"Ampitheatre of the Redwoods"

Stupas, Vajrayana Foundation

Drawing: Matt Welsh

On aptly named 'Eureka Canyon Road' in Santa Cruz, California is the Pema Osel Ling Retreat Center- the 'Ampitheatre of the Redwoods.' Set within the epic landscape of the redwood Forest, Pema Osel Ling serves as an exquisite, and eco-friendly, retreat center as well as a creation under the work of the Vajrayana Foundation. Founded in the late 1980's by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, the Foundation works in the vein and lineage of the Nyingma school.

The stupas at Pema Osel Ling have been constructed in the form of a mandala and in the style of the eight traditional stupas.

Source: The Vajrayana Foundation

Southernmost North American Stupa in Progress

From the last post on a center in Hawai'i, back to the continental USA and to the southeastern extremity. The state of Florida is host to a number of Vajrayana dharma centers. Today's focus is Kagyu Shedrup Chöling, founded by Ven. Lama Norlha Rinpoche, who immigrated to the States in the late 70's and founded Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monastery in New York State. The teachings at Kagyu Shedrup Chöling are very diverse and address several levels of technique and skill. Kagyu Shedrup Chöling's resident teacher is Ven. Lama Karma Chötso, who has also devoted her time as a Professional Volunteer Chaplain for Hospice Care and has performed Buddhist death rituals for deceased, among many other services.

Kagyu Shedrup Chöling stupa project will ultimately result in the southernmost stupa constructed in North America, an interesting point for the entire energetic network of stupas on the continent.

Stupas have a long history and tradition of serving both as symbolic representations of the Buddha's enlightened mind, as spaces for circumambulatory movement and meditation and tributes to precious teachers. They also have an additional and incredibly interesting dimension of 'acting' on and with the environment. It is a type of construction that sees form as infused with energy as the elements and with the ability (and often necessity) of interacting with them.

Kagyu Shedrup Chöling's blog, South Florida Kagyu Stupas, notes:

"The treasure vase is a Tibetan tradition that goes back to the time of Guru Rinpoche, who gave specific instructions on how they were to be made and their purpose. These vases can help balance the environment and promote healing of all kinds. Here in South Florida the basic elements of earth, water, fire, air and space are all out of balance. These vases are part of the reason the stupas will be balancing them and will help avert negative forces of all kinds -- storms, wars, etc."

Treasure Vases

Source: South Florida Kagyu Stupas Blog

It appears that as of late, the foundation is being set and the stupa construction is in motion. Check out Kagyu Shedrup Chöling's blog for visuals and to watch the process unfold.

Aloha and the Dharma

Over in a state I consider home in a very heartfelt way are dharma centers on the most verdant and peaceful of grounds, colors exploding amidst a gentle rustling of leaves and general serenity.

The center for this post is found on the "Garden Isle" of Kauai, tucked into the mountains on the eastern side of the island. Established by Lama Karma Rinchen in 1990 and directed by Lama Teshi Dundrup, this Kauai Dharma Center offers meditation retreats, Vajrayana Dharma teachings for intermediate students and basic Mahayana Buddhism classes. The center also contributes time and efforts to maintaining the first Buddhist stupa on Kauai. A project born from the efforts of the Dharma Sanctuary, the first Buddhist stupa in Kauai was consecrated in 2009. At the Kauai Dharma Sanctuary a central stupa, dedicated to the lineage of H.E. Kalu Rinpoche in Hawai'i, is surrounded by smaller stupas.

The stupa project in general serves as a further unifying force for Lama's who devoted energy to establishing centers and transmitting dharma teachings throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Clicking through the slideshows at the Dharma Sanctuary's website also really gives one a sense of the lushness and spacious sense on the island surrounding the centers. The Dharma Sanctuary's main focus is the construction of Tibetan stupas globally with stupas already constructed in France, Hawai'i and New Mexico. As the Dharma Sanctuary states on their website, stupa building....

"is a spiritual technology that the Tibetans have codified over centuries and is now available to the western world....Building stupas is holy work. They only appear when all the conditions are auspicious. "

Stupa Empowerment ceremony at Dharma Sanctuary, Kauai

Source: Kagyu Thubten Choling/Kauai Dharma Center website

Sakya in the San Juan Islands

Source: Sakya Kachöd Chöling website

Over in the Pacific Northwestern Reach of the San Juan Islands is a colorful dharma center, set in a 20 acre wooded landscape and rooted in the Sakya lineage. Established in 1986, Sakya Kachöd Chöling (Vajrayana Buddhist Retreat Center) is largely geared towards the hosting and offering of various types of retreats.

Source: Sakya Kachöd Chöling website

H.E. Sakya Jetsun Rinpoche's story is a rich one, crossing nations and many roles and exemplary of an "authentic, living, women lineage holder." Under Jetsun Rinpoche's direction, this dharma center in the San Juan Islands was founded as well as Sakya Thubten Tsechen Ling in Vancouver and Sakya Decehn Ling in Oakland, CA.

