Indralaya Camp

[Walda Caesar]

Thecamp is 78 acres (31.5 hectares) in size with 3/4 of a mile (1.2 kilometer) of shoreline and contains both grassy and heavily wooded areas traversed by nature paths. It has two beaches suitable for swimming in the ocean. A wide variety of programs are offered in the spring, summer, and fall. It has a great hall with a fireplace and attached dining and kitchen area, a circular meeting hall (though programs are held in a tree-lined grassy area outside in clement weather), a library and meditation hall, a campfire, and a variety of living accommodations ranging from rustic to furnished. Maximum occupancy is 95 people. The caretakers live on the grounds in a substantial house with adjoining workshop buildings. There is also a garden which furnishes much of the food for the vegetarian diet of the camp. The camp (sometimes the garden also) is regularly visited by rabbits and deer.

Over the years since its founding it has hosted programs by most of the Presidents and noted personalities of the theosophical movement, including George and Rukmini Devi Arundale, C. Jinaršjadšsa, Nilakanta Sri Ram, John Coats, Radha Burnier, Geoffrey Hodson, the Kunzes, Joy Mills, and J. Krishnamurti.

Every summer, for nine years, I've headed to Orcas Island (in the San Juan Island cluster, just off the coast of Seattle) for the Family Spirit Camp hosted by Indralaya Retreat Center. My parents go, my sister and her family goes, and for the last eight of those years... Biff and our kids have gone as well.

In the ocean surrounding Indralaya, microscopic plankton emit a bioluminescent light that reacts to movement in the water. So in the dead of night, when the sun has completely set, you can swim in the pitch black ocean and your body will light up as it moves. Everyone at camp does this midnight swim at some point in the week every year... except me.

I don't know what to tell you. I don't like the cold. And also I don't like being anywhere in the complete dark. You can't see the bottom of the ocean in the dark! What could be in there?! Sharks?! Those deepsea fishes with the giant teeth and suckerfins, ready to latch onto me like the prehistoric creatures that they are?!

But this year, when camp time came around, I remembered my commitment to say yes to more things. Top surgery? Yes. Swimming in the icecold ocean in the middle of the night while on an island with limited cell service and no rescue service? ...yes....?

I found an accountability buddy, who pinky-promised that she would not let me weasel out of it. She promised to count to three and then jump at the exact same time I did. She promised to cheer me on. So we all headed down to the dock in the dark. I trailed behind the young adults who didn't even need a flashlight because they'd taken the forest path so many times. The cold air whipped around my bare legs and I wondered what I had committed to. Other reassured me that there are no sharks in these waters, and if there were... we would see them coming because they would be lit up (obviously).

We formed a line and I realized everyone else was taking off all of their clothes. "We do this... NAKED?" I whispered furiously to one of the teens, who laughed. "Yeah! Of course!" he said as he stripped out of his jeans and jumped in. I couldn't see anything but faint outlines of bodies in the moonlight. I took a deep breath. I hate being naked. Nude beaches, locker rooms, family changing areas... I'm never naked. But it was impossible for anyone to see me, really, and I realized it would be much less unpleasant to have dry trunks to step into when I got out of the water.

Besides, people were in the water and I could see how magical and surreal the luminescence was around them, forming an eerie glow that reminded me of mermaids, unicorns, fairies... otherworldly things. I wanted to be a part of it. To say yes.

So I found my accountability buddy. It was our turn. We made our way out onto the rocks, a foot deep in the frigid water. She held my hand, we counted to three, and I didn't think... I just jumped. I felt like an ant jumping into a cup of ice water. It was so cold. My body froze up and breathing was hard. Everything hurt and I thought surely I might die. "Move your arms and legs!!!" everyone screamed, so I did.

And suddenly my body was magic. Everywhere I moved, my skin lit up with surreal green-yellow-blue glow. I was an alien. I was the primordial creature I'd been afraid of. I wasn't cold anymore... I was the ocean. I was the stars. I wasn't naked anymore. I was born this way.

We all splashed around and played with the glowing water before heading back to shore. We put our clothes on and hugged and high-fived, and I was exhilarated. THIS is what I was afraid of? A little cold? What was that when compared to the feeling of being the stars?!

The Krotona Institute of Theosophy, located in Ojai, California, is an international Theosophical center sponsoring the Krotona School of Theosophy, which offers programs in Theosophy for resident students and commuters.

