Big Island Spirit Project
Aloha! The Spiritual Life Foundation initially collaborated on a project to create a place of meditation, retreat, and rejuvenation. While this project continues to incubate, this adventure led SLF to the high desert of California and the folklore of the Integratron. Here’s the report from our trip in June 2022.
Big Island Spirit Adventure - June 2022
Powerful, ancient, raw, alive, magical… these are a few words that describe our Big Island Spirit adventure in June. Some of the highlights: a snorkel with turtles at the Black Sand beach; a night hike, guided by starlight, to view the bubbling molten lava of Halema’uma’u Crater; a pilgrimage-style visit to the home where Hawayo Takata brought Reiki to the West; telepathic communication with dolphins; and a full double rainbow that appeared near the beginning of our trip and spanned our horizon.
Many serendipitous moments added to the charm of the journey. Last-minute arrangements at Tai Shan Farms (the healthiest, best meal I have ever had!) and the Volcano House in Hawaii Volcano National Park gave us a sense that Spirit was watching over us; meeting friends at a picnic lunch in Queen Liliuokalani Garden Park in Hilo and at the Manago Hotel restaurant added the feeling of “Ohana.”
Staying at the Manago Hotel gave us a sense of traveling back in time and being closer to nature. The hotel is over 100 years old and does not provide some of the amenities of a modern resort, but it gave us a much closer sense of being connected to the land. There were no TVs or phones in the rooms. Instead, coqui frogs sang at night, roosters crowed in the morning, and birds constantly chirped, certainly giving us a sense of being close to nature.
The Big of Big Island took on real significance as we drove around. We traveled to South Point (the southernmost point in the U.S.), Hilo, Waipio Valley Lookout, across Saddle Road, through Waimea and Waikoloa, and to Kona. The time together in the car and at meals also provided several personal breakthrough conversations for most of us. We all felt we grew in many ways.
A few miscellaneous elements included visits to Big Island Candies, Rainbow Falls, a closed Two Ladies Kitchen (they were visiting the mainland), and dinner at Foster’s Chicken in Kona. We were told what we call shave ice is called ice shave on the Big Island, and we went where the locals get it, Wilson’s by the Bay.
The last full day afforded us the opportunity to split up for more individual explorations. Some went to a day spa. Others visited Costco. Some snorkeled, visited a botanical garden, visited a salt farm, and visited the Houston’s condo with huli-huli chicken in tow.
The early intent of this trip was to visit the Houston’s property to envision possibilities for a spiritual retreat site. We drove out to explore the property, which lies on an old lava flow near Oceanview. The words that came to mind were raw, rough, yet powerful. One needs to imagine lava rock (think of your home gas BBQ) spread over 3 acres. A large ohia tree presides there, gnarled and twisted with the challenges and wisdom of age.
One can feel the mana, the power of spirit, here. It permeates the harshness of the land. As I walked around the property, with a retaining wall built by a mother and daughter over years of visits, I began to think about the monks who often retreated to the desert for visions and prayers. I began to realize they were seeking not only solitude but also the power they found in the desert, something they could not find otherwise. This property has that power.
That night I awoke at 3:30 am with the image in my mind of the Integratron, a domed structure near Joshua Tree. Upon returning home from the trip and researching the Integratron, I discovered it was built by George Van Tassel, an aeronautic engineer who designed the Integratron based on Moses’s tabernacle, Tesla’s theories, and via telepathic communication with extraterrestrials – very “Ancient New Way”. In other words, right up my alley.
Currently, the Integratron is owned by three sisters who have rehabilitated the building and now run sound bath sessions in the Integratron. The unique geometry enhances the effects of the sound baths. - https://www.integratron.com/
As I thought of the Integratron, the desert mystics, and the mana of the land in Hawaii, I began to believe the site needs to enhance the subtle yet powerful energies that are present. I also thought of Wilhelm Reich and his work with orgone energy. One possibility is an outdoor open space where other energetic modalities can be experienced and where dark night sky viewing can be done.
The property clearly has power and potential. I am grateful for the opportunity to visit and hope to return soon. We will continue to let these ideas incubate as part of the process of envisioning a place of spiritual retreat.
The Big Island Spirit adventure started out as an exploration of an idea of a spiritual retreat site, and it continues in that vein. For each of the participants, it uncovered a direct and real spirit that touched us in personal ways throughout the trip. Away from the tourist destinations, there was an experience that could only happen on a place like the Big Island.
In the words of one of our team members:
The Big Island is the youngest island, but there’s something about it that feels powerful and ancient. It is somewhere between 400,000 to 800,000 years old. For me, this trip was an opportunity to connect to nature in a profound way. Everything felt alive and aware, somehow, even the plants and the rocks.
Maybe that’s what happens in a place born from a volcano.
More Photos
Though not yet mentioned in the BISP Report, for several, the highlight was Hawaii Volcano National Park, snorkeling at the Black Sand beach with the turtles, or a mini-pilgrimage to the home of Mrs. Hawayo Takata, who brought Reiki to the U.S. The home is currently a medical facility offering a variety of therapies. The following photo gallery captures some of these moments.
Aloha!
Big Island Spirit Project - Host
Don Houston is the host of the Big Island Spirit Project. As a graduate architectural student at U.C. Berkeley, Don envisioned a place of retreat, to be called “Redoubt.” His career would take him to the Hawaiian Islands, where he felt a spiritual tug to revisit the idea of a place of retreat. He purchased two 3-acre parcels, but a career, martial arts, and family left this dream to lie fallow.
The timing and the Spirit have called forth Don's vision once again. In January 2022, this vision of Don is re-awakened as he prepares for retirement and engages Roger and the launch of the Spiritual Life Foundation. The hope is to create a process and a retreat center to create a ripple of peace, solace, and joy that continues to spread to our community and beyond.