We are thrilled to announce that today, Thursday, June 20, in Pomaia, the contract was signed between us, the monks and nuns of the Sangha Foundation, and Berrighi Costruzioni, for the construction of the main temple of the Lhungtok Choekhorling Monastery. This temple will be built on the former quarry of Poggio alla Penna, near Pomaia, a village in the municipality of Santa Luce (Pisa).
After a long wait and thanks to the convergence of various favourable conditions, but above all, to the indispensable help of many donors, the construction of the first Tibetan Buddhism Monastery in Italy is now formally underway. This is the first one built from scratch in Europe, adhering to the tradition of the Dalai Lama, who has visited and blessed the area and has recently supported this project. This work will attract practitioners and visitors from all over the world to the Tuscan region.
Born from the vision of our first Abbot Gheshe Ciampa Ghiatso way back in 2004 and supervised in detail and tirelessly supported by our unforgettable Master and spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who even in the last meeting in Bodhgaya in January 2023 asked us to "do it now".
We have worked for a long time towards this objective and it seems that the conditions for fulfilling their holy desires have finally matured.
To the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of all the great Masters who have followed one another in these almost 20 years, a motivated construction company has been added, which won the tender and thus obtained the contract , working for months in detail with our architects, whom we thank for their support and strong determination to complete the work as soon as possible.
Work will begin in early September!
For you, our dear friends who have been supporting us for years, we are excited to share the new rendering of the Temple provided by our architect-designers. This rendering will be used during the Project presentations in our ongoing fundraising campaign!
Thanks to your generosity, all this has been and will be made possible. At this stage, we still need your support more than ever!
On this occasion, we are pleased to share again the promotional video for the Monastery that Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave us, which was recorded in early 2023, a month before he passed away.
With renewed gratitude and the best wishes, that everything will be accomplished without obstacles and with the help of all of you.
In Dharma,
The monks and nuns of the Sangha Foundation