The Abode of the Message

{{Short description|Headquarters of the Inayati Sufi order}} {{Coord|42.44325|-73.3789|display=title}} {{Use mdy dates |date=October 2023}} {{Use American English |date=October 2023}} {{Infobox organization | name = The Abode of the Message | image = Abode-main-campus-welcome-sign.jpg | caption = Photo of former sign with Welcome at the top, winged heart below, and Abode of the Message at the bottom | founded = {{Start date|1975}} | founder = Vilayat Inayat Khan | location = 5 Abode Road, New Lebanon, NY, USA | coordinates = {{Coord|42.44325|-73.3789|region:US-NY|display=inline|format=dms}} | origins = Inayati Order | focus = | method = Spiritual intentional community; Conference & retreat center; Former headquarters of the Inayati Order | website = [http://theabode.org/ theabode.org] | footnotes = }} thumb|The Welcome Sign at The Abode in 2025 '''The Abode of the Message''' is a retreat center in New Lebanon, NY which was founded in 1975 by Vilayat Inayat Khan and a group of his students. The Abode has a long history as a residential community, a centralized location for the Inayati order, a conference and retreat center, and a center of esoteric study.<ref name="Jackman1982"/><ref name="Whilden2004"/><ref name="Tulloch2009"/><ref name="Tulloch2010"/> In 2023, its management was transferred to Friends of South Family.<ref name="Friends of South Family 2023">{{Cite web |author=Friends of South Family |date=2023-06-13 |title=About Abode Stewardship |url=https://friendsofsouthfamily.org/abode-stewardship/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Friends of South Family |language=en-US}}</ref> The property is located in the eastern heights of the Taconic Mountains in New Lebanon, New York, and includes historic Shaker buildings built between 1834 and 1870.<ref name="Tulloch2009"/><ref name="Gutek1998"/>

The described intent of the Abode on its founding was stated: 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."<ref name="Abode_vision"/>

==History of the site== thumbnail|left|alt=Photo of a red barn.|Shaker Barn, the Shaker community's horse barnMost of the Abode's Main Campus structures were built in the mid-19th century by the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village community as housing and workspaces for their South Family group.<ref name="Tulloch2009"/><ref name="Tulloch2010"/> Formally established in 1787, the New Lebanon Shaker Society (renamed the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society in 1861<ref name="Stein1994"/><ref name="NRHP"/>) 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.<ref name="Gutek1998"/><ref name="Stein1994"/><ref name="NRHP"/><ref name="ShakerMuseum_MtLebanon"/>

The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village was organized into Family groups living in clustered buildings sited around the property.<ref name="Gutek1998"/><ref name="ShakerMuseum_MtLebanon"/> {{As of|2010}}, three main groups of buildings survive. The Church Family property is occupied by the Darrow School, a private residential high school.<ref name="Becksvoort2000"/><ref name="Darrow_history"/> The North Family property is occupied and being restored by the Shaker Museum, Mount Lebanon.<ref name="Becksvoort2000"/><ref name="ShakerMuseum_history"/> The South Family property was owned by the Shaker Village Work Group<ref name="Becksvoort2000"/> (a camp for urban teenagers established in 1947 as the Shaker Village Work Camp and later renamed<ref name="Opdahl2004"/>) until it was purchased in 1975 for the Inayati Order, which established it as a new residential spiritual community—The Abode of the Message.<ref name="Sutton2003"/><ref name="Abode_history"/>

In April 2022, the Inayati Order announced that they could no longer hold financial responsibility for the Abode, and expressed the hope "to sell to a compatible and aligned organization that would continue to hold the land as sacred."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Media |first=Inayatiyya Digital |date=2022-04-12 |title=An Important Update About the Abode of the Message |url=https://inayatiyya.org/an-important-update-about-the-abode-of-the-message/ |access-date=2022-10-15 |website=Inayatiyya |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2023, an agreement was reached between the Order and the Friends of South Family "to transfer sole membership in the Abode to [the] Friends."<ref name="Friends of South Family 2023"/>

