A beautiful work of art, elaborate in design and rich in colors and cultural symbols, arrived recently from India, carefully enclosed in several crates, and opened with so much excitement, at the still-under-construction Deer Park Buddhist Center Temple in Oregon. Created by dozens of artists in Mysore, India, this art work isn't a big painting to grace the walls of the temple, nor a big piece of furniture in the main hall. The four long wooden hand-carved pieces would form the door frame of the Assembly Hall, an awesome welcoming portal to a sacred spiritual place.
The Deer Park Buddhist Center Temple is being constructed as a unique landmark of Tibetan Buddhist culture in this part of the nation. With growing support, financially and in kind, from Wisconsin Tibetans and many others, Deer Park Abbot Geshe Sopa gradually saw the realization of a dream -- to have a temple constructed in accordance with Tibetan-building designs replete with symbolic significance. The temple will support the cultural and spiritual life of Tibetans who were driven away from their ancestral land, while blending things American and creating harmony with nature.
Its construction began two years ago (2005) and is expected to be completed next year.
The Deer Park Buddhist Center is also busy preparing for a visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the temporal leader of the Tibetan people, on May 2-5. Visit www.deerparkcenter.org for more information. |
