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Surry Is Home to
Morgan Bay Zendo
Residents and
visitors alike tend to emphasize the quiet, rural nature of Surry
when describing the town.
Those qualities are
prominent at the 18-acre home of the Morgan Bay Zendo.
Located off the
Morgan Bay Road,
the Zendo comprises a meditation hall and a meeting hall set in a
forested area on a slope with views across Morgan Bay to Mount
Desert Island.
The meeting hall
includes a kitchen, bathroom and small apartment. There are five
small cabins on the property.
Walking trails and
a one-acre moss garden provide those who come to practice meditation
with a natural quietness.
Founded by Walter
Nowick in 1971 as Moon Spring Hermitage, the retreat has welcomed
guests from throughout the world.
It became Morgan
Bay Zendo in 1985 when Nowick stepped down to dedicate his time to
other pursuits.
“We’ve been growing
ever since,” said Hugh Curran, one of seven Zendo trustees. “Every
year, we add another retreat and more workshops.”
The Zendo offers
guests an opportunity to practice Buddhist meditation, regardless of
their background or faith.
Buddhist meditation
is a means of awakening an individual’s inherent wisdom and
compassion.
To facilitate such
awakenings, the Zendo offers retreats and meditation sessions each
week from May to December.
For instance,
Rohatsu, the observance of Buddha’s enlightenment, will be
celebrated with a week of intensive sitting sessions at the Zendo
from Dec. 1 through Dec. 8.
Other retreats
feature visiting teachers, such as Nancy Hathaway Highsmith, who
will conduct a retreat entitled “Being Present with Our Children”
next spring.
“Write Meditation,”
a retreat which alternates sitting meditations with writing
exercises will return next summer for its third annual appearance.
Other retreat
topics include “A Loving Kindness Retreat,” “Zen and Yoga,” and “Zen
and Native American Traditions.”
Curran said the
Zendo has become more community-oriented in recent years, reaching
out “to help people learn to concentrate their minds, be more
focused and attentive and become more responsible as members of
communities and families.”
He said the Zendo
is often host to social gatherings as well as meditation groups.
Visitors to the
Zendo come from various parts of the country and from other
countries.
Invariably, they
share a common reaction:
“People are stunned
by how beautiful it is,” Curran said. |