Tara, Shrine Room

Source: Sakya Kachöd Chöling website

Part of Sakya Kachöd Chöling's current vision is a building expansion plan, which includes retreat huts, a dining and kitchen hall and more. Like other dharma centers through the nation, the need for expansion is supported by sustained interest in practice as well as the intent to provide right accommodation and space for those for whom this is a lifelong work.

I include several photos from the center's website on this post, letting the beauty of the center speak for itself.

Source: Sakya Kachöd Chöling website

Source: Sakya Kachöd Chöling website

Source: Sakya Kachöd Chöling website

Dhongak Tharling: A "Quieter" Space

From humble abodes to lavish temple complexes, it all houses the dharma, the spaces all serving as hubs and way stations for practitioners on a path whose journey also involves the trekking of the inner terrains of the psyche, heart and mind.

I am gradually charting the layout of stupas in the land. I marvel at the spiritually based construction of Tibetan Buddhist architecture- the monasteries, the temples, the large prayer wheels, the stupas- and I eventually seek to expand my virtual and non-virtual explorations of these spaces to other continents.

But stunning religious architecture is not only what I seek. The heart of the practice, I know, is not dependent on a building constructed with auspicious placement of Buddhist symbols. Throughout the country, throughout the world, the dharma is being cultivated in scores of buildings that do not meet the description 'ornate and majestic.'

These being Tibetan Buddhist spaces however, no matter how humble, the expectation for a rush of color and dynamic art is high.

Dhongak Tharling Dharma Center

Source: The Pluralism Project

Dhongak Tharling Dharma Center, founded in 1994 in New Orleans, is spiritually directed by Lama Ngawang Tsultrim Zangpo, a Dzogchen master of the Rigdzin Dakgyud lineage. The spiritual abode is decidedly low key. A visit to their website reveals information that they are raising funds to purchase their building. So if this information is up to date and current, may they cultivate the means to secure this building for many years of practice to come.

The Universality of Primary Hues

One of the first things that captured me about the Tibetan Buddhist design tradition was the color scheme. It originally struck me, and still does, as elementary. Elementary in that best sense of the word, straightforward and universal.

If you have ever seen a Tibetan prayer flag rippling in the wind, you should recall the bright spread of primary colors. The same scheme is integrated in Tibetan Buddhist temple and building design worldwide, both exteriorly (when possible) and interiorly.

White relates to the element of Space/all encompassing space/buddha

Green relates to the element of Wind/all encompassing wisdom/karma

Red relates to the element of Fire/discriminating awareness wisdom/padma

Blue relates to the element of Water/mirror like wisdom/vajra

Yellow relates to the element of Earth/wisdom of equanimity/ratna

Kagyu Shenpen Tharchin

Source: The Pluralism Project, flickr

The above photo of Kagyu Shenpen Tharchin in Richmond, Virginia is, in my opinion, a quite humble and pretty example of a small sangha's ceremonial and practice space, with a prominent interior use of the yellow and red hues. Why wood floors seem to be always be most fitting, atmospherically, aesthetically and even, religiously, in spiritual centers is a question that seems simple to me but which I haven't got the answer to yet.

Established in 1993, the center is, to date, the only Tibetan Buddhist centre in Richmond, Virginia. The center is part of Ekoji Buddhist Sangha which is host to other sanghas of Buddhist tradition: a Vipassana group, a Zen group and a Pure Land Group. This truly makes Ekoji a multi-dimensional center, to serve as host to different Buddhist traditions as well as be encouragingly open door to those who do not claim a lineage, tradition or faith.

The Tibetan Buddhist sangha at Ekoji, Kagyu Shenpen Tharchin, was established through the efforts of Lama Norlha, the founder of Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monastery in upstate New York. The story of many Tibetan Buddhist leaders journeys, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century, is layered with several different geographies and, of course, the story of cultures adapting to religious tradition, or perhaps, more critically, vice versa. Diamond Vehicle is a film in the works about Lama Norlha, that appears to have captured all of this, along with the political backdrop that has served as the catalyst for the perhaps, unexpected, yet completely global reading and interest in the Vajrayana.

Deer Park

Deer Park

Artist Tenzin Choephel, one of whom worked on temple art for the new center at Deer Park, seen at right

Source: Madison.com Photo Gallery

As referenced in the last post, in the summer of 1981 a Kalachakra initiation was held at Deer Park, about ten miles south of Madison, Wisconsin. It was the first Kalachakra ceremony for world peace held in the West.

