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Hiking with Swami Ritavan
in Jasper, Canada
by Margaret Wood
For 22 summers, Maya Margo Balog organized and led a weekend of yoga and hiking in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. Jasper is a 4 hour drive from Edmonton which was Maya’s hometown. Before her transition last December, she expressed a wish for the Rocky Mountain hikes to continue. Maya Margo stressed how physical exertion forces a deep cleansing of staleness from our lungs which results in exhilaration and purification by inhaling clean, fresh mountain air. We were to experience the nourishment, the wisdom, and the soothing, divine qualities that mountains exude. Importantly, this was to be done with like-minded travellers.
This year Barbara Forbes picked up the torch to initiate and organize the event. Swami Ritavan’s prompt acceptance of our invitation evidenced the Guru’s grace. And so it was, 23 like-minded people gathered at the Palisades Centre in Jasper National Park (www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/edu/edu3.aspx) to enjoy nature and each other for 3 nights and 2 days (August 5th to 8th). Our group included 5 of Maya’s original trekkers as well as her husband Steven and daughter Reyka.
Both in the early morning and evening, Keely Scott led prayers, breathing practices and hatha yoga followed by Swami Ritavan guiding the meditation. On Day One we hiked Mt. Edith Cavell, and Day Two we hiked Valley of Five Lakes. There were picnic lunches at midday and both venues offered something for all levels of hiking. Pristine lakes, alpine meadows and glaciers offered spectacular scenery. The mountain meadows were rich with heathers, paintbrushes, valerian and western anemone. We encountered neither moose, nor bears, nor cougars. However, a marmot did chase Reyka.
At the outset, Devaraj (Dave Downing), the spiritual director and President of East West Yoga Society, who also happens to be a professional plant ecologist, gave a spontaneous and informative overview of the terrain and flora typical of the Jasper National Park region. On the Valley of Five Lakes trail, our hikers were stopped in their tracks by a single, exquisite flower: its exotic beauty to behold. Cameras, at the ready, were click, click, clicking. Excitement mounted for Devaraj to identify such an unusual and perfect sighting. When at last Devaraj was shown the flower, he examined it and plucked it out of the ground (which was not only shocking but illegal). It became clearly apparent that this species, perhaps indigenous to Costa Rica, was indeed plastic. Cameras, once again at the ready, delete, delete, deleting. Swami Ritavan laughingly claimed he did not have his glasses on. While the mystery of why the artificial flower was planted in the mountain ground will remain, the teaching moment was not lost… “lead me from the unreal to the real…”
By popular demand, Phil Paradis read his poem, “The Gardener,” several times. Our community did not know of the poem until now- as he just revealed it. Phil wrote “The Gardener” upon the passing of Maya; it immediately follows this article in the newsletter.
Upon returning to Edmonton, Swami Ritavan generously offered a Sangha gathering for our members and friends. In East West Yoga Society, Maya Margo is held closely in hearts and minds. Swami Ritavan reflected that love and remembered Maya’s considerable ambition and accomplishments. He challenged us individually to try and fill Maya’s shoes and thereby assist the entire Himalayan tradition, which is challenged collectively to fill Swami Veda’s shoes, as his vow of silence draws near. Swami Ritavan reminded us to look inward for the source of negative emotions, that we are much more than our personalities, and that we create our own obstacles and our own destiny. As Swami Ritavan does, he guided a beautifully profound meditation. The remainder of the evening was spent sharing our hiking experiences and socializing.
The entire weekend was a pleasant and loving homage to Maya Margo Balog and the Guru Lineage she introduced to us. Our intention is for a weekend of yoga and hiking in Jasper next year. You are invited.
East West Yoga Society of Himalayan Meditation was established in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada by Maya Margo Balog in September 2003. It is AHYMSIN affiliated.
Editor’s note:
Photos in this article were contributed by Dave Downing, Phil Paradis, Reka, and Swami Ritavan.
Contact information for the East West Yoga Society in Edmonton can be found at their website http://www.ewyoga.com/. It is in need of updating; they are aware of this and currently working on doing this.
Maya (Margo) Balog left her body December 10, 2010. To read “In Memory of Maya Balog” written by Swami Veda, please go to http://www.bindu.org/index.php?/News/in-memory-of-maya-balog.html
For more information about Jasper National Park: http://www.jaspernationalpark.com/
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