College, Round Two

I have had a wide range of educational experiences - inner city schools through middle school, JCIB (a nationally-recognized high school), UAB (a large public university), studies abroad in Tanzania and Colombia, and most recently, Maharishi University of Management, (a small, private college founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi), where I studied for a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Living between 2010-2013. All of these experiences were important in shaping my understanding of the world, but the past three years of my life at MUM have been especially insightful because they have contained many "firsts" in my life. Among the things I will never forget from my years at MUM are:

• the one-of-a-kind classroom building powered by wind and solar energy that combines Maharishi Sthapatya Veda architecture with LEED, Building Biology, and Living Building Challenge guidelines:

                                        

• homemade fermented foods, like lassi, kefir and kombucha 
• waste-to-energy technologies (polyfuels and cellulosic waste-to-ethanol)
• the Amazon rainforest: 

• learning about the "normal" states of consciousness (sleeping, dreaming, and waking) and the higher states: transcendental consciousness, cosmic consciousness, God consciousness, and Brahman consciousness
• the Sanskrit language and Vedic Literature
• building a wind turbine
• building a solar window unit space heater
• installing an electric motor on a bicycle
• learning to use a sewing machine then creating a line of Thai fisherman pants for an eco-friendly fashion show:

• building with cob earth
• how to walk on ice (you keep your knees bent)
• snowy, windy weather survival:

• using an electric bike as a main source of transportation
• forging iron
• swimming as nature intended (wink) with my best friends on hot afternoons
• making hot compost:

• growing techniques for producing food in Iowa winters
• creating furniture: 

• a quantum physics class from John Hagelin
• learning to form and fund non-profit organizations 
• becoming a Sidha:

• financial accounting and auditing principles
• grants and RFP's
• learning how to solder and weld: 

• teaching ESL (my work study) 
• studying green building design
• building a superadobe eco-refuge in Colombia: 

• building solar panels:

Over the past three years, I also learned a few lessons from the Vedic literature and of course Maharishi tapes. My five most useful "take-aways" from living in a spiritual community like Fairfield:

"Established in yoga, perform action" 

In Sanskrit: "Yogasthaha kuru karmani." In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is a prince leading an army in a war over dynastic succession that has split families and friends against one another. Unsure of how to act as he leads his warriors onto the battlefield, Arjuna asks Lord Krishna for advice, who imparts this piece of wisdom to him.  The essence of the advice is to act only when the changing states of the mind have been stilled. One could relate this to the Taoist philosophy of "holding onto the center."

Seek the highest first 

This means that one should perform every action with the intention, from the beginning, of obtaining the maximum result possible. In other words, be careful to not limit yourself by thinking it is impossible to do exactly what you intend to do on the first try. Underlying this principle is the avoidance of contemplating failure.

Take the path of least resistance/Do less, accomplish more 

This ties in with the lesson above. While seeking the maximum result for our actions, it's also important to not waste energy by acting unnecessarily, remembering that nature never strains to make anything happen. Rather, creation in nature unfolds in an effortless process, receiving the support needed for each step serendipitously along the way. By performing action with a still mind, seeking the highest return on our actions, we do less and accomplish more and experience less resistance along the way.

The source of all solutions lies in the field of endless possibilities 

To unlock full potential, it is necessary to entertain any possibility that enters your mind, regardless of whether it seems like it will work or not. That doesn't mean you implement everything, not everything will work, but the ability to solve problems and change the future for the better doesn't hinge solely on the rational brain and technological know-how, but also on the ability to freely imagine a future that is different from that of the present day.

Knowledge is structured in consciousness, therefore knowledge is different in different states of consciousness 

This may be the most important one. In Maharishi Vedic Science, one of the most important concepts is the relationship between the rishi, devata, and chhandas. Rishi corresponds to "the knower." Devata corresponds to "the process of knowing." And chhandas corresponds to "the known." What this lesson means is that everyone's unique background, skill set, personality, etc., will change the way he or she learns something, as well as the knowledge itself as it becomes part of the knower's makeup. The process by which the knower conceives the information received will be affected by the associations that already exist in the mind of the knower.

Meeting Mark

After finishing school in Iowa, one of my best friends invited me to come stay with her in New Orleans for a couple of months. When I left Iowa, there were 8 inches of snow on the ground, and when I arrived in New Orleans in time for St. Patrick's Day, it was 85 degrees and sunny!

To practice teaching and sustain myself financially during my stay in New Orleans, I put the word out offering my services as a language instructor, and soon I had a few ESL clients, and a Portuguese student with a very interesting history (seriously, click on his name and learn more about him!) named Lionel Lombard. At our pre-instruction interview, Lionel mentioned that he had a friend who just joined Peace Corps and was going to Namibia in July to work in education. This was an amazing thing to hear, because there are something like seventy (my estimate) people going to Namibia with Peace Corps this year. Those seventy people will be divided into PC's different projects in Namibia: education, community health and HIV/AIDS, and small business development. So that means Lionel introduced me to one of the fifty-or-less people in the United States of America with whom I will be training in Windhoek for three months before each of us departs to his/her assignment!

