“BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME”
“Build it and he will come”. So, intones the voice of Shoeless Jackson to the Iowa corn farmer played by Kevin Costner in the 1989 film Field of Dreams. The quote often remembered wrongly as “Build it and they will come”. The film was a version of W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Jackson. In this case, we will choose the more popular interpretation which better describes this Hindu sanctuary high in the Tualatin Mountains just north of Portland. A retreat pointing towards a universal message of different paths leading to the same goal.
Here is a local gem going relatively unnoticed even by natives of the great Rose City. The 120-acre forest reserve is hidden away atop the north end of the Tualatin Mountains, mountains known better as simply the West Hills in Portland forming the dramatic western backdrop to downtown towers.
The forest here is third generation. The ancient forest was originally cut down in the 1880’s and next, a second growth forest was further cut in the 1920’s. A hundred years later, however, nature’s resilience gives an ancient appearance to a novice walking among the magnificent forests of the Pacific Northwest.
HINDUISM IS AN EXONYM
An exonymn is a term used by outsiders to describe the religion and its followers. My experience with Hinduism is the Disneyesque temples found for instance in Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka. Coming out of another exonym, Mormonism (a relatively iconoclastic fringe Christian movement), makes it is easy to pass judgement on Hinduism based upon the multiarmed gods and goddesses found adorning Hindu temples. Of course, such judgements are simply ignorance at work. Ignorance of an entire culture.
First, Hinduism is, like most other large religious groupings – Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, far from being a monolithic creature. Currents flow within currents. Hinduism exposed itself to Western culture through a British lens in the 19th century. During that century, Hinduism developed new branches, most importantly here is Neo-Vedanta. Hinduism influences and has been influenced by other religions over the centuries. Universalism was one of those influences, a theme particularly strong in the latter half of the 19th century.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA LIVES ON
The Vedanta Society of Portland has its origins with the western Bengali priest of the Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Ramakrishna lived from 1836 until 1886. He served as a priest at the large Hindu temple of Dakshineshwar Kali on the Ganges north of Calcutta. As he studied more, his philosophy of life widened. Moving beyond his base as a Brahmin priest, he saw in the various veins of Hindu philosophy, as well as Islam and Christianity, the similar ultimate desire – “to realize God is the one goal in life”. The various religions were simply different paths leading to the same goal. “Truth is one, only it is called by different names.”
Ramakrishna developed a very important and influential disciple in Narendranath Datta, better known as Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda took Ramakrishna’s teaching to another level. To the West, he introduced Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yogi. In India, he formed the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission – the organizations carrying out the mystical and temporal works. Through Vivekananda, Ramakrishna’s ideas spread to the West and North America through formation of religious groups – the Vedanta Societies.
VEDANTA SOCIETY OF PORTLAND
The Vedanta Society of Portland established itself in 1925. In 1936, the Hindu Society purchased this 120-acre lot in the Tualatin Mountains above Scappoose. This was the year of the 100th birthday of Sri Ramakrishna. The site used for meditation away from the world. A small octagonal temple built in 1953, was just in time for the centennial of Sri Sarada Devi – wife of Ramakrishna.
The 120-acre lot falls into Multnomah County’s political jurisdiction – barely. Tax assessors originally limited the religious deferment to the one-acre lot on which the temple stood. A series of shrines built from the 1970’s to the present day throughout the forests show the intrinsic spirituality of the entire grounds and not just the temple lot.
HINDU UNIVERSALISM Amidst the forests of the Tualatin Mountains
The first shrines built in 1974 to commemorated Sri Ramakrishna and his wife, Sri Serada Devi, the Holy Mother. A year later, more shrines were built in order to commemorate Buddha, Christ, and the Swami Vivekananda. Jewish, Sufi, and Native American shrines followed in the next couple of years. More recently, shrines commemorating Jainism, the Sikh and Baha’i teachings have been added. The Baha’i shrine appears destroyed in recent storms. It appears to be in the process of rebuilding. The most recent shrine built is the Advaita Shrine. This shrine is separate from the others. Standing atop a steep hill, it is symbolic of the difficulty in attaining the Advaita experience, nondualist higher state of consciousness. This shrine is above the Sarada Kutir, a small monastic retreat house on the south end of the acreage.
APPROACHING the MYSTICAL
To get to the Hindu complex, drive north out of Portland on NW St Helens Road, US Highway 30. Just before reaching the town of Scappoose (and the county line between Multnomah and Columbia Counties), you turn left – west – onto Watson Road. Follow the road as it ascends the east flank of the Tualatin Mountains in a couple of sweeping turns. After a few miles, comes a fork in the road with both ways noted as ‘Dead Ends’. Take the road going up to the left, Gilikson. Drive higher through forests and past the occasional house to a pair of gates where you park your car.
The ‘orange gate’ seems like the more official of the two. There are copies of trail maps and notes on the shrines to visit above. Walk up this gravel road for a hundred meters to a signed intersection. The trails and shrines are off to the right. To the left is the Sarada Kutir cottage.
RETREAT to the TEMPLE
After about 100 yards to the right, you turn onto the next road to the right, as well. This road leads uphill to the Retreat Temple set atop the ridge. The first Hindu temple built in the Pacific Northwest is octagonal in shape and topped with a gold dome. The word “Om” is inscribed above the entry door pronouncing a special spirituality is to be found within.
MOTHER‘S TRAIL
From the temple you have choices. You can backtrack along the road you came up or you can hike down the Mother’s Trail which drops through the forest to another road intersection. Straight across is the Holy Mother’s Shrine and from here a trail leads on towards more shrines.
