My Woodstock Meditation
Philip McCluskey on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 
One of my more recent travel adventures brought me to Woodstock, NY. That’s right, I said Woodstock… you know I’m a hippie at heart. Just a modern day iPhone-talking, MacBook Pro-walking hippie.
Hosts
The hosts for my adventures in Woodstock were author and international motivational speaker Victoria Moran, and her husband William. Victoria has penned 10 books, including Creating a Charmed Life, has been on Oprah, and loves raw food! Sounds like the perfect combination to me (now if I could just get on Oprah).
The Past
Woodstock is what you might have imagined it to be, a place living in the present, while still tied up to memories of the past. Some locals came to the original Woodstock in 1969 and have never left. Some are still hanging around the downtown area wearing the same clothes from that era.
One part of me loves being in that space, interacting with interesting and beautiful people who carry such vivid and fond memories. Another part wonders if they are resisting change by creating a safe place to “live in,” even if that past era doesn’t exist anymore. Of course we want to be present to the love that was felt, but also facilitate the best way to experience that love together as a whole. (This of course does not exclude me from wearing hemp pants, or giving hugs)
After all, yesterday’s flower children are today’s parents and grandparents – who birthed a new generation of conscious, present, powerhouses of love and light, ready to “create the change” we want to see in this world. We are the drummers, the dancers, the spiritual entrepreneurs, the Raw Spirit Festival attendees, the carriers of the torch.
Click here for more Woodstock Pics
Hiking
With all the traveling I have been doing hiking has been a rather sporadic occurrence. Since I had some free time I decided to take the opportunity to hike up Mead Mountain with my friend Amy (pictured at the top). We were slightly challenged with a rather constantly uphill hike to the top, but were pleasantly rewarded with an amazing steel tower to climb up, and the best lookout around.
I am in love with Trees.
Presence
To conclude the trip I visited Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery set right in the heart of the Catskills Mountains. This is the North American monastic seat of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
The place was so serene. We were allowed to roam the property and explore their two temples. Surrounded by candles, statues, and Buddhas, I felt a quiet stillness as I knelt down on a mat and experienced “presence.” One of the monks was chanting and I thought that was a nice experience to be apart of, but overall I was impressed the most with just silence. Quiet a nice change from the hustle of NYC.
Peacefully yours,
Philip
ps. Come hear me speak at the Simply Raw Festival in Canada or the Raw Spirit Festival in Arizona.
nature, spirituality, travel 
Reader Comments (1)
As a flower child of the sixties- who later visited and absorbed the vibe of Woodstock- and as someone who travelled Ladakh and visited dawn phujas in Tibetan Monasteries- this blog struck two notes with me.....that somehow link.
For me they are linked in that, both in Woodstock and Buddhist Monasteries, like-hearted folk congregrate, consolidating kindred energy- and together become a kind of human vortex, that mediates far beyond their physical place geographically. On one hand- yes I can see how they might seem to be 'playing safe' in the familiar, seemingly unchanging- on another they may well be 'playing safe' for the planet, conserving something precious and challenged through dispersing.
I experienced this most powerfully at dawn in a Monastery in Ladakh- high in the mountains in a huge enclosed room spilling over with monks in deep Mahayana reds- Some were still, intently chanting- while young boy monks playfully frolicked in the wings. It struck me then how much this felt like being tucked away in a womb in the earth- a pocket of prayer to which most people are oblivious on a conscious level- yet every day the power of peaceful intent ripples out far beyond the realms of these monk's experience or imagination- in it's own way it is a pulse of sustained and persistent peace- a medicine for us all. I felt as though I had stumbled upon one of the sweet secrets of the universe on that morning, and left feeling that we are far safer than we sometimes dream.
Flower children- well many of them became frayed at the seams personally- and equally in their clothing- but their hearts still beat the pulse of peace. Some of us are alert and alive and persisting and as young as we were then- not just the parents of young peace/raw pioneers but pioneers ourselves! Those flower child days- which birthed 'Hippie-dom' rather than being one and the same thing :), were suffused with a freshness and innocence as sweet as the refreshment that being raw brings to our souls today.
xx