“In my life, Big Sur and Esalen have been a through line for me,” said Mr. [Michael] Barry, who was sitting at the back of the yurt with his wife, Sharon. He added that a “Mayan shaman talking about 2012 and the return of Kukulkan” was a “good example” of how Esalen had remained on American culture’s cutting edge.
But Peter Meyers, an Esalen regular for the past 25 years who was leading a workshop on public speaking, said the center was not moving fast enough to keep ahead of the times.
“For a long time it was the only game in town,” he said in the main lodge, where a lunch of products from Esalen’s organic gardens was being served. “You wanted to take yoga and study Eastern mysticism. Now, next to every nail place on every street in L.A. there’s a yoga studio, and there’s an ashram right next to it.”
Well, since it’s pledge week on Public TV, maybe they can grab some of the time that Dr. Wayne Dyer gobbles up and form a partnership with PBS to bring in much needed funds. BTW, is there any karmic significance to the dude who had the boulder roll over him while meditating? I don’t think Saturday Night Live is ever going to run out of funny material as long as PBS pledge weeks keep running.