Ron Tammekand’s “spiritual journey” leads to Blue Bag Coffee in Merida…//
Text/Photos by Robert Adams
Ron Tammekand is a geologist, businessman and world traveler who says he is on a spiritually-inspired journey.
This journey has taken him from his native Australia to Africa, Europe, and Asia. Work in the mining industry in Australia and Africa, plus a romantic interest, led him to move to Mexico in 1979.
After five years with a government geological agency in Mexico City, Tammekand moved to Sinaloa, where for more than a decade he operated the San José de Gracia gold mine and later owned a tuna cannery in Mazatlán.
“I had a million-dollar home on the beach, I thought I was set for life,” said Tammekand in an interview at Blue Bag Coffee, a café on Calle 66 in Merida’s Centro that is his current base of operations.
In the year 2000, a chance meeting with a Mayan shaman on a trip to Chiapas radically changed Tammekand’s life. Then followed a decade of spiritual growth as he “followed the shaman around the world.”
The shaman, who Tammekand says is also a Tibetan Buddhist monk, sent him to study in a Buddhist monastery in Japan. There, a teacher planted a seed of inspiration in his mind: “Coffee will be your guide.”
Tammekand returned to Mexico, settling in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, where in 2010 he founded Blue Bag Coffee. The company buys Arabica coffees from local growers in Chiapas and roasts, blends and distributes the coffee to about 200 clients throughout Mexico. Blue Bag has seven employees in Chiapas who buy organic, shade-grown coffee beans and run the roasting, blending and distribution operations.
Tammekand spends his mornings processing Blue Bag’s orders on his computer and sending instructions to Chiapas. He is also trying to organize a Bitcoin-based offering to raise a half-million dollars for Blue Bag expansion.
Bitcoin transactions also dovetail with Tammekand’s conviction that the world’s financial systems are on the brink of collapse. This conviction is at least partially inspired by Mayan teaching that the world is now at the start of a new era, he said.
Tammekand said his fundamental belief is that “everything is connected to everything.” This principle is embodied in the Hindi expression “namaste” and the Mayan concept of “In Lak’ech.”
“I have no dogma. All religions are correct,” he commented. “The problem arises with fanaticism, when one religion tries to impose itself on others.”
Mayan and Buddhist principles have come to dominate life for Tammekand, who meditates and practices yoga daily. He occasionally teaches a Shambala seminar based on the 12 steps of Buddha, and he will offer a three-day course in Bacalár, Quintana Roo July 27-29.
Meanwhile, he and two associates keep the café at Blue Bag Coffee in Merida operating smoothly, also offering delivery service and envisioning expansion in the historic building at the corner of Calles 66 and 47.
If you run into Ron at the café, he will probably offer you a “namaste” salute, and maybe provide you a kernel of sage thought to accompany your cup of savory coffee.
–Robert Adams
