"Magic" Stones

Crystals and rocks regularly appear anonymously in the gardens.

The neighboring wetlands show in the background of the above photo.

Stupa Added to the front of the Temple

Lama Chodrak, the executive director of the worldwide Kagyu Monlam (prayer festival), has made a generous gift of a fully consecrated stupa to KSC. The stupa was made by Richard Jackson and Monica Martinez of Questa, New Mexico, and the Lamas were able to bring it back to KSC at the end of their retreat. Clay Colley and Tom Stammers are finishing it with the traditional painted decorations. It will stand in the center of the stone mandala of the front patio when complete.

The Stupa can be seen on the far left.

ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITTANICA:
Buddhist stupas were originally built to house the earthly remains
of the historical Buddha and his associates and
are almost invariably found at sites sacred to Buddhism.
The concept of a relic was afterward extended to include sacred texts.
Miniature stupas and pagodas are also used
by Buddhists throughout Asia as votive offerings.

Sandra's poem about the building process

Walking Through Walls

I arrive at the temple site
Stunned to see
All the wall studs are up!
Vast arrays of vertical wood,
Lined up, dried out, bared
A small forest!

I can walk through these walls
Like the pine groves up the mountain,
Where trees grow in free space
No rooms claimed for use.

As I slip between
Intended library, privy, offices and hall
A rush of power
Opens me to other ways of seeing-

Between things.

When I come to sit,
After the Center is finished,
May I still envision
This unobstructed space -
Slip into other places
Between things -

See clear through.



By Sandra Pastorius
March, 2010

On the building
of Kagyu Sukha Choling,
Tibetan Meditation Center
Ashland, OR

UPSTAIRS CHANGES

A gong now hangs from above. This allows the lamas to let practitioners below know when they are leaving their apartment and coming downstairs for teachings and meditations.

This looks down from the upstairs on roofing, the new landscaping
and the stone path leading towards the front doors.

This view from upstairs shows the new landscaping along the wetlands area
and some of the railing for the stairway going down to the street level.



This view shows more of the landscaping, Jim's stone work
and a neighboring lot where our supplies are stored.

Scuppers were painted this week.

Nick Dienel and Clay Colley (rt.) are constantly improving KSC
and finishing final construction details.
Clay has been the on site volunteer contractor
since the beginning of construction.

DOWNSTAIRS CHANGES

This is part of the work office space.
It is spacious in this area of the downstairs.

It looks out on the wetlands. The stones were set by Jim Olson,
a great friend to KSC

KSC now has a large library room and many volunteers to staff it.

There is temporary scaffolding downstairs in order for awnings
to be put on the outside of the West windows of the meditation room.
Without these the room has been very hot.

Looking very closely you can see
the landscaping put in a few weeks ago.

NEW LANDSCAPING WAS PUT IN July 10

Bruce Thauburn has been donating his time preparing the center for months.

The wetlands next door have turned green for the summer.