The Abode of the Message

The Abode of the Message is a spiritual retreat center, residential community, conference venue, and center for esoteric study in New Lebanon, New York. Founded in 1975 by Vilayat Inayat Khan and a group of his students, it became a principal North American home for the Inayati Sufi order, formerly known as the Sufi Order International. The organization was established around a communal vision of spiritual awakening, mutual commitment to Sufi teachings, and the practical cultivation of love, harmony, and beauty. The Abode occupies approximately 320 acres of wooded land in the eastern heights of the Taconic Mountains, extending across the New York–Massachusetts border. Its setting is historically significant: much of the main campus consists of buildings constructed between 1834 and 1870 for the South Family of the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village. The site therefore combines an active spiritual community with a substantial layer of Shaker architectural and communal history. Rather than treating the historic buildings solely as museum objects, the Abode has used them for accommodation, administration, dining, study, artistic work, and religious gatherings. The principal campus includes Rezak, the former South Family communal building, which contains the library and community dining room; Vakil, which houses program offices; Mughni, formerly the Shaker trustees building; and Fatah, an 1867 Shaker workhouse now used for dormitory accommodation. A former Shaker barn, built in 1850, has been adapted for offices and art studios. The Meditation Hall, renovated by Abode community members after the 1975 purchase, serves as a sacred space for public programs. Retreat huts and cabins provide more private accommodation for individual reflection. A separate Mountain Camp functions as a woodland conference and events center. It includes meeting areas, dining pavilions, shared facilities, cabins, rustic huts, and tenting areas. Meals are prepared in an octagonal kitchen building, and the camp has hosted larger gatherings connected with the Abode and the Inayati Order. The combination of residential life, retreats, conferences, religious practice, and cultural programming has made the property both a functioning intentional community and a destination for visitors seeking contemplative experiences. The property previously formed part of the South Family of the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village. The New Lebanon Shaker Society was established in the late eighteenth century and became a major Shaker residential and spiritual center. In the twentieth century, the South Family property was used by the Shaker Village Work Camp and later related educational work organizations. In 1975 it was acquired for the Inayati movement and developed as the Abode of the Message. In April 2022, the Inayati Order stated that it could no longer retain financial responsibility for the Abode and indicated that it hoped to transfer the property to an organization aligned with its sacred and communal purpose. In 2023, management and ownership control were transferred through an agreement giving sole membership in the Abode to Friends of South Family. The transition preserved the site's association with the Inayati tradition while placing its direct stewardship with Friends of South Family. The Abode remains an active retreat, residential, educational, and conference center rather than a conventional consumer brand.

The land now occupied by The Abode of the Message formed part of the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village in New Lebanon, New York. The New Lebanon Shaker Society was formally established in 1787 and became one of the principal Shaker communities in the United States. Shaker communities were organized into residential Family groups, each with its own buildings, workspaces, and communal institutions. The Abode's main campus corresponds largely to the former South Family property. Most of the surviving main-campus structures were built during the nineteenth century, particularly between 1834 and 1870. They were constructed as residences, workshops, offices, barns, and other facilities for the South Family. The buildings reflect the Shakers' distinctive approach to communal organization and utilitarian design. Their later use by the Abode has been described as preservation through use: the structures remain active parts of a living community rather than being preserved only as static historic exhibits. The South Family property entered a new phase in the twentieth century. In 1947, Jerry and Sybil Count acquired the site and established the Shaker Village Work Camp, which provided a setting for organized work and educational activity involving urban teenagers. The initiative was later renamed the Shaker Village Work Group and subsequently became associated with the Shaker Village Educational Work Foundation. These uses continued the property's history as a place of communal labor, education, and collective life. In 1975, Vilayat Inayat Khan and a group of students founded The Abode of the Message on the property. The new community was connected to the Sufi Order International, now known as the Inayati Order. Its founding purpose centered on collective spiritual awakening, Sufi practice, and shared dedication to the ideals of love, harmony, and beauty. The Abode developed as a residential spiritual community and as a central location for the order's activities in North America. After its establishment, the Abode adapted the former Shaker buildings to meet the needs of contemporary communal and religious life. Rezak became a library and dining facility, while other historic structures were converted into program offices, dormitories, workspaces, and studios. Community members renovated the Meditation Hall in 1975, creating a dedicated space for worship, meditation, and public events. Retreat huts and cabins were added or adapted in wooded areas to support individual retreats. The property also developed a Mountain Camp in the forested portion of the grounds. The camp provided accommodation, meeting areas, dining facilities, and outdoor space for large events connected with the Abode and the Inayati Order. Its facilities included shared cabins, simple huts, tenting areas, and an octagonal kitchen. This expanded the Abode's role beyond a residential community, allowing it to host conferences, spiritual programs, and retreats for visitors and organized groups. During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the Abode was documented in writing about intentional communities, American Sufism, alternative religious movements, retreat centers, and the Shaker legacy. Local and regional reporting also covered its facilities, activities, and efforts to plan future development while respecting the historic character of the property. A master-planning process was reported in 2009 and 2010, with attention to careful growth and historic preservation. In April 2022, the Inayati Order announced that it could no longer assume financial responsibility for the Abode. The order expressed a desire to find a compatible and aligned organization that would continue to regard the land as sacred. In 2023, an agreement transferred sole membership in the Abode to Friends of South Family. This arrangement changed the site's direct management and ownership structure while preserving its institutional and spiritual relationship with the Inayati tradition. The Abode continues to function as a retreat center, residential community, conference venue, and center of esoteric study.