THE HOLY MOTHER
Sri Serada Devi was the wife of Sri Ramakrishna. Both came from Brahmin families. She officially wed to Ramakrishna at the age of six. She did not join with him, however, at the Dakshineshwar Kali where her husband served as a priest until she was eighteen. Their marriage was chaste in spirit and flesh. Devoted to each other, she continued expounding Ramakrishna’s ideas after his death becoming an influential teacher – the Holy Mother of the movement.
CHRISTIAN ASPECTS OF THE UNIVERSAL ONENESS
From the Holy Mother’s Shrine, the trail leads uphill through the forest. It gains a small shrine dedicated to the spirit of St Francis of Assisi. Next, you come quickly followed by the Christian Shrine symbolizing Christ’s walk up Cavalry.
BIBLICAL TIES in the HINDU WORLD of the TUALATIN MOUNTAINS
The Biblical Trail appropriately connects the Christian Shrine to the Jewish Shrine a few hundred meters in the woods beyond. A central box represents the Ark of the Covenant. Written around the side of the box is an inscription from the Torah.
THE BUDDHA MAKES AN APPEARANCE among the Hindu Sanctum in the Tualatin Mountains
Further on the trail, you encounter the Buddhist Shrine. This structure used a home built by Frank Lloyd Wright as its inspiration being Eastern and Western designs together.
ASESHANANDA WAY – Shrines Point to Different Paths
Swami Aseshananda led the Portland Society from 1955 until his death in 1996. A gravel road leads north from an intersection just below the Buddhist Path. Most of the rest of the shrines are along this road. From the intersection to the south is the same road which passed the entry lane for the Retreat Temple. Another gravel road drops to the east, returning to the parking area at the green gate.
IK OANKAR – the way of the SIKH
The first shrine is off the road a few meters to the right – the Sikh Shrine. Pictured on the shrine is the Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism – 14th century. Nanak was the first of ten human gurus – illuminated men – leading the movement. Like Ramakrishna, Sikhism holds the purpose of human life is to reunite with Akai, the Formless One – a monolithic God. Egoism stands in the way of an individual’s attempt to reunite. Some concepts like karma and reincarnation, sound like other religions from the Indian subcontinent. Sikhism represents but another path to Truth.
ANCIENT and NEWER IDEAS OF UNIVERSALITY
The next two shrines you come to stand across from each other along the road. The Jain Shrine is on the left. An unmarked – at present – trail takes off from the opposite side of the road leading to the former Baha’i Shrine. I am thinking storms have destroyed this shrine. Baha’i ideas of universality coinciding directly with those ideas held dear by Sri Ramakrishna.
Jainism is an ancient religion of the Indian subcontinent. It influences far beyond its present number of followers. My understanding of Jain – the same with other religions represented here, as well – is very rudimentary. Unlike Hinduism, caste does not feature in Jainism. Jains and Hindus do share many similar beliefs, but they do not share all. Built on a wooden platform, the structure is an open framework. The frame forms a cross open in a square to the forest above.
MORE PATHS among the Hindu sanctuary in the Tualatin Mountains
The Native People’s Shrine, built in 1975, is one of the most unique shrines. A huge eagle unfurls its wings you enter under. The eagle is the main form of the Great Spirit in North American native cultures. Outstretched wings form protection for its children.
RELATIVE into ABSOLUTE
Hidden below the road on the left, deep in the forest, is a shrine dedicated to Swami Vivekananda. This shrine represents an Orissa Hindu style. The shorter front symbolizes Shakti – relative reality. The taller back section is Shiva – absolute reality. Absolute is entered from the relative. Standing deep in the forest as it does, this is one of the more striking monuments.
With its shorter front symbolizing Shakti – relative reality – while the taller back section is Shiva – absolute reality. Absolute is entered from the relative.
Vivekananda introduced Hinduism to the western World at the 1893 Parliament of Religions at the Columbia Exposition in Chicago. Devoted to Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda spread Ramakrishna’s teachings throughout his life. Beyond his religious importance, he is remembered in India as one of the early men contributing to the idea of Indian nationalism.
ALLAH IN THE FOREST
A little off the road, a path leads to the west down the ridge a bit. The path leads to the Sufi Shrine – signed as the Islam Shrine. Five columns hold up the little dome – each column representing one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The plaque faces east towards Mecca. The plaque is inscribed with the familiar Islamic prayer, “There is no God but God.”
RAMAKRISHNA SHRINE
Sri Ramakrishna is found in the last shrine along the road. Here, the site chosen for the shrine features five trees symbolizing the penance of Ramakrishna. The site reflects on the Panachavati. This was remembered in the temple garden on the banks of the Ganges. Here, Ramakrishna performed his spiritual practices. The shrine – continuing with the same theme – has fives sides with five poles. There is a lowered entry into the shrine, modelled after a Japanese Tea House, meaning the supplicant must bow before entering.
NOTES from the FOREST
A few notes about a visit here to the Hindu retreat high in the Tualatin Mountains. Come early in the day. Because the parking is limited, check the schedule for events at the Retreat Temple. You can then either attend or choose another day for your visit. The trails are easily walked with most of the shrines just off the gravel road. The Biblical and Buddhist Paths are muddy during and after rains. After all, this is a rain forest. You can bring a dog along on a leash. There are even bags to use for the inevitable and a couple waste receptacles. Walking in a forest is always a spiritual thing, but the development of the shrines and paths add a guiding element to the journey.
Do you have hidden gems around you awaiting discovery?
11-26-2020
I love how the various shrines seem to blend into the trees. The Jain one I found especially effective in its setting.
The whole experience, walking through the trees enclouded as they were, was very effective. I agree, the Jain Shrine was wonderful once you took full use of it by stepping inside. Exteriors don’t always reveal the full mysteries lying inside.