EcoDharma Centre announces Five Year Plan and New Opportunities

Last month the steering group for Triratna’s EcoDharma Centre gathered in Catalunya in the mountains of Spain to give shape to the project’s five year plan. The group of ten people including Order Members and others closely associated with Triratna came together to take an important step in the development of the EcoDharma project.

“We have been carefully bringing this project to fruition for many years now,” explains the project’s founder Guhyapati. “We have taken an organic and patient approach, enabling the project to take root and mature gradually. That has felt like a wise approach for a land-based project. Now we are entering into a new and exciting phase, and our 5-year plan gives a clear and achievable focus to our shared vision.”

While organic and carefully paced, the project is an ambitious one with a number of different strands. It includes the continued development of the EcoDharma Centre as a centre of excellence in hosting retreats and educational courses. There will be a focus on Dharma and meditation, and especially on bringing the Dharma into relationship with socially engaged and ecological concerns. There is an important land-based dimension to the project, with intentions to develop and implement long-term sustainable land use including organic and permaculture-based agriculture and forest gardening.  All of this rests on the foundation of a commitment to collective living and working, in an effort to exemplify the power and creativity of community.

The EcoDharma Centre is blessed with a stunning area of 50 hectares of woodland, fields, and rugged mountain land, flanked by Spanish national park and other common lands - shown in the photograph. The centre itself is just visible as the tiny white dot just to the left of the centre. This situates it in one of the wildest and most secluded settings in Triratna – ideal for the development of long-term retreat facilities and solitary retreat cabins. There are negotiations in process to purchase more adjacent land, with a vision seeking to preserve supportive conditions for the project for many generations to come.

Several opportunities have arisen out of the visioning process, and EcoDharma is currently keen to attract some additional long-term community members plus shorter-term interns and volunteers.

Long Term Land-Based Opportunity

For longer-term involvement, they are particularly interested in people who are passionate about land-based sustainability, permaculture, forest gardening, land and woodland management, ideally already with experience in these areas, or an especially keen capacity to learn! They are interested in individuals who want to contribute to the long term planning and implementation of these areas of the vision.

Internships for Younger People

The centre and community are also keen to support internships aimed at people keen to become acquainted with living in a practice-based community and exploring how the Dharma can interface creatively with the ecological and social issues of our times. These internships are aimed to support younger people to gain skills and experience in value-based collective and community project development.

During the next year or so the Centre will also be interested to hear from people with building skills and experience (especially sustainable building techniques and interests, although conventional experience is also a great asset) to take part in some forthcoming building projects.

If you, or anyone you know, would like to learn more about these opportunities, contact Guhyapati at info@ecodharma.com