• 2023

  Friends of South Family assumes sole membership

  [1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  An agreement transferred sole membership in the Abode to Friends of South Family.

• 2022

  Inayati Order seeks a new stewardship arrangement

  [1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  The Inayati Order said it could no longer carry financial responsibility for the Abode and sought a compatible organization to continue its stewardship.

• 2009

  Master-planning process reported

  [1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  Reporting described the Abode's engagement of a master planner as it considered future development and stewardship of its historic campus.

• 1975

  The Abode of the Message founded

  [1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  Vilayat Inayat Khan and students acquired the property for a new residential spiritual community associated with the Inayati Sufi tradition.

• 1947

  South Family property becomes a work camp

  [1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  Jerry and Sybil Count established the Shaker Village Work Camp on the former South Family property.

• 1834

  Construction of major South Family buildings begins

  [1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  Many of the structures now forming the Abode's Main Campus were built during the nineteenth century for the South Family of Mount Lebanon Shaker Village.

• 1787

  New Lebanon Shaker Society established

  [1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  The religious community that later developed the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village was formally established in New Lebanon, creating the historical setting in which the Abode's South Family property would later emerge.

A spiritually oriented retreat and intentional-community destination that combines Inayati Sufi practice, residential communal life, conference programming, and adaptive reuse of historic Shaker buildings.

• Spiritual retreat programs · 1975

  Main Campus retreats

  The Main Campus provides the Abode's core setting for spiritual retreats, meditation, religious gatherings, study, and residential community life. Historic Shaker buildings have been adapted into dormitories, offices, a library, dining facilities, studios, and sacred spaces. The campus offers a blend of communal participation and access to wooded areas for contemplation.

• Conference and retreat center

  Mountain Camp

  Mountain Camp is the Abode's woodland event and lodging area for larger gatherings, conferences, retreats, and programs associated with the Inayati Order. It includes dining pavilions, meeting spaces, shared sanitation facilities, cabins, rustic huts, and tenting areas. Food is prepared in an octagonal kitchen building, and the setting supports both organized events and outdoor residential experiences.

• Lodging and contemplative facilities

  Individual retreat accommodation

  The property includes retreat huts and cabins situated near the Main Campus and along wooded areas beside a stream. These facilities support periods of individual reflection and retreat, complementing the larger communal and conference-oriented programs.

• Religious and educational programming · 1975

  Esoteric and Sufi study

  The Abode serves as a center for study of Inayati Sufi teachings and related esoteric traditions. Its library, Meditation Hall, program offices, and residential facilities support teaching, meditation, spiritual practice, and public events.

• 2023

  Transfer stewardship to Friends of South FamilyM&A

  Background

  Following the Inayati Order's decision to withdraw from direct financial responsibility, a new stewardship structure was required for the property.

  Action taken

  An agreement transferred sole membership in The Abode of the Message to Friends of South Family.

  Aftermath

  Friends of South Family became the direct steward of the Abode, while the site retained its relationship with the Inayati spiritual tradition.

  Source

• 2022

  Seek aligned external stewardshipStrategy

  Background

  The Inayati Order announced that it could no longer retain financial responsibility for the Abode.

  Action taken

  The order sought a compatible organization that would continue to regard and preserve the land as sacred.

  Aftermath

  The process led to a 2023 agreement transferring sole membership in the Abode to Friends of South Family.

  Source

• 1975

  Create a residential Sufi spiritual communityStrategy

  Background

  Vilayat Inayat Khan and his students sought to establish a shared setting for spiritual awakening, Sufi practice, and communal dedication to love, harmony, and beauty.

  Action taken

  The former South Family property was acquired and developed as The Abode of the Message, a residential community and institutional center for the Sufi movement.

  Aftermath

  The Abode became a central location for the Inayati order and expanded into a retreat, conference, and esoteric-study center.

  Source

• 2023

  Management of The Abode of the Message transfers to Friends of South Family[1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Leadership change

  An agreement transferred sole membership in the Abode to Friends of South Family, changing the site's direct stewardship while maintaining its connection to the Inayati spiritual tradition.

• 2022

  The Abode of the Message announces that the Inayati Order can no longer carry its financial responsibility[1]The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Inayati Order announced that it could no longer remain financially responsible for the Abode and expressed a preference for a compatible organization to continue holding the land as sacred.

1. 1The Abode of the Messageen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Abode of the Message official websitetheabode.org