East meets investment
Glistening blue water framed by yellow trees created a perfect backdrop for a blessing of Lake Pend Oreille Saturday afternoon. About 75 people gathered on a private Sandpoint beach controlled by Seasons at Sandpoint, a new condominium development.
Seasons teamed up with the local Gardenia Center, a place of worship for the metaphysically minded, to co-sponsor the event.
The main draw: Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher and lecturer who believes in hado, the energy of vibrations inherent in all things. Using high-speed photography, Emoto said he has shown that frozen water crystals are affected by music, photographs, words and even human emotions.
Emoto, in a tan sport coat, gray slacks and white sneakers, led the crowd in a Japanese chant intended to heal the lake – spoiled by the invasive aquatic weed eurasian milfoil and the chemicals introduced to kill it.
The energy created by chanting, he said, would generate a return frequency that could destroy pollutants. “When you send your gratitude to water, its quality improves. When you … ignore water, it deteriorates,” he said in his book “The True Power of Water: Healing and Discovering Ourselves.”
On another level, the lake is sparking debate between those who want to ensure public waterfront access and developers, who are buying lakefront landscapes for private residences and resorts.
Christine Anzevino, a public relations representative for Seasons, said from her Tampa, Fla., office that she thought the ceremony was being planned to shine a spotlight on the development and spur condo sales.
Meanwhile, Lama Yontan, a Buddhist monk who opened the service, said there was no hypocrisy in holding a spiritual gathering in the shadows of a ritzy condominium complex, where units sell for between $400,000 and $2 million.
“What better place to be to talk about purification and beautification of this incredible body of water,” said Yontan, a plump figure with a flowing white beard and white vestments. “This is the beginning of an influx of investors. We have a responsibility to this lake because development is here, it’s in our face. Otherwise, we’re going to look back in 20 or 30 years and say: ‘Oops! We missed the boat on this.’ “
“We can either work with development, or we can fight with it. We’ll gain a lot more ground by working with it,” Yontan said.
At a reception in the Seasons clubhouse right after the blessing, condo owners John and Beverly Shaw sipped beverages and noshed on finger foods.
John Shaw – an Episcopalian who practices meditation but doesn’t consider himself a New Age kind of guy – said the ceremony was a wonderful way to celebrate the lake and to lobby for its protection and preservation.
“Whatever works in whatever form is a good thing,” said Shaw, a resident of nearby Hope who bought his condo in the pre-development phase. “We’re here talking about the lake, and hopefully it will raise people’s level of consciousness and they’ll pass it on to their friends.”
Hope Wood of Sagle participated in the blessing. She said she thinks it’s time people realize their connectedness to one another and to nature. “If we don’t, we’re going to keep having pollution and problems. There doesn’t have to be this friction.”