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| AHYMSIN NEWSLETTER, ISSUE - June 2014 | ||||||||
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A Yoga Home Away From Home in Ecuadorby Catherine CampionI first encountered Swami Veda and The Meditation Center in Minneapolis when I was at the lowest point in my life, in 2002. I grew up in the NE Minneapolis area, had ridden or driven by the center numerous times over the years, had often eaten at Emily's Deli, on the corner, even moved into my duplex, a few blocks away. Still, I had never noticed the sign: The Meditation Center. At the time, I was seeking a spark of light in the gloom that had become my world - primarily from an unhealthy relationship, compounded by a family history of profound mental illness. Then, one day, it revealed itself to me, like a beacon of light and love in a sea of darkness. The moment I stepped inside and removed my shoes (You mean, other people do this?), I knew I was home.  Over the next few years, The Center truly became my second home. It felt like no coincidence that the home I had purchased, just before my darkest year, was a 3-minute bike ride from there. It was my sanctuary. I took classes; attended retreats; ramped-up/fine-tuned my rusty decade-long asana practice; attended Thursday night sangha, with its group meditation, insightful lectures and warm, healing suppers; and I met so many like-minded humans, on the same path as mine. After a couple of years there, I was ready to be initiated by Swami Veda. We were at a retreat at Dunrovin, in Minnesota, so my practice was intensified and regulated by our daily schedule. It was there that I finally meditated. Early one morning, during our group meditation, I had a taste of that eternal stillness within that we hear so much about. All my fears and doubts were lifted, in an instant. I wanted to remain there forever. Eventually, I opened my eyes and everyone had gone to breakfast. I joined them and enjoyed my meal in silence, feeling a sense of calm and wellbeing like none other before. I thought to myself, "I now understand how one can remain in meditation while going about their daily business. I shall devote myself to maintaining this internal/eternal peace as much as possible." After breakfast, I went to brush my teeth. Looking in the mirror, I saw the heaviest, droopiest face I had ever seen on myself. I was so relaxed, all the muscles that normally hold up my face were taking the day off. "So that's what a totally relaxed mind looks like?" I thought, "No wonder people don't walk around like this - I look downright scary!" When Swamiji says, "Smooth your forehead," he means it. Well, I'll trade peace of mind for a perky face any day.  Later during the retreat, we sat together for the Full Moon Meditation. During that meditation, I grew weary about 40-minutes into the hour of sitting. Just as I had the thought to call it a night and turn in early, I felt a presence - a support, if you will - hold my body up. Through my closed eyelids, I could see a beam of light - like a string of luminescent pearls - connecting my heart chakra to the heavens. The next 20 minutes of meditation were a cakewalk - a more joyful version of the stillness I had experienced earlier that week. I have henceforth referred to my practice as "sitting for meditation," and only occasionally do I reach a state I would now call meditation. After a decade of devotion to the yoga lifestyle, people come to me as a paragon of good mental and physical health. I am 42 and still often mistaken for 20-something. Because of my regular practice and healthful vegetarian diet, I have been pharmaceutical free for many years. After spending my 20’s on mood-stabilizing chemicals (along with most of my family members), that is something I honestly thought I would never be able to say. I have had a decade of mostly smooth sailing. Then, due to a personal trauma I experienced last year, I finally really woke up to the violence and oppression women, children, humans, animals, nature, the planet are being subjected to daily. The state of the world and the future of the human race was made clear to me - the cognitive dissonance I experienced was heart-breaking. Once again, I felt adrift on a lonely sea. Through it all, my devotion to the lineage was my tether to a friendly shore. It was in my meditation practice that I experienced a calling, from that still small voice within. I didn't hear or see anything. Rather, I felt myself compelled to go to South America - to Ecuador, specifically. In December of last year, speaking very little Spanish, I bought a one-way ticket to Ecuador. I had liquidated my meager life savings, and had a friend on stand-by, to transfer the funds down when I needed. A few days later, after looking at only one property, I purchased a small finca - an orchard - a few kilometers inland from Montañita, "The Surfing Capital of Ecuador." At the time, I wasn't certain what I was going to do with this land - one hectare, full of mature fruit trees, on a small river, with wells and a generator, and two rustic structures, containing the beginnings of a kitchen, a bathroom, one small bedroom and...a 10m x 10m yoga loft! I named it Terra Nova de Corazón - New Earth of the Heart. Terra Nova is a sacred space where people will come to teach, learn, and heal; a sanctuary for those among us tired of participating in industrial civilization and all its culpability. We will be an outdoor schoolhouse where one can learn traditional living skills, such as growing organic food, tending to animals for milk and eggs, and building solar ovens; a spiritual retreat for Himalayan yoga, meditation, music, writing and deep personal development. We are working towards being able to accommodate 12 people long-term and many more short-term. Another thing I woke up to last year is the materialism and corporate ownership of Hollywood - specifically the function in which it serves to peddle stuff, stuff and more stuff. It is for this reason that I am phasing out my 2 decades-long career as an actress (primarily commercials, as those are what pay the bills). I am now studying to be a certified Death Midwife - working in hospice, assisting the transition from the body, and facilitating home funerals and green burials. This too, I hope to offer at Terra Nova. Meditation and contemplation (and research) has woken me up to the inappropriateness of Industrial Civilization, and all of its creature comforts on which we depend. I now realize that the higher our consumption is, the less the rest of the world is afforded - and the greater oppression must be implemented to maintain it. People in the yoga/spiritual circles of the developed world are especially being fed a line - that we can continue to live our cushy, empire-based lifestyles (driving cars, eating food from thousands of miles away, getting regular deliveries from Amazon.com, having multiple children, etc.), as long as we buy a hybrid and recycle, for example. We talk about the insight that can be gleaned from silence, and this is what has been illuminated for me. It makes people uncomfortable because to accept it, we have to admit we are culpable. It will certainly take some time to scale down and learn how to live virtually free of fossil fuels, but this is what we are moving towards with Terra Nova - and what we all will be forced to do as the party is winding down on the cheap oil we have enjoyed for the past century. As I write this, I am on day 20 of the 40-day spiritual festival, during which I make a renewed/heightened commitment to my practice. I use these 40 days leading up to Guru Purnima as my Lenten season each year, to expand and refine my sadhana. I am so grateful for everything the Himalayan Tradition has given me, and I embrace this opportunity to be of service to the lineage. Namaste. Editor's note: If you would like to know more about Terra Nova de Corazón, you can visit Catherine's blog at: http://terranovadecorazon.blogspot.com
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