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To mark Common Ground's 20th anniversary year, people who offer their services through Common Ground talk about the inspiration for their work. Bea Rhodes, Kolin Lymworth, Terry Galloway, Linda Sedesky recount their stories.
Kolin Lymworth, founder and owner of Banyen Books
My passion for writing, poetry and music as ways to express and communicate our human visionary capacities and insights was ignited by some illuminated journeys of my youth. I met teachers from various spiritual traditions, experienced firsthand their healing and life-giving presence and was inspired by aspiring yogis, meditators and earth lovers of all kinds. Allured by the eco-spiritual vision of an awakening humanity, I spent six months in India studying meditation with Kirpal Singh in ‘69-’70, and that, combined with a missionary zeal for natural foods (my father and grandfather were bakers in Vancouver and I had worked at the legendary Golden Lotus restaurant at 4th & Bayswater) led me to visit Berkeley, where in the then-new Shambhala Bookstore the possibility of opening a bookshop-oasis dawned upon me.
I spent many months bugging everyone I knew: “Which are the best books on earth? Why? Which are the truly useful texts and teachings?” I combed the shelves of bookstores in North America and India, making notes. I was wide-eyed and twenty-one. It was early December of 1970 when Banyen Books first opened its doors in a wee cubbyhole on West 4th across from where the Naam Restaurant is now. I put a hand-drawn ad in the Georgia Straight that just said “OPEN” above a mandala of the Wheel of Life. A few months later Be Here Now was published, and a generation of spiritual seekers--and inspired publishing--was well on its way.
Now, some thirty years on, with parents gone and children grown, all things are arising and passing away with as much love as I can muster. The healing practices are increasingly well-rooted in the mainstream of the culture now, and Banyen Books (with the incredible help of so many folks who have worked here over the decades) has grown to offer over 20,000 of the most beautiful and inspiring books on the planet, as well as offering a caravan of heart-opening music, altar goodies, yoga supplies, and “tools for being and blessing.” I take particular pleasure in our continuing to offer the seeds of the perennial wisdom traditions of humanity. I hope “the banyen tree” can be a place where we all can meet in peace, in openness, and in healthy dialogue--toward a world shared with respect and good heart.
In February 2003, Banyen will move to our own building, the “Earthnest,” on the southwest corner of West 4th Ave. and Dunbar, one block east of Alma, where we are planting the seeds of a new oasis, which I hope will serve our community for many seasons to come.
Terry Galloway owns
Qualicum Beach Spa Retreat
The event that motivated me to build Qualicum Beach Spa Retreat was both tragic and catalystic. I contracted an E. coli bacteria, and I lived with a constant life threatening condition that worsened each day.
During a visit to a Chinese doctor, he took my vital signs and said, “I’m not going to treat you because if I do you could get worse and you can’t get any worse.” He asked, “Do you feel like you’re going to die?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “You are and you haven’t much time so you better go home and you make a decision.”
A life changing moment. After two years of isolation and illness, healers began to appear. Within a year I was back in the game of life.
Having been laid up for a long period of time my muscles and joints were malfunctioning. I could not walk a hundred feet on my own. My massage therapist worked diligently through pain and tears. Through my struggles to get well I learned how profoundly life changing and seemingly miraculous massage therapy could be.
Hooked on miracles, I started off for massage therapy school.
Two and a half years later, nearing the end of an arduous course someone asked, “What will you do when you finish school?” I replied, “I’m going to move to Qualicum Beach and open a health spa where people can come and binge on treatments.” It was the first time I had thought of it. I now had a goal.
Seven years later, I own a spa in Qualicum Beach. I love the space I work in, and I am privileged to see the miracles that take place in peoples lives. The inspiration that started me on this path is what inspires me to continue in my work. Many of my other dreams have come true. I have a boat that I use to take people cruising when they come to stay at the spa. I live in one of the most spectacular places in the world, and I see it all.
Linda Sedesky is a healer,
teacher and author.
A decade ago, I was your typical “Type A” personality, living life in the fast lane and responding to pressures in my environment. I was (and still am) married with two children. Over the years, I worked in office and retail environments, and owned and operated my own business. I lived my life based on other people’s expectations. I thought that life was as it should be.
Then I developed a physical condition that would not go away. None of the doctors and practitioners I visited knew how to get rid of it. Being a seeker by nature, I was not satisfied with this, and embarked on an inner search to discover the emotional root of the ailment. I began to ask questions of myself, and I would always receive answers. I quickly discovered a healing power within me that I never knew existed!
As I opened up to more and more of my truth, I began to receive guidance from the Angels. At first, I would hear “Heal with your heart” and “Love heals”. Then it was “Honour the self and all others.” As my understanding grew, so did their messages of love. I learned how to ask the deeper questions in order to get the answers I needed. I began to see that we are the source of our own healing, and that we heal through the intention to love. The Angels taught me that forgiveness is the root of all flowing love. I now understand how to see through to the truth of all things (Believe me, things aren’t always what they appear to be!)
I realized that sharing these powerful truths was part of my journey, so in 1996, I began to teach what I had learned. In 1997, I was inspired to begin documenting the processes of my profound inner journey. In the three books I have since written, I share the powerful insights that have brought me to where I am today.
Since embarking on this healing journey, my life has changed dramatically. Now, I am calm and have peace of mind. I have taken ownership of my life. I am no longer driven by external needs. While I am comfortable in my own skin, I am still driven to grow and learn, to uncover more wisdom. The more I understand, the more I know what there is to know. And I continue to “shine the light” so that others may see.
Bea Rhodes, M.Ed. is the
founder
of Rhodes Career College
It was May, 1995 and at only 37 years old I had the world by the tail. I was married to the man of my dreams, who had just agreed to have a baby with me. I was running a highly profitable life skills
business with my best friend, managing and teaching with over $300,000 worth of government contracts and living in a water view condominium in one of the prettiest cities of the world. Six months later, my world crashed almost completely.
August 31, ‘95 was a day I later referred to as “Black Thursday.” I received a call from our contractors. There was a change in government policy and we would soon lose all of our contract money. My friend and I began to disagree about everything. Within four months, I had lost my most important friendship, left the business of my dreams and, due to complications, found out that I would never be a mother. One night while out to dinner with my husband my heart started pounding so badly I thought I was going to die.
Ashamed and devastated, and exactly one month to the date I left, I opened up Rhodes Career College, with one classroom, one office and my one remaining supporter, Lauchie. Whereas my first business was funded by government contract and money flowed, there was no funding for this new school. We operated on a shoestring budget for the first several years. I battled anxiety and depression every day. My husband told me that success is pretty simple. He said that people who succeed just “keep going to the office.” I did just that – even on those days when I wanted nothing more than to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed.
Rhodes Career College eventually succeeded and so did I. From this life changing experience I learned that everyone has their story and people do strange things when they are hurt. I learned that success is truly just showing up, working hard and that setbacks are “feedback.” I’m now 45 years old. I do what I love. I work with creative, kind people who I love. I experience joy every day. I thank God for what I learned from that dark time in my life.
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