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Great news! Today the city of Immenstadt won the court case against the zoning for the master plan of our new building project. From now on there should be no more hindrances in completing the EC, and we will start building in the spring of 2013. The necessary permissions will be handed to us within the next few days.

We took advantage of the latest meetings with the architects at the EC in April to get an update from Caty and Ronald about the current status of the moreEC project and a peek behind-the-scenes of the construction in preparation.

Architects meeting at the EC. From left: Markus Beck (project manager, general planning & building), Ronald Knack (architectural advisor of Diamond Way Buddhism Foundation), Jens Janisch (project coordinator of DWBF), Caty Hartung (DWBF board of directors), Günter Prechter (project manager, architecture), Thomas Spiegel (head of architecture, architect office partner), Gergely Porkoláb (DWBF board of directors). More pictures from the meeting below.

Project status – awaiting building permission

When we launched the moreEC project, we wanted to start building already in the spring of 2012. In the autumn of 2011, a class action against the city of Immenstadt (Popularklage) slowed down the process. As long as the case remains in court, the building permission cannot be granted. We are expecting to hear the court’s decision in the upcoming weeks, followed by the building permission decision.

As always, we try to see the situation in a meaningful way—we are using the time well to negotiate with construction companies and to look at the plans in greater depth to find better and more economic solutions before the construction starts.

What has happened since the last update at the beginning of 2012

• We applied for the building permission.
• Caty and Ronald have had approximately 10 meetings with the architects and more with other people involved. There is a meeting every 2-3 weeks.
• We are making the plans even more precise, with small but important refinements.

Construction updates

There are several new ideas and decisions implemented in the plans since the last update:

• The residential building will follow the “passive house” high energy efficiency standard, with a high-degree of insulation and little need for heating.
• We will use a wood-chip heating system (hackschnitzel heizung) with our own wood.
• There will be a ventilation system in the large gompa for keeping the air fresh (not air-conditioning).
• Walls and doors in the residential building will have a high standard of soundproofing—which, although a bit more expensive, is important for privacy.
• There is now one 80-square-meter dormitory planned for the residential house.
• There will be a private bathroom in each house unit, not only common bathrooms.
• Originally we planned to do part of the barn renovation for the large gompa ourselves—namely changing out the bad wood and other small preparations.  Our sangha construction professionals decided that this project is too large to do ourselves, and the plan is on hold until we find another solution.

We are also thinking about turning the so-called “second house” into a residence for 3 families (one per floor), once the new housing is built. The conditions for families at the EC are not adequate at the moment, and with this plan families could live more independently in conditions likely even better than in the new building. In such a case, the lamas would stay in the north wing of the new building and in the villa, as they do at present.

Discovering a “modern Buddhist architecture”

Lama Ole and Caty have engaged in direct dialog with the architects to find an expression of a “modern Buddhist architecture” for the future. Many aspects come into play, especially choices of materials and colors as well as the design of spaces and arrangement of statues and thangkas.

Upcoming

• The ground of the cow stable is planned to be removed after the Summer Course (to be announced).
• The detailed plans of the buildings will be presented at the Summer Course.
• The barn will be used during the Summer Course for different meetings and workshops, for example, the International Diamond Way Meeting (formerly called International Center Meeting).
• The bidding process for construction suppliers will start in the autumn of 2012 (no need to send offers until then).

Architect meeting pictures

Pictures from one of the around 10 meetings so far this year with the moreEC architects (Dietrich I Untertrifaller) and construction project managers.

Dear friends,

on Nov. 11th we had an amazing EC night in our center in Linz. We prepared a great buffet and a bar, and we had a raffle with an auction at the end.

To our surprise, we raised more than 4.000 euros in one evening, which went up to 6.000 with the donations from the box in our center lounge.  At the end, we watched an inspiring EC movie and later decided to add another 4.000 euros from our center funds in order to donate the total sum of 10.000 euros as a center! Private donations still to come….

Here are some pics for you.

Much love from Linz!

Friends – here is the second of a three-part series of highlights from the interview we held with Lama Ole and Caty about moreEC last summer.  The full interview can be found in the “moreEC Reports” – http://more.ec/events/report/.

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Q. We saw how the purchase of the Europe Center was a new stage for the international sangha, having all come together on one project.  How do you imagine that the blessing will manifest after we realize this stage of EC development together?

Ole: Many people will have benefit. Our goal is not to make institutions. It is for people to have benefit, to meet the Buddha’s teachings, especially with the Diamond Way, and to really benefit like that. Many more people will be benefited. It is the only goal.

