The Abode of the Message
Encyclopedia
The Abode of the Message is a Universal Sufi
community founded in 1975 by Vilayat Inayat Khan
. The Abode is the central residential community of the Sufi Order International
, a conference and retreat center, and a center of esoteric study. It is also home to the current spiritual leader of the Sufi Order International, Zia Inayat-Khan. The Abode is located in the eastern heights of the Taconic Mountains
in New Lebanon, New York
, and housed in historic Shaker buildings built between 1834 and 1870.
The described intent of the Abode as a community is to "collectively embody spiritual awakening," through "mutual commitment to practicing...the Sufi teachings," "shared devotion to the ideals of Love, Harmony and Beauty, and to the specific transformational work whereby these ideals are progressively realized," for "mutual dedication and visionary collaboration."
community as housing and workspaces for their South Family group. Formally established in 1787, the New Lebanon Shaker Society
(renamed the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society in 1861) was the second major Shaker
society formed in the recently created United States of America. The society established its home at the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village, which became the primary Shaker spiritual residential community.
The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
was organized into Family groups living in clustered buildings sited around the property. Three main groups of buildings survive as of 2010. The Church Family property is occupied by the Darrow School
, a private residential high school. The North Family property is occupied and being restored by the Shaker Museum and Library
historical society. The South Family property was owned by the Shaker Village Work Group
(a camp for urban teenagers established in 1947 as the Shaker Village Work Camp and later renamed) until it was purchased in 1975 for the Sufi Order International
, which established it as a new spiritual residential community—The Abode of the Message.
Today the Abode continues as one of the few enduring intentional communities among those that arose by the thousands from North America's new spirituality movement
and the 1960s counterculture
. The Abode community meets for common meals in the Rezak Hall dining room, also used for that purpose by the South Family Shakers. There are also regular classes and events associated with the activities of the Sufi Order International
. The Abode’s revenue sources include rent from residents, leasing space on the Main Campus to the Mountain Road School and the Flying Deer Nature Center, operating a meditation Retreat Center, and event facility rentals of meeting and housing space on the Main Campus and the Mountain Conference Center.
The Abode community in 2010 included approximately 40 adults and 10 to 12 children living in houses along Chair Factory Road and apartments in Main Campus buildings, as well as off-site members living in the area. The population expands with temporary staff and students during the summer. The Abode’s extended community includes past residents and the many Sufi Order members who regularly or occasionally attend events at the Abode, numbering several thousand.
The Abode Retreat Center arranges individual, spiritual meditative retreats of three to forty days, either in a private retreat hut or cabin, or a room in the Meditation Hall. A certified retreat guide meets at least once daily with the retreatant to suggest the day's schedule of practices and to offer feedback on the retreatant's experience.
The Sufi Order International Secretariat is the headquarters for the Sufi Order International, which founded the Abode of the Message. Suluk Academy is a school of esoteric studies that holds classes at the Abode as part of a program of one-, two-, or four-year courses of intensive study, training and practice in the Sufi path. The Abode Organic Farm includes 5 acre (0.0202343 km²) of organic vegetable gardens with 35 landscaped beds, a greenhouse, and flower and herb gardens.
Some additional activities based at the Abode are listed below under External links.
shop. The Abode Healing Arts Center is in Alim, the former Shaker trustees building. Several B&B-style rooms are in Mughni, and Fatah (the 1867 Shaker women's workhouse) holds men's and women's dorms. Recently renovated, the Shaker Barn was built in 1850 as a horse barn, but now hosts offices and art studios. The Meditation Hall is the former Shaker apple barn, transformed into a sacred space used for public events. Three personal retreat huts are located in the Retreat Hut Field on the hill behind the Meditation Hall, and several retreat huts and cabins are situated beside a stream south of the Shaker Barn.
Universal Sufism
Universal Sufism is a universalist spiritual movement founded by Hazrat Inayat Khan while traveling throughout the West between 1910 and 1926, based on unity of all people and religions and the presence of spiritual guidance in all people, places and things. It is to some extent influenced by the ...
community founded in 1975 by Vilayat Inayat Khan
Vilayat Inayat Khan
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, was the eldest son of Sufi Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, head of the Sufi Order International. Pir Zia Inayat Khan is Pir Vilayat's son and successor as Pir of the Sufi Order International...
. The Abode is the central residential community of the Sufi Order International
Sufi Order International
The Sufi Order International is an organization dedicated to "Universal Sufism" as elaborated by Hazrat Inayat Khan.The order is currently led by Pir Zia Inayat Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan and son of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan....
