Meditation Space

Max capacity: 10

Square Feet: 250

A gift from the John M. Lloyd Foundation, the Meditation Space is our campus’s heart and spiritual soul. Three sides of the space feature floor-to-ceiling windows showing seasonal views of the nearby trees. Wooden benches are a fixture inside, as well as outside these window-walls. Other facts to know when planning your visit:

  • No wifi: Intentionally absent to help guests achieve freedom from distraction
  • Yoga mats, backjack chairs, regular retreat center chairs, and Muslim prayer mats are all available upon request
  • Booking hours limited for each retreat group: We keep this prayerful, meditative space open to all throughout their stay. If your group wants to book specific, limited amounts of time to meet there, we are happy to make that happen; it just cannot be a group’s primary meeting space.

The Story Behind the “John Musser Lloyd Memorial Meditation Center”:

John Musser Lloyd (1948-1991) grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, and graduated from the Taft School and the University of Illinois. He was a commodities broker and investment manager who wanted to leave the world a better place than he found it. At various times, he worked with an inner city community housing project and taught meditation techniques. Shortly before his untimely death, he set up the John M. Lloyd Foundation to seek solutions to the AIDS epidemic ravaging the world. He was the nephew of Louise Palm, whose husband, Jim Palm, was director of Stony Point Center from 1975 to 1993.

The Meditation Space was designed by architect George Yu. In reflecting on its design, the Palms’ son Cobbie wrote,

Throughout an all too brief life, John Lloyd was on a spiritual journey. This journey led him to explore the many religious traditions of the world. Respectful and open to the diversity of religious truth, in his person, we find the coming together of the meditative traditions of the East with the prayerful traditions of the West.

The square edifice set up on a round foundation symbolically represents the coming together of heaven and earth. In Eastern spirituality, earth is traditionally symbolized by a square and heaven by a circle.

…The prevalent stone, the expanse of glass walls, the sound of dancing water, and the flicker of fire incorporated into the design draw upon the valued spiritual elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. These elements are foundational in the religious traditions of both the East and West. …the soft and feathered wood trellis reflects the gentleness and strength necessary in bringing spiritual unity and balance to difference and diversity, as John sought to achieve throughout his life.”

The Meditation Space was completed in 2001 and dedicated to the memory of John Musser Lloyd.