‘ĪPUKA

‘ĪPUKA (ee poo ka): a Hawaiian word
meaning “doorway” or “passageway.”

‘Īpuka’s Sanctuary Park and Natural Burial Ground is a sacred story of life and death interweaving in healthy community life, protected and cared for by a nonprofit organization in perpetuity.

"We enter the world through a doorway, pass through many in the course of our lifetime, and leave at the end through another."

This project intends to:

Become Hawaii’s first certified green cemetery.
Be a beautiful and peaceful resting place for those who have died.
Be a doorway for the living to remembrance, celebration, contemplation, honoring and connection to the preciousness, fragility and enduring nature of life.
Integrate multi-uses that include a cemetery, park, meditation gardens, community center, a pet cemetery, a flower farm and orchard, all within a place held sacred where one can walk and wander in beauty among the orchards and flowers, all using regenerative and organic practices.
Include a ceremonial hall and a learning center to support caregivers, families and community events.
Become a new model of land use combining public and private community functions and help change our cultural attitudes and relationships to life and death.
Become an integral and valued place for the Maui community and beyond.

D E D I C A T I O N

As it so happens, we completed this presentation while Ram Dass was lying in state at his home in Haiku, Maui.

In 2006, Ram Dass joined me and my wife, Leilah, to become one of the founding board members of our nonprofit organization, Doorway Into Light.

Ram Dass recognized that we were carrying on a part of his legacy, bringing more consciousness and compassion to death and dying and the care of the dying.

Since that time, Ram Dass became a spiritual advisor and mentor to me, as well as a dear friend while we collaborated over the years offering community events to Maui and the greater community.

Ram Dass was and is a beautiful example of love and its healing power.

I love You Ram Dass.

Bodhi Be
Executive Director / Doorway Into Light
December 24, 2019

We enter the world through a doorway, pass through many in the course of our lifetime, and leave at the end through another.

‘ĪPUKA (ee poo ka): a Hawaiian word meaning “doorway” or “passageway”
‘Īpuka’s Sanctuary, Park and Natural Burial Ground is a sacred story of life and death interweaving in healthy community life, protected and cared for by a nonprofit organization in perpetuity.

This project intends to:

Become Hawaii’s first certified green cemetery.
Be a beautiful and peaceful resting place for those who have died.
Be a doorway for the living to remembrance, celebration, contemplation, honoring and connection to the preciousness, fragility and enduring nature of life.
Integrate multi-uses that include a cemetery, park, meditation gardens, community center, a pet cemetery, a flower farm and orchard, all within a place held sacred where one can walk and wander in beauty among the orchards and flowers, all using regenerative and organic practices.
Include a ceremonial hall and a learning center to support caregivers, families and community events.
Become a new model of land use combining public and private community functions and help change our cultural attitudes and relationships to life and death.
Become an integral and valued place for the Maui community and beyond.
Doorway Into Light is a nonprofit educational and charitable organization on Maui providing conscious and compassionate care for the dying, the dead and their families. Since 2006 we have been educating, supporting and empowering families in end-of-life and after-death care, as well as offering community presentations and trainings.

Since 2012 we have been providing not-for-profit funeral home services that include ocean body burials. We are now taking the next step to provide not-for-profit funeral and burial services utilizing green, sustainable and spiritually inclusive practices.
Having transformed the funeral home experience by removing the ‘for profit motive’ and adding support and counseling services, we will now transform the cemetery experience by creating a healing place that people will want to visit.
Please imagine ‘Īpuka with us and be a part of making this an invaluable Maui community resource.

Sincerely,
Bodhi Be
Executive Director

In the center is the labyrinth and it is this spiral walk that now supports your immersion into reflecting upon where you are, in the midst of a beautiful burial ground, where families, friends and visitors can experience the beauty, meaning and sacredness of life and death.  Some areas are designed for quiet introspection, while other areas (such as the Stargazing Pavilion) invite you to ponder the vastness and mystery of the universe.
‘Īpuka’s Sanctuary, Park and Natural Burial Ground is a place to visit loved ones who have died, including one’s pet. It is a place to have a quiet, contemplative walk, alone or with a friend. It is a place to attend classes and events. It is a place for community gatherings and ceremonies; a place for an afternoon out with the family.
‘Īpuka’s Sanctuary, Park and Natural Burial Ground is a sacred story of life and death interweaving in healthy community life.

Doorway Into Light is a nonprofit educational and charitable organization on Maui providing conscious and compassionate care for the dying, the dead and their families. Since 2006 we have been educating, supporting and empowering families in end-of-life and after-death care, as well as offering community presentations and trainings.