==Facilities== The Abode occupies approximately {{convert|320|acre|km2|1}} 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.<ref name="Tulloch2010"/>

===Main Campus=== thumbnail|alt=Photo of a wooden building with a winged heart logo over the door.|Meditation Hall on the Main Campus, a replica of a Shaker-style apple barn.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."<ref name="Tulloch2009"/> 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-caning shop. ''Mughni'' is the former Shaker trustees building. ''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'' was built in 1975 by Abode community members, and is used as 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.<ref name="Tulloch2009"/><ref name="Tulloch2010"/><ref name="Abode_retreats"/>

===Mountain Camp=== thumbnail|alt=Photo of a large white tent on a wooden platform with stairs leading up to it.|Main Tent, at the Mountain Conference Center.The ''Mountain Camp'' hosts large group events for the Abode and The Inayati Order as well as being available as a woodland conference center.<ref name="Tulloch2009"/> The Mountain Camp comprises dining pavilions 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.

==References== {{Reflist|3|refs= <ref name="Jackman1982">Jackman 1982.</ref> <ref name="Abode_vision">[http://www.abode-of-the-message.org/calendar/content/vision Vision for the Abode] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814163928/http://www.abode-of-the-message.org/calendar/content/vision |date=2010-08-14 }}. ''Abode of the Message website.'' Retrieved 12 August 2010</ref> <ref name="Whilden2004">Whilden 2004.</ref> <ref name="Tulloch2009">Tulloch 2009.</ref> <ref name="Tulloch2010">Tulloch 2010.</ref> <ref name="NRHP">"The Mount Lebanon Shaker Society". ''National Register of Historic Places (USA) website.'' Retrieved 26 August 2010.</ref> <ref name="ShakerMuseum_MtLebanon">[http://www.shakermuseumandlibrary.org/mtlebanon.html About Mount Lebanon Shaker Village] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905094353/http://www.shakermuseumandlibrary.org/mtlebanon.html |date=2010-09-05 }}. ''Shaker Museum and Library website.'' Retrieved 26 August 2010.</ref> <ref name="Gutek1998">Gutek 1998.</ref> <ref name="Stein1994">Stein 1994.</ref> <ref name="Becksvoort2000">Becksvoort & Sheldon 2000.</ref> <ref name="Darrow_history">[http://www.darrowschool.org/page.cfm?p=94 Darrow School: A unique sense of place] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012011018/http://www.darrowschool.org/page.cfm?p=94 |date=2007-10-12 }}. ''Darrow School website.'' Darrow School. Retrieved 25 August 2010</ref> <ref name="ShakerMuseum_history">[http://www.shakermuseumandlibrary.org/history.html Museum history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604073154/http://www.shakermuseumandlibrary.org/history.html |date=2010-06-04 }}. ''Shaker Museum and Library website.'' Retrieved 25 August 2010.</ref> <ref name="Opdahl2004">Opdahl & Woodruff Opdahl 2004.</ref> <ref name="Sutton2003">Sutton 2003.</ref> <ref name="Abode_history">[http://www.abode-of-the-message.org/calendar/content/history The Early Years of the Abode of the Message] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814152820/http://www.abode-of-the-message.org/calendar/content/history |date=2010-08-14 }}. ''Abode of the Message website.'' Retrieved 12 August 2010.</ref> <ref name="Abode_retreats">[http://www.abode-of-the-message.org/calendar/content/individual-spiritual-retreats Abode of the Message: Individual spiritual retreats] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815044547/http://www.abode-of-the-message.org/calendar/content/individual-spiritual-retreats |date=2010-08-15 }}. ''Abode of the Message website.'' Retrieved 26 August 2010.</ref>

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'''Newspapers and magazines'''

