After years of seeking fulfillment and realization in collecting experiences through studies, traveling and experimenting with mind altering substances I landed at Quinta da Mizarela two years ago to volunteer for a month initially. It didn’t take long to understand that what was going on here was the real deal I was unconsciously looking for : no more pretense to be spiritual nor the search for a particular spiritual experience and no more escapism but instead the radical presence in the here and now, the commitment to transcend Ego at any time and in every circumstances in the most lightly, ordinary yet grounded way.

Choosing to become a resident at Quinta da Mizarela was a response to my heart’s deepest longing which was/is to surrender to that desire that cannot be contained in any particular “thing” and therefore to live close to my teachers Cynthia and Peter and among Sangha people and volunteers in this radiant nature became self-evident.

Bernard Erken, co-manager at Quinta da Mizarela