Garden of 1,000 Buddhas growing in Arlee the Big Sky
By Nancy Reece Jones Greatfallstribune.com, April 18, 2010
In Arlee, about 20 miles north of Missoula, a hardworking community of Buddhists is creating a tranquil, one-of-a-kind sanctuary called the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas. Once completed, the special site will be consecrated by the Dalai Lama, one of the world's most beloved spiritual leaders.
"The garden isn't meant for only Buddhists," explained Georgia Milan, coordinator of the much-anticipated visit. "Our intention is to welcome people of all faiths to this extraordinary place dedicated to peace."
The Buddha Garden is the brainchild of Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche. Known simply by his title Rinpoche, or teacher, he is an accomplished master in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
The garden's genesis came in 2000 when one of Rinpoche's students donated a 60-acre parcel of land in the Jocko Valley. The parcel is situated within the reservation of the Confederated Tribes of the Salish and Kootenai.
Upon seeing the property, Rinpoche recognized the landscape from a dream he'd had years before. Rather than constructing a monastery devoted to teaching, he chose instead to build a unique garden that would inspire a sense of serenity within all who visit it.
"To Rinpoche, and those of us who share his vision, the land resembles an enormous lotus," Milan explained.
The lotus flower is a sacred symbol in Buddhism that represents the progress of the soul from murky depths of negativity to the sunlight of enlightenment.
The lotus image is reflected in the garden's configuration. The flat valley floor is ringed by high, multi-layered foothills with a large, rounded knoll in its center.
Sacred roots
Rinpoche was mindful that the land upon which he founded Ewam, the Buddhist center which is home to the garden, is a tribal homeland. He approached the local tribal council early on to get its consent.
Tribal elder Steven Small Salmon, who lives in Ronan, views the project with equanimity.
"I've known these people — the Buddhists — for a long time," he said. "I got to know them and heard their stories. My reaction is that they're pretty good people, they didn't come here to impose their religion on us."
Those at Ewam respect the valley's tribal roots.
"The land feels sacred because of the generations of indigenous people it supports," Milan said.
Moon Cat and Buddha Barn
The term Ewam, like other Tibetan Buddhist concepts, defies simple translation but can best be described as the blissful union of compassion and wisdom.
A small but resolute cadre of Rinpoche's students runs the center and oversees the garden project. Joining forces with them are numerous volunteers who are steadily making the garden, and Rinpoche's vision of an international center for peace, come to life.
Ewam (pronounced A-wam) consists of a modest log house surrounded by several outbuildings.
"It was formerly a sheep farm," said Steve McCluskey, co-director of the garden construction project.
The house doubles as the home of caretaker Charlie Pearl and the office for McCluskey, his co-director Chris Riebe, and Raquel Castellanos, who is responsible for the all-important fundraising efforts.
Then there's Shimi Dawa, the resident cat.
"Her name translates as Moon Cat," Pearl said. "Truth is, she's the original owner — she lived in the barn — and allows the rest of us to be here."
Among the outbuildings is the barn, Shimi's former residence, which has been converted from a sheep barn to Buddha barn. Within this humble structure is the workshop for hand-casting the Buddha statues that eventually will populate the garden.
Hundreds of finished statues are stored in a large area adjacent to the workshop, lined up like silent sentries on the straw-strewn floor.
Visualizing completion
The Buddha Garden lies just west of the house. Shallow depressions delineate the paths, forming a wheel-shaped design 500 feet across. A pavilion sits prominently at the center of the eight spokes, under which resides an impressive, 24-foot high statue of Yum Chenmo, the Tibetan name for the Great Mother.
Four life-sized Buddha statues, carved in Indonesia out of volcanic stone, mark the cardinal directions on the wheel's perimeter. To the northeast is a horse-shoe shaped garden with 250 lavender plants. At the center is an excavated basin, the site of a future pond.
One thousand Buddhas will line the eight spokes and the 1,000 stupas, or shrines, will accompany the directional Buddhas along the perimeter.
Riebe and McCluskey, self-described "bricks and mortar people," have no problem envisioning the completed project.
"It's already finished for us," McCluskey said. "We look out there and see it all as a done deal."
Benches and picnic tables will be scattered among 1,000 trees and medicinal plants.
"It'll likely be xeriscaped with native species to reflect the naturally occurring ponderosa-pine and grasslands of the area," Riebe said.
"Rinpoche's vision for the garden is a place where people can not only walk along the paths but can comfortably sit and reflect as well as enjoy a family picnic in the outlying area."
