Together we’ll build the Buddha Hall
A spiritual home for all beings.

What’s the plan?

Buddha Hall will serve as a practice and teaching center for monastics and lay followers for hundreds of years.

The Buddha Hall will support daily meditation practices, teachings, retreats, pujas, memorials, sangha rituals, and special Dharma events.

Construction began in July 2022 with completion expected in 2023.

Total project cost is an estimated $6.7 million, although with inflation and the usual variances in construction, that is likely to rise. The Abbey seeks $2.5 million to complete the project in 2023.

Read how you can help.

See video construction updates.

Project Design

Building and Environmental Issues

Faswall

The Buddha Hall will be built from Faswall, an attractive, long-lasting, green building material made of insulated wood chip and