The Peace Portal
G. Ramon Byrne
1,200 year old growth Douglas fir reclaimed from the Ventura-Ojai rail line.
Dedicated January 24, 2009
From intent to realization, the project was a heartfelt collaboration between the Mount and this fine artist, manifesting truly as a labor of love. The Portal is the first construction onsite, since the Mount’s official opening on April 11, 1971. Built from 1,200 year old growth Douglas fir reclaimed from the Ventura-Ojai rail line, it represents new possibilities, a threshold between one world and another. We hope that you experience the depth of energy, at multiple levels, as you pass through the Portal and enter the International Garden of Peace.
The Peace Pole
In the early 1990s a spiritual coworker and local peace activist gave Meditation Mount a Peace Pole that fortunately survived a brush fire that swept over the grounds on New Year’s Eve, 1999. However, the plastic strips mounted on all four sides of the wooden pole with the inscription ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’ in different languages, were warped and discolored by the heat.
A second Peace Pole from Japan was gifted to the Mount on January 24, 2009 for the official inauguration of the International Garden of Peace and the dedication of our newly installed Peace Portal.
On December 5th, 2017 the Thomas Fire engulfed the Mount and destroyed both poles – melting one and leaving the other badly charred.
The third and latest Peace Pole, that now stands in the center of our Auditorium, was consecrated during Peace Week on September 19th, 2021. It carries the message ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’ in eight languages: English, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Chumash, Russian, Mandarin and Hindi.
Carved Double Doors for the Meditation Room
Evelyn Ackerman
“Signs of the Zodiac” series
Hand carved redwood, designed in 1967.
For 50 years, Los Angeles-based artist/designers Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman have played a central role in the distinctive aesthetic of California mid-century modernism. Employing their deep knowledge of fine art, traditional craft, and design, the couple created a body of work remarkable for its diversity of styles, techniques, and materials. The couple has been the subject of numerous articles in the local and national press and their pieces are in many public and private collections.
Today, the Ackermans’ work, highly acclaimed over the course of their collaborative partnership, is being rediscovered by both design historians and a new generation of mid-century design collectors. The first major retrospective of their work, “Masters of Mid-Century California Modernism: Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman,” was on view at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, March 29, 2009 through January 10, 2010.
Kwan Yin
At Meditation Mount we understand the coming Era to be one governed and guided by the Soul and the Divine Feminine. The Kwan Yin statue next to the Meditation Room and Office greets our visitors and honors and celebrates the Feminine Principle alive in each of us – regardless of gender.
Kwan Yin is often referred to as the female Buddha, and according to legend, was a beautiful Indian princess who forsook marriage and the good life to embark on the quest of becoming a truly enlightened being, or bodhisattva.
While standing at Heaven’s Gate after having achieved enlightenment and the right to enter Nirvana, Kwan Yin heard a despairing cry coming from earth. Upon registering this sad utterance, she quickly returned and vowed to stay and help all those who suffer to achieve the same level of enlightenment that she had attained.
Kwan Yin’s name means “The one who hears all sounds of suffering in the world.” Kwan Yin is a deity of mercy and compassion and blesses all travelers and pilgrims on the Path.
May she bless your visit. 🕊