Walk

More about Bud

A Dream Coming True!

What is the Dream?

Hello and welcome. My name is Bud. I was in the computer field for many years and also practiced a number of the healing arts. In the early 1990's I formulated a dream of developing a retreat and renewal center and dedicating myself full time to the healing arts and teaching. In 1998 I was introduced to the Chartres Labyrinth and my focus changed to making this healing tool available as a big part of my new dream.

One early morning, August 31, 1999 at 2:00 AM, lying in bed in San Diego, something happened. It was different then any thing I have ever experienced. I had a life wake up call and let me tell you, it changed my life. If it were not for that night The Healing Labyrinth might still just be a dream.

That night I made the choice to go live my dream. The moment I chose to live my dream, all of the pieces started to fall into place. While reading in a requested real estate magazine, I discovered a likely property in Bandon, Oregon. With help from friends in the area, I got more details, pictures and first hand reports on this six plus acre property. I was guided to make an offer without even seeing the place. As confirmation, the house I was renting in San Diego was put up for sale four hours after I faxed off my offer.

Escrow on the Bandon property closed in 40 days. I left my high paying job. Got rid of my car, some household goods and furniture. Packed up the rest in a 24 foot Ryder truck and with the help of my friend, Alan, drove to Bandon to see and move into my new home. So, less than a total of four months from the wake up call, on December 23rd, I was living in Bandon, Oregon in a large rustic rural home on a very beautiful tree surrounded hilltop overlooking the Coquille River. This was a perfect place to build the labyrinth and offer healing related workshops.

Oh yes, Alan - well he fell in love with this place too. He came back six months later to help me for about six months to prepare this place for its purpose as a place of healing and participate in the on going activities. Alan continues to visit The Healing Labyrinth yearly and his on going help and dedication to the mission is much appreciated.

The Healing Labyrinth and Serenity Gardens

The Healing Labyrinth is my dream, a place of healing, and my home. The large house is nestled in the trees on a hill overlooking the Coquille River and is located a mile from the Bandon city limits.

This peaceful private property is surrounded by a state park on three sides with the southern view overlooking the river. Across the river is a national wildlife refuge that extends into the city limits. The Pacific Ocean is only a mile and a quarter walk through the park, which has many nature trails, picnic areas, fishing, boating and camping facilities.

The labyrinth, which is available to the community at large, is being used regularly. The design is a 48 foot outdoor version of the 11 circuit Chartres Cathredral model from about 1220 A.D. This part of the dream was a result of watching a TV interview with Reverend Doctor Lauren Artress of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The beauty, mystery of the sacred geometry and a history of the nearly 800 years of healing results for those who walked this labyrinth convinced me to choose the HealingLabyrinth@juno.com as my e-mail address and dedicate my dream to the creation of a space on which to actually place a Healing Labyrinth.

The labyrinth circuits are bounded with river rock and the paths are of packed sand. The setting of the labyrinth, the paths and grounds around the labyrinth are becoming a nature garden with native plants, flowers and herbs. Plans for the Serenity Gardens include benches, gates, trellis, arbors, ponds and waterfalls as the garden matures. The walk paths throughout the gardens are grass or sand bound by triple rows of river rock.

We offer Reiki, Johrei, massage, acupuncture, exercise, gardening, prayer, ministerial counseling, and the Ken Keyes "The Science of Happiness" - "Living Love" methods. We are well versed in A Course in Miracles, Science of Mind and a number of other spiritual practices. We are open to hosting workshops, seminars and other related programs.

This is what this place is all about.

The Labyrinth is a path of prayer. A journey in Faith. A pilgrimage. A way of walking meditatively. A powerful spiritual experience. Anyone seeking inner Wisdom may use a labyrinth. As you step into a labyrinth you are entering sacred ground. Follow the winding path into the center. Open your mind to the Spirit within. Seek the truth, direction and enlightenment. Stand or sit a while in the center before retracing your steps.

As you reenter the busy world, may your mind and spirit be more aware of the holy in your life. The labyrinth experience will help you know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

What Is It?

The labyrinth is a divine imprint found in many religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking the labyrinth we rediscover a long forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting on being reborn.

No one knows when or where labyrinths were first used. Some labyrinths, the Crete Labyrinth, for example dates back as far as 4,000 years.

Unlike a maze, the labyrinth has no tricks or dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives; it touches our sorrows and releases our joys. Walk it with an open mind and an open heart.

Labyrinths are designed in accordance with sacred geometry, based on ancient knowledge that was intuitively articulated in many forms. Through proportion, placement and position, using a complementary system of numbers, angles and designs, the mind is induced to a state of rest, comfort and harmony, leaving it open to other levels of awareness.

Why Do We Walk It?

We live in a time of extreme spiritual hunger. People are seeking ways to enhance and deepen their awareness of God. The Labyrinth can be a tool for doing this, as a form of walking meditation. Walking the Labyrinth can provide:

a. A quieting of the mind.
b. A grounding and centering of the self.
c. A feeling of being healed.
d. Increased unity and wholeness, on both the individual and community levels.
e. An increased awareness of self and relationship of self to others and to God.
f. A vehicle for God's voice to deepen our understanding of the mystery of ourself and God.
g. Experiences in which we move out of chronos time into kairos time, from clock time to dream time, into a state in which we can nonjudgmentally receive and accept whatever arises within us.

How Do We Walk It?

In general, there are three stages to a typical walk; the first stage, lasting until you reach the center of the labyrinth, can be called "shedding", a releasing, a letting go of details of your life. This tends to quiet and calm the mind.
The second stage can be called the "illumination", when you reach the center and linger there. The center is a place of prayer and meditation, stay there as long as you like.

The third stage, as you leave the center and retrace your steps back to the outside, can be called "union", with God and the healing forces at work in the world.

Other Suggestions.

Prepare before you walk to reflect on where you are in your life. This will help you get your bearings.

Pose a question that you want to work on as you walk the labyrinth; open ended questions, not questions susceptible to yes or no answers.

Use repetition. Many people like to use a phrase or word to meditate on and repeat it over and over as they walk.

Read scripture as you walk. Monks used to "walk" the labyrinth on their knees reciting the Psaltry.

Pray as you walk, a prayer of realization, praise or thanksgiving.
Accept your healing as you walk if you see your self in misfortune or with illness.