Temple Update  September 10, 2006

The past month has seen some remarkable developments for the Odsal Ling temple project. After many months of work on the part of Christine Boedler dealing with visas and paperwork in India, the artists have finally arrived and are already making excellent progress on the main shrine and roof details. The two Tibetan artists, Tenpa and Ugyen are skilled in sculpting the architectural ornaments and thangka painting, and the two Bhutanese artists, Kasang and Urgyen are accomplished statue sculptors, working  in both mediums of clay and cement.

The last week in August, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche arrived in Sao Paulo for the purpose  of giving an evening teaching on the Wheel of Life, and we were honored to receive him at Refugio for the afternoon. Happily, he spontaneously offered to do a blessing ceremony for the temple and it was with great joy that we were able to discuss the artwork plans with him and the artists afterwards. Currently the plan is to do a large Shakyamuni statue as the central figure, and to either side, statues of Guru Rinpoche, Red Tara, Garab Dorje, and our beloved teacher, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.

We also received very welcome news about the funding for the temple. Odsal Ling was recently selected to receive a grant from a U.S. based private foundation to cover the remaining construction costs of the temple.  This allows us to move forward more quickly on completing the structure itself, and we gearing up for the big push. We will still continue, however, with our fundraising efforts to support the upcoming costs for the extensive artwork and peripheral items such as the elevator, kitchen appliances, and so on - so be assured that there are still many opportunities for joining in the merit.

Lama Norbu - September, 2006