NW Dharma News published an article last summer by my good friend, Brian Hodel, describing the elaborate consecration of the new temple on Whidbey Island, Phagtsok Gendun Choling. Somehow I missed seeing the article when it first came out, but it’s well worth reading as, beyond the general description of what went on, it contains interesting tidbits about Buddhist ritual, cosmology, and belief. It also conveys the intensity of the multi-day event…and includes mention of the related sand mandala tour that our Seattle group organized.
Rinpoche didn’t want to simply import Tibetan designs, but rather to incorporate those with Northwest building styles. The temple, he said, was to be “in harmony with nature,” and “a cause of happiness for all beings.”
Eight Tibetan monks have come to the Pacific Northwest to consecrate the new temple on south Whidbey Island, home of the Buddhist sangha, Pema Kilaya. Its name: Dharma Land of the Great Practitioner; in Tibetan, Phagtsok Gedun Choling. (See last blog entry for photos.)
Consecration of a Tibetan temple is a complex undertaking, requiring years of ritual experience by the practitioners. These men each began their monastic life as children of the Himalayas, joining temples there, and after decades, made their way to Buddhist centers in the very Buddhist country of Taiwan. This is where they met Kilung Rinpoche…which led to an invitation to help him ritually energize the new Whidbey temple.
Expanding the sphere of blessings. These monks are also experienced in the ritual of creating sand mandalas. So, following the consecration of the temple, three locations in the Pacific Northwest will be treated to this sacred practice. The public is invited to these free events, also featuring public talks by Kilung Rinpoche.
Seattle at the University of Washington’s Intellectual House June 6 – 7
Whidbey Island at the new temple in Clinton during their Open House June 9 – 10
Bellingham at the Firehouse Arts & Events Center June 13 – 14
The sand mandala, sacred art of Tibet, is a form of meditation in action, benefiting the artist, the observer, and broader world. A precise template is first laid down, based on sacred geometry; the monks then tap out of special instruments minute amounts of colored sand, covering the entire “canvas”; a ritual is done to consecrate the image, powering the intention of bringing good to the world; at the end the mandala is ritually “dissolved,” the sand collected up and poured into a large waterway — to distribute the blessings throughout the world. From creation through dissolution, the sand mandala is a beautiful dance illustrating the impermanence of all things.
One Monday in January the new Buddhist temple at Yeshe Long on Whidbey Island welcomed a large and joyful crowd for its first-ever evening meditation, led by Dza Kilung Rinpoche.
Yeshe Long Temple, Whidbey Island
No matter that the hall wasn’t quite complete, nor yet consecrated, the spiritual energy magnified by place, by its very form, was fully engaged. Entering just after sunset, the color of the walls, the warmth of the wood, together with the lighting, felt as if walking into a golden sphere. The perfect mandala shape of the outer walls, rising high above our heads three levels to the points of an embedded crystal, seemed to focus the sacred intent of those present, while bringing in the lineage of centuries of Buddhists. Our brief chant, taking refuge in the three jewels, reverberated with a musicality i’d never heard before. Maybe with my sense of expectancy and delight to be there, i conjured it all, but i don’t think so.
Kilung Rinpoche leading the first meditation, January 21, 2019Nearly 80 people attended, here settling in before the meditation began. There are four alcoves, one in each cardinal direction; traditional hand carving on the beams.High above, the center of the temple-mandala refracts the light in a symmetrical pattern, this by accident; the timber will remain unpainted, a nod to the aesthetic sensibilities of our Pacific NW.
Sitting there in meditation, surrounded by so many friends, Rinpoche in front of us all, in this beautiful space, my mind went back twenty years to the beginning, when we first began, with nothing. Now look! My heart was full, with spreading happiness and peace. Thank you…
Awaken in the Present Moment 