Construction on the first three temples began that spring. We decided to address the three monotheistic religions first, primarily because those were the ones with which we were most familiar. We spent therest of the winter looking at various architectural styles of churches and temples and mosques, finally settling on a design for each one.
Harry decided to fly out early, and when we arrived at Solfield in mid-April he and I began surveying the clearing around Soul Mound to determine the best place to build each temple. It was Harry’s idea to have the mosque face toward Mecca, with the church and Jewish temple on either side of it.
We had also met with Mike numerous times over the winter, officially hiring him and his crew to do the building. The stones for the temples were quarried and shaped right on the Solfield property itself, and Mike had gone up before us to begin scouting out the best limestone deposits and to choose the best paths leading from them to the mound clearing.
Building got underway soon after we arrived, and Harry and I did almost nothing. Mike and his crew handled everything. All we did was draw up plans, specify where within in each structure the climate controlled book room would be located, and designate the position and orientation of each temple. The rest was taken care of by Mike.
I funded the entire project with my own money, of which I had plenty, as I said. It occurred to me one morning as I watched the builders and stone cutters work their trade that all of this was possible because of the sale of my company, a company which I had started, in many ways, because of Harry’s influence on me.
Many years earlier, soon after I met him, Harry had described a series of experiences he had back in Ohio during his teaching years. He told me about a stretch of time during which a series of uncanny and slightly unnerving coincidences occurred to him. According to Harry, this was the time of his trouble with the school board and the infamous homework assignment which eventually got him fired.
I bring this up because the story had remained in the back of my mind long after, and when Ravi and I first started brainstorming about our process identification system, I thought often about Harry’s experience. In fact, my curiosity about what Harry went through was part of my initial motivation. I wanted to see for myself whether or not there were things happening in our day-to-day experiences that we were missing, connections and coincidences that perhaps meant something but that escaped our notice entirely.
When Ravi and I first started playing around with our recording equipment and processing software, I did notice things. And the things I noticed, which I will not enumerate here because I really don’t remember many of the specifics, piqued my curiosity over and over again. And it was through that process that I began to see our product, what we were doing, as important and groundbreaking.
In retrospect I can see that it was that passion that I felt, that both Ravi and I felt, that led to the success we eventually created for ourselves. And that success resulted in a big payout when we eventually sold the company.
So somewhere in there was Harry’s influence. He managed to plant a seed in me, in my mind, that would eventually blossom and fund Solfield.
I pondered all of this as I watched the first of the structures – the mosque –begin to take shape. It also occurred to me that Anne had been very much affected by her time with Harry as well, and that it was reasonable to assume it was Harry’s influence on her that led to her initial inspiration to create a spiritual retreat. So once again, Harry had planted a seed, this time in Anne, that would later grow into something significant.
As I thought about these things, I happened to glance up at Harry, who was standing up on the side of Soul Mound, a flight of steps down from the top. He was standing still, silently staring out over the trees as I often saw him do. I don’t know what goes on in that guy’s head, but I assume it’s either something big or something simple. He was always talking about big things or simple things. At least that was the impression I got.
The crew made fast progress, and the mosque was finished by early June. There were at least fifteen men and two women working long days, and you could see the progress each day. I could tell that most of them enjoyed being at Solfield. For the sake of efficiency, we had set up heavy duty tents in the clearing so that they could stay right there at the site. It would have taken several hours to travel back and forth to a motel from there, which wouldn’t have made any sense, and so they gradually fell into the rhythm of Solfield, a place with a rhythm of its own.
Most of the crew members quickly acclimated themselves to Solfield and participated in many of the events that were held daily and weekly. And when it came time for the solstice celebration, most of them were part of the family. That year, we had upwards of two hundred people for the celebration. We decided to stop construction for the week to give the crew a chance to go home for a break. All but three of them chose to stay and participate.
It was an exciting week, with visitors examining the completed mosque and the just-begun church and temple, which were being built at the same time. The crew had streamlined its approach to the point where they could keep two projects running simultaneously.
There was a buzz in the air as visitors talked excitedly about the ring of structures that would encircle the mound. Many planned to return the next year with books to donate to the libraries, and Harry and I realized that we were going to end up with a lot more books than we had anticipated. Harry’s eyes were glowing with the thought of having thousands of volumes available to anyone who visited. But we knew we would need to have more structures built by next year’s solstice, particularly the Buddhist temple.
Many visitors were particularly fond of the Buddhist path, and it appeared we would have hundreds, and perhaps thousands of books arriving the following year. Harry pulled me aside during the celebration to express his excitement about the entire project, which I also shared. It’s hard to describe what we felt as we watched hundreds of people climbing around Soul Mound, sitting or standing in small groups and discussing whatever it was they were discussing.
There were people streaming in and out of the mosque. There were people climbing over the others foundations. There were people sitting silently on the mound steps, meditating or praying or reading. There were groups of people gathered at various spots around the clearing playing music. Some were dancing. Anne and I walked around Solfield that day and quietly took in all that we saw. People walking through the labyrinths, people pulling weeds out of the many flower and vegetable gardens throughout the property. People walking in pairs or groups or by themselves, wandering through the woods or along the stream.
What we felt was beyond words, and we really weren’t able to talk about it with one another. Just a glance and smile said more than words could. I’m trying to describe it to you, and I know that I can’t. You really have to be there to feel it. You need to travel to Solfield and spend some time there to know what I am talking about.
Perhaps you will someday.