Caty: Many more people will believe in their power. It was so strong to see people get an idea of what they can achieve if they work together. This time it will happen on an even larger scale. It is very unique with Ole. He doesn’t call it a one-time thing, but he says, “You can do that again.” What we did was not an exception. The Diamond Way sangha can do that again and again and again. To feel that worldwide unity and strength is a very good exercise. In the end of course it is all illusion; in the end it is what we dream that we manifest. It’s really great that this experience follows so quickly after the first one, and that it’s possible thanks to Ole’s words. Without Ole’s words nobody would believe that we could do it again. But now we say, “Ok, let’s do it.” This is a really great way our teachers work with our possibilities.

Ole: I am glad to have people like Caty practically helping me.

Caty: I learnt it from you. We came to some places which were in such rough shape that there was hardly a wall standing. Ole came and said, “What a wonderful place. It is so beautiful here. Amazing what you can do here.” I wondered what he was talking about. Now, 15 years later, I come to this amazing place with all walls standing and everything functioning well. It is beautiful; people come and go, working and meditating. He just sees the potential in us, and everywhere. I wish you all will feel it one day. We were very few people who saw that with our own eyes.

Ole: People will just understand that houses don’t get happy, cars don’t get happy; the only thing that gets happy is their mind. They start looking for happiness where it is – in the mind, and not in all kinds of places where it is not. If people just do that, it is one step in their maturity. It is what makes our work possible; more and more people do it, more and more find their inner power, more and more realize that not only can they benefit themselves – one person, but can benefit all – many people. This quality is really a joy for me. As people’s lama and close friend, when I see people jump over that barrier, I am impressed. This is how I feel.  Amazed that someone has learnt something that was wise.

Q. How would you advise your centers which are in full building mode, to keep a balance in supporting the Europe Center and their local project? Should there be emphasis on one or the other?

Ole: Generally we say 50-50 if they can. One foot here and one foot there. But of course it is up to people everywhere and depends upon the closeness of one’s connection. Continuing the work already in progress should continue.

We could look to Vienna for an example. They decided to work more slowly in order to be able to give to both places. They will make the outer form first, without going much into the details. That level will be taken care of gradually once this stage has been achieved.

We would not interrupt any projects that are in motion in order to get enough to complete the EC. On the other hand if people manage to make the EC a priority, there will be a lot of good energy behind all of our projects afterwards.

Caty: It’s important to do everything from freewill and surplus. There is no tax that has to be given to the organization. This is very important not to misunderstand. Everyone’s surplus is individual, and it is very important that nobody feels strange about giving. Of course it is useful to have a point of reference. That is why Ole says 50-50. But it is not that you have to; it is not a tax. We want to keep everything joyful.  We want to complete the vision of the EC because we believe it is the next step for the Diamond Way, but it should come out of surplus like everything we do.

Though the EC may be a bit more distant in kilometers for us, we’re working hard in the Americas to bring the EC mindset ever closer.  The Americas moreEC Raffle was the first activity carried out across South, Central, and North America.  Despite plenty of logistic and linguistic challenges of organizing a raffle between 12 countries, we managed to have all the numbers in a hat in time for Lama Ole to draw the winning number on Dec. 11^th at Karma Dechen Ling in Uruguay.

Jeff Saunders of Minneapolis, USA, was pleasantly shocked to hear his number 2768 was the winner!  Jeff +1 will get to enjoy the grand prize of the raffle: a tour for two through our Buddhist heritage in Bhutan with Maggie Lehnert.  The rest of us couldn’t be luckier that Jeff won—he’s a professional cameraman and filmmaker and has already promised to document and share his journey with the rest of us.

In addition to the main prize, our friends from Perú spontaneously donated a course in Lima next year. The winner of this prize is 4241 -María José Dufourg from Guatemala.

After accounting for the prize expenses, the raffle managed to raise over $25,000 USD in profit for the Europe Center.  A big thank you to our raffle coordinators and the entire network of Americas keypeople who made this possible.

On Saturday, December 12, the Vilnius centre had beautiful gala dinner with delicious food, good wine and hot flamenco dances on the table served as the desert. At the highest point of the party the on-line bridge was organized between Vilnius, Milan (as the center had 12 hour 16th Karmapa meditation marathon and moreEC fundraising party) and the Europe Center. Conversation was noisy and one could feel the joy of the meeting even through the computer screen. The Europe Center residents shared the information about the latest news of a campaign, Milan and Vilnius presented their events and many smiling faces. We celebrated the common international project bringing us ever closer to each other.

Friends – here is the first of a three-part series of highlights from the interview we held with Lama Ole and Caty about moreEC this summer.  The full interview can be found in the “moreEC Reports” – http://more.ec/events/report/.

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Q. Lately a statement has been made that the Europe Center in the West has a function similar to Tsurphu in Tibet. Could you explain that connection?

Ole: Karmapa made three main centers: Kampho Khandra in Southeast Tibet, Karma Guen in Northeast Tibet and Tsurphu, 70 km from Lhasa. He made them all in inaccessible valleys that were extremely difficult to reach. The people who wanted to see Karmapa either had to go one of those places, or see him when he came out. Most important was that he travelled for about half of every year. He visited all the different places that had been built up at that time. That was a serious strength; through these travels he did the work. Tsurphu, Kampho Khandra and Karma Guen were really solid places where people practiced and lived in communities.

