We are very happy to announce that one of our members has decided to sell his house and invest his life’s savings to buy land for building a monastery for the Nun’s Sangha in the quiet and forested area of the Ardennes in Belgium, close to the German border.
The first stage of development will be a 60m2 ecologically sustainable passive house and several kutis for nuns. The house will have two bedrooms, shower, toilet, kitchen and dana-sala. When more funds become available in the future, a similar house can be built adjacent to the first with a meditation-hall and two more bedrooms or office.
The new monastery will be fairly small and is envisioned to be – as Ajahn Brahm has put it – a community of hermits. The main focus of the monastery will be solitary retreat and meditation with nuns living under the guidance of the Vinaya, the rules of conduct as laid down by the Buddha, as explained by our teacher, Ajahn Brahm. It will be a place where nuns and lay guests can come to practise the Dhamma-Vinaya. In effect, the monastery is envisioned to be of a similar setup to Muttodaya monastery in Germany.
In order for Samita ASBL to purchase the land, we still need 40.000 euro while the remainder and the building will be paid for by the donor. This amount can be raised by either donations or a loan (any amount is welcome), which the donor is also prepared to repay with interest under the same conditions as a bank. The donor will also pay for maintenance and expenses of the monastery until the monastery is able to support itself.
If you are interested to help with this exciting project, please contact us for more information.
Samita ASBL EN 