The Abode of the Message, a Sufi retreat center in New Lebanon NY, is a great place to get your feel good chemicals flowing, raise your consciousness and connect with the divine. It has what Sufi’s call a barakah, or spiritual power or blessing from God that exists at divine or holy places. Located near the NY/Massachusetts border on 400 acres where the utopian New Lebanon Shaker Village once stood, it is only a few hours (3) drive from major metro centers such as NYC and Boston, less than 30 minutes from Albany. It provides an excellent opportunity to experience Mother Earth’s soul.

Sufi Order International

The Abode was founded in 1975 by Pir Vilayat Inayat whose father Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat brought the Sufi message of unity to North America in 1910. He started the Sufi Order International that looks to unite humanity through community and knowledge. Among other things this mystical order advocates tolerance and the study of other faith traditions.

When reading about Pir-o-Murshid Inayat one cannot help think of Swami Vivekananda who introduced Vedanta to North America in 1893 and his retreat center in the Thousand Islands in the heart of Mother’s Earth soul where he achieved the highest state of Samadhi. The Dali Lama who chose to set up his North American headquarters in Ithaca NY, ( Namgyal) in Mother Earth’s soul, also comes to mind.

Experiencing The Abode

What is special about the Abode is that its main buildings are surrounded by fields of consciousness (fields can raise your consciousnes.) This along with the intentions and prayers of its community members gives it a great vibe, or instills a good feeling within. I call the thoughts that linger at a place geographic samskaras and they can either hinder or enhance your spiritual experience. It really felt good to be there, particularly after having driven from Syracuse through some pretty unenlightened places.

Another special feature about the Abode of the Message is that has several stacked fields of consciousness far from the heart of Mother Earth’s soul, the Rochester Utica corridor. Stacked fields of consciousness are fields that are placed one upon each other—the greater the number the stronger the formation is. Six fields upon each other are quite common in the Rochester Utica corridor and increasingly rarer the farther you get away. Being so far east of Albany and almost in Massachusetts, it is incredible to find such a formation.

Where to Go

In front of the altar in the Meditation Hall there is a stacked (5) field of consciousness. Very Nice. Facing the altar it extends from the right side of the altar to about 5 feet beyond the left side. It begins about 5 feet in front of the altar and extends to about 20 feet in front of it.

The bench in the parking lot and the stream by its side is situated on a stacked (6) field of consciousness. Don’t be intimated by the cars. Whoever decided to put the bench there must have at sensed that it was a sweet spot.

Make sure to check out the stream bed in the woods by the upper parking lot across the street from the main buildings. You will find an old sacred site. There are some large cables there that distract from the flora. Across the stream you will see two very large stones. Directly in front of the smaller stone, when you are facing the two stones so that they are aligned in a straight line, is a natural vortex of cosmic prana.

Cosmic prana is the highest form of prana that contains more consciousness than energy. When we pray/meditate/do ritual Mother Earth sends us cosmic prana. It helps raise our consciousness and makes us more compassionate. Over time if we keep doing spiritual exercises at a particular place a cosmic prana vortex may form. (Click to read about energy vortices.)

I love to meditate in ancient cosmic prana vortices, not so much for an extra dose or cosmic prana, but because I am tapping into the aspirations, thoughts, dreams and reaching for the divine of all the others that have worked with Mother Earth to create the vortex. It is your chance to spiritually connect with them and transcend history and time. This can be invigorating and fortifying as you are absorbing the highest essences of those that have come before. You are tapping into the mystical power of oneness. Thank you GOD!

An Old Sacred Site.

The cosmic prana vortex is old and tells me that the grounds of the Abode are an old sacred site. We know that the spiritual community of Shakers lived there before. Did they create the vortex or was it an old Native American tribe?

A historian told me that the Shakers in the now modern day Watervliet would go into the woods for their ecstatic dancing and prayers, so it is possible that the stones were such a place.

If you go

The Abode of the Message offers offers courses and workshops. It also acts as a conference and retreat center. It even has an esoteric school. The Abode of the Message is located in the Old Shaker Village in New Lebanon NY at the top of the hill. For directions to get there click on Directions , for visuals click on maps.

Peace,
In emailing me make sure to change (at) to @ in the address header: madis senner

Madis Senner

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