It is a bit different here today. We have the central place where people can come with much greater ease. We always make it easy to make a contact. That’s true at the EC as well as in all our centers around the world.

Caty: Tsurphu outlasted the life of any one Karmapa. The real estate guaranteed that the lineage would survive. This is how it relates to the Europe Center. This place will guarantee that the Diamond Way will endure beyond our generation. This is very important because the real estate manifests the vision. Tsurphu was the first place of Karmapa, and now the Europe Center takes that role.

Q. Why is it so important to focus on this big construction and renovation now?

Ole: Because it is now that we need it. Our friends are living under conditions they should not be living under.

Caty: And we need it in order to be able to make the program the whole year through. I think we would only postpone our development if we would not start now. Why wait 10 years? There is no sense in waiting. It is totally natural to take the next step now. We have the full power so why not use it?

Q. What will the completion of moreEC bring to the worldwide sangha’s development? How do you see it after 3 years when we will have managed to build it all?

Ole: I see much more of the same in a more lasting way. Buddha gave 84,000 different teachings in 108 books. Going through the teachings, accumulating the wisdom, doing the practice and meditation takes time, and it takes space. It requires buildings with no holes in the roof and a place where you can live comfortably and take shower in the morning. If this place is really going to do the service that we aim to do around the world, then we have to get that money and build.

Caty: After we have built it and start with year round courses, this place will also make money and we will again be able to send money from Germany to the rest of the world as we did before. We have had a big habit of doing that for twenty years. We sent money everywhere. I think we will have a big win-win situation by focusing the energy here now, and then continuing with the world. Nobody will lose anything.

About a month ago, many friends came together and had a great time at the moreEC Football Cup in Bochum. The idea behind the football cup was for friends to come together, play in a good team spirit, and just plain have fun while supporting the moreEC Campaign!

And this we did! It was a great success, we had a great lecture the first night with Nicolai Sennels and Michaela Fritzges (in an exciting mix of English and German), woke up the next morning to play some football together, and then danced the night away…

About eight teams played and the games started in the morning after meditation. It was amazing to see just how many different types of people were on the field and where they all came from.

The award for the furthest distance traveled to reach the Europe Cup in Bochum went to Brno, from the Czech Republic, as well as the trophy!

Still one has to say that everyone played their hearts out, and some extra creative on top- one team did a prostration every time they scored a goal!

Thank you to everyone again for an amazing time in supporting an amazing project!

In addition to the photos below, find more impressions of the event here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.267838489933270.84625.100001213624279&type=1&l=bc205b1a2c

As the moreEC campaign kicked off in the whole world, the Europe Center itself wasn’t sleeping either. One of the first fundraising events was our Pub Quiz arranged according to the tradition of Dutch and English bars to challenge the brains of customers not only with the amount of beer they can drink but also with some intellectual contest. And guess what – the Dutch team beat all the competitors!

We also organized the movie – popcorn night and were lucky to be joined by Lama. The artistic Austrian sangha took over for a weekend night and transformed the villa into Casino Royale where the local creme-de-la-creme gambled for the benefit of moreEC (see blog post from a few weeks ago). The next day the parents could enjoy a long meditation session on moreEC family Sunday where child care was provided for a donation to the project. And last but not the least – an event followed by huge success – moreEC Karaoke Night, where one could pay for someone to sing…or for them to stop singing in some cases:).

And of course individual people have also been giving their best. During the campaign, the EC team members have generously offered their qualities and skills for the benefit of moreEC and all beings. One could enjoy a Thai massage, get a business card designed, get a Tibetan medicine consultation, your plumbing fixed, get your kids to learn English or Polish, or change to winter tires (a question of life and death in Allgau) for a donation to moreEC. The EC kitchen was used many times for making apple jelly and pear compote, cookies or even catering for events! Have your eyes and mouths open at the upcoming events where you can still get some for yourselves and at the same time support moreEC.

We want to thank all our friends who support us in so many different ways! karmapa chenno :-)

On the 19th of November the region of Middle Germany enjoyed the party “for nothing just to by generous” in Braunschweig.
The idea was to create nice atmosphere with as little organization and financial effort as possible. We had barbecue, mulled wine and drinks, our DJs played music that people could order in a “jukebox”: 1 song – 1 Euro, 1 song without cue – 5 Euros. If you didn’t like the song someone bought, you could also kick it off for 5 Euros. In this way we created a very great party atmosphere, with a lot of joy and dancing. So the people gave 8350 Euros in cash and pledged donations. The Jukebox earned 111 Euros and the bar 250. All together party brought in 8711 Euros!!!