Source: The Associated Press
http://www.projo.com/travel/content/TRV-RELIGIOUS-RETREATS_08-17-08_OTAUEVA_v15.230db99.html
At the former Shaker village known as Abode of the Message, where the Taconic Mountains roll into the Berkshires and New York touches Massachusetts, Yaqin Aubert read aloud Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Zoroastrian, Judaic, Christian and Islamic texts during the Sunday service at the Sufi religious retreat.
With two dozen worshippers, who mainly resembled any mostly white upstate congregation, Aubert invoked “the Omnipresent God” and repeated scriptures of peace from seven religious traditions. He told a story about Jesus, whose disciples were angry at their rude treatment by several villagers in ancient Palestine, while Jesus was unbothered.
“I can only spend what is in my purse,” was his reply. “All he had inside was peace,” explained Aubert, a Sufi Muslim retreat guide. Peace outside comes from peace inside.
Some people stayed that Sunday for the healing circle beneath the stained-glass window, inscribed: “Enter/ unhesitatingly/ Beloved/ for in this Abode/ there is naught/ but my longing/ for thee.” Others crossed to the main building’s dining room and kitchen, where three women, one with a baby, were preparing communal brunch — an $8 donation for visitors to Abode of the Message.
Whatever your tradition, this mystical Sufi brand of Islam invites you to deepen your faith here without converting.
Dozens of religious retreats are nestled in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, many open to visitors seeking quiet getaways and personal enlightenment. Stay for meals or overnight, you’ll likely be asked for a donation or to pay a small fee. Come for organized retreats for weekends, weeks or longer, with guided learning, solitary prayer or meditation, and pay program fees.