Serenity Now

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serenity now photo by Wendy Butler

Integrative medicine pioneer Peter Amato opens his Waverly mountain retreat to the angst-ridden masses
By: Wendy Butler 08/25/2005

Ours has become a society riddled with anxiety disorders. We work to live and live to work, leaving at dawn and returning home in the moonlight to outlandish houses we can't afford. Meanwhile, we're charging our weekly groceries and packing them in monstrous SUVs as gas prices mount and the nation's at war.

Divorce is rampant, suicide is on the rise and keeping up the Joneses has become an obsessive-compulsive way of life.

It's so bad that if Elizabeth Wurtzel's 1997 novel "Prozac Nation" was released today, it most likely would be called "Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Paxil, Zoloft, Ritalin Nation." To quote Susan Powter: it's time to stop the insanity.

Waverly resident and Inner Harmony Wellness Center founder Peter Amato has devoted his life to doing just that. The area's forefather in the field of integrative medicine, Amato is opening his Waverly hill-top home for this first time this weekend for a two-day workshop on attaining inner harmony through yoga, meditation, breathing techniques and more.

Entitled Living with Peace, Purpose and Passion, the workshop is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday and costs $249, which includes materials and a light lunch on both days.

"I built this as a home but it became so much more," the Scranton native described on a recent tour of the 16,000 square-foot estate. "This took 4 years and 40 men to build and we not only used people from a host of different trades, we consulted with holy men, Shamans and Tibetan monks."

The result is one of the most breathtaking architectural triumphs in the region. Perched atop the highest point in Lackawanna County, Amato's Eastern architecture-based home offers spectacular views all the way to Elk Mountain. The house, itself, is a series of intersecting semi-circles and includes four bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a home theater, a great room replete with fireplace, a dining room, two kitchens, a pool house and a separate apartment for guests.

Once he was finished, however, Amato still found himself unfulfilled. "I was living here, going through a divorce, and suffering some mild depression and that's when I said to myself: 'What did you do all this for?' I grew up in three rooms in South Scranton and now I had all this. So I went to my teachers and coaches for their guidance and they said to me, 'What makes you think you did all this for you."

That sparked the impetus for the Harmony Mountain retreat with Amato deciding to allow his students the opportunity to learn and study at his 84-acre estate. The eight-car garage area, he explained, will soon be converted to additional guest quarters since he plans on offering spa weekends in the near future.

The Amato family, famous in the region for its race car driving dynasty, founded A&A Auto Stores. Peter worked behind the counter from the age of 12 when his parents had to put an empty Royal Crown soda case under his feet in order to reach the cash register. From there, Amato and his three siblings went on to establish Keystone Automotive, a separate wholesale division that burst onto the global scene and rendered the Amato family members wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.

So how did a millionaire playboy come to be a spiritual guru? "Twenty years ago, I was driving a Mercedes and I asked myself, 'Is this it?'" Amato recalled. "I had a great life but I was unfulfilled and that's when I moved toward the inner journey. I guess you could say it was this gnawing inner calling."

Amato has studied with the biggest names in the industry: Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil and Zen master and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Thich Nhat Hanh, to name but a few.

In addition, after a private audience with the Dalai Lama, he helped bring the renowned Tibetan leader to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., attracting a crowd of more than 70,000 strong.

He has toured the globe countless times delivering lectures and teachings and has served as the U.S. liason to the Global Holistic Summit in India and has been named chairman of the executive board of directors of the National Integrative Medicine Council.

Amato was also the founder of the Inner Harmony Wellness Center, which was originally located in Clarks Summit and has now integrated with the Mercy Healthcare System. He also has another retreat in East Benton called Harmony East and has introduced a program to Scranton School District students to reduce stress and has initiated a special program for women dealing with breast cancer.

And still, Amato wants to do more.

"I always had a dream of operating an upscale, classy retreat center," he offered. "And I could have opened it anywhere but my roots were here and I wanted to give back. We've become human 'doings' instead of human 'beings,' and life doesn't fill us up anymore. My work is to bring people to the next chapter and to cultivate wisdom. To be here at my home is peaceful experience in itself. Originally, I didn't intend to open my own doors as a retreat but now I see it as a spiritual car wash."

Upcoming Inner Harmony Events

Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 27 and 28: Inner Harmony Approach, Level One Workshop at Harmony Mountain, Waverly, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days. Cost is $249 and includes materials and a light lunch. To register, call 585-5000.

Sept. 13 through Oct. 18: Living with Peace, Purpose and Passion, Tuesday evenings from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Marywood University. The cost for the full series is $100. To register, call 348-6237.

Oct. 1: Inner Harmony Approach, Introductory Workshop, Marworth Treatment Center, Waverly

Nov. 5 and 6: Inner Harmony Approach, Level One, Renaissance Center, Malibu, Calif.

Nov. 12 and 13: Inner Harmony Approach, Level One, two-day workshop, Harmony East, East Benton.

For more information, go to www.innerharmonygroup.com.