3/16/11 On Heavenly Mountain

I was camped out in the Walmart parking lot getting ready to settle down and started playing the banjo. Some fellow about the same age started up a conversation with me and had asked if I could give him a ride to his house 10 miles off. More than willing to give him a ride, little did I know it would be on top of a mountain in a place with so much history. 

Heavenly Mountain was quite controversial when Kaplan started to develop it as a community for practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique and as a tranquil retreat for anyone, back in 1993. According to the official TM Website, 6 million people of different ages, religions and cultures have learned TM and “it is the single most effective meditation technique available to gain deep relaxation, eliminate stress, promote good health, increase creativity and intelligence, and attain inner happiness and fulfillment.” Most practitioners meditate for twenty minutes twice a day while a much smaller number choose longer programs known as TM-Sidhis, and still others choose a life of celibacy and meditation for at least a short time, belonging to either Mother Divine (women) or Purusha (men).

http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2006/03-02-06/n_heavenly.htm

Half of the mountain community was abandoned as the locals feared it to be some sort of a cult and while fighting numerous lawsuits were evicted from the mountain.
A very peaceful place to say the least, met some great people, Chandler and Taylor, who were more than welcome to open their home for me.

Going to stay here in Boone, NC for another night then head off tomorrow to the next place which I haven't decided where to go. We shall see.. until then..