For nearly the whole of my life I have dreamed of a place and path of faith that included the worlds religious traditions and faiths without being confined by any one of them. I longed for a place where people in grief, confusion and need, curiosity, ecstasy and wonder, might go for personal exploration and spiritual solace. A place with a chapel to meditate, pray, and do yoga in, gardens to sit in, a medicine wheel labyrinth to walk, retreat rooms, and spiritual direction. A small cottage where a person could come stay for a night, a weekend, or a month, depending on what they need in their lives.

I wanted a monastery where a monk without a particular religious identity might ‘fit”, where I might fit. A gathering place for community, providing the gifts of traditional religions (precepts, practice, ritual, clergy, community), but without a particular religious identity. Unable to find that place, I decided to begin one: Rice Road.