News of Metta Vihara: construction work begins!

Parina writes from the Netherlands with news of Metta Vihara, Triratna’s new retreat centre in Europe’s Low Countries, saying:

“On June 20^th Metta Vihara finally starts to build our new retreat centre!  It’s taken us over 5 years to find a good location and 2 years of preparation for the building project, but here we are: it is actually happening!  There’s no need to tell you all that starting a project like this means a lot of patience, persistence and faith.  Sometimes it is good not to know what is coming next!

“We have felt many times that Mara is trying everything to obstruct our initiative. To mention a few: we found asbestos when demolishing the old barns and that meant a delay and 35,000 extra euros to remove it.   Then the local authorities made some mistakes that delayed us by 3 months.  Also the first design was too expensive so we had to start all over again. But... we didn't let ourselves be discouraged and moved on.

“The photograph shows an architect’s impression of the new retreat’s centre design (with its many white windows), set in its actual landscape.  We think it might be the first purpose-built retreat centre of the Movement. Are we right?  It is designed by Peter van Assche who has been a mitra for many years and an outstanding architect. He likes to think “out of the box”- an approach which is visible in the form and materials he uses.  One of his statements about this building is that it has a beauty that is not too comfortable: it may even be confronting but it is a beauty that can help the guests experience or learn things on a deeper level, out of their comfort zone.

“The retreat centre will have a capacity of 22 guests in either one or two person bedrooms, plus a shrine room, dining room and library. We will use it for our ‘own’ retreats - we run over 20 per year already - and we will rent it out to other Buddhist and non-Buddhist groups as well.

“So, on June 19th we will celebrate the start of the building with a ritual called "the first stone"  by Dhammaketu and Vajragita who are two of the founders of Triratna in the Netherlands and Belgium. A touring car with Sangha members from Amsterdam and Utrecht and many friends from Gent will come and we have invited the whole of the local (small) village to join us.

“We are very much looking forward to this ritual since it is also a way to express our gratitude to everyone who has been of great help for us, in all different ways.  We will keep you posted in the coming months of the progress we make!

“With metta, Parina”

News from Metta Vihara

 Akasasuri writes from Holland with news of their new retreat centre, Metta Vihara.  She says “here's some news on our retreat centre building work - seems a never-ending Mara-story!”  and goes on to explain -

“In September 2009 the Triratna Sanghas from the Low Countries (Holland and Belgium) bought a property in the South of Holland with the aim to establish our own retreat centre. In 1972 Vajrayogini (who recently died at the age of 93) organised the first FWBO retreat in Holland, led by Sangharakshita. Over the last 4 1/2 years about 20 retreats a year have been held in Holland and Belgium. And we thought, about time we had our own place!

“After much fundraising, the place we bought is a modern-looking white-washed farmhouse with lots of pigstables which needed to be demolished as they contained a lot of asbestos, especially on the roof. Due to the cold winter we had to keep postponing the removal of the asbestos as one is not allowed to handle it when the temperature sinks below 5 degrees!

“Finally in March we saw the demolishing of the barns. Unexpected draw-back is the appearance of new asbestos in the foundations. The regulations for the removal of asbestos are very strict here in Holland. Large new costs are looming as we are waiting the results of the new asbestos-survey!

  

“However our spirits are still up even though we have to face some serious financial consequences with the new-found asbestos.

“Meanwhile the architect is drawing his plans while we are establishing friendly contact with the people in the village and lots of volunteers from the Sangha come out to help.

With metta,

Akasasuri

  

Jan Deckers from the Dutch Sangha made a video of the demolishing of the pig stables, and set it to the chanting of the Pali Buddha Jaya Mangala Gāthā  (the The Verses of the Buddha's Auspicious Victories), part of which goes like this -

            Creating a form with 1,000 arms, each equipped with a weapon,
            Mara, on the elephant Girimekhala,
            uttered a frightening roar together with his troops.
            The Lord of Sages defeated him by means of such qualities as generosity:
            By the power of this, may you have victory blessings.

May Metta Vihara too have victory blessings!

New Retreat Centre in Holland: first resident moves to Metta Vihara!

There's great news just in from the FWBO's Dutch and Belgian Sanghas, where for more than 20 years they’ve been hiring accommodation to hold retreats.  Parina, their newly-ordained project manager, writes to say -

“We've finally signed a contract to start building an FWBO retreat Centre here in The Low Countries. Our Chairwoman Karin van Kesteren signed the contract on Friday morning 4th of September on behalf of our charity Metta Vihara. And in the afternoon, Akasasuri opened the door of our future retreat place!

“It's an old pig farm and we will have to demolish the barns first before we can start the building work in spring 2010. We hope to open the doors of our centre at the end of 2010.

“In the meantime, there’s more work to be done, and more money to be raised - but our spirits are up! Both our Sanghas are very supportive of the project and willing to help in all kinds of ways. In fact, the network of friendship and interconnectedness just grows and glows.

“Thank you to all who've supported and encouraged us”.

Metta Vihara’s new address is Hengstdijkse Kerkstraat 36; on the outskirts of a small village near the sea and well-placed for all the local Sanghas, being more or less midway between Gent, Antwerp, and Rotterdam, south of Amsterdam.

