina, Café-Ecole, which was a wonderful life-changing lecture for the group of 36 participants in Athens.
Swami Nitya led the group from matter and consciousness, Prakriti and Purusha, to what the “Feminine Principle “ is and what it represents in different cultures throughout history, with a divinely intelligent, heartfelt description of the feminine archetypes. To finalize the three part lecture, she suggested how we can we change the world as it is today from destroying itself. The brilliant solution was a simple and doable one for each of us. If we operate from our frontal lobes of the brain and use our intuition and if we would know that the self is more in touch than what anyone can ever tell us, this is the feminine intuitive part of us. She pointed out that if the 7 billion people on Earth were to function from this part of the brain we would be a more peaceful, non-violent people. Bravo! Meditation will allow this process to develop and multiply.
Sofia is a student in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition Teacher Training Program and visits the ashram often to do silence retreats. She also has had a career teaching her students in spirituality for decades, and holds workshops regularly under Café Cole in Athens, helping children and adults alike in her community. She is a devoted sadhaka.
Another site south of Athens, which was a special experience, was the Poseidon Temple, (5th Century BC), overlooking the Mediterranean Sea from the tip of the peninsula of Sounion . The clear blue sky, waters, and the rugged hills filled with fragrances of thyme and other herbs were magical. One can feel majestic standing where once the God of the seas presided in this setting among the ruins.
In retrospect, having seen the Parthenon, (built for the Goddess Athena, for which Athens is named), along with the other temples in Greece, I realized I am on a pilgrimage. Seeing and feeling the power of these images and the hope they represented at one time to the Greek culture was a fantastically heart opening experience.
The city of Delphi, at Mt. Parnassus was well worth going to as well, for it was at one time “The Navel of the Universe”. One can picture Oracle of Delphi, (a woman sitting in a chamber in the temple of Apollo, among ethylene gas fumes coming up from a crack in the surface of the Earth), answering questions, in a riddle like style, to all those who came from miles around, made me wonder what the answers to my questions from her might have been…..????
Then my pilgrimage continued in Italy I visited many churches, and became familiar with some prominent saints and strength of the spirituality in this country.
In Padova, St. Anthony, the saint of lost and stolen things. When his body was exhumed thirty years after his death, it was found to have returned to dust, but the tongue was claimed to have glistened and looked as if it was still alive and moist; apparently a further claim was made that this was a sign of his gift of preaching. The Tongue is on display at the church.
In Assisi, St. Francis, whose tomb and meditation spaces are worth a visit for a silent quiet moment in the forest. A place that is truly silent. It is a particularly special place.
Minerva’s Temple still stands; it is a church now and a beautiful sanctuary to Mary. The temple was built in the BC 1, more than 2000 years ago. It is still showing the original beauty. Inside is also interesting. Except for the front pillar, the inside was reformed into a Catholic church in 1539. Later in the 17th century it was restored again in the Baroque style. The name of the church is Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Church. "Sopra" means "up" so whole name means the church of St. Mary built on the Minerva.
In Venice the many churches and the Basilica were breathtaking near the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Originally St. Mark’s Basilica was the chapel of the Doge, and has only been the city's cathedral since 1807, when it became the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, formerly at San Pietro di Castello
During my stay my palate was well educated in the tastes of olives, oils, cheeses and pastas, breads and some new veggie greens to me, which are available in these two countries. The art of eating and the hospitality was rich and loving in every way. Of course, the coffee gets high ratings from me too!
While in Greece and Italy I visited six HYT-TTP students; we created mentoring-contact hours and filled in some spaces on the Himalayan Yoga Tradition Teacher Training home- study course, and now we can say we are well on the way to the next levels. Good job ladies! It was a delightful to be with you.
I am left with a wonderful feeling of acceptance by my visit and with a full stomach, and a heart filled with joy and happiness. I felt at home and hope to return many times in this life or the next for more spiritual pilgrimages.
Photos:
- The Parthenon, Athens, Greece, with Full Moon
- Temple of Apollo, Delphi, Greece (see the wall designed to withstand earthquakes).
- The light source to the mediation chapel of St. Francis
- Temple of Minerva, Assisi, Italy
- The top of the Basilica, Venice, Italy
Editor's Note:
Maryon Maass is office manager, teacher, mentor, and student in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition Teacher Training Programme (HYT-TTP). In addition, she is a Feldenkrais and Qi Gong teacher. She lives in Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) in Rishikesh, India. She returns to California, USA, regularly.
We are also fortunate to have Maryon regularly report on HYT-TTP for the AHYMSIN newsletter. |
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