, a conference and retreat center, and a center of esoteric study. It is also home to the current spiritual leader of the Sufi Order International, Zia Inayat-Khan. The Abode is located in the eastern heights of the Taconic Mountains
Taconic Mountains
The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range are a physiographic section of the larger New England province and part of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western...
in New Lebanon, New York
New Lebanon, New York
New Lebanon is a town in Columbia County, New York, U.S., southeast of Albany. In 1910, 1,378 people lived in New Lebanon, New York. The population was 2,454 at the 2000 census.The town of New Lebanon is in the northeast part of Columbia County...
, and housed in historic Shaker buildings built between 1834 and 1870.
The described intent of the Abode as a community is to "collectively embody spiritual awakening," through "mutual commitment to practicing...the Sufi teachings," "shared devotion to the ideals of Love, Harmony and Beauty, and to the specific transformational work whereby these ideals are progressively realized," for "mutual dedication and visionary collaboration."
History of the site
Most of the Abode's Main Campus structures were built in the mid-19th century by the Mount Lebanon Shaker VillageMount Lebanon Shaker Village
The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village is a historic site associated with the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination. Founded as a communal group in the 1780s, the Shakers located their central Ministry in New Lebanon, New York, USA, and built a village that eventually covered several thousand...
community as housing and workspaces for their South Family group. Formally established in 1787, the New Lebanon Shaker Society
Mount Lebanon Shaker Society
Mount Lebanon Shaker Society, also known as New Lebanon Shaker Society, was a communal settlement of Shakers in New Lebanon, New York. The early Shaker Ministry, including Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright, the architects of Shakers' gender-balanced government, lived there.Isaac N. Youngs, the...
(renamed the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society in 1861) was the second major Shaker
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
society formed in the recently created United States of America. The society established its home at the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village, which became the primary Shaker spiritual residential community.
The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village is a historic site associated with the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination. Founded as a communal group in the 1780s, the Shakers located their central Ministry in New Lebanon, New York, USA, and built a village that eventually covered several thousand...
was organized into Family groups living in clustered buildings sited around the property. Three main groups of buildings survive as of 2010. The Church Family property is occupied by the Darrow School
Darrow School
Darrow School is an Independent co-educational high school. Its New Lebanon campus is a property in the Berkshire Hills, which are a southern extension of the Green Mountains of Vermont.-History:...
, a private residential high school. The North Family property is occupied and being restored by the Shaker Museum and Library
Shaker Museum and Library
The Shaker Museum and Library is a museum/library concerned with the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination. It covers Shaker life and culture. The museum is based in Old Chatham, New York, USA, but is moving to the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village in New Lebanon, New York during 2009.In 1972,...
historical society. The South Family property was owned by the Shaker Village Work Group
Shaker Village Work Group
The Shaker Village Work Group was a recreational summer camp and teen educational program that occupied historic Shaker land and buildings in New Lebanon, New York. The property was purchased by founders Jerome and Sybil A. Count from the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village community in 1946, and was...
(a camp for urban teenagers established in 1947 as the Shaker Village Work Camp and later renamed) until it was purchased in 1975 for the Sufi Order International
Sufi Order International
The Sufi Order International is an organization dedicated to "Universal Sufism" as elaborated by Hazrat Inayat Khan.The order is currently led by Pir Zia Inayat Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan and son of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan....
, which established it as a new spiritual residential community—The Abode of the Message.
Community
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
and the 1960s counterculture
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
. The Abode community meets for common meals in the Rezak Hall dining room, also used for that purpose by the South Family Shakers. There are also regular classes and events associated with the activities of the Sufi Order International
Sufi Order International
The Sufi Order International is an organization dedicated to "Universal Sufism" as elaborated by Hazrat Inayat Khan.The order is currently led by Pir Zia Inayat Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan and son of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan....
. The Abode’s revenue sources include rent from residents, leasing space on the Main Campus to the Mountain Road School and the Flying Deer Nature Center, operating a meditation Retreat Center, and event facility rentals of meeting and housing space on the Main Campus and the Mountain Conference Center.
The Abode community in 2010 included approximately 40 adults and 10 to 12 children living in houses along Chair Factory Road and apartments in Main Campus buildings, as well as off-site members living in the area. The population expands with temporary staff and students during the summer. The Abode’s extended community includes past residents and the many Sufi Order members who regularly or occasionally attend events at the Abode, numbering several thousand.
Activities
The Abode Programs Office administers event scheduling and oversees operations and services for the Abode. The Office operates the Main Campus and the Mountain Camp conference centers, and other Abode facilities that are available to rent for public events. B&B-style housing is also available for individual visitors staying overnight. The Office manages programs for volunteer interns, work-exchange residents, as well as Khidmat, the Abode’s combined work service-study program.The Abode Retreat Center arranges individual, spiritual meditative retreats of three to forty days, either in a private retreat hut or cabin, or a room in the Meditation Hall. A certified retreat guide meets at least once daily with the retreatant to suggest the day's schedule of practices and to offer feedback on the retreatant's experience.
