Striding across the parched desert of the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, my hiking boots scrunching loudly with each carefully placed step, I maneuvered through a spiny cactus forest with the same intense focus I'd used to navigate the jammed freeway from L.A. a few hours earlier.

The afternoon sun was hot; the air, motionless. Other than my boots and a dirt bike revving in the distance, the only sound was the noisy chatter in my mind... abruptly interrupted by a whoosh like a fireplace bellows off to my right. I paused to investigate and spied a large sand turtle, at least 10-inches in diameter, so well-camouflaged that had he not abruptly closed his shell, I'd have missed him entirely.

Startled into the present, I found a clear place to sit on the warm desert floor and thank Mr. Turtle for pulling me out of my mind. In his quiet presence my breathing slowed and I became aware of my body. We gazed at each other for a few moments, and when he sensed that I meant him no harm, he stretched out his legs and neck, and resumed grazing. I continued my walk as well, but now I moved more in his rhythm, aware of the life around and within me.

When I first came to California from the damp and verdant Northeast, the stark beauty of the high desert astonished me. I'd seen deserts before, but none like Joshua Tree National Park. With its eerily balanced rock skyscrapers and scarecrow-limbed Joshua trees, it looks like another planet. The serenity is unparalleled, which may contribute to its being a high-energy vortex. I'm not the only one to have had extraordinary paranormal experiences there, and reports of UFO sightings are legendary.

But all that aside, the desert is a place to be away-truly away-from the frenetic pace of city life. At the 420-acre Institute of Mentalphysics/Joshua Tree Retreat Center, just outside the entrance to JT National Park, a subtly vibrating stillness envelops you from the moment you enter the grounds. It may be the desert's own magic, or perhaps it's the energy this chunk of land has absorbed over 60 years of spiritual and meditative gatherings.

The location was found in 1941 by the Rev. Edwin J. Dingle (Ding Le Mei), a spiritual seeker and teacher who had spent many years studying with monks in Tibet. The center he built was based on an adaptation of Eastern ideas that he called The Science of Mentalphysics. In its day there was a large resident population, as well as weekly classes, newsletters and books.

Frank Lloyd Wright, an early visitor, was so impressed with the land and Dingle's vision that he designed many of the unusual structures on the property, which subsequently were built by his son, Lloyd Wright.

Dingle's vision reached for the elevation of human consciousness, and while there is no longer a resident population, the Institute now embraces many spiritual paths and welcomes a steady stream of retreat groups that over the years has included Jack Kornfield, Byron Katie, Joan Halifax, Jean Houston, Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, Lama Surya Das, Dan Millman, Lynn Andrews, Stan Grof, Alberto Villoldo, Joseph Heller, Brugh Joy and many more.

Dingle is on the other side now, and Paul Burkett, one of the last surviving members of his original group, was reunited with him earlier this week. Their legacy continues.