Good morning, Sangha.
As you may have heard me mention in last night’s Dharma Talk, A member of our community, Petra Schmidt, passed away yesterday due to cancer. She was a mother, a wife, and a yogin if ever there was one.
In Zen, we say that actual teaching is a non-verbal transmission from teacher to student. Being part of a meditation and yoga community can be very interesting as sometimes we can get very close to one another without needing to say much.
Like many in our community, Petra was quiet and often kept to herself. This unassuming exterior may have masked the deep penetrating awareness she had.
Petra and I spoke daily after her prognosis, and we shared a lot of laughs until eventually, she was too weak or tired to talk. During this time, she asked me to do a few things for her, and one of them was to make a memorial video.
While Petra had some very close friends in our community who I am sure will contribute to this video, I wanted to open the invitation up to the entire Mahāpatha Yoga community. You never know the impact someone may have had with a word, smile, or gesture in a class or on a retreat.
If you have something you want to say or memory of Petra that you want to share, please send me a short video, and I will try to include it in the memorial.
May the Spirit be Victorious!
-Douglas Johnson E-RYT 500, YACEP
