Inside the deep mist

creaking of ancient wood speaks

meditation house.

The Last Quiet Places – this is the title of a book by author Gordon Hempton. In it he writes of the silence and presence of everything. The book describes the act of listening to the dawning of a new day in a mist-covered field, or sitting in a forest primeval and hearing over distances all the things around you for miles.

Serenity Lake is a place where I could imagine doing this throughout the changing seasons. Even before I purchased this new Lockwood space, the description had my attention. The practice of meditation is a big part of my life. I have practiced some form of meditation since 1999.

As sometimes happens in our lives, we become over-burdened with the hectic pace of being. We become such a ball of constant tension that we are overwhelmed with mountains of trivial circumstance. Mentally and physically we are drained. The summer of that year found me in a new stage of illness and exhaustion from everything, I was drained.  I needed a way to find peace; to find what I knew was a better way of coping with everything in my life. In my search I turned to a favorite reading genre, eastern cultures. I began reading books on meditation, philosophy and de-stressing.

I was drawn more and more to the philosophies of Buddhism and the ideas of meditation having an effect on our health. Silencing the mind can silence the body, and allow different forms of healing. Mindful meditation and the tenet of always being mindful of yourself and others was important to me. To be mindful is to be in the moment, always. When I entered Serenity Lake I felt a wonderful sense of excitement. The words of Gordon Hempton’s book came to mind, as well as an experience I was privileged to be a part of this past summer: our city was host to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. In May, a special edition of The Festival of Faiths was held in his honor.

The Festival of Faiths is an interfaith conference that takes place usually in November; this special summer event was planned here and lasted a week. I attended several days’ worth of events, ending with seeing his Holiness speak. Several meditation workshops and events were held as part of this week. In these sessions meditation was taught and lectured on as a means to enhance the sameness in us all. It was spoken of as a way to deepen whatever religious practice you observe, again emphasizing the sameness in all of us.

Many of the speakers, including His Holiness, spoke of a place to meditate; a retreat, if you will, to be in silence. When they spoke of this retreat, most spoke of a place situated away from the busy world. A place in nature to find peace, a place not touched by the turmoil or confusion of a world lost to itself. As I listened to these speakers I could imagine such a place. A place, where what we perceive as silence, changes to the sounds of our own breathing as we meditate, looking into ourselves. What begins as deafening silence, becomes the sounds of life all around us, these speakers described hearing their own heartbeat for the first time in the silence before there was meditative silence, that space where we are born, and renewed. The retreat where we find the sounds of waterfalls, gusts of wind, birds, frogs, bees, dragonflies and every living thing from miles around us blending into a harmonious stream of calm. In such a retreat it is possible to not become lost, but to find oneself. Serenity Lake captures this image for me. In such places of retreat it is possible to find outer peace as the peace within grows and spreads.

A meditation pagoda, a place to sit, and observe your environment visually and aurally, sits atop a floating deck. The deck ambles along anchored mysteriously floating in the lakes center. The movement is subtle yet realistic.  A 360 degree view is achieved as the deck floats, allowing the shoreline and the surrounding mountain forest to enfold you, along with its hidden animal life. Remnants of an ancient temple dot the landscape, solid gateway reminders of your purpose in this water centered retreat. Stone lanterns stand sentinel on the four sides of the deck. These light up at your touch, adding their warm glow to the scene. A small boat is tethered to the dock, floating just far enough but not away from the deck; from this perch you are offered a view of the floating pagoda.

Images of cranes grace the old wooden door frames carved in high relief, a symbol of longevity and auspiciousness. Inside, the space is the perfect size for meditation, solitary or with friends. Two hanging Oriental lanterns sway in the gently lit room, over a blue-grey Koi motif rug, the Koi a symbol of worthy aspiration and achievement, strength and courage. Working shutters cover the three walls of the pagoda where glimpses of the land around you, is visible.

A water feature, the shishi-odoshi, sits at the back of the pagoda doubles as a sozu. The movement of this feature is that of constant balancing, a goal of meditation. Lockwood shows a depth of understanding of meditation, in creating this new space; completely different from any of their previous spaces. Oddly enough, I am a person who wants to have open spaces in my personal space, to explore, but I don’t find it necessary in this space. In this space the separateness is necessary to maintain the feel and purpose of the meditation pagoda.

Serenity Lake is easily going to be one of my favorite spaces. It is already my favorite Lockwood estate.

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One Response to “Serenity Lake”

1. Gary160974 says:

   November 29, 2013 at 8:18 am

   Not my sort of thing, but I could imagine the problems of home or your real environment encroaching in on your peaceful place. The occasional network issue kicking you from home, friends sending invites and messages and the noise from outside my window wouldn’t make this a peaceful place for me. But I’m lucky I’ve got plenty of outdoor areas nearby that I can find very peaceful places in

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