Consecration of the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha

Much has happened on the temple project since the last update. The interior is looking close to finished - with smooth plaster walls and many of the floor tiles already in place and the complex web of plumbing and wiring now nearing completion.
The great Shakyamuni mandala thangka is now finished and the second large thangka is well underway, and the Tara and Guru Rinpoche statues have both been completed. Amazingly, after many months of intensive effort, both the statues and the thangka were finished just the day before Jigme Tulku Rinpoche arrived for a short visit, and so were able to receive his blessings and approval.

Recently, Joseph Everest, Lama Tsering’s son, arrived in order to work on the statue of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. Joe knew Rinpoche from the time he was four years old, and that familiarity, along with a gallery of Rinpoche’s photos, has been helping him to mould the clay into the unmistakable form and characteristic features of our beloved teacher.

Recently also, we had the first preview and open house for the temple, and were pleased to see the temple filled with the sangha, both old and new, as well as members of the local community and families of the tradesmen who have been working so hard on the temple.

Another facet of the temple project is that of rolling all the mantras required to fill the statues. Students have been arriving from the city and taking vows, wearing the robes, and spending their weekends preparing the sacred mantra rolls. This has created a wonderful environment as practitioners continually create virtue amidst the activity of construction.

Lama Norbu – March, 2007