Mauna Project is a contemplative reflection, a portfolio of selected works, and a call to create together. Mauna provides services in creative consulting and education, with a focus on architecture, design, and visual arts. Restoring our inherently human capacity to create in synchrony with the world—all living beings, moon, earth, water, and the sacred, mysterious order of it all—is a return home to ourselves and a step toward building a peaceful presence, both individually and collectively.

The creative impulse at the source of every act of expressive art—from architecture to poetry to simple mark-making—carries a sacred force and a potential for deep transformation. Mauna is not about perfection but about the discovery of our innate beauty, about nurturing our natural strength, intuition, confidence, and hands-on skills. We are used to the verbal language of the mind, while the silent language of art grants us access to another dimension. Opening up to express freely, with joy and sensitivity, has the potential to liberate great energy and enliven a being. This intuition guides Mauna's creative, educational, and healing work—and, hopefully, tangibly reminds its participants of the silent power of art.

The name of the project Mauna means "silence" in Sanskrit, "mountain" in Hawaiian and it is also a name of a genus of moth, reflecting stillness, mystery and beauty of this world.

My name is Sasha Epeshina, and I am a founder of Mauna. I was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia, between historical walls of the city and tall trees of the countryside. I travelled through many countries, world views and occupations, and in 2018 found my home in Portugal. I am an architect, an artist, an educator, and a PhD student in Expressive Arts at the European Graduate School (EGS). I hold a Master's degree in Architecture from San Francisco Academy of Art University, and a bachelor degree from Saint Petersburg University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. In 2015, I co-founded the first school for architecture and design for children and youth in Russia that now counts more than 100 students weekly. Leading architectural, artistic and educational projects in Russia and internationally for many years, I learned that artistic expression is a powerful instrument for transformation and peace building. I continue to discover how to bring presence, aliveness, meaning and humanity to our daily, artistic and professional lives. I am deeply inspired by both explainable and unexplainable, visible and invisible, scientific and sacred wisdom of the world. Some years ago, I took a deep dive in the non-object oriented practice of meditation. Soon I saw the illusion of the opposites. I felt tension of fear and desire at the core of every moment of my life clashing with suddenly emerging burning love for and devotion to the Mystery. Then, I let go of all worldly attachments and responsibilities, and moved to an ashram in the mountains of Portugal. For several years I lived a life of service, profound spiritual practice, renunciation and artistic experimentation. By grace, I glimpsed eternal love free from all conditions, and I recognised blissful eternal depth at the source of my being, non-separate from any other being and all conditional nature. During that time, I encountered a profound heart-deep resonance with an artist, scholar and spiritual realizer Adi Da Samraj (1939-2008) through his written and visual art. Since then, through the radiance of his awakened Presence, a blissful light permeates my life's journey. Mauna Project was naturally born as an extension of my interdisciplinary background in architecture and arts and my love for the Mystery. Now, stepping onto a new path of research and practice, I am passionate about merging artistic, educational and architectural work, with an awareness of the sacred nature of it all.