Samye Ling Stupa Prayer Wheel Project

A personal message
from
Chöje Akong Tulku Rinpoche

During the last few years Samye Ling has had many building projects. In the beginning our projects were very much based on voluntary effort. When work is done by sincere Dharma practitioners and is carried out from the depth of one's heart and is done like a purification, as a pure mandala offering, the projects often turn out to be of the highest quality.

Recently, however, due to rules and regulations, lack of engineering knowledge and also the need for people to make their own income and support their families, we have had no choice but to use contractors for our bigger projects, so have had less opportunity to use volunteers. Now however, I would like to invite people to help me with one particular project, which I would like to be done entirely by volunteers, using only donated or sponsored materials.

This project is the prayer wheels near the Stupa. As you know, Samye Ling has completed the building of the World Peace Stupa, which houses the Amitabha Shrine. The Stupa has a wall around half of it, and on this wall we wish to erect prayer wheels. Those of you who have travelled in the East will know that wherever there is a Stupa, there are hundreds of prayer wheels. The Stupa gives people the opportunity for circumambulation, and also to accumulate merit through turning the prayer wheels.

The project is to build a wall and a covered passageway and to install the prayer wheels. Also the wall will have cubicles where ashes can be stored, particularly if people wish to have entire urns preserved rather than just the small amounts that are able to be housed inside the Stupa itself.

I am looking for about 30 people, to work for either one, two or three weekends. Both men and women are welcome, whoever is fit enough to work.

The first weekend will include Friday July 1st until Sunday July 3rd. On the Friday we will prepare the foundations for the walls, then finish building them on Saturday and Sunday. Also we will prepare the roofing, which has to be cut to the right length by joiners.

The second weekend will be Saturday July 9th and Sunday 10th - which is the Wheel Day which commemorates the Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths. This weekend will be devoted to putting on the copper roof. We will need a group to work on the roof and also a group of joiners.
The third weekend will be Saturday July 16th (which is the anniversary of the Birth of Guru Rinpoche) and Sunday 17th, when we will finish the roof and work on the passageway. We will also finish the garden and prepare the Tara garden as the next large statue to be built in the Samye Ling garden will be Tara.
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I myself will be working with you throughout these three weekends.

For the first weekend I am looking for 6 bricklayers and about 10 joiners.

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For the second weekend we need one or two bricklayers, 10 joiners and 10 people who know about roofing - especially copper roofing.
For the third weekend we need 6 joiners, 6 roofers, 1 or 2 bricklayers and 4 people who can lay paving slabs. The rest of the workers will be diggers and labourers.

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All three weekends we will need one licensed electrician and also someone to build drains.
Please can everyone bring their own tools. We will of course provide meals and floor space to sleep on for those who do not have tents.
Please bring your own bedding.

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For those who enjoy working with me, this is a good opportunity. Together we can achieve something very meaningful.





Opportunity for Trainee Sculptors

Over the next two years in Samye Ling we will be making a large number of clay statues in many sizes. Thubten Kunsal, whom some of you may know from his previous visit when he produced many beautiful images for Samye Ling, is here again.

For anybody who is interested in art, who wishes to learn statue making, there is the opportunity to come to Samye Ling to learn from Thubten Kunsal for either 6 months, 1 year or 2 years.

Samye Ling will provide cheap dormitory accommodation for £10.50 per night, including meals.

The project will start in the last week of May 2005

Please contact George Briggs at Samye Ling
Email admin@samyeling.org
or Call 013873 73232 - ext 27