Scherr sought inner peace through spiritual journey

Alan Scherr’s decades of commitment to spirituality and simple living earned him recognition as an inspiring teacher of astrology, self-awareness and meditation.

Scherr, 58, of Faber, described his life as a “challenging ... solitary journey.” That led him to Mumbai, India, where he and his daughter Naomi, 13, were among more than 100 people killed by terrorists toting machine guns.

A 12-year resident at the Synchronicity Foundation in Nelson County — which promotes a high-tech form of meditation — and a decades-long devotee to the practice, Scherr’s death has sent ripples through the spiritual communities in which he taught, spurring more than 300 condolence messages posted by 6 p.m. at a Web site started by Synchronicity.

“Alan ... was a passionate Vedic astrologer and meditation teacher who inspired many people to begin a journey of self awareness and meditation,” the group said in a statement released Friday.

Vedic tradition

A former art instructor at the University of Maryland and Loyola College, Alan Scherr’s spiritual affiliations share a common root in the ancient Vedic tradition of India.

Vedic astrology uses astronomy and horoscopes to gain awareness of strengths, weaknesses and psychological temperament, which can then inform career and relationship choices, said Dennis Harness, who has a doctoral degree in counseling psychology and is president of the Sedona, Ariz.-based American College of Vedic Astrology.

“It’s supposed to reflect our karmic code, our spiritual DNA,” he said of the growing practice.

The college offers a certification program that teaches students to recognize astrological patterns without becoming fate-bound.

“We believe in free will,” Harness said.

In a 2000 essay Alan Scherr published on Realization.org, he also described an affiliation with the Transcendental Meditation organization, which teaches a trademarked and “very simple, natural mental process that people practice for 20 minutes, twice a day,” spokesman Steven Yellin said.

“You don’t have to change your religion, your lifestyle, your diet ... you just add meditation,” said Yellin, who could not verify that Scherr was among the organization’s 25,000 instructors.

Synchronicity

According to Scherr’s essay, he became acquainted with Master Charles Cannon, the spiritual director of Synchronicity, after 25 years of diligent meditation. Cannon is described at the group’s Web site as an “authentic mystic.”

In a June 2007 report by The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress, Cannon and Scherr recounted the frequent appearance of an apparition at the group’s sanctuary.

“Sometimes there’s a visual phenomenon, but that’s not as common as other experiences I’ve had, which would be a sense of very deep stillness when I’m at the site,” Scherr said.

Such stillness was not always in Scherr’s life. He wrote of living a “journey to hell and back” while making an “attempt at keeping up the façade of my life as a suburban householder” before joining Synchronicity in 1996, the same year he filed for bankruptcy in Maryland, according to federal court records.

Scherr became a full-time staff member and voiced video meditation dialogues.

Joining the community left him “flying high.”

“The miracle of this life,” he wrote, “continues to unfold for me on daily basis.”