Our Vision
In this world, finding an unshakable inner refuge in our basic goodness is essential for truly helping ourselves and others. However, it is the outer refuge of community, and a safe and nurturing environment, which can help us to discover the inner refuge within ourselves. Practicing Buddhists have always relied in each other, lay and monastic sangha side-by-side, in overcoming the obstacles that lay in front of us to attain liberation.
A healthy Four-fold Sangha of ordained monks and nuns, and male and female lay practitioners, is like an old growth forest that contains tremendous diversity. Everything has a place; the inter-relationships are widely beneficial not only for members of the Sangha but for the whole world due to the valuable ripples it radiates.
Our vision includes:
- Developing a community of like-minded people committed to awakening
- Practicing and sharing the teachings of the Buddha; embodying both essential meaning and relevance to contemporary society
- Modeling for the wider community a lifestyle of ethics, renunciation and compassion
- Investigating ways that essential Buddhist principles can take form in modern society
- Committing to live in simplicity with environmental awareness and respect for nature
Our envisioned community will be based on:
- Joy and delight for practice
- Fearless dedication to the meaning of the teachings
- Open-hearted compassion that sees through conditioning of cultures, systems and emotional patterns to address suffering wherever it is present
- Sharing the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion as a vehicle for liberation
What we've accomplished so far:
- We've purchased and moved into a three-bedroom house in Crestone, CO, and have a full-time monastic resident who takes care of the space and the organization
- We host monastic sojong ceremonies twice each lunar month, which are often led by Ven. Pema Chödrön and attended by several western monastics living throughout Crestone
- We host monastics who are doing personal retreat or attending other retreats in Crestone
- Residents of Pema Chöling and other monastic sangha in Crestone have worked together to organize dharma events in Crestone, support local centers through service activities, worked on dharma translation and editing projects, and more
