First Impressions of the
Sunray Peace Village and the Valley
I came to Lincoln, Vermont in the spring of 2002 to attend a seminar lead by Venerable Dhyani Ywahoo and during my four days there I was able to walk the Peace Village a few times. I came to hear the person whose practice I'd been following, through video and written lessons, on my own for about four years. I'd never been to Lincoln, VT, didn't know anything about Tibetan Buddhism, and had never done the practice in community with others on similar paths. But what I did have was a love of labyrinths; their power, their symbology, and their ability to bring diverse groups together harmoniously simply by walking a unicursal path together. And when I walked the Peace Village with its breathtaking location, its swiftly flowing stream full of quartz crystals, and its leys that caused the ground to vibrate under my feet, I was confronted with the certainty that a labyrinth was supposed to be built somewhere on the property.
I was staying with my friend, Lucrezia Mangione at a B&B down the road and hesitantly mentioned this idea to her at one point during the weekend. She, knowing my passion and dedication, but also knowing that the Cherokee/Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the Peace Village might not embrace a practice seemingly steeped in Catholic and pre-Christian symbols, was cautiously encouraging. So I walked the Peace Village land again and again and the more I walked it, the louder the instructions from Spirit came, "Build a labyrinth here!" I didn't think Spirit meant I was to do it...after all I was busy with my children and my life on Long Island, NY, but it was supposed to be built for sure. I mentioned it again to Lu and told her I was going to approach Venerable and see what happened. What's the worst that could happen I reasoned; she could laugh as if my request was a joke or very sternly tell me that a labyrinth was not an appropriate symbol for a Native American/Buddhist retreat center.
Well, that is not what happened. I had not spoken to Venerable at all during the seminar, I was a neophyte and a bit intimidated, but when I told her what I'd experienced on the land and that the land, I believed, was asking for a labyrinth, she replied without a moment's hesitation, "Absolutely! When can you start?" Oh boy, talk about doing a hummida, hummida! My life flashed before my eyes in those immediate seconds afterwards wondering how on earth I was supposed to honor Venerable's challenge to walk my talk. Well, my passion for labyrinths involved trusting their well-documented ability to part the waters and manifest themselves no matter what, so I decided to do just that and the rest is history. The Peace Village Lotus Labyrinth, located next to the Ceremonial Arbor, has been a part of the Sunray Peace Village for over five years now drawing people in to community and supporting the Sunray Peace Village community's path.
Christiana Brinton
