September 4, 2025
It’s here. Finally!
Greenfield Retreat Center’s brand new altar arrived last week and installation is now well underway.
Long anticipated, this is welcome news, indeed. The altar IS here. It sounds so simple. However, it’s anything but simple.
A tremendous amount of planning, sheer physical effort, and teamwork went into making all this happen. And behind-the-scenes, a labor of love that will last for years went into creating this altar. It’s quite a saga. But for now, let’s focus on how the altar was built and its recent arrival.
How to Build (and Rebuild) an Altar
Construction of the altar got underway late last year when monks at Lake Shrine took on the project. Of course, you know what happened at Lake Shrine some eight months ago when a massive fire destroyed the neighborhood surrounding the sacred property.
Alas, the fire also burned the buildings housing the monks’ quarters. And it reduced to ashes initial work on Greenfield’s altar, including the beautiful lotus columns. The monks working on the altar were displaced to Encinitas. Now what?
At this point a lay member who had helped with other projects offered space in his garage to set up a workshop, allowing the monks to once again take up their work on Greenfield’s altar. They also found a local 3D printing company and successfully used 3D printing to reproduce the columns. As time went on, the monks were able to get back to their shop at Lake Shrine and use their CNC machine that miraculously survived the fire, so the jali window screens on either side of the altar were then produced back at Lake Shrine.
Joyous Teamwork
As components of the altar were completed, they were transported for storage at Hidden Valley. Components? Yes! The altar was actually built as multiple separate intricate pieces that fit together, kind of like a giant, heavy jigsaw puzzle.
Once complete, the obvious next steps were transporting the altar from California to Virginia and installing it in the new chapel.
On Janmashtami (August 16) monks and lay members loaded the altar onto a rented truck. A lay member volunteered to make the drive across the country, where he was joined by three monks and two other lay members who also made their way to Greenfield from California and Boston, where several years ago, they had installed an identical altar for the Boston Meditation Center. And, of course, several local devotees who regularly serve at Greenfield also got in on the action.
It was a good thing to have so many strong arms at the ready, because some of those “jigsaw puzzle” pieces were heavy. Very heavy. Some of those pieces needed the muscle power of ten men to carry them from the truck and maneuver them through the chapel door with only inches to spare.
Heavy Work, Light Hearts
For a full picture of what that labor of love was like, check out the pictures and watch the time-lapse video. You’ll see local men, volunteers from other states, and monks joyously working together in the sunshine. (Note the perfect weather for such sweaty work.) Harmony, team work, muscle power, and precision all come together to get those puzzle pieces through the door.
Then watch the altar coming together, piece by piece. Clearly, these guys know what they’re doing—up the ladder, down the ladder, giant pieces and little pieces, electrical wiring and sublime altar pictures all coming together to make one beautiful altar. Finally!
Of course, at this point we’re all eagerly anticipating the next big step, holding services in our beautiful new Greenfield Retreat Chapel. Coming soon! Not quite yet. There are just a few more finishing touches that need to be done before the building is complete and opening date can be set.
To see a video of the altar installation, click here
And here is a playlist of all construction videos