* {{Cite journal |ref=refJackman1982 |last1=Jackman |first1=Kule |last2=Jackman |first2=Barkat |date=April 1982 |title=The Abode of the Message |issue=53 |pages=27–28 |oclc=3130385 |issn=0199-9346 |publisher=Communities Publications Cooperative |location=Louisa, VA |url=http://communities.ic.org/back_issues/ |access-date=2010-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628220352/http://communities.ic.org/back_issues/ |archive-date=2006-06-28 |url-status=dead |journal=Communities: Journal of Cooperative Living}} — Issue entitled "Spiritual Communities." Magazine is now published by the Fellowship for Intentional Community. * {{Cite journal |ref=refKuller1977 |last=Kuller |first=Doris |date=28 March 1977 |title=Ten journeys for the spirit |volume=10 |issue=13 |pages=56–57 |location=Boulder, CO |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YOMCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56 |journal=New York magazine}} — Reviews of several spiritual retreat centers in the NYC area, including the Abode.

* {{Cite news |ref = refTulloch2009 |last = Tulloch |first = Tim |title = Abode of the Message hires a master planner |newspaper = Country Life section in The Independent |location = Hillsdale, NY |pages = 1, 24 |oclc = 25235262 |url = http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=248&dept_id=462336&newsid=20254230&PAG=461&rfi=9 |date = 3 February 2009 |access-date = 9 August 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }} (also [https://web.archive.org/web/20110709012654/http://www.denniswedlick.com/magpdfs/CountryLife_Feb09.pdf archived], 4 February 2009) — Extensive reporting about the Abode, its history, and activities. * {{Cite news |ref = refTulloch2010 |last = Tulloch |first = Tim |title = Abode plans to grow... carefully |newspaper = The Columbia Paper |location = New Lebanon, NY |page = 11 |date = 4 February 2010 |url = http://www.columbiapaper.com/index.php/the-news/872-by-tim-tulloch |access-date = 9 August 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101215161054/http://columbiapaper.com/index.php/the-news/872-by-tim-tulloch |archive-date = 2010-12-15 |url-status = dead }} Volume 1, number 43. — A Master Plan was created for the Abode by Dennis Wedlick Architects LLC. Article reviews its contents in the context of the site's history. * {{Cite news |ref = refVirtanen2008 |last = Virtanen |first = Michael |title = Religious retreats: Head to the Catskills |newspaper = Associated Press at Yahoo! News |date = 24 July 2008 |url = https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20080724/ap_tr_ge/travel_trip_ny_religious_retreats |access-date = 9 August 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080821005450/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20080724/ap_tr_ge/travel_trip_ny_religious_retreats |archive-date = 2008-08-21 |url-status = dead }} — Reviews of several spiritual retreat centers in the downstate NY area, including the Abode.

'''Books'''

