[ ON FAITH ]
Waiahole retreat This weekend, the quiet sound of a gong reverberates from the small house deep in Waiahole Valley, setting the scene for meditation according to the practices of Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.
provides refuge
from daily stresses
Meditation and prayer
form an eclectic chord of spiritual
harmony at the nonprofit centerBy Mary Adamski
Star-BulletinLast month, the house buzzed with Spanish hymns and prayers of a group of California Catholics led in a retreat by the Rev. Barney Gatlin of Maui.
That's just a sampler of the eclectic activities at the new retreat house opened last month by Spiritual Life Center. Set on eight acres of land surrounded by the Koolau Mountains, the only sound to intrude from the outside world is the distant crowing of fighting cocks.
Giving people this remote, quiet place to pursue their relationship with God, develop a prayer life, get away from the busyness of life in order to contemplate it, is key to the mission of the nonprofit organization. Founded by Maryknoll nuns in 1978, the center eventually severed ties with the Catholic diocese and has evolved into an ecumenical agency that facilitates programs and efforts of other groups with the aim of offering spiritual growth. About 1,800 people have participated in retreats it has sponsored.
"I will organize the event, promote it and market it and even cook the meals," said Executive Director Nancy Conley. She wasn't joking: She was the chief cook of vegetarian meals during the "Art of Mindful Living" Zen retreat by the Big Island Dharma Friends, which concludes tomorrow.Conley, an ordained Episcopal deacon and member of the Center staff for six years, does more than set schedules and collect fees. She and members of the board often attend the sessions or take the courses taught in their premises, which include offices and meeting rooms in the First United Methodist Church building at 1020 S. Beretania St.
The officers of the organization, which is sustained by fund drives, include self-employed businesswoman Judy Kubota, Episcopal Rector Pamela Reddings and retired teacher and Lutheran church member Alice Noble.
At a recent meeting, several board members compared notes on their attendance at a two-day symposium on Hildegard of Bingen, in which several University of Hawaii faculty explored the writing, music and healing art of the 12th-century German nun.
The center sponsors "Healing Touch" sessions every Wednesday, attracting practitioners and students of the art, which is taught and used at Queen's Medical Center to manage pain and anxiety in patients. A recent crowd included people with backgrounds ranging from shiatsu massage to hospital nursing to healing through alignment of the body's kinetic energy. Conley has studied to be a practitioner of the art with a spiritual dimension added.
Besides helping organizations without facilities find the space to offer speakers and seminars, center sponsorship has the effect of easing the choice for prospective listeners who may not be comfortable in attending a program in a church or Zen center.
"We're Christian-based at the edge, open to Eastern and other traditions, to offering ways of prayer in other traditions," said Conley.
The Spiritual Life Center might best be described in terms of what it isn't: It's the opposite of the burgeoning big-crowd, big-noise churches popular today."We totally support the big churches, especially in the way they are bringing young people to Christ," said board Chairwoman Judy Kubota, owner of Hawaii Homestay. "What happens when you are on a path of spiritual growth is that you want to go deeper ... and then you come to silence."
Kubota and Conley are currently taking training in mentoring from Mercy Center, a Burlingame, Calif., retreat movement run by Catholic nuns. They will offer individual spiritual counseling and direction after attaining credentials, Conley said.
Next on the schedule for Spiritual Life Center is a workshop next Friday and Saturday on "Uncovering the Hidden Self," to be taught by Dominican Sister Mary Neill, who teaches theology and philosophy at the University of San Francisco. Neill uses journaling and mask-making to ponder the self we present to God and others.
Many people find the prospect of solitary prayer and silent contemplation daunting.
"Most of our churches are busy, full of activities. Most of us overload ourselves," said Conley.
"The people we see are the ones who are in that zone where they are asking questions, seeking guidance, looking at how to spend the rest of their lives. You don't see young kids at these.
"A retreat is an opportunity to come aside, be still, listen to the deepest part of them. Just at the beginning, it can be frightening to be alone with your thoughts.
"When you are alone at prayer, it doesn't take too many minutes until you have a sense of God's presence."
RELIGION
View from the Pew
by Mary Adamski
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