Situated below the Residence is the lovely secluded garden from which the Retreat Center takes its name.
A ten-foot Mock Orange hedge surrounds the rock wall that encircles the garden.
Passages to the Peace Garden allow entry from North, South, East, and West.
In the center of the garden is a Peace Pole – and here’s the story behind the Pole:
Peace Poles are handcrafted monuments that display the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in four languages inscribed vertically down the pole’s sides.
We chose English (our national language), Spanish (Dr. Marcel’s heritage), Hawaiian (honoring the culture where the pole is planted), and Japanese (as a homage to Goi sensei, discussed below, and to our happy years of life in Japan).
We planted the Pole on January 1, 2000. Twenty friends seated a round the pole recited poetry, offered prayers and music, and laid crystals, relics, and written prayers in the Pole’s concrete foundation.
The Peace Pole movement was created by Japanese philosopher and poet Masahisa Goi who was deeply affected by the destruction of World War II and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Goi dedicated his life to global harmony. In 1955, after a period of deep prayer, he received a universal message: “May Peace Prevail on Earth.” Goi believed that focused thought and prayer could transcend religious, political, and cultural barriers.
Today more than 200,000 Peace Poles stand in nearly every country. You can find them in locations as diverse as schoolyards, urban parks, Shinto shrines, the United Nations, Ground Zero, and the Pyramids at Giza. Organizations including Rotary International chapters have sponsored and installed them in communities worldwide.
The Peace Poles act as a physical reminder, and as beacons of hope, inviting our silent prayers for unity instead of political statements.
It is said that the poles resemble acupuncture needles healing the Earth, and that when enough of them are planted, Earth and all humanity will be finally healed and at Peace.