Celebration Honors Costa Rican Spirit

Pura Vida: it’s a saying, it’s away of life, and now, it’s a day.Unity, a bilingual, non-denominationalspiritual group, has organizedan event that will celebratespirituality, community and CostaRica.“It is a day of spiritual celebrationof the Tico contribution to thegrowth of Unity, the spiritual center,”said Juan Enrique Toro, theminister of Unity-Costa Rica.“This will be a bilingual event, withlittle talk and more emphasis onmusic.”“And if the spirit moves us, wewill dance too,” Toro adds.Toro expects about 250 peopleto turn out for the spiritual celebration,which is in its inaugural year.“We wanted to have a specialevent to celebrate Costa Rica,”Toro said. “In past years we hadparties, but they didn’t have a spiritualaspect.”Toro describes Unity as “a centerfor spiritual development thathonors all spiritual paths. It honorsdiversity. All types of people arewelcome; we are very open.”“For a person who is exploringhis faith or doesn’t feel 100% satisfied,in Unity it is possible to find aspiritual place that honors people’sindividuality,” Toro said. “Thespirit can flourish.”Unity’s 150 members – who are“of all colors, all sexual identities,all types”, according to Toro –explore many religions. They readDeepak Chopra and the DalaiLama, with the aim of “achievingspirituality” and “evolving the conscience,”Toro said.Pura Vida Day is scheduled forAug. 21 from 7-10 p.m. at theTennis Club in La Sabana, on thewestern edge of San José.It is open to the public and theentrance fee is ¢3,000 ($6.80).Unity is based in Santa Ana,southwest of San José. On Sundaysthey hold 10 a.m. English-languageworship services and Spanish-languageservices at noon. They alsohold meetings Wednesday nights inEscazú, southwest of San José.For more info, call 203-4411 orvisit www.unitycostarica.org.