Want
to know more?
Here are a few fun (but probably useless)
facts
about Maya:
She was adopted at birth, and
at the age of 17 met
her birth parents, siblings,
grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
She grew up in a tiny farming
town (population: 320)
and graduated number one in
her class of 36 students.
Maya began meditating at the age of 15 after
a serious car accident.
The last time she went skydiving,
her main parachute
didn’t open. She used her
reserve chute and landed in a muddy
field—without
injuries.
She once ran a marathon in
college, and swore she’d
never do it again.
(She hasn’t.)
She once performed as a belly
dancer at a Middle
Eastern restaurant.
While a senior in college,
she participated in a
year-long Asian travel/study
program. Her “graduation”
ceremony was
held in Vienna, Austria…on
Sigmund Freud’s
famous couch.
She studied meditation with "Ratne" Ratnakara in
Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1981, and she says it was "like a bolt of
lightning zapped me..."
Maya met her future husband
in rural Japan when
she was teaching English. They
grew up in towns only ten
miles apart—and had
the same orthodontist. They’ve been
happily
married for 22 years.
Maya’s first two children
were born in Japan,
where she and Tom lived for five
years.
She has visited 22 countries.
She owned a vintage/resale
clothing business
for five years.
Maya helped coordinate the
design and construction
of one of the first skateparks
in Oregon.
She was once a passionate gardener,
and her funky,
eclectic garden was featured in tours
and publications.
Maya was the executive director of the
Jeannette Rankin Peace Center in Missoula,
Montana.
She served as the national outreach coordinator
for the Northwest Earth Institute in Portland, Oregon
Her four daughters are: Taeko
(21-- in New York City),
Tara (20--in Portland, Oregon), Teal (18-- in Wolfville, Nova Scotia) and Talya (17--in Buenos Aires, Argentina).
