Varada Maa

Varada has been a truth seeker, an observer and questioner of Life as long as she can recall.  Growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City in the 1950s she was exposed to aspects of the human condition that span the spectrum from the depths of violence and human degradation to the heights of the majesty of art, music and cultural opportunity and all the degrees in between.

Her Christian upbringing did not help her to make sense of this crazy world and she sought understanding in the writings of many different philosophers, especially in college.  It wasn’t until she got a Psychology internship at a state mental institution in Rhode Island that she was introduced to the Tao and Eastern philosophy.

That was a very long time ago.

She continued to explore the available literature for many years but never engaged with practitioners as none were available that she knew of.  It wasn’t until she retired when she was 59 years old that she was drawn to Dharma Center and found her spiritual home and the focus of her new life. There’s an ancient Greek saying that when the student is ready the teacher will appear.

Varada’s classes are all about self-healing. At the first turning of the Wheel of Dharma the Buddha said that life is suffering….not Just about suffering but suffering nonetheless…..the greatest suffering being separation from Source. Through her study of Buddhism and other Asian philosophies and spiritual teachings, she has explored various practices related to Meditation, Mindfulness and Managing Energy that help alleviate this suffering.

Join Varada for her weekly class on American Buddhist Healing Practices and her monthly class, the Medicine Buddha Guided Self-Healing class.