Comments on Abendigo's review of Esalen Institute
Description: The Esalen Institute was founded in 1962 as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the "human potential," the world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond the imagination.
Prayaga
The Esalen Institute is built on the Indian burial ground of the Esalen Indians. It was considered a holy place, a Prayaga which in Sanskrit means a meeting-place for three rivers. In Esalen's case, salt water, fresh water, and sulfur, mineral water. Anywhere there is this meeting-place on earth is considered sacred, universally. I had the privilege of living at Esalen for almost 2 years, along the Pacific in Big Sur, California, and I can attest to the sheer power and alchemy of the land. Not so much a retreat center, though it certainly can function as one, Esalen is more of a place to go inside (as well as connect with others) in order to contact the Source, and to struggle against the currents within oneself so as to become ever-renewed by the majesties that be. It's a good place to rest in struggle, and in some ways it's a deeper retreat into life, given of course that you emerge back into the real world afterwards. It's not an escape from life so much as a collision.
Abendigo's keywords: esalen, institute, prayaga, retreat, big sur, california
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