Mark at Lake Titicaca, June 2011

My new friend's name is Mark Burgunder. Meeting Mark makes me enthusiastic about what I will potentially have in common with my fellow volunteers. He comes across as quietly energetic and enthusiastic about sharing his life lessons and talents with other people. We found out we are both keen to use art and music as a way to allow students greater insight into themselves. He is a native of San Diego, California, and graduated with a B.A. in English Writing and Literature from Loyola University New Orleans in 2010. Then he went to Cusco, Peru, earned his TESOL certification, and taught English for a year.  After that, he traveled to other countries in Latin America and worked as a ranch hand in Glennville, CA. He moved back to New Orleans near the end of 2012.

Mark tells me that he found out that Peace Corps alternates between sending volunteers to the North and South of Namibia and that we will most likely be sent to the South, which is exciting! He also has a plethora of books and media he has found on Namibia that we will be exchanging before we leave. We only met up a couple of times over the course of the two months I was in New Orleans, but it's such a relief to know at least one person who will be in the same country as I for the next two years!

What do Namibians like about Namibia?

"There's a whole lot to like about Namibia - the people for starters...We love one another. We work together... We are people that love peace, people that love tradition, people that are filled with love...Everywhere you go in Namibia, you find people that smile with you, and when you are lost, say you are a tourist, you can ask anybody: Where am I; where can I go? Everybody will help you. Everybody is so willing to be friendly to everybody...When people come from other countries, we just accept them with our warmth..."

"The environment, peaceful country, very much clean and green...Great open spaces... Beautiful nature in Namibia and the wildlife is amazing...It's a comfortable country with beautiful weather...It's not a crowded country...I think Namibia has one of the best sunsets in the world."

The Invitation

March 11th - Events Leading up to Invitation

At 8:20 AM, I sent my answers for final review and by 9:32, I received an email notifying me that I had been qualified for service and that I would receive an invitation to serve via email that would detail the dates and country.

March 11th - Receiving My Invitation

By 3:20 PM, I received my official invitation:

"Dear Robert, 
Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that we invite you to begin training in Namibia..."

If you could have looked at me through the web cam on my computer, I probably had a look on my face like a confused puppy, one ear perked up, one lower. I looked at the list I had written down (you can see it in the "Predicting Where I Might Go" entry) and found that Namibia received volunteers in 2011 in August. Going on the July departure date, I had narrowed down the places I thought they were considering sending me to: Cape Verde, Philippines, South Africa, and Zambia. I had read up on South Africa and Zambia - but Namibia hadn't been on my radar. What would it be like to live there for two years? I only knew the capital (Windhoek), its relative location (southwestern Africa), and I had heard of it being a country with resources like uranium, diamonds, and natural gas.

My mind went back to my interview. At one point, I was asked if I had an idea of where I would like to serve. I said: "I'd like to go somewhere that has intact cultural traditions, a warm climate, perhaps a bit away from everything...like the Pacific Islands, for example." (hint hint) Then my mind went to a friend I studied Arabic with at University of Alabama at Birmingham who lived in Namibia for six or more years. I called him, and this is what he told me:

Source of photo: Guide de Namibie 

Namibia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. It has a population of about 2.3 million in a country twice the size of California. The North is where 60-70% of the population lives. Oshiwambo is the most widely spoken language in the North with Khoisan languages and Afrikaans being spoken in the central and southern areas. He said he wouldn't call Namibia cosmopolitan, but is very welcoming/accepting of foreigners and there are fewer tourists than you would find in some other countries. Things can feel remote outside of major cities. Experiencing the vast expanse and open skies of Namibia will remind you what a tiny speck you are on the face of the Earth. The country has a considerable amount of money coming in from industry, which has been invested in good infrastructure which has in turn not been strained by a large population. Most villages have running water and electricity. Cellular service is expensive, because there is only one service provider. There is a special breed of horse - the Namib Desert Horse - from Namibia. Wherever you are, there are always things to do outdoors. Touristic highlights include the Skeleton Coast, Victoria Falls (technically not in Namibia, just past the Caprivi Strip), Sossusvlei, and Swakopmund. He said he couldn't recommend the country more highly, and that if he were offered a job in Namibia, he would accept it with no reservations whatsoever.

Linguistic map of Africa. Oshivambo would be an example of a Bantu language. KhoeKhoe would be an example of a Khoisan ("click") language. 

It became clear to me that this was a once-in-a-lifetime offer to experience something really different from anything I had imagined before. Two lessons from my past came up as I contemplated accepting the invitation: (1) the best things in life are unexpected and (2) a good sign that you're about to do something remarkable is an unsteady feeling of "What am I getting myself into?!" 

After a few hours of processing information from various sources, accepting my invitation was an easy decision to make. I can't wait to share what happens with you!

Click here for source of image for the Namibian Flag