The Stunning, Sacred Retreats of California

Discussion in 'Luxury and Lifestyle' started by dealmaker, Mar 16, 2017.

  1. dealmaker

    dealmaker

    Over the past half century, an odd mix of swamis, monks, Zen masters and utopians have secured thousands of acres of prime California real estate to make sanctuaries for those seeking to escape the world. Welcome to God’s country.

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    Sacred Ground
    Sacred Ground

    CreditPhotographs by Alia Malley

    What you notice first is the stillness. The external world seems to drop away here at the heart of more than 2,000 acres of pristine Marin County forest, with Douglas firs soaring overhead and streams and creeks running in rivulets below. And, indeed, that is exactly the point. The property looks much the same as it did in 1946, when a Bengali monk named Swami Ashokananda, the spiritual leader of theVedanta Society of Northern California, decided to establish a contemplative retreat in the wilderness.

    The spectacular tract, about an hour from the Bay Area, was much larger than what he’d had in mind. But it held a special significance for the swami because in 1900, the founder of the Vedanta Society, Swami Vivekananda (who many credit with introducing yoga and meditation to the West), had camped out for two weeks nearby. The society had to have the property. It took up donations from its followers and bought the land for $166,250.

    The Vedanta Olema Retreat, as it is now known, is one of the more stunning swaths of preserved land in California, with the Point Reyes National Seashore at its western edge and the vast Golden Gate National Recreation Area encircling its borders like a moat. Its purchase was the first stirring of a peculiarly Californian phenomenon: the spiritual retreat, where those who suffer from a sense of too much worldliness can seek a quieter, purer, more exalted state of being, often for a pittance — or nothing at all, in the case of Vedanta Olema, which leaves donations optional, and requires only an interview at the temple in San Francisco — compared with expensive resorts that may be just down the road.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/04/t-magazine/the-stunning-sacred-retreats-of-california.html

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  2. You are pointing out one positive aspects of these retreats : the stunningly beautiful and very refreshing atmosphere they provide.

    This "those who suffer from a sense of too much worldliness can seek a quieter, purer, more exalted state of being" is very well put and very much close to the truth.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2017
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