There’s lots more about what’s going on there on their (Dutch) website www.mettavihara.nl. In fact, we can’t resist copying some if here, translated courtesy of Google Translate. Apologies for any inaccuracies! They say -

“On September 4 we had the keys of the future retreat centre and then we immediately got to work with cleaning and painting of the house. The next step is to move all the stuff from Bilthoven to Hengstdijk (September 12) and then in October following the demolition of the old barns. If everything goes to plan we will start the spring with the new construction.


“Meanwhile, we continue to the final design for the retreat centre, and the building permit application. 


"For the future, sustainability is a topic of conversation: the care for the earth is dear to our hearts and we explore all possibilities that exist for sustainable building and focus.


“Yours, Dhammaketu, Karin van Kesteren, Akasasuri, Manigarbha”.

Meanwhile their fundraising goes on, and they’d like to draw attention to one thing especially - the Urgyen Sangharakshita tulip bulbs. They say (also in translation) -

“BUY THEM NOW!!! And help the fundraising campaign of € 80,000 together for the establishment of the brand new retreat centre. This unique tulip was named after Urgyen Sangharakshita, the founder of the Friends of Western Buddhist Order, which Metta Vihara is part of.


"You can get 15 bulbs for € 10 and 7 bulbs for € 5. The bulbs can be planted from October to December on balconies or in the garden and bloom in the spring. Click here for photos and ordering."

The photos show Metta Vihara's latest poster,  the contract-signing ceremony, and an architect’s impression of the new retreat centre building.

A retreat centre for the Low Countries

Akasasuri sends us this report from Holland -

“For over twenty years FWBO retreats have been held in The Netherlands. They were started by Vajragita in the eighties and later also in Belgium by Dhammaketu.

"Over the last four years we’ve held about twenty retreats a year, from a weekend to a fortnight, and most of them are reasonably booked up (about 20 -30 people). We hire three different locations ( a monastery and a youth hostel in Holland, and a monastery in Belgium) for the retreats, every time we have to create the retreat environment from scratch. We have been a ‘virtual retreat centre’. Our charity is called Metta Vihara – please do have a look www.mettavihara.nl.  As the site is in Dutch, English speakers may like to go straight to "nieuw retraitecentrum" and then to "foto's".

“But now I'm very happy to say it looks like we’re reaching the end of transporting cushions, mats, Buddha images, food, etc!!!

“After 4 years of property search in a densely populated country like The Netherlands we’ve finally found a suitable place in the South of Holland (not far from the Belgium border).

“In the photograph it’s the building on the left with in the distance the church of the small village Hengstdijk (521 inhabitants).

“The Netherlands being what it is, there are LOTS of regulations to satisfy before we can finally say we’ve done it.

“Although we’ve bought the property, it won’t be until the 1st of June that we’ll know whether or not we can renovate the farm into a retreat centre – and even then we’ll only be 90% sure. By January 2010 we’ll know for definite. At present the buildings include a set of pigstables, and as part of the work we will have to take them all down. In their place a purpose-built retreat centre will appear, designed by Peter Van Assche who is a Mitra.

“At the earliest we hope to open our doors in autumn/winter 2010!!!

“For the Dharma to take hold in a country takes a very long time, like holding a lotus flower next to a boulder and hoping it will take root. So waiting for another 1 ½ years should not be too difficult even though we are very very keen. Manigarbha and I will be so glad once we’ve done the last van run for our virtual retreat centre and settle into our own place.

“I’d like to use this opportunity to thank people in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the UK who have encouraged, supported and helped us financially.

“We are truly all interconnected. Akasasuri”

Possible new retreat centre in the Low Countries

Since 2004 METTA VIHARA, a Dutch FWBO charity started by Akasasuri and others in 2001, has been actively seeking a retreat centre for the FWBO (known locally as the VWBO) in Holland and Belgium. In 2005 the trustees decided to create 'a virtual' retreat centre as a way of demonstrating the projects’s viablility to the bank and potential dnors, and this has been an extraordinary success.

Akasasri says “last year and again this year we coordinated, planned and organised all the retreats in Holland and Belgium, running 20-22 retreats a year at 3 different locations spread over both countries. We (she and her friend the newly-ordained Manigarbha) are on all the retreats - we do the shopping, the bookings, the finances, the mail-out's, the PR, the setting-up of the retreats, the cooking, plus co-leading and leading some of the retreats etc. Everything is stored in our living room (mats, cushions, blankets, food, shrine material, etc); we bought a large van to transport everything from our house to the various retreats and back".

And nearly all retreats (but 3) in 2006 were fully booked with a waiting list – a remarkable and heroic achievement. There are 5 order members committed to living at the future retreat centre: Sarojini, Sobhanandi, Khemasiri, Akasasuri and Manigarbha; with nearly all the other Order Members in the Lowlands are involved in some way in attending, leading and co-leading the retreats.

And now they are on the verge of realising their dream – purchasing a property owned by a nature reserve organisation. It’s an old farmhouse, built in 1880, about 100 meters from a large estuary, with 5 acres of land, located halfway between the Amsterdam Buddhist Centre and the Ghent Buddhist Centre and easily accessible for the Buddhist Centres from Arnhem, The Hague and Antwerp. See photos of the building here.

Akasasuri says “Voices in our local sangha say 'this is THE place' and all are very keen for this to come off. WE ARE READY TO GO - JUST SOME MORE MONEY REQUIRED!

For their appeal they have created a website www.mettavihara.nl, have a proper brochure, became a member of the Buddhist Union and advertise in national papers, buddhist magazines and some new-age magazines.

Click here for a fuller introduction to the property and the appeal.