ECLECTIC WRITER

Fearless Warrior

Being born into a family of artists, inherent creativity and a deep- rooted longing to express herself came naturally at an early age to Meranda Squires, a certified teacher of Advanced Studies in Yoga Sciences in St. John’s. And growing up in a lighthouse on the East Coast of Newfoundland certainly was no hindrance to her inspiration and appreciation of nature, and her search for truth.

"Living at the Ferryland Lighthouse, I was surrounded by vastness," she recalls. " The ocean, the sky, the land. I was alone a lot in nature. Meditation was natural there. I watched my mother meditate there. I longed for discipline and instruction. The physical vastness made me hungry for knowledge and truth and for development of my mind."

Daughter of the well-known Newfoundland painter Gerry Squires, and pottery artist Gail, Meranda was born in Toronto and moved to Newfoundland at the age of 5. While her sister, Esther, grew up nurturing her talent in music and singing, she became interested in dance.

"Art creates room for the soul to speak. My up-bringing prepared the ground for my future lifestyle," she says.
Her destiny was to take her back to Toronto at the age of 15, where she went to the Shyam Space Ashram for yoga classes and where she met some of the disciples of her guru.

Discovering her Self

"My lifestyle was fulfilling me, and I wanted more. I was discovering my Self in a way that was not available to me back home," admits Meranda. " I was looking for Enlightenment."

How does she define Enlightenment?

She explains. "When a person first becomes interested in their spiritual nature, some of the questions that arise are, ‘Who am I ?’ and ‘Why am I here ?’ These are questions of the Truth, and Truth can only be experienced by you directly. A direct experience of the Truth is an enlightenment experience."

Thus, she decided to seek her own Truth, and left for India at the age of twenty with the hope of finding what she was looking for.

In Kullu, Meranda met her guru, Swami Shyam. That meeting was the beginning of her life spent in India for the next seventeen years, with occasional visits to Canada for visa renewals.

She remembers that a typical day in her life at that time started by waking up in her room by the Vyass river, overlooking the Himalayan mountains. She would prepare herself for the morning 'satsang' ("company of Truth") session by doing her yoga and meditation before going down the hall where satsang was held with Swamiji at 11 o’clock.

Satsang sessions comprised of philosophical discourses by Swamiji from the Gita, Patanjali (Yoga for stilling thoughts of human mind leading to experience of calmness, peace, serenity, tranquility and spiritual knowledge), or other scriptures. Sometimes the Swamiji would call speakers from the group to talk to their peers as part of their training towards becoming communicators and speakers of the truth.

"I (and all other students) would have to always be ready to go up and speak. I would speak about my internal perceptions and revelations of the Truth that life situations taught me," says Meranda.

They also sang Hindu songs and chants to create what she refers to as "a space for meditation". Meditation lasted usually an hour and sometimes more. She recalls her life in India as a "luxurious lifestyle of free time to ponder life's greatest mysteries, and fabulous spiritual company to discuss these mysteries with."

These discussions followed the satsang, after which she and her peers would go for a walk or take a dip in the river. Evenings were devoted to socializing with friends over dinner, and reviewing points that were discussed during the day’s satsang.

Living seventeen years of her still impressionable life in a setting of calm, meditative learning and a disciplined practice of her principles have prepared Meranda for the practice of her passion today. She sees Yoga and meditation to be her lifeline. "It's like brushing my teeth daily," she says. "I can't live a day without these practices."

Ready to come home

Having specialized in Meditation, Somayoga and the Yoga Philosophy, she felt that she had earned everything she neeeded from her guru and the environment.

"I felt I needed to communicate and teach now," she says. "So I left India in 2000 and traveled and stayed in all the big cities in Canada to see where I should plant myself."

She visited Newfoundland during the Christmas of 2000-2001, and "...totally fell in love with the people and the land again." Thus she started her Spiritual Center in the fall of 2001 in St. John’s.

Oldest system of personal development

Yoga deals with one’s whole being. It is a complete science of life that originated in India thousands of years ago. It is known to be the oldest system of personal development in the world as it encompasses the entire body, mind and spirit. It is the union between a person's own his universal consciousness.

Ancient Yogis had a profound understanding of man's fundamental nature and of what he needed to live in harmony with himself and with his environment. They perceived the physical body as a vehicle- with the mind as driver, the soul as man's true identity, and action, emotion and intelligence as the three forces which pull the vehicle. In order for all of these to be integrated, the three forces must had to be in balance.

They formulated a unique method for achieving and maintaining such balance while taking into account the interrelationship between body and mind. Yoga combines all the movements with the Breathing and Meditation techniques for physical health and peace of mind.

Thus Yoga has been growing in its popularity, and it is accepted as a form of exercise that adapts to one’s needs and abilities so that it can be done not just by young people, but even by senior citizens as well as pregnant women.

Meranda admits that she gets students of every age to whom she offers everything that she knows. She believes that one needs training in watching and studying her own mind for many years before she can be qualified for teaching yoga.

"Yoga is a huge subject," states Meranda. "It only starts with physical yoga. Enlightenment is the real treat that awaits all those who live the yogi life to its fullest. Developing a sense of honesty and acknowledgment of what actually is arising from within the mind takes years of real, sincere desire for only the naked Truth".

She continues with the balance, serenity and the inner peace of one who, after her long personal journey, has found Truth and Enlightenment: "The ego does not like this journey and will fight all the way. So one has to be a warrior to take this path all the way to Enlightenment. I have chosen this path and I am walking it with a full warrior heart. There is nothing more satisfying. Really!"