* {{Cite book | ref = refBecksvoort2000 | last1 = Becksvoort | first1 = Christian | last2 = Sheldon | first2 = John | title = The Shaker Legacy: Perspectives on an Enduring Furniture Style | publisher = Taunton Press | year = 2000 | location = Newtown, CT | pages = 54–55 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SvNd-yJUDW0C&pg=PA54 | oclc = 38925149 | isbn = 978-1-56158-357-7}} — Describes some history of the South Family lands ownership by the Shakers, then the Shaker Village Work Camp, then the Sufi Order International. * {{Cite book | editor = Fellowship for Intentional Community | chapter = Abode of the Message | title = Communities Directory: A Guide to Cooperative Living | publisher = Fellowship for Intentional Community | year = 1995 | location = Langley, WA | page = 212 | oclc = 32418632 | isbn = 978-0-9602714-3-6}} — The page number and the book's name differ slightly in other editions (1990 edition, {{ISBN|978-0-9602714-0-5}}; 1996 ed., {{ISBN|978-0-9602714-4-3}}; 2000 ed., {{ISBN|978-0-9602714-8-1}}; 2005 ed., {{ISBN|978-0-9718264-2-7}}; 2007 ed., {{ISBN|978-0-9718264-3-4}}; 2010 ed., {{ISBN|978-0-9718264-5-8}}) * {{Cite book | ref = refGutek1998 | last = Gutek | first = Gerald Lee | title = Visiting Utopian Communities: A Guide to the Shakers, Moravians, and Others | publisher = University of South Carolina Press | year = 1998 | location = Columbia, SC | pages = 43–48 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qv3x8KHreBsC&pg=PA43 | oclc = 36343343 | isbn = 978-1-57003-210-3}} — Extended history of the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village, including the South Family site.  * {{Cite book | last1 = Melton | first1 = J. Gordon | last2 = Clark | first2 = Jerome | last3 = Kelly | first3 = Aidan A. | title = New Age Encyclopedia: A Guide to the Beliefs, Concepts, Terms, People, and Organizations... | publisher = Gale Research | year = 1990 | location = Detroit, MI | pages = 1, 127, 142 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GoEYAAAAIAAJ | oclc = 20022610 | isbn = 978-0-8103-7159-0}} * {{Cite book | ref = refMiller1999 | last = Miller | first = Timothy | title = The 60s Communes: Hippies and Beyond | publisher = Syracuse University Press | year = 1999 | location = Syracuse, NY | pages = 115–116 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wVLu4F1aOgcC&pg=PA115 | oclc = 41662601 | isbn = 978-0-8156-0601-7}} — Describes the origins of the Abode as a spiritual commune. * {{Cite book | ref = refOpdahl2004 | last1 = Opdahl | first1 = Robert C. | last2 = Woodruff Opdahl | first2 = Viola E. | title = A Shaker Musical Legacy | publisher = University Press of New England | year = 2004 | location = Lebanon, NH | pages = xvii-xviii | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v6hQxV3fD_oC&pg=PR18 | oclc = 56550805 | isbn = 978-1-58465-360-8}} — Describes the purchase of the South Family property in 1947 by Jerry and Sybil Count, who established the Shaker Village Work Camp, later renamed the Shaker Village Work Group in 1967, and finally the Shaker Village Educational Work Foundation. * {{Cite book | ref = refStein1994 | last = Stein | first = Stephen J. | title = The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 1994 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UHUP_-cBln0C | oclc = 185691696 | isbn = 978-0-300-05933-5}} — An extensive history of the Shakers. * {{Cite book | ref = refSutton2003 | last = Sutton | first = Robert P. | title = Communal Utopias and the American Experience: Religious Communities, 1732-2000 | publisher = Praeger Publishers | year = 2003 | location = Westport, CT | pages = 161–163 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I72_6-4spGgC&pg=161 | oclc = 50725639 | isbn = 978-0-275-97554-8}} — Some detailed history of the Abode. * {{Cite book | last = Sutton | first = Robert P. | title = Modern American Communes: A Dictionary | publisher = Greenwood Press | year = 2005 | location = Westport, CT | pages = 3–4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pA01_CvpCsIC&pg=PA3 | oclc = 56894538 | isbn = 978-0-313-32181-8}} — An abbreviated version of Sutton 2003. * {{Cite book | ref = refWebb1995 | last = Webb | first = Gisela | editor1-last = Miller | editor1-first = Timothy | chapter = Sufism in America | title = America's Alternative Religions | publisher = State University of New York Press | year = 1995 | location = Albany, NY | page = 254 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=og_u0Re1uwUC&pg=PA254 | oclc = 30476551 | isbn = 978-0-7914-2398-1}} — A short history of the Sufi Order International, with a few paragraphs about the Abode.

==External links== *{{Official website|https://www.theabode.org/|Official website for the Abode of the Message}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abode Of The Message}} Category:Sufi organizations Category:Inayati Order Category:Buildings and structures in Columbia County, New York Category:Organizations established in 1975 Category:1975 establishments in New York (state)