Deer Park was founded in 1975 by Ven. Geshe Lhundup Sopa, who began offering Buddhist teachings and hosting Tibetan cultural events in Wisconsin in 1975. Invited to the U.S.A. by the University of Wisconsin to teach Tibetan, Sopa later retired as Professor of Buddhist Studies and has been teaching and sharing his knowledge for over three decades in the heartland of the States. In addition to being the founder and contributing much to the heart and soul of Deer Park Buddhist Center and its community, Geshe Lhundub Sopa is also the Director and Abbot of Deer Park Buddhist Center and Monastery.

Ven. Geshe Sopa was also instrumental in what today is a vigorous and sizeable Tibetan community in the local area. A majority of the exiles in the growing Tibetan diaspora in the mid to late 20th century found refuge and new home in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, Canada and the United States. In the United States, as elsewhere, efforts of numerous individuals merged to help create resettlement nodes where Tibetans and their families could gradually move, settle and create new homes. The Madison, Wisconsin area was one such node.

As with many other centers, Deer Park has a history of offering not only numerous Buddhist teachings, but also interreligious events, conferences and retreats. A monastery on the grounds is the home to resident monks and as with many other centers, the aspiration and efforts to establish a temple reflective of Tibetan Buddhist architectural principles has come to fruition at Deer Park.

As Sopa himself remarks-

“The Deer Park Buddhist Center is a mirror of a Tibetan Buddhist Temple specifically designed to embody Buddha’s teachings."

-Ven. Geshe Lhundub Sopa, Article: Deer Park Center- Just About Ready

In his Introduction to the Temple Project at Deer Park, Geshe Sopa also remarks on the usefulness of the visual form of a building and it's accompanying arts to present to visitors the Buddha's teachings in visual form. Not only was the temple envisioned to be heavily modeled off of Tibetan Buddhist principles, but also to embody strong elements of sustainable design. Modern concepts of sustainable design and building merge with a traditional approach towards layout with respect and regards of the surrounding landscape and incorporating Buddhist symbology and art throughout the physical form.

AEI Affiliated Engineer's Design for Deer Park's new center

Source: AEI website

Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in New Jersey

Dharmachakra and flanking Deer at Labsum Shedrub Ling

Source: The Wish Fullfilling Jewel Mirror

First, I would like to just express how much I like the website for the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center. The intro page is immediately easy on the eyes with red minimalist text on a white canvas, and the traditional Dharmachakra ("wheel of the law") flanked by two deer on the left is subtle yet strong. "Virtual" representations are increasingly built to reflect a center's totality, as many visitors may link to centers by way of retreats and visits. Like any other organization in this digital age, websites are increasingly seen as a particularly important portal for a group. For dharma centers, I personally do find it thrilling to come across a website that includes a history of the center (so I don't have to rely on 2nd or 3rd hand sources) and a photo gallery of the grounds, if applicable.

The Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center (TBLC), Labsum Shedrub Ling, was formerly the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America, the first dharma center in the West. The Lamaist Buddhist Monastery was founded in 1958, so there is a fact to give some sense of how fresh these communities and practices really are on the continent. The Monastery was founded by Geshe Wangyal, a Kalmyk Mongolian immigrant, and now, in its' incarnation as the TBLC, run by Joshua and Diana Cutler, both of whom became his students in the early seventies and went on to learn and work with Geshe Wangyal for many years.

The center is set on several woodsy acres in Washington, NJ. The history of building for the center is interesting, highlights of which include:

1968: Retreat House is built. Geshe Wangyal is instrumental in this and future facility expansions.

1975: Schoolhouse is built; Geshe Wangyal's instructs, collaborates and constructs with the students.

1979: Geshe Wangyal sells the monastery in Howell, relocating the local Tibetan monastic community to a newly purchased building in New Brunswick, NJ

1983: Geshe Wangyal passes this year but some months before doing so, offers the New Brunswick building to H.H. the Dalai Lama/The Tibet Fund & arranges for the monks to take up residence at the Washington center. He also laid out ideas to the Cutlers, longtime students, for a temple construction on the Washington grounds.

1984: Temple completed and consecrated by H.H. the Dalai Lama

Stupa on grounds of TBLC

Dedicated to female Buddha Tara & containing Geshe Wangyal's ashes

Because of the history of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, it's religious and cultural community is a dynamic fusion whose energies also lend to the longevity of this center. In reflecting on the several visits of the Dalai Lama to TBLC, the website notes that:

"On all of these visits except for 1990, His Holiness gave discourses on Buddha's teachings to large assemblies of Americans, Kalmyk-Americans, and Tibetan-Americans. In 1998, almost 5,500 people assembled on TBLC property to hear His Holiness speak."