Since 2012 we have been providing not-for-profit funeral home services that include ocean body burials. We are now taking the next step to provide not-for-profit funeral and burial services utilizing green, sustainable and spiritually inclusive practices.

Having transformed the funeral home experience by removing the ‘for profit motive’ and adding support and counseling services, we will now transform the cemetery experience by creating a healing place that people will want to visit.

Please imagine ‘Īpuka with us and be a part of making this an invaluable Maui community resource.

In the information below, learn more about what we have been envisioning and the planning details.

A Virtual Tour

Local landscape designer and permaculture specialist Jenny Pell has helped us design ‘Īpuka Sanctuary Park. It includes a natural burial ground, memory gardens, a flower farm and botanical park, contemplative paths and arbor walkways, a pet cemetery and a playground for children.

Imagine walking through a doorway, an`ipuka. First you feel it is open and welcoming. There is a short garden path through an orchard filled with mango, coconut and avocado trees. Up ahead you see flowers everywhere and then the architecturally beautiful ‘Īpuka Sanctuary Hall. The reception/office provides information about the Sanctuary Park as well as directions to a loved-one’s grave in the burial ground. Once inside the hall, you realize it is a multi-use building that includes a hall designed for celebrations, memorial services, remembrances and community gatherings.

You also notice classrooms of different sizes and a small commercial kitchen. It is a nurturing space. A short walk brings you to the Ohana Bungalow. This is a private space intended for families. It offers comfort, refuge and support and is the place to find help when planning a funeral or a ceremony.

From there you hear the sound of falling water and find your way to a covered outdoor garden space designed for comfortable sitting and private conversations and a view of the pond and fountain.

A short walk along the scented path of flowers leads to a striking bamboo gazebo. It is an intimate space also used for remembrances, gatherings, or a cup of tea.

From there one sees a picnic area; a flower farm serving visitors to the burial ground and the larger community; a playground for children, and beyond, a terraced landscape that descends into a small lush valley; a world unto itself. What could it be? It is a burial ground set aside for beloved pets.

Returning to the Sanctuary Hall’s covered outdoor garden, you decide to venture down another pathway. On the other side of the parking area you see an arbor walkway.

Through the arbor you enter into ‘Īpuka’s natural burial ground.

Within, one finds a meditative labyrinth and a small pond; a ‘little spirits’ garden and memorial that will be a place to honor stillbirths, miscarriages and early childhood deaths; a beautiful rock wall installation to house urns; trails to wander with benches to rest and reflect. It’s so peaceful. Depending on where you stop, there are wide vistas of ocean and mountain views.

The burial ground is in a large spiral form, many acres in size. It is a compelling presence and resting place filled with beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees.

In the center is the labyrinth and it is this spiral walk that now supports your immersion into reflecting upon where you are, in the midst of a beautiful burial ground, where families, friends and visitors can experience the beauty, meaning and sacredness of life and death. Some areas are designed for quiet introspection, while other areas (such as the Stargazing Pavilion) invite you to ponder the vastness and mystery of the universe.

‘Īpuka’s Sanctuary Park is a place to visit loved ones who have died, including one’s pet. It is a place to have a quiet, contemplative walk, alone or with a friend. It is a place to attend classes and events. It is a place for community gatherings and ceremonies; a place for an afternoon out with the family.

‘Īpuka’s Sanctuary Park is a sacred story of life and death interweaving in healthy community life.

‘Īpuka Land Acquisition Proposal

Doorway into Light, a 501C3 non-profit and sponsor of the ‘Īpuka Sanctuary, Park and Natural Burial Ground has a dedicated bank account for funds raised towards this vision.
Our “Ask”
We are seeking cash donations and/or the donation of land. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, we are legally organized to be able to present a financially advantageous donor opportunity.
For example, a charitable giving strategy might include donating appreciated securities to a public charity such as Doorway into Light’s “Ipuka Project” instead of a simple sale. In doing so, taxes on capital gains are avoided and you are eligible for a charitable tax deduction on the fair market value of the stock that was donated.
We are open to other creative scenarios and invite anyone interested to engage with us in a discussion. For example, also possible is a combination of both donations and a loan to Doorway into Light with an agreed to balloon payback.
We need community champions who connect to the potential we have been envisioning and who are financially positioned to help bring `Īpuka to life.
After the Purchase
Once the property is secured, we will begin the development process and pursue manifesting the vision we have shared within this brief project overview starting with getting the cemetery operating and selling burial plots. One aspect of the fundraising “Build-it” campaign will be to offer many legacy opportunities to lend names to memorial gardens, garden features, benches, gazebos and buildings.
Income Streams
Along with the many legacy opportunities, income will be generated through the sale of burial plots, pet burial plots and urn placements; tuition from our educational programs and trainings, community events, memorials and ceremonies; sale of flowers and farm produce; grants and donations.
Pathway
Our land planner and realtor, Lisa Starr, has now met with the Maui County Planning Dept. to gauge their response (very positive!) and to help us map out the permitting process to development. There is a clear pathway for applying and receiving permits to manifest this vision.
There is no doubt ‘Īpuka will become an invaluable and enduring community resource and inspiration. Who can help us? Will you help us?

