REASONS TO SUPPORT THE 21 TARAS GARDEN OF ABUNDANCE

Tara swiftly accomplishes all aspirations. The 21 Taras represent the enlightened activity of the Buddha. By creating this sacred space as an offering to them, we pray that we will be able to accomplish all the activities to bring the Golden Age of peace and harmony to the world.

Make new offerings areas. Our new garden design incorporates dedicated offering areas to Tara, Sang (smoke), Water and Prayer flag offerings which harmonise the environment and spread the seeds of liberation throughout all the elements in space and time.

Create a sacred space for contemplation. The garden of the Rimé Institute will become a precious jewel like nothing else in Victoria, Australia to inspire the minds of visitors who come to receive the blessings of the world’s most authentic 24 Armed Kalachakra statue inside our Temple. Students and visitors will be able to meditate, reflect, and enjoy a tea ceremony. The healing nature - flowering trees, lush greenery, water features and gentle chimes – are a serene backdrop to the Buddha’s Body (Tara), Speech (prayer wheels) and Mind (stupa). This brings incalculable blessings and sews the seed of liberation upon site to everyone who visits.

Create and strengthen community. The garden will be open to the public free of charge to wander through and make offerings in. A new footpath connects the Temple entrance with the road to increase accessibility.

Create a unique meditation garden for the benefit of the general public, giving something new to the Greater Melbourne Area. We are inspired by the example of the Japanese gardens. While our space is modest, we are committed to using plants and elements of Zen and traditional Tibetan sacred art. We envision that it could draw visitors from the Melbourne Area and beyond who might appreciate it as a beautiful sanctuary.

Support the continuation of these teachings, and the next generation of this community. We are the one the first Jonang and Kalachakra Tibetan Buddhist centers in Australia, and as part of Dzokden’s global Vajra family, have put forth an incredible amount of energy into supporting the sangha worldwide. As we work towards making Land of Shambhala we want to strengthen our home base to support our awareness of our expansion.

Tibetan Rimé Buddhist Institute is a non-profit, all volunteer-based organization. Through the power of our community and individuals like you we are able to fulfil Khentrul Rinpoche’s aspirations. We provide programs for the well-being of our students and the general public to realize peace and harmony within themselves and with our natural environment. Through an unbiased mind rooted in the love and compassion of the of the Jonang Shambhala Kalachakra teachings, we aim to create a Golden Age of peace, harmony and abundance for everyone in the world.

WHAT WILL BE NOTICEABLE?

• The space will be opened up with the Stupa made visible from the road. This will bless the minds of all who drive by and see it. 
• The space will transform from one that appears to be a private space that people are unsure if they can enter, into a public design to invite foot traffic and visitors inside. 
• The new Japanese inspired landscape will unify the various spaces creating a sense of calm and relaxation for those who come to meditate. 
• Access will be created from the nature strip to the temple by the creation of a pathway. 
• The stairs leading to the Temple will be improved with a guard rail for enhanced safety.
• Bamboo groves and small cloud bushes will create a lush, protected space.
• New foliage will be added near the Buddha water fountain and an enclave for offerings to Tara will be created. 
• The garden shed will be covered and completely hidden from site behind a bamboo wood fence.
• 4 New Prayer Wheels in wheel houses will be accessable from the public nature strip.
• A sang burner will be built so that offerings can be made to the local deities to harmonise the environment. 
• An expanded area near the front of the building will hide the heating duct and create additional storage. 

What’s staying the same? 

• We are saving as many of the larger flowering trees as possible.
• Rinpoche’s Tibetan outdoor fire pit will remain amongst the tall bamboo.
• The Buddha fountain will remain and receive a new water pump.

COST AND PHASES OF THE PROJECT

As a completely volunteer-based and volunteer-run non-profit, we will do as much as we can ourselves with skilled volunteer labor. However, we still need to cover the not insignificant costs of  materials and equipment rentals for many stages of the project.

PHASE 1

We have prepared the ground, removing excess trees, 3 vegetable boxes and excess plants. We have installed a new bamboo fence and level the land in preparation for the area with the stupa. We are working to create an outdoor storage attached to the front of the house that is both beautiful yet functional. This phase involves wood work, building a rock path, cleaning and fixing the exterior of the Temple building. We will work with an artist to help us visualize the possibility for the finished space and share it with the community. 

PHASE 2

In the second phase we will install the 4 prayer wheels at the entrance, create a footpath from the public street to the temple and design the landscape in a Japanese style. During this stage we will also work to improve the signage around our space to make it clearer where the public can access the building. We will commission the creation of the standing Tara statue. We estimate the statue may cost us at least $10,000 AUD.

PHASE 3

In this phase we will begin the process of building the Stupa and landscaping the rest of the space. We have never built a Stupa before and are unsure the total cost involved in this project. While we have worked to accomodate it in our plan, there may be expenses unforeseen. We will work to engineer and develop an exact estimate as we move closer to this stage. We plan to do all the work ourselves with volunteers to keep the cost to a minimum. We are not sure how much this project can be completed for but we estimate that it will not be less than $20,000 AUD

PHASE 4

When the Tara statue arrives we will install this, the sang burner and the offering areas along with the final planting and vegetation. Any additional improvements we need for the outdoor space will conclude in this phase.  

PHASE 5
We would like to complete our garden upgrade to our exterior by painting our external public fence adding sacred images of the 8 auspicious symbols to them and changing our signage.