On the afternoon of Saturday 29 November, the Vajrayana Institute in Sydney hosted a “Sacred Objects” fund-raising auction to support the Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre, which is located at Medlow Bath in the majestic surroundings of the Blue Mountains, about two hours west of Sydney. As the present center is unable to offer overnight accommodation for visitors, it hopes to purchase a 30-acre ex-school property in the Blue Mountains to create a residential retreat center that will be “a place for self-discovery and transformation.”
Ven. Tencho. From Venerable Tencho
The current Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre is home to two nuns, the center’s spiritual director Venerable Tencho and Venerable Paldron. It runs regular meditation, Buddhist philosophy, and health and well-being programs for both individuals and families, as well as non-residential retreats. Also offered is a monthly group program that parents and children can attend together. Visiting teachers for 2014 included Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and Wangdrak Rinpoche.
The representative for the Vajrayana Institute, Thubten Chokyi, shared, “We at the Vajrayana Institute were very pleased to host and support our sister center Kunsang Yeshe’s ‘Sacred Objects’ fund-raiser. It was a wonderful afternoon.”
“Although we had a relatively small and less-than-expected turnout, we were able to raise more than AUS$5,000,” said Venerable Tencho, adding, “We auctioned statues, thangkas [Tibetan Buddhist paintings], malas, prayer wheels, Tibetan dolls, and Tibetan Buddhist books, all blessed by high Tibetan lamas such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche, and Lab Rinpoche.”
Stupa at Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre. From Venerable Tencho
The new center will provide accommodation facilities for both national and international Buddhist practitioners and visitors, and will serve the local community, offering both Buddhist and secular programs. It is hoped that the new property can be purchased and the first stage of the conversion completed in time for the Dalai Lama’s visit to the Blue Mountains in June 2015. The long-term goals are to house a nuns’ community and to construct a self-contained apartment for visiting lamas, a 60-bed accommodation facility for group and solo retreats, a meditation hall for up to 150 people, an arts retreat studio space, and a commercial kitchen and dining area.
From Venerable Tencho
Kunsang Yeshe’s spiritual director Venerable Tencho took first-level ordination as a nun in Bodhgaya, India, in 1998, and received novice ordination from the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala in 2000. A former prison inmate, she has a history of addiction and homelessness. While serving time she became involved in the creative arts, drama, writing, and performance work, and in the early 1990s, was introduced to meditation and Buddhism. One of her many aims is to develop a creative arts program based on Buddhist principles for the local Blue Mountains youth.
The Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre and the host center, the Vajrayana Institute, are sister centers affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), which was established by the Tibetan masters Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1975.