Tao Fellowship Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary at Sedona Mago Garden

Tao Fellowship and Mago Garden

Looking back on its amazing first 10 years of developing and operating the Sedona Mago Gardne, the people with its nonprofit parent Tao Fellowship have realized that they can create wonderful things if they do not give up and keep going toward their vision of love of humanity and love of the earth.

Tao Fellowship people have also recognized how persistently and sincerely Ilchi Lee has guided this community and its vision to overcome obstacles and achieve respect and success.

Tao Fellowship’s past 10 years have been quite dramatic. While Mago Retreat was hardly used for several years as it awaited the auction in 1997, it was not kept properly. In the middle of a beautiful wilderness, buildings were leaking, roads and paths flooded every time it rained, visitors often overlooked the Bill Gray Road entrance and gave up coming on its dirt road, only two phone lines were available for staff and guests, and only one water tank barely supplied all the water to 125 guest rooms, seven other buildings, and the Organic Garden. Water in the desert is crucial and it was more so at that time.

In its early years, many of its staff persons at Mago Garden left discouraged and left. But after two years of struggle and mistakes, 2000 marked the start of the transformation of a primitive facility into a high-quality training center. This was accomplished by the hard work and sincerity of Tao Fellowship staff and volunteers working on these projects:

• Tao Fellowship’s new construction at Mago Garden: Mago Hall, Power Brain Hall, Staff Dormitory, Earth Hall, Healing Garden and Dahn-Guhn Lake, New Casitas (125 new guest rooms).
• Tao Fellowship remodeling of buildings: Heaven Rock House, Solar Mago House, Old Casitas II, Arirang Room, Vision Room, Vortex Room, Tao Room, Healing Room, and Juniper Room.
• Tao Fellowship paving roads and paths:  “To pave around four feet of a road with gravel, it cost $500 dollars. I paved the road with money,” said former general manager Sayong Kim.
• Tao Fellowship finding more underground water and installing four water tanks. Amazingly, children who practiced Brain Education exercises found the underground wells.
• Tao Fellowship developed eco-friendly systems, such as a Water Recycling System to regain used water from the new casitas and use it for landscape watering, and a food leftover decomposition system for fertilizing the Organic Garden.

The primary goal of Brain Education is to create “power brains” that are

creative, peaceful, and productive. Its intention is not only to make better students

but also to create happier, healthier people. While education traditionally

emphasizes analytical and verbal skills ( consider, for example, the content of the

SAT), Brain Education develops interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, as well.

Brain research has clearly established that emotional and physical health

directly influence children’s ability to learn and consequently affect their performance

(see Vail). Essentially, the best students are the happiest

students. For that reason, Brain Education seeks to enhance learning ability by

first creating happier and healthier children. Through consistent BE practice,

children gain a sense of empowerment toward the creation of a fulfilling and

healthy lifestyle.