Visiting a Buddhist Stupa in Sedona

​This past weekend, Richard and I traveled to Sedona, Arizona, where I had the honor and blessing to officiate the wedding of our dear friends Beth Ann and Travis.

The wedding was scheduled for 5:45pm on Saturday evening, so Richard and I had the entire morning and afternoon to discover parts of Sedona we hadn’t explored before.

I googled “Top Things to Do in Sedona” and scrolled through the list…Cathedral Rock, Chapel of the Holy Cross, vortexes, hiking trails. We already visited most of these places on our last trip.

And then I saw it…Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park, a place “for prayer, meditation, healing, and the experience of peace in a sacred space.”

Stupa?

I had never heard the term. This was a perfect opportunity to learn, and I’m always open for some prayer, meditation and peace.

After breakfast, we put on our hiking shoes, got in the car, and drove up a hill through a neighborhood of houses.

Google Maps then veered us onto a dirt road. We parked our car in a lot made up entirely of Sedona’s infamous red dirt, got out of the car, and spotted the sign to follow a trail through the trees.

Immediately, I had a feeling of calm and peace wash over me.