The Art of Business
Sheltering Sky
by Mala Hoffman; photo by Roy Gumpel

When Sue Gilman describes Sky Lake Lodge as a “magical place,” she’s not just referring to the pine-filled 18 acres and cedar-paneled facility. She’s talking about the intangible. “From the quality of the programs, workshops, and wedding receptions to paying the bills, magical stuff happens all the time,” she asserts. “I could be looking at the ledger saying, uh oh, and then a check comes in unexpectedly. I don’t know why. These kinds of little, quiet things happen all the time.”

The Rosendale-based retreat, which was most recently the site of the Cedar Heart Lodge, was purchased by Shambhala International, a worldwide network of meditation centers founded by Chögyam Trunga Rinpoche, in May 2001. According to Gilman, who is Sky Lake’s director, so far the nonprofit facility is doing well.

“There are kind of two ways to look at it,” she adds. “One is from the conventional business point of view, and one is day to day. In a new business, and certainly in a nonprofit, you don’t expect to do anything until year two, and yet we have managed to pay the mortgage every single month without having to run to the bank or do anything too radical.”

Much of that has to do with the site of the lodge itself, Gilman notes. “From my point of view, a million things need to be done operationally. But that doesn’t affect people’s overall experience of being here.” Set on the northern crest of the Shawangunk Ridge, with hiking trails and overlooking a pond, the lodge has seven guestrooms, a dining room, and a meditation center that doubles as an event room. The lodge, with rooms equipped with private baths and access to a large deck, can sleep around 20, and the dining room can seat up to 70 people. “It’s very unique,” Gilman emphasizes. “If you’re looking for hot tubs and a place to plug in your laptop, this is not it. There are no phones in the rooms; there’s no TV in the lodge. Somebody called it ‘rustic elegance.’ I thought that was perfect.”

Although it can be used purely as a bed and breakfast, Gilman says the emphasis has been on group events ranging from private parties to independent workshops to programs developed through the Shambhala Buddhist organization itself. Some upcoming events include “Boundless Healing” with Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, a weekend workshop that will focus on awakening inherent healing powers which will be held March 21 to 23, and “Shambhala Art: Coming To Your Senses,” the first of five programs exploring sense perceptions for artists and those interested in enhancing creativity, which will be held on May 23 and 24.

The lodge also offers open meditation to members of the community on Tuesdays from 6 to 7:15pm and on Sundays from 10:30am to 12:30pm. As Gilman puts it, this is the group’s main thrust. “We are a Shambhala Buddhist contemplative center for meditation, arts, and community. Our bottom line, our grounding, our foundation, the whole purpose of our existence, is about training people to meditate,” she says.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the lodge is exclusive, just selective. “Are there any restrictions? It’s not as if you can’t come here if you’re not a Buddhist. We’ve had just flat-out parties,” Gilman notes. “It’s very broad. But there are limits. There are boundaries.” For example, she says, a group of hunters should probably look elsewhere. On the other hand, she would love to see more involvement from the business community, perhaps to use the site for leadership trainings. “It’s a perfect little container,” Gilman says of the facility. “You come in to do your event and that’s all that’s going on here. It just holds a situation so beautifully.”

Gilman came to the Shambhala community after a varied career that included 10 years with cnn in Atlanta and marketing work for several colleges and universities. Then in 1995, “when I was in my forties, I dropped out and became a dharma bum,” she laughs. After living in the Northeast for a number of years, including serving as one of the caretakers for Anne Morrow Lindbergh during the last four years of her life, Gilman was on her way back south when a friend mentioned Sky Lake. “I came up here the week before and moved here a week after September 11, and in between I was helping the Lindberghs empty the house,” she recalls. “I was in Charles and Anne Lindbergh’s storage bin in Stamford, Connecticut, on September 11.”

For Gilman, Sky Lake Lodge runs so well because of what it is. “This is a nonprofit, volunteer organization,” she emphasizes. “I’m the director and I live here, but there is a community of people here who are working hard every day. It’s a hugely important part of w hat goes on here, and it’s part of why this place feels the way it does.”

With that support in the background, the magic will surely last, she adds. “We’ll go down fighting,” Gilman says. “No, no, no, we’re not going anywhere. Too many people have worked too long and too hard for that. This is a long-term commitment. We trust that and we’re being as smart as we possibly can.”