Dear Penguin
Should investigate: Banner on Georgia Ave “meditation museum.” WTF? Full of photos of people sitting still doing nothing?
@wombatarama
via Twitter
Dear Wombatarama
Thanks for your tweet. The Penguin newsroom is always psyched to check out new museums — we even raised $103.75 in quarters to relocate Silver Spring’s pinball museum into the downtown area. But a meditation museum on Georgia Avenue? WTF indeed.
As it turns out, the newsroom received a couple of press releases about the place. Hopefully, the info provided will clarify the museum’s mission. Here goes nothing:
The small museum at 8236 Georgia Ave near Ripley Street allows visitors to “transform the quality of their thoughts to enhance their lives and bring benefit to the world around them.” It features interactive displays and has plans for four rotating exhibits: “The Confluence Age”, “Golden Age”, “Copper Age” and “Iron Age”. According to one press statement, the exhibits represent the four stages of life.
Photo: A sign announces the meditation museum. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP
The museum also offers classes in meditation, stress management and “the science of silence.” Earlier this month, it hosted 15 local teens who were “guided into a contemplation of what the soul is and how the soul acts to create a life worth meaning.” A similar event was held for mentally disabled adults, a second press release announced.
Behind the museum (metaphysically speaking) is the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, an organization that promotes meditation, yoga and stuff as devices for self-improvement. The crew had its start in what was India (now Pakistan) back in the 1930s, and they’ve gone global ever since, their website indicated.
The group had one yoga center in Forest Glen, as well as two more joints in The District. It’s unclear if the new meditation museum replaces the Forest Glen spot, or if it adds to the area’s Brahma Kumaris centers.
I hope that clears things up for you, Wombatarama. I know it didn’t clarify jack shit for me.
Jennifer Deseo
Editor, The Silver Spring Penguin
Got a question for The Penguin? Holler at info@silverspringpenguin.com or via Twitter at @sspenguin.
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Why the exhibits on the Copper and Iron Ages, or are they using those terms differently than an archeologist might?
That wasn’t the sign I saw… Wonder how many more they’ve plastered around town…
I’m thinking I’d like to start a Silver Spring Museum Museum of Silver Spring, where I collect various artifacts from these obscure museums that keep popping up about town…
@Terry, this won’t explain a single damn thing, but the site Jennifer linked to also has some pages on Copper/Iron age:
http://myrajayoga.blogspot.com/2007/07/copper-age-age-of-duality.html and http://myrajayoga.blogspot.com/2007/07/iron-age-age-of-death.html
Prepare to be confused!
Well, maybe the incomprehensibility of the whole deal is an appropriately Zen sort of thing.
What a perfect August story!
Of the Copper Age, that web site says:
“The virtuous state, or the ability to perform truthfully, has been lost and that missing gap has to be filled in.”
Hmmm, my ancestors were Celts with a tendency to sacrifice the occasional person and toss their body in a bog. I suspect that the MoCo police would object if I tried to fill in that gap in my current behavior.
So interestingly…I came across your site today quite randomly. My Google alert service directed me to it because you used a “stage of life” phrase in your piece (about the four stages of life).
Normally I move on if the article doesn’t pertain to my business but I actually took a moment to read this blog and wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed it. It’s good humor and I like the editor’s tone and style (Jennifer I believe?).
Well done.
Have a wonderful summer,
Eric
CEO/Founder
Stageoflife.com
Editor’s note: I appreciate your comment, Eric. Wanna buy an ad? — JD (Aug 20, 2009)
For someone searching for peace, hope and all things good, this… crazy shit… is perfect. I cant wait to go! Several friends have been already and recommed it!
Be well
^i^
Hi all,
I came about this blog and its quite interesting that people have the tendency to judge place and people before going there or meeting them. I was quite intrigued by the two words put together as well. Meditation and Museum, and decided to explore the place. First thoughts- the ambience was really calming and nice. After getting a personal tour and explanation of each and every painting on the wall, that are done by a French Artist, I realized that at the very least they are convincing. And what I got out of it was “personal peace is the first step toward global peace.”
In the end, I think this is a place that Silver Spring needed for a long time. An open meditation space without any religious affiliations, that welcomes everyone to come and have some quite time with God, or the divine power or the supreme, or the lord. They offer free Raj Yoga classes and are quite peaceful themselves.
I’d rather had this open in Takoma Park, probably would have been recieved better.
Time to get jealous of their peace folks!