Going for Guha

In May 2021, we opened the doors to Saraṇa Vihāra, a small monastery in Palautordera, a village on the outskirts of Barcelona (Spain).

It’s been such a beautiful process, giving rise to much gratitude, and now we’ve already reached our next inspiring step: building a quiet place where we can hold long retreats in solitude and cultivate a silent space for listening to the heart.

Our wish is that, together we can help spread the Buddha’s teaching in the world.

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A possibility

At the beginning of the year we learned about a property that was available in Calaceite in the Aragon region of Spain. It is in an area of great natural beauty and even more importantly, for us—as silence is such a precious support for inner growth—it is delightfully quiet.

The land is approximately four hectares and has five buildings of different conditions and sizes, as well as one construction foundation. Four of the buildings are ready for use, or only require some cosmetic work and the largest building (10m x 8m), is in good condition and is ideal for a meditation hall.

Immediately recognizing its potential for nurturing Dhamma practice, we started work on purchasing the place.

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A plan

In February we put down an €8,000 deposit to hold the property until 10th July giving us a chance to try and raise the remaining €80,000. We knew that raising this amount in such a short space of time might be a bit of a challenge our very young community, but we still felt that we had to take whatever steps we could to secure this place for deep Dhamma practice.

We’ve been so inspired and encouraged to find that thanks to the incredible generosity of many friends of the project, we were able to raise almost a quarter of the amount we need in just a few months. We didn’t manage to gather the whole sum by 10th July, however we’ve entered into negotiations with the owners, and are exploring the possibility of renting the place for a year after which we would make the full purchase. We don’t want to take anything for granted, but have a good basis for being hopeful.

We will share an update of our progress in November 2022.

Phases

If we are able to secure the land, we will slowly build a resident community—prioritising female monastics—and grow a dwelling that can host committed practitioners (monastic, or lay; male, or female) for long meditation retreats. While developing a harmonious community living in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings, we also have plans for developing the property.

Naturally, our exact course of action will be refined and adjusted according to new circumstances and needs, nevertheless we have preliminarily broken down our plan into three phases:

PHASE 1 : 2022–2023

• Clear & prepare usable buildings (1–4)
• Install a water filter
• Enable irrigation system
• Essential grounds maintenance
• Land management planning (sustainabile planting, pathways system)
• Roof repair in two buildings.
• Install bathroom in building 2
• Establish foundation for community presence (1–2 nuns and 1–2 lay supporters)

PHASE 2 : 2023–2024

• Inauguration
• Build repair and improvements to allow inhabitation
• Install generator & solar panels
• Open application process for 1–3 month retreat
• Host pilot 10 days group retreat

PHASE 3 : 2024–2026

• Host two 2-week group retreats
• Building 6 reconstruction.
• Install additional bathrooms
• Building extension planning

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For the benefit of many

In the spring of 2022 Saraṇa welcomed its first long-term lay community member and this summer three women from different parts of the world are coming to Saraṇa Vihāra for temporary ordination as nuns. It would be such a sweet source of joy if we could give the gift of an opportunity for deep Dhamma practice by inviting Saraṇa Guha’s first lay residents. It would be such a sweet source of joy if all necessary conditions ripen for us to be able to host eight-precept, ten-precept, samaneri and, perhaps even bhikkhuni ordinations at Saraṇa Guha. It would be the sweetest source of joy if one day someone sitting under a tree in Saraṇa Guha would become perfectly liberated.

One of the especially beautiful aspects of our project is the multiple ways in which it strives to offer benefit; from the micro to the macro. In the first instance, naturally, as much as possible it wishes to support individuals to cultivate inner peace.

At the same time, at a local level it wishes to help give some life an area struggling with population decline; at socio-cultural level, in an all-inclusive way, it seeks to be part of the work of the present age to rebalance the number of opportunities for women to engage in pursuits they have historically been excluded from; at an ecological level, it aims to do everything it can to carry out its mission in a sustainable way, living in harmony with nature; and at the most expansive level, aligned with the Buddhist principle of metta (unconditional, universal goodwill), the hope is that every drop of goodness generated by our work may in some small way contribute to the happiness of all beings.