Krotona, Krotona

Soundtrack: Joe Lutcher - Ojai

I've been in Krotona (a Theosophical school in Ojai) several times this month.

The first time was to meet my current boss in person. When I was moving out to San Diego I had the idea of my ideal job in my mind, something flexible where I could learn more skills online to support my Theosophical work. Through a friend I learned of another Theosophist in San Francisco who was doing network marketing, and could use some freelance help - so that is Nicole! I have been working for her since shortly after I arrived in San Diego.

Kurt Leland and Joy Mills

The second time I drove up to Krotona was to meet up with Kurt Leland, who is a very interesting Theosophist. He and I had been communicating over phone and email, and he helped me with my lecture on kundalini, so when I saw he would be nearby we organized to meet.

A little background about Kurt: He is very much a modern Theosophical mystic. Kurt first had an astral projection experience at the age of 14 years old, and has learned to practice it intentionally since. A lot of his personal spiritual experiences are up on his site kurtleland.com.

I had first learned about Kurt from being at Krotona about 3 years ago. Pablo Sender, Michele Shields, and I had been wandering on campus, especially on top of one of the hills nearby. It was very peaceful. When I told one of the campus residents about our experience she told us that everyone finds that spot peaceful. And in fact a Theosophist from Boston, named Kurt Leland, had clairvoyantly seen a deva (angel) that seemed to dwell in that spot often, to bless the area in a way.

When I met up with Kurt this month, he asked me if I'd like to take a walk with him. The memory of when I first came to Krotona came back to me, but before I could say anything, he explained, "There is a deva here that I like to say hello to everytime I am in the area."

I will say that, once upon a time, I would have been jumping up and down saying, "Hooray! Angel time! We're gonna get some angel souviners!" And, while I will never admit to being either older or wiser, I will say that ever since I've become a Theosophists - I have heard some crazy and verifiable stories about phenomena, and I a have plenty of stories myself. So my actual thought was more like, "Oh good. I would like to say hello to the deva as well."

As we were walking toward the hill, we were talking and Kurt was in mid-sentence, and there was a very particular line that we crossed and he stopped speaking. We kept walking but it felt different. I started laughing because that was just how the mood felt. It was nice.

What does it look like to see a man commune with benevolent spirits? Not like much. He would get quiet and put his hand on the larger older trees from time to time and smile. Then he would smile at me, as if I'd been involved in the conversation that just took place. I didn't mind, everything felt really good, so I was just along for it.

We hung out a few times. He gave me advice when I asked for it, and I told him about the Theosophical monastery, which interested him. He signed some books for me as I left. Good trip.

With Bim and Mel Burckes who ran Far Horizons for roughly 30 years!

The third time I went to Krotona was for the all day Far Horizons board meeting. I was elected again for the board, and I am currently Vice President of said board. It's a mitzvah, in my head, a form of service. I don't know how much I enjoy being in Theosophical politics at this moment, but I love to work for this cause that I believe in. The cause being the Theosophical Movement.

Far Horizons is a wonderful place that has been open to all spiritually minded families and individuals for 60 years. It came closer to closing, for inter-personal reasons, than most people realize. Many worked to save it, including myself, and even though I am new to the area I am working hard for it.

I ran the meeting in the President's absence, and we made good progress. Having the meeting at Krotona really made it feel like we were serving something greater than us, it reminded me of why I'm working so hard. And the smell of the eucalyptus trees on campus always really puts my mind in a calmer state, for some reason.

I look forward to visiting often in the future.

Chronicles of Brutus!

It's called Hoppy Hour. The San Diego House Rabbit Society has recently started to do this massive play date with excessive amounts of rabbits. It's a lot of fun. Ever since our other rabbit, Clover, passed away Brutus sometimes acts bored or lonely so we thought this would be good for him. He was not used to the younger bunnies' energy though. And he's kind of a home body now that he's getting older.

Mostly he just tried to come back to us. There were a couple of bunnies, that didn't socialize as much. But he had a good time. Here is a video!

Thanksgiving

I am grateful to my monastery! Here are some pictures from being with my spiritual family this holiday. I will say that it is a nice change to eat a meal where vegetarianism is just assumed.