Yasodhara Ashram is planning to rebuild after a fire destroyed the original Temple of Light in June 2014.

image credit: File photo

Yasodhara Ashram is embarking on a project of renewal and hope. After a fire destroyed the original Temple of Light in June, Yasodhara Ashram is now preparing for a redesign and rebuild of their cherished temple.

The renowned Vancouver firm of Patkau Architects has been chosen from many applicants to lead the design process.

Its so rare to have a project that is about aspiration as opposed to meeting some sort of expedient requirements. The opportunity to do something that speaks to all the senses and the spirit is a rare and wonderful challenge, said John Patkau.

The original temple, completed in 1992, was a longtime vision of the founder of the Ashram, Swami Radha. Current president Swami Lalitananda explained, The temple represented the values and vision of the Ashram that this is a place open to people from all spiritual traditions. The next iteration of the temple is to say, yes, we honour that vision.

Long a landmark on the East Shore of Kootenay Lake, the Temple of Light attracted visitors and spiritual pilgrims from around the world.

Even though this is one little temple in the wilderness of the Kootenays, we see it as a symbol of hope in the world. The world can feel so divided, and the temple is where we recognize unity the light in each other not division. The temple was, and will be again, a sacred space where we can come together in harmony, said Swami Lalitananda.

The design and planning phases for the temple rebuild will span 2015, with hopes to have the temple under construction and completed in 2016.

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Kootenay Bay temple rebuild planned

MUNDGOD, December 24: His Holiness the Dalai Lama today said that the Tibetans must ensure the preservation of the precious tradition of Nalanda university, the foundation of the Tibetan Buddhism.

Wherever I go I keep telling people that the Tibetan Buddhism is based on the Nalanda tradition. But today if we ask ourselves who are the real guardians of the tradition it is difficult to answer, he told a gathering comprising of Gaden Tripa, former and serving abbots, teachers and administrators of the monastic universities.

He said though there are a few million Tibetans the actual custodian of the tradition of Nalanda are the few thousand monks studying the five major treatises (shungchen kaboe nga) in the monasteries, learning centres and other institutes which have done quite well for the last over 500 years.

The Tibetan leader said that it would be a mistake to just ignore our own drawbacks and pretend everything is going well. We have this habit in our community of not talking about our wrongdoings and ignore them as if to cover a stinking spot by dust. That is wrong, we must talk about our own mistakes while others will talk about our accomplishments, said His Holiness.

If you dont take responsibility at a time when I am getting old and nearing towards my last years then it is pointless to offer long life prayer (Tenshug) or mandala, His Holiness added.

He said the Buddha Dharma is based on truth and reality, not on mere formalities and that those who follow the Buddha Dharma must also be realistic.

Those who offer mandala wish for thousands and thousands of life but the one offering mandala and the one for whom the offering is made know very well that it is impossible. Then why are we fooling ourselves?

So if I have to worry about what might happen to the Dharma after I am gone then it is a matter of great sadness. So you must take responsibly to come out with ways to best preserve the tradition, said His Holiness.

He said that the real progress over the years should be evaluated in terms of the Tibetan peoples knowledge of the Nalanda tradition and not in terms of expansion of monasteries and building structures or ritualistic things.

The Gaden Tripa, abbots of monasteries, monastic administrative staff, and teachers will meet here tomorrow to discuss ways to improve the status of Buddhist Studies in the monasteries.

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Dalai Lama tells monastic community to be true custodians of Dharma

WEST HARTFORD On 43 acres in the midst of bustling West Hartford, an oasis for the mind is taking root.

Located on the campus of the Catholic Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center and officially opened this fall, The Copper Beech Institute is dedicated to mindfulness and meditation.

"We saw that there was a great need in the world to work with the kind of stress, the kind of velocity, that people are seeing in their lives," said Founder and Executive Director Brandon Nappi.

Nappi, who is also the associate retreat director for Holy Family, has long studied mindfulness after being introduced to the practice by his wife, and says the disciplines have taken off after entering the mainstream in recent years.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts, studied Zen Buddhism including examining those principles scientifically, which led to his development of the eight-week secular mindfulness-based stress reduction training in the late 1970s.

Kabat-Zinn's work and the subsequent research by others, "enabled mindfulness to really mushroom like it has," and "now the cat's out of the bag and researchers are free to experiment," Nappi said.

Copper Beech has partnered with UMass to offer the mindfulness training three times a year, and is engaging in collaboration and training across a variety of disciplines, from yoga to meditation.

"We kind of have something for everybody," Nappi said. "I wanted to create a community where people from many different backgrounds could come and create a space of compassion, stability, and greater service to the world."

A nonprofit supported by program revenue and donors, Copper Beech takes its name from the tree, which is a symbol of wisdom and solitude. There are three copper beech trees on the Holy Family's quiet, leafy campus, which houses a sculpture garden, playing fields, and a labyrinth, and Nappi said the name seemed perfect for the environment they were trying to create.

The Rev. David Cinquegrani, retreat director at Holy Family, helped to foster Copper Beech, which leases space on campus alongside Golden Thread, an art gallery that opened on campus last year.

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Copper Beech Institute Offers Mindful Retreat In West Hartford