Gift from the beyond
Gift from Lama Ole to Glentui Retreat Centre. May this beautiful Kalachakra statue inspires many!
Gompa is almost done
Check this out, the Gompa is almost done!
Also a platform for the shower block is ready..Hooray!
Lama Ole inaugurates the Glentui Gompa
We are so happy that Lama Ole came and inaugurated our gompa at Glentui! A wonderful occasion that completed a two-year project to create a solid foundation for our ongoing activities at our retreat land. Thank you to all the friends, team and, of course, Lama Ole for making this such a successful development.
Working weekends
November brought to Glentui retreat centre a great wave of activity and workforce from Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington. We spent two weekends working, meditating and eating together, enjoying beautiful weather and peaceful land in Glentui, disturbing it just a little bit with ongoing works on the gompa and outdoors.
The gompa ceiling is now emerging in it’s final beautiful design and Stage 2 – building the shower and toilet block is coming soon! We are now just about to sign a building contract and let it happen!
Thanks, folks!
Hāngi in Glentui
Hāngi is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven. It is still used for special occasions.
To “lay a hāngi” or “put down a hāngi” involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing baskets of food on top of the stones, and covering everything with earth for several hours before uncovering (or lifting) the hāngi.
Our new toilet and shower block
To ensure the Gompa is fully functional, we have been working on plans for a toilet and shower block. This is a complex mission and at this stage we have quotes for the parts that need specialists such as a ‘lock up shell’ building, waste water system, plumbing and drain laying. The Sangha will do the finishing the rest as we are doing with the Gompa.
At the same time we have been fundraising for this project because even through its a small building it’s quite expensive – around $NZ120,000. We’ve had many generous local and international donors and have applied to charities funding organisations to help get enough money to finish this work. We hope this building will be finished by the time Lama Ole visits in 2018.
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Fantastic news..Let’s celebrate ;)
Fantastic news that the now Gompa has council consent and construction can proceed, its a great milestone.
Thanks everyone right from the start of the vision of the Gompa for a course with Lama Ole through to the Lord of the Mind and all other ways we spread the word, the fundraising, the proposal to work with Australia, getting the Foundation and NZ Trust on board, the design of the Gompa, the quotes, then the contracts and most recently following up Totalspan and the Waimak council!
Its been almost 2 years just for this part and then there’s the years of managing Glentui and all the idealism that lead up to this point. Amazing, idealistic work.
And now we are working through the biggest NZ/Australian co-project we’ve ever done to make the building and inauguration of the Gompa during a course at Glentui with Lama Ole that will be an event to remember!
Well done to everyone who have supported and worked hard on this. It’s of real, long term benefit – continuing joyful work and setting up the conditions for us all to get enlightened for the benefit of all!
we have started…Hip Hip Hooray!
Dear friends,
This morning at 7.20 AM AUS time & 9.20 AM NZ time Totalspan began cutting the ground, to start excavating the land set aside for our Precious Glentui Gompa. With a check by Chris to ensure the position of the Gompa was correct, the digger made the first cut into the ground.
A light rain turned heavier for a few moments & great joy was felt to see our united AUS/NZ project, really begin! Lama Ole had been informed by email that it would all happen at this time. With so many friends supporting and enabling us to get to this point, we are very grateful! It was topped off by having Manfred, the founder of Buddhism in New Zealand, there in person, after his very recent spinal surgery. We will keep you all informed.