Because Tibetan Buddhist is rife with symbols, the garden's layout and myriad elements are alive with meaning. The circular shape represents the unfolding of the Dharma — loosely translated as Buddha's sacred teachings — leading to enlightenment.
The eight spokes symbolize the Eightfold Path, the principles by which one lives an altruisticlife. Stupas symbolize the awakened mind.
Milan, a Florence physician and longtime student of Rinpoche's, explains the significance of the number 1,000 in the garden's design.
"Rinpoche chose the number to reflect the 1,000 Buddhas prophesized to be born in our era," she said. "To date there have been four; hence the four directional Buddhas on the wheel."
But the significance of the number goes deeper.
"For Rinpoche," Milan continued, "the image of 1,000 Buddhas is a reminder that the Buddhas have and will come to enlighten us, to wake us up. But we can't rely solely on them — we need to tap into our own innate Buddha nature to turn the tide of violence in our culture today."
Milan and the other members of the Ewan community emphasize that the Buddha and other statues are not objects of worship.
"All the images in Tibetan Buddhism, including those of Buddha, represent states of mind," Riebe said.
The intention of the collection of objects in the garden is to bring out the innate goodness and wisdom in those who gaze upon them.
Embedded with blessings
Each statue and stupa is filled with prayers, texts, mantras, dried flowers and holy relics.
"The prayers are written in tiny print on sheets of very thin paper," Riebe said. "Each sheet is washed in saffron, and thousands of sheets are rolled really tightly and covered with cloth."
Parts of all the existing statues — their thrones and/or their bodies — are hollow to allow for insertion of the holy articles, all of which have been blessed by Rinpoche or other visiting lamas.
The production of the 1,000 Buddha statues includes embedding a sacred packet into the cement once it's poured into each mold.
"We make each packet by surrounding an 8-inch carved cedar stick with rolls of prayers and mantras, Tibetan medicine, dried flower petals and juniper," Riebe explained. "We place each item according to a specified arrangement."
A dream unfolds
Much work needs to be done before the garden is ready for consecration by the Dalai Lama. The current focus is the production of Buddha statues at two locations: Ewam and Missoula. Like the majority of the work required for the garden, this activity depends upon volunteers.
Luke Hanley runs the Ewam Buddha barn, spending countless hours in the multi-step process of hand-casting the 2-foot-tall statues. When he's not immersed in the process itself, he's directing the work of volunteers who drop by for a few hours at a time.
Alli Troxel makes statues and coordinates volunteers in the Missoula Buddha barn at 1800 Trail St.
"I traded renovating the owners' dilapidated house for the use of their barn," she said, "which has enabled us to have more workshop space."
To date, a total of 441 Buddha statues have been completed.
Riebe and McCluskey are both master Buddha makers, however, they're concentrating on the painstaking — and toxic — process of creating polyurethane molds, which wear out with continued use.
"Just call us Methyl and Ethyl Ketone," joked Riebe, wryly referring to a compound used in the molds. The original bronze cast of the statue was made in Nepal.
Another major effort at the moment is fundraising.
"We have been blessed by generous donations — the Yum Chenmo pavilion alone was $75,000 — but we continue to need monetary support from those who want to make this dream happen," Castellanos said.
The goal of the Ewan community is to raise $1 million.
"Currently, volunteers provide most of the labor, but we need to cover the cost of materials and the major construction work," Castellanos said.
Consecration by His Holiness
Although fall 2011 has been targeted for the completion of the garden and the Dalai Lama's visit, the actual date depends upon the fundraising effort.
"We really hope that the consecration takes place then," Castellanos said, "but we can't confirm that date yet."
That hasn't dampened the spirits of the Ewan community. They are thrilled by the much-anticipated visit of the temporal and spiritual head of the Tibetan government in exile.
"It's impossible to express how I feel," said Pearl, who, like the others, has practiced Buddhism for many years. "Awe is the only word I can come up with."
Milan already is planning the auspicious event.
"The presence of His Holiness will be energetically momentous," she said. "It will focus international attention on this sacred pilgrimage site."
The proposed invitation list, even at this early date, is extensive.
Rinpoche — himself a highly respected teacher who has founded Ewam Centers elsewhere in the United States as well as throughout Asia — will invite esteemed Buddhist spiritual leaders; dignitaries, including representatives of the Indian nations; Montana state government officials; and Buddhist and interfaith communities.
The event will be open to the public as well.
"It is a great honor for Montana to be able to host His Holiness," said Milan, "and will show the world that Montanans are warm, generous people. This whole state is really a spiritual retreat, and the Buddha Garden symbolizes that."
