• Table of Contents
  • Two Blood Cells by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Living Beauty by Swami Rama
  • Prayers and Succour by Dr. Mohan Swami
  • Dignity to Every Moment of Life by Wolfgang Bischoff
  • Covid-19 Updates from SRSG by Rabindra Sahu
  • AHYMSIN Board Meeting March 2020 Reported by Rajini Prakash
  • MahaShivaRatri 2020 by Riemke de Groot
  • Eternal Dedication by Rashmi Bawa
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is
  • Luminosity by Anu Gupta
  • Italy before Covid-19 by Stephen Parker (Stoma)
  • 2020 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Italy before Covid-19

by Stephen Parker (Stoma)

Just before the corona virus really began to spread, I made a visit to Italy in early February 2020. I flew into Rome hosted by a recent friend, Professor Antonino Raffone Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Sapienza University. On February 6th I gave a lecture to the neuroscience faculty and graduate students on “Yoga and Meditation” with the intention of showing the commonalities between the yogic and Buddhist traditions of mindfulness and meditation.

Then February 7-9 we held a seminar on Yoga-nidrā for about 15 participants. Both events were well attended and a good relationship was forged that will probably result in repeat visits after all the disruption around the corona virus settles down. We also had a chance to do a bit of sightseeing and spent a day at Villa Adriano, the country retreat of the Roman emperor Hadrian. I had read about his life in the beautiful 1950’s novel Memoirs of Hadrian by classics scholar Marguerite Youcenar.

Among other things we discussed the possibility of my joining the faculty of a master’s degree program in contemplative studies at Nalanda University in Bihar, a modern revival of the ancient Buddhist university for which Swami Veda had great reverence. And Dr. Raffone asked me to contribute an article to a special journal issue comparing various traditions of mindfulness.

As I made my transition to our friends in Florence, the planet Mercury went retrograde in the astrological charts and had a pronounced effect on my mindfulness. First I mis-read my train ticket from Roma to Florence, taking the arrival time in Florence for the departure time from Roma. I discovered my error in my hotel just at the time my train was due to depart. So I rushed to Termini Station and quickly bought another ticket. That only cost me a few Euros and about 40 minutes. (Trains are frequent.)

When I arrived in Florence, I took a taxi to the home of my hosts, Debora Ghiraldelli and Chris Renshaw. I text-messaged them that I was on the way and set down my phone. Except I didn’t put it into my bag! So later that evening I discovered that my phone was missing and used my trusty “Find My Phone” app on my computer to locate the phone about 2 km away. My hosts went out in the middle of the night, found the car where the phone was still on the seat, and left a note for the owner of the car. My precious came back to me by the next morning. I was lucky.

While in Florence we had a public lecture about emotional purification and dealing with conflict and then had a weekend workshop on that subject, mostly for teachers who had graduated from the TTP and wanted some ongoing education. We spent an entire afternoon on the details of touch in correction and adjustment. It was a wonderful weekend. And I was also able to pay a visit to my friend Cristina Nobile, with whom I had not had an in-person conversation for quite a while, on the eve of her birthday. We stopped in for five minutes and sat and talked for over an hour!

Then off to India for Yoga Sutras and the largest Teacher Training Program we have ever hosted. As I prepared to catch my flight to India, Mercury struck again. I left my laptop in the security check at the Florence airport. When I got to the transfer airport in Amsterdam, I went into the lounge to do some work, reached into my bag, and my hand closed over empty air. My stomach sunk. I quickly called Debora and Ilaria Sarri in Florence, and they were able to jump start the process of claiming my “lost property” and getting it shipped to India via courier for €200. I was glad to have the consequence for such an unmindful moment. Then we waited nearly three weeks for the computer to arrive and churn its leisurely way through Indian customs for another $30 or so in fees and duty. We’ll leave the story there for a later description of the excellent TTP and the drama of covid-19 as it unraveled around us and re-arranged everyone’s lives and travel plans.