The Sufi Order International Secretariat is the headquarters for the Sufi Order International, which founded the Abode of the Message. Suluk Academy is a school of esoteric studies that holds classes at the Abode as part of a program of one-, two-, or four-year courses of intensive study, training and practice in the Sufi path. The Abode Organic Farm includes 5 acre (0.0202343 km²) of organic vegetable gardens with 35 landscaped beds, a greenhouse, and flower and herb gardens.
Some additional activities based at the Abode are listed below under External links.
Facilities
The Abode occupies approximately 430 acres (1.7 km²) of forest that spans the border between New York State and Massachusetts. Most of its shared community facilities are grouped within two areas, the Main Campus and the Mountain Conference Center.Main Campus
The Main Campus is a cluster of buildings at the south end of Darrow Road, most of which are the original South Family structures of the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village, demonstrating "preservation through use." Many of the buildings are named for spiritual qualities that Sufis value, drawn from the 99 Names of God in Islam. Rezak was the South Family's main communal building and now contains the library and community dining room. Vakil houses the Abode Programs Office, and served as the Shaker chair-caningCaning (furniture)
In the context of furniture, caning is a method of weaving chair seats and other furniture. Caning material is wicker such as cane, or it is derived from the skin of rattan vines native to Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some vines reach 500 feet in length. One of the earliest woven chair...
shop. The Abode Healing Arts Center is in Alim, the former Shaker trustees building. Several B&B-style rooms are in Mughni, and Fatah (the 1867 Shaker women's workhouse) holds men's and women's dorms. Recently renovated, the Shaker Barn was built in 1850 as a horse barn, but now hosts offices and art studios. The Meditation Hall is the former Shaker apple barn, transformed into a sacred space used for public events. Three personal retreat huts are located in the Retreat Hut Field on the hill behind the Meditation Hall, and several retreat huts and cabins are situated beside a stream south of the Shaker Barn.
Mountain Conference Center
The Mountain Conference Center, also called the Mountain Camp, hosts large group events for the Sufi Order International as well as being available as a woodland conference center. The Mountain Camp comprises dining halls and meeting spaces, along with shared bathroom and shower facilities for those staying on the mountain overnight. Meals are prepared in the distinctive octagonal Kitchen building. Housing on the mountain is provided by two shared cabins that hold a total of twenty two-person rooms, sixteen private huts that are simple, rustic retreat huts without electricity, and extensive space for tenting along the mountain's walking paths.See also
- Sufi Order InternationalSufi Order InternationalThe Sufi Order International is an organization dedicated to "Universal Sufism" as elaborated by Hazrat Inayat Khan.The order is currently led by Pir Zia Inayat Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan and son of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan....
- Vilayat Inayat KhanVilayat Inayat KhanPir Vilayat Inayat Khan, was the eldest son of Sufi Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, head of the Sufi Order International. Pir Zia Inayat Khan is Pir Vilayat's son and successor as Pir of the Sufi Order International...
- Community portal
- Mount Lebanon Shaker SocietyMount Lebanon Shaker SocietyMount Lebanon Shaker Society, also known as New Lebanon Shaker Society, was a communal settlement of Shakers in New Lebanon, New York. The early Shaker Ministry, including Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright, the architects of Shakers' gender-balanced government, lived there.Isaac N. Youngs, the...
External links
- The Abode of the Message — Official website for the Abode of the Message.
- Abode Programs Office — Oversees operations and services for the Abode; operates the Main Campus and the Mountain Camp conference centers, and other Abode facilities that are available to rent.
- Sufi Order International (SOI) — Official website for the Sufi Order InternationalSufi Order InternationalThe Sufi Order International is an organization dedicated to "Universal Sufism" as elaborated by Hazrat Inayat Khan.The order is currently led by Pir Zia Inayat Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan and son of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan....
. The SOI Secretariat (central administrative office) is located at the Abode. - Suluk Academy — School of esoteric studies that holds classes at the Abode as part of a program of one-, two-, or four-year courses of intensive study, training and practice in the Sufi path.
- Sufi Healing Order — Promotes healing practices as taught by Hazrat Inayat Khan, and maintains its central office at the Abode.
- Sacred Spirit Music — Publishes and distributes sacred music and spiritual teachings, emphasizing but not limited to the Sufi tradition. Based at the Abode.
- Flying Deer Nature Center — Operates a summer camp on the Abode grounds.
- Omega Publications — Publishes and distributes books associated with the Sufi Order, Sufi path and other sacred paths. Based at the Abode.
- Mountain Road School — Private primary school that was first established to teach the children of Abode residents (see Sutton 2003), but is now an independent school that leases its space on the Main Campus.