A hands-on healer and stone sculptor with a doctorate in philosophy of mind from Stanford, Martin Weiner has spent a lifetime exploring the energetic nature of the human mind–body system as well as the transformational power of touch and beauty. His partner, Peggy La Cerra, is an evolutionary neuroscientist who developed a model of the mind as an energetic information system that changes as a function of our experience (see page 42). The two met eight years ago and realized that, although they’d taken different paths, they both had arrived at the same understanding: that we are ever-changing beings in an energetic universe who are being transformed in real time by our experiences in the physical and social world. When they decided to create a home together in Ojai, California, they knew that they would be creating a place that would return the favor —re-creating and supporting their own growth as individuals and as a couple. Here are images of their home together and a sampling of Weiner’s sculptures.
Stephen Kiesling

Open House February 28, 3–6 p.m., 1919 Meiners Road, Ojai, California 93023-1625. Take Hwy 101 to Hwy 33/Maricopa Hwy; left on Maricopa Hwy to Meiners Road; then look for signs. To see more of Marty Weiner’s art, go to martinweiner.com.

Creating a Temple with Colored Glass

Three years ago, Weiner and La Cerra were visually captured by some jars of colored glass marbles that were gathering dust in a local thrift store. Weiner used the marbles to create a garden mosaic on the wall of their kitchen. While looking at it one night, the couple recalled a Sufi tale in which a master realizes that a place is holy simply because people have made it holy. To manifest that idea, they decided to create a mosaic temple in the center of their home. As an artist, Weiner is primarily a stone sculptor, so he immediately set about learning the basics of mosaics, ordered some colored mirrored glass and glass-cutting tools, and began to create the temple façade. The far wall (above) was designed to highlight the natural beauty of a split amethyst geode.

Centering in the Moment

As a teacher of both sculpting and healing, Weiner encourages others to find their own inner authority and engage with the moment as it is unfolding. “It is only through being present with what is that one discovers his or her next move. Any place or any action is ‘the right one’ if a person appreciates its sacredness. Where we really live is in the quality of our own state of being. Everything can shift when, rather than looking outside of ourselves for what someone else thinks is special, we choose to make where we are holy.”

Energetic Environments

(Left) “The Face of God Wall.” In the center is a little door that opens to reveal a mirror, and your own reflection. The gallery (below) is intentionally pristine, keeping the focus on Weiner’s “essences in stone.” Says Weiner, “When I sculpt, I internalize a quality — for example, tranquility — that I am interested in exploring in my own life. I don’t start with an idea or a model, but rather try to become the energy of that quality and allow it to carve itself. For me, a piece is successful when it captures that magical moment when the quality passes from the realm of essence to the realm of embodiment. I need only stand in the presence of the sculpture and experience it in order to be transformed once again to a state of tranquility.”