Doorway Into Light

2012-Present:

Doorway Into Light operates Hawai`i’s only non-profit funeral home and only certified green funeral home. We offer green burials, ocean body burials, home funerals and ceremonial services.
We operate a community resource center and store in Haiku providing education, counsel and support to the dying, their families and professionals in the field.
We host a weekly educational radio program and write a column for a local publication.

2006-Present:

Doorway Into Light continues to offer community presentations, classes and trainings for community clubs, senior centers, churches, UH Hawaii and the general public.
In 2017 we presented the 1st Annual Death Doula Training on Maui, which is now in its 4th year. We bring leaders and experts in the fields of home funerals, green burials, hospice care, palliative medicine, grief support and business management.
- Doctors, nurses, hospice staff, chaplains, social workers and others, from around the world attend these trainings.
Doorway Into Light continues to offer volunteer, in-home support and counsel to the dying and their families and hosts a monthly support group.

Board of Directors
David Spee is a lawyer practicing on Maui, specializing in Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts and Real Estate- Residential Law.
Reverend Bodhi Be is an ordained interfaith minister and Executive Director and founder of Doorway Into Light. Bodhi is a funeral director, hospice volunteer, coffin maker, notary public, an educator and workshop leader, an end-of-life and bereavement counselor, spiritual activist and ceremony guide. Bodhi has lived on Maui for forty four years and previously owned the Maui Juice Company, the Juiceland Juice Bar at the Ka’ahumanu Center on Maui, the Rainbow Menehune Sprout Company and the Twin Falls Juice Bar and Fruit Stand.
Leilah Be brings many years of experience as an ordained interfaith minister and counselor, and was the founder, director and teacher of a pre-school kindergarten. In addition, Leilah teaches meditation and The Dances of Universal Peace internationally, and is a senior teacher in the Sufi Ruhaniat International. Leilah is Bodhi’s wife and best friend.
Reverend Michelle Renee Maros is an ordained minister, funeral director, end of life and bereavement counselor, massage therapist, healer and our office manager.
Marta Greenleaf Marta Greenleaf is an organic farmer and environmental activist. After experiencing the different end of life scenarios of her parents, Marta became interested in the exciting possibility of how a much a green burial park can support our Maui community in a way that respects each family’s hearts and souls, as well as nurturing the sacred burial grounds.
Reverend Mayanna Anderson, founder of Companion Care Maui is an ordained interfaith minister, Death Doula and a Grief Recovery Method©Support Specialist. A classically trained chef, Mayanna is the creator of “Lick Your Plate Clean Cuisine”©
Sarah Puja Menzies Executive Director of La’akea Village, a life sharing community in Paia, Maui that includes intellectually and developmentally disabled youth and adults dedicated to discovering.
Sarah is a former pre-school teacher and graduate of Naropa University.

Ram Dass, Director Emeritus, brings over 50 years as a pioneer and explorer of awakened consciousness. A world-renowned author and lecturer, and co-founder of the Seva Foundation, The Prison Ashram Project and The Dying Project. He served on the faculty of the Metta Institute and continued to teach about the nature of consciousness and service as a spiritual path. He is widely known for his seminal book Be Here Now. Ram Dass was an initial founder along with Leilah and Bodhi Be.

Cultural Advisors
Aulii Mitchell is a Cultural Practitioner and Kumu Hula, has a Masters in Applied Indigenous Knowledge, is a Cultural Anthropologist, and an Advisor for Cultural Surveys Hawai`i Inc., repatriation team. He is the Vice Chair of the O`ahu Island Burial Council and member of the Indigenous Council for the World Archaeologies Congress and a Public Relations Board Member for the Society for Hawaiian Archaeologists.
Lei‘ohu Ryder and Maydeen ‘Iao are Hawaiian spiritual leaders, visionaries, singer/songwriters, healers, and educators. They are Kumu Aloha (emissaries of aloha) and advocates for the indigenous soul in all people. Their love and knowledge of Hawai‘i, help us connect with our selves, with Spirit, and the essence of Aloha.

