In 1972, Bob Hawley was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, working full time, divorced and making child-support payments. An architect, his business was also deeply stressful. It was not pretty.
But he had one thing going for him. He lived in Berkeley, Calif., a bastion of new age practices. Transcendental meditation had arrived in the United States a few years previously and was seeping its way across the country from both coasts. Though meditation was known as a 5,000-year-old component of Eastern religions, it took until the mid-1970s for various types of practice to become commonplace in the United States.
On Dec. 15, 1972, at 2 p.m. Hawley gave it a try. He remembers the exact time and date because "a light went off in my head," he said. "I was a heavy smoker and within a year and three months I had totally quit without any withdrawal. It was a really good experience. I quit once and the sea got really rocky. I'm in good health. No arthritis."
Hawley—a resident of Sun Valley—wiggled his strong hands to prove his point. A Sun Valley ski pass holder, he will turn "80 years young" in April. Although he meditates every day anyway, he decided to participate in a 40-day commitment in the ongoing Winter Feast for the Soul program.
Winter Feast for the Soul, which is sponsored by the Light on the Mountains Spiritual Center and organized by Sufi teacher Valerie Skonie of Hailey, began Jan. 14 and will celebrate its end on Sunday, Feb. 24, with a huge feast at Light On the Mountains, south of Ketchum.
"I'm getting some response to people's commitment," the Rev. John Moreland of Light on the Mountains said. "What is different is the group commitment and doing it with people every day. The feedback is how the higher commitment level to spiritual practice is making a difference.
"There's commonality. At first, people said they felt a great feeling of peace, but now are uncovering some of the things they don't want to look at. When we become silent we look internally. My group has talked about how what we uncover is sticking. We want to work through it and see what comes out at the other end."
The groups meet daily at locations in Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley. There is an average of 12 participants in each group, give or take.
"I mostly do it at home and some days at Valerie's, and the Hailey Yoga Center, and the Gateway (in Hailey)," Manon Gaudreau said. "I'm a long-time meditator but I go deeper into it when I'm with other people. It's nice to see we're connected to each other. It's more blissful. The energy takes you when you're with people."
It's enough of a rush that some groups are batting around the idea of continuing the practice together.
"We were saying we might do another 40-day commitment," Moreland said of his group at the Gateway. "If it's completely open ended we might be lax, but if we re-up for another 40 days it could work."
They are not the only ones.
One group meets nightly at Spirit at Work bookstore in Boise in a small meditation room. They are planning on continuing the practice together, too. After all, the only thing one needs is to be present. There is no pressure to make a speech, plan a party or write a platform.
"For quite a long time, I thought a disciplined practice would be beneficial to me, so finally having an overt setting has really allowed me to not be impeded by the easy excuses I have given myself for so long," Boise State University Professor Peter Hodges said. "Having it structured has been beneficial aside from the practice itself. It's been very satisfying."
A long-time meditation teacher Susan Fierman said the community-wide program impresses her.
"It's so good for people and is available all over the valley," she said. "I was moved like I was for the Kick Ash Bash (held last September after the Castle Rock Fire) about how this really is a very special place. To commit to this is no small thing. It's going to result in a deepened compassion in the whole valley. The psychic energy gets in the air, so to speak."
As part of the final celebrations there will be three more public events. Dances of Universal Peace will be held Saturday, Feb. 23, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Light on the Mountains Spiritual Center. Boiseans Jim and Kate Gentles will lead Sufi dances.
A special Middle Eastern cooking class and a daylong celebration is set for Saturday, Feb. 23. Coming from Rochester, N.Y. to teach, and prepare the feast will be Chef Mirabai Chrin.
Chrin has been meditating for the duration of the Winter Feast for the Soul period as well.
"The first day of the 'Feast' I did it at 9 a.m. New York time so that I would be in sync with Idaho time," she said. "For me it is not a matter of outward form but rather an intention that I have set and wish to fulfill. Breathing in. Breathing out. Usually I put a mantra on the breath, and also include my usual morning prayers."
Chrin's cooking class will be held in the kitchen at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden, south of Ketchum, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The fee is $75 and reservations are required.
"I very much look forward to coming to Idaho to meet people who have also been preparing this 'feast of other planes' and help in preparing an earthly feast to feed both body and soul, in honor of the collective effort."
The Indian Feast will be held Sunday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Light on the Mountains.
To register for any of the events, call Light on the Mountains at 727-1631 or Valerie Skonie at 788-6373.