Our Story
From left to right – Juanita Crampton, Julian, David, and Faye Fields.
In 1993 several talented friends pooled their resources and dreams and bought a beautiful farm nestled in the foothills of the rain drenched Oregon Coastal Range. To the west, the cold Pacific merges with rugged tree lined coves and sandy beaches. To the east, the Cascade Mountains spike upward into the blue sky heavens. It was here we would make our home, plant our gardens, and raise our kids.
Our beloved Amma,
the spiritual Heart behind Sattwa.
Surely, we pondered, there must be a better way of supporting ourselves than rushing into the city to work each day to create wealth for other people. We needed to start our own company, we rightly concluded, but how? And what would this new business look like? Sometimes one has to stop thinking altogether, to think more clearly. David Fields, one of the crew, decided it was time to lay it all aside and visit Amma, our spiritual teacher in India. It was here, living at Her jungle ashram, that he quickly got accustomed to drinking a hot cup of milky, masala (spicy) chai in the morning before his meditation.
A Chai Walla selling chai
on the streets of Mumbai
David returned home in the spring; the bright green Willamette Valley was in full bloom. Each morning folks would eat breakfast out on the deck over looking miles of exquisite farmland and hills, but with one new addition to the menu: Chai. Resident gourmet yogi, Juanita Crampton, had formulated some wonderful chai blends using various combinations of black tea, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and other spices. Everyone loved the ritual and visitors would comment on the exquisite taste of the chai. In a mere flash, a new business idea was born! We would call the new product, Sattwa Chai, and it would be marketed to coffee roasters and cafes all over North America.
The best ideas are almost always born from a sense of joy. Sattwa Chai arose from the hearts and minds of a family of friends that love Life and appreciate really good, authentic, chai! thirteen years later, the saga continues. Integrity in business and product remains the number one guiding principle in each aspect of the business. And each morning the work day still begins with meditation, honest conversation, and several healthy cups of Sattwa Chai.
For insights into conscious relating visit the Invisible Wedding (www.theinvisiblewedding.com).
For raising consciousness and purification of the environment visit Agnihotra.org (www.agnihotra.org).
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