Standing With Us

CONSULTANTS
Auli’i Mitchell                                                          Hawaiian kumu hula, Cultural practitioner, Cultural      advisor/Cultural Surveys Hawaii.
Arnie and Ronald Koss                                     Business Consultants; Founders/Earth’s Best Baby Food
David Spee                                                                 Maui Attorney; Real Estate, Estate Planning.
Doorway Into Light (DIL) Board Member
Dean Johnston                                                        Maui Architect
Jenny Pell                                                                   Land Design/Permaculture expert
Lei’ohu Ryder, Maydeen Iao                         Hawaiian spiritual activists and artists. DIL Advisory Board
Lisa Starr                                                                    Land Planner; Realtor/Broker. DIL Advisory Board
Tara Grace                                                                 Board Member/Maui Tomorrow;
                                                                                          Board Member/Food Security Hawaii, Realtor
Dr. Nancy Long Former medical director/Kauai Hospice
                                                                                          Former medical director/Hospice Maui.
     DIL Advisory Board
Eve-lyn Civerollo                                                  Former clinical director, Hospice Maui. DIL Advisory Board
Rhonda Fosbinder                                               Maui Attorney/Estate Planning, Elder Law,
   DIL Advisory Board
Dr. Michael Click                                                   MD, Doctor of Radiology. DIL Advisory Board
DIL Advisory Board
Amy Glenn                                                                 Chaplain, Birth Doula, Death Doula. DIL Advisory Board
Founder and Director/Birth, Breath and Death Institute
Jerrigrace Lyons                                                   Founder and Director/Final Passages. DIL Advisory Board
Dr. Malik Cotter                                                     Doctor of Oriental and Integrative Medicine, Acupuncturist.
                                                                                          DIL Advisory Board
Jay April                                                                      Executive Director, Akaku Hawaii
Deanna Cochran                                                    Founder and Director, End of Life Practitioners Collective;
                                                                                          Founder and Director, Quality of Life Care;
Certified hospice and palliative nurse. DIL Advisory Board Bill Greenleaf                                                                  Farmer/Greenleaf Farm
Marta Greenleaf                                                     Farmer/Greenleaf Farm. Incoming DIL Board Member
Scott Fisher                                                              Hawaii Island Land Trust
Ram Dass                                                                   Spiritual Activist, Author.  DIL Board Member

Green Cemeteries and Green Burial Grounds
Climate Change and Environmental Impact

There are approximately 25,000 cemeteries in the United States. Most are organized as not-for-profits and only about 23 are recognized to be certifiably “Green.”

At the heart of `Īpuka’s founding “green” values is respect for our natural environment, preservation of precious resources, protection of native habitat, and employee health.

`Īpuka will become the first certified Green Cemetery in Hawaii.

Conventional cemeteries and the accompanying established practices that prepare a body for burial pose a number of environmental problems. Consider the following:

Over 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde (a known carcinogen) are used annually for embalming
Annually, 30 million board feet of tropical hardwoods are used for coffins
1.5 million tons of concrete per year are used for grave liners to prevent caskets from sinking and the ground becoming uneven.
5.4 million pounds of copper and bronze are used in burials

Also noteworthy is that cemeteries and their related services surprisingly have a heavy carbon footprint. For example, concrete fabrication is very fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions intensive. Tropical deforestation adversely impacts carbon storage on a massive scale. Conventionally operated crematories, in addition to being fossil fuel intensive also release mercury and other toxins into our environment.

Because cremation is relatively inexpensive compared to burials, it now represents more than 50% of all burial services. ‘Īpuka, however, has no immediate plan to offer cremations. We will wait until the technology advances to reduce the environmental impacts. It is our objective to manage the ‘Īpuka property and the burial process with the aim of sequestering carbon and being a model of environmental and social responsibility.

Given the economics and our principled position on cremation, we have a plan to make “green” burials affordable to all. One of the core missions of the ‘Īpuka flower farm will be to direct revenues to provide financial support for natural burials as needed. Another aim is to offer a local regenerative agriculture alternative to the flowers found in many shops that are grown on an industrial scale in foreign countries with lax environmental and employment safety standards.

‘Īpuka’s flower farm will offer visitors an onsite choice that will support the ongoing upkeep and services of our Sanctuary Park.

In having a green burial in ‘Īpuka ‘s natural burial ground and Sanctuary Park, one’s burial, one’s ‘last act’, becomes a gift to the Maui community and to Maui itself.

DONATE

‘ĪPUKA (ee poo ka): a Hawaiian word​meaning “doorway” or “passageway.”