TBLC is a non sectarian center whose focus is providing instruction and teaching in the basics of Buddhism. The Center sponsors Tibetan monks to visit for brief stays to instruct. Part of the really interesting thing that looking into this center unveils is the intention that Geshe Wangyal had to encourage his Western students to learn the many facets of Tibetan Buddhism and to be sincere in their practice, but not necessarily to adopt what might be intrinsic to such practice in Tibet, such as monastic vows. In this sense, like other teachers who would appear shortly after Geshe Wangyal on the North American scene, the understanding was that for Americans to truly be able to interpret the teaching, a major and intense cultural re-adaptation should not be the focus relative to certain issues. Gehse Wangyal did encourage his students to learn Tibetan and thus also commit to the growing community of needed translators. In this sense, the evolution of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center is very much grounded in the academic component that is often part and parcel of the religious and spiritual path and community.

*Source for general historic notes and dates: TBLC history page

"Doors and Windows of Tibet"

Just beautiful.

Source: Hannibal Taubes, Ungern and Sternberg

The Mandala in the Architecture of Sacred Space

When I refer to architecture, I am typically referring to the built environment that surrounds us. Yet in the lexicon of religious architecture, the notion of spaces and structures we inhabit take on another definition and quite literally, other dimensions. The mandala is a rich example of this.

Often referred to as a 'cosmic diagram,' mandala is a Sanskrit term meaning 'circle.' In ritual practice, the mandala signifies the abode of a deity and is also an external representation of the mind's layout. The mandala is a central concept in Buddhist architecture, representative of sacred space as well as often fundamental in the building and planning process for temples, monasteries. The Tibetan Buddhist architectural style is heavily influenced, in fact dependent, on the form of the mandala along with the homage paid to natural landscape features when layout is considered and planned. As an instrument of meditation, it is one of the manifold practices designed for the spiritual journey.

The journey of Tibetan Buddhists monks around the world has led to the creation of sand mandalas in many places, followed by the reverential nod to impermanence in then sweeping the mandala up.

The following photo shows Tibetan monks Lobsang Paljor and Tenzin Tashi creating a mandala representative of Avalokiteshvara, deity and embodiment of compassion, at the library of Missouri University on the Mystical Arts of Tibet Tour.

Source: The Missourian

Ivolginsky datsan

A datsan refers to a Buddhist university and monastery in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Datsan's are found in Mongolia, a country tightly wound into the history of Tibetan Buddhism's development, as well as in Siberia.

Ivolginsky Datsan, East Siberia, near Lake Baikal

Source: Olenka, igougo.com

Buryats, an ethnic minority group in Siberia, inhabit regions surrounding Lake Baikal and share many customs with the neighboring Mongolians, including a popular and historic practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Since its inception in the mid 20th century, Ivolginsky datsan has been a primary and central node for practicing Buddhists in the region. More thorough historical research forthcoming on this historic site of the dharma.

As mentioned before, I had intended this blog as an exploration of dharma centers in the United States, with the lesser expressed (but present) intent of virtual travels to Tibet and India for historical and visual reference. Mongolia and Siberia necessarily become part of that equation as well, and while the core of postings may be U.S. related, I think it simply best to not limit the exploration from here on out.

When I saw the above image earlier today, I was thoroughly intrigued by the fusion of Russian and Buddhist architecture, coupled with the traditional colorful display of Tibetan Buddhist aesthetics. Not to mention it was my first learning of the term datsan.

Ivolginsky Datsan

Source: Wikimedia Commons, author: Kasutaja:VanemTao

Six Mother Monasteries of Nyingma

Now for a bit of distant virtual travelling...

As referenced in the last post, the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism has six "mother monasteries" (in Tibet) where the Nyingma tradition is regarded as developing. Wherever possible in this blog, I like to use photos, to show both the spaces, places and landscapes where Vajrayanic practices continue and endure. I also like to use photos to illustrated the elements of Tibetan Buddhist architecture.

Finding good, representative photos of these monasteries and the set of buildings and temples they encompass is no easy feat. At least not online. Perhaps this is due to the fact that much of the religious architecture in Tibet suffered destruction in the last century and have sometimes only seen partial renovations. Additional reasons as to why there is a lack of photographs on some of these buildings is a question to mull at a later date.

There are two different historic listings of the mother monasteries of the Nyingma tradition. The first six included Dorge Drak, Mindroling, Palri, Kathog, Palyul and Dzogchen monasteries. Later, the development of Shechen monastery led to it's inclusion, replacing Palri monastery in the listing of the mother monasteries.

Palyul Monastery, Lower Tibet

Source: http://palyulmedia.smugmug.com/

Kathog Monastery

Source: http://www.zhaxizhuoma.net/

Dorje Drak Monastery

Source: Don Croner's World Wide Wanders Part 2

Mindroling Monastery

Source: http://www.explore-himalaya.com/

Dzogchen Monastery

Grand temple rebuilt on site of the original in 2003

Source: http://www.dzogchen.cn/

Schechen Monastery

Source: http://www.shechen.org/