Pumpkin Hollow Retreat Center

Pumpkin Hollow Retreat Center was founded in 1937 to provide a peaceful and harmonious setting in which the essential spirituality of the individual can blossom and grow. Nestled amidst the Berkshire and Taconic Mountains in New York, the center covers 130 acres of open fields, lush forests, flower beds, and an abundant vegetable garden.

Pumpkin Hollow offers a unique rustic setting for workshops, retreats, yoga, meditation, evening talks and campfires, singing, dancing, and storytelling. The central house, meditation center, and quaint cabins all connect with a network of nature trails. The Healer's Sanctuary, nestled in a pine grove on the other side of the stream, provides a special place for solitude and meditation.

Camp Indralaya

Located on Orcas Island in Washington, Indralaya was founded in 1927 by members of The Theosophical Society in America as an ongoing experiment in living according to Theosophical principles. Since that time, Indralaya has been a gathering place for those who are interested living in harmony with nature and with the first Object of the Theosophical Society, which is to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity.

The School of Wisdom

The School of the Wisdom is located at the international headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Adyar (Chennai), India. It is a wonderful opportunity for reflection and inner work. The Adyar environment, with rich nature experiences and a serene atmosphere, helps one to go deep in the important questions of life, and the School of The Wisdom is meant to help in this inquiry.

The Theosophical Society in America is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Purchases made using affiliate links may generate a small commission which helps to support the mission of The Theosophical Society, enabling us to continue to produce programming and provide resources.

BCTTNS formally began in January of 1997. Benefits in joining the BCTTNS include: the Canadian TTNC News, the Ontario In Touch, and BC Shifts In Energy Therapeutic Touch newsletters; invitations to Networking Days, retreats and conferences; a listing of support groups, teachers, and practitioners; material resources, connections with other members, and more.

This is an amazing wellness centre where the focus is on Mind, Body, and Spiritual Health. There are several modalities offered at the wellness centre including aromatherapy, massage, nursing consultations and much more. Whatever your needs you're sure to find something that works for you.

Camp Indralaya was founded in 1927 by members of the Theosophical Society, a worldwide organization founded in 1875. This organization is focused on better understanding our place in the universe, and the purpose and meaning of our lives. This camp offers a wide variety of programs including various programs in Therapeutic Touch.

The mission of the CHNA is to foster the growth of the holistic practice of nursing. Membership entitles you to the Insight Newsletter, preferred rates at the CHNA conference, opportunity for networking and access to Specialization Courses in Holistic Nursing.

George E. Linton was a civil engineer and co-author with Virginia Hanson of Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett. He and his wife Dulcie were very active in the Theosophical Society in America branch in Portland, Oregon.

George Linton was born June 25, 1903 on a ranch near Kerby, Josephine County, Oregon, the son of farmer George Linton and his wife Della. By 1920 the family, including older brother Frank, had moved to Corvallis, where the father worked as a carpenter and civil engineer. George Jr. was an excellent student. He attended Oregon Agricultural College, now known as Oregon State University, in Corvallis. He studied civil engineering, and was Major-Adjutant in a student engineers battalion in 1924.[1] His brother Frank studied mining engineering at the same university.

Mr. Linton's entire career was with the US Army Corp of Engineers.[2] One of his early professional tasks, around 1930, involved working on a jetty project in Winchester Bay, where he boarded with a local family.[3] Other projects included the Bonneville Dam in Oregon and the North Fork Dam in California during the 1930s.[4] In 1959 he was working as Shipyard Superintendent at the Vancouver Reserve Shipyard in Vancouver, Washington, just north of Portland, Oregon.[5]

George Linton joined the American Theosophical Society in 1926. On January 25, 1927, he became a member of the Portland Lodge, and he was active in that Oregon branch for most of his life, nearly seventy years. Beginning in June, 1952, he worked for a year at the international headquarters at Adyar, Chennai, India, along with his wife Dulcie. She had become a member on October 2, 1940. Beginning March 1960, the two of them were on the staff at TSA headquarters in Wheaton, Illinois, and during that time George supervised the construction of the addition to the Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library. After that project they moved to Adyar from 1963-1967. He attended the School of the Wisdom and acted as an advisor to the Maintenance Department. He supervised the construction of the new Adyar Library and Research Centre building. For two years he served on President Sri Ram's Executive Committee and also was President of the Adyar Lodge.

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