Growth and Stability: Cultivating Spirituality in a Working Landscape

The Growth and Stability thesis project is the beginning of a comprehensive growth plan for Hiranyagarbha Yuga Ashram (HYA), of which I am a part. The project is located on 116 acres in Callaway, VA in SW VA and is made up of a group of devoted spiritual aspirants ranging in age and background. At its core, HYA is group of individuals seeking healing on all levels of their being and finding ways to be of true service to themselves, others, and the earth.

This project explores the intricacies of spirituality and landscape. Our world is broken and breaking, its people are headed the same way. I argue that this dysfunction is in direct causation with our growing distance between what we identify with and the true beings that we are. We have allowed ourselves to be disconnected from the wholeness that connects all things. In large part this is a spiritual ailment, one that must be addressed through slowness, and reconnection with our physical earth. There are many routes to addressing this issue, my project does this through re-embedding intentionality and selflessness into our relationship with the landscape.