Faith-based communities are “doing a little dance,” said Ms. Tweeten, who has been counseling older people for 17 years. His father decided to move to a Lutheran-based community in Madison, Wisconsin in the early 2000s; Today, a similar community may call itself Lutheran-inspired. “They don’t want to limit the population coming in, so they have to walk this line,” he said, “to maintain development, they are focusing not so much on religion as on philosophy” – pacifism or Like progressivism.
This is evident at Enso Village, a new community in Healdsburg, California, which several of Ms. Tweeten’s clients recently toured. community, which will hold a ribbon cutting in June, is a collaboration between KendallAn East Coast Retirement Community Operator Founded by Quakersand the San Francisco Zen Center, an organization of Zen practice and retreat centers that has public programs and offers housing to some practitioners.
Suzanne O’Connell, 76, began dreaming of Enso in 2006, when she was a resident at the Zen Center. She now lives in Enso. “I didn’t want to age in ways that I had seen, so I tried to create something,” Ms. O’Connell said. “And I found out that a lot of people had the same ideas as me.”
The Zen Center formed a partnership with Kendall after both organizations assessed where Quaker and Zen values merged. “Quakers sit in silence and, as they say, wait for the quiet voice within to rise,” Ms. O’Connell explained. “Of course, in Zen, we meditate.”
He said openness and ethical conduct are also shared values. But like other faith-based communities, Enso is open to all. Quaker, Jewish and agnostic residents have welcomed Sufis and Christians into the community, which has an on-site garden and teaching kitchen, a meditation room and organized volunteer outings. Regardless of religion, “we are all seekers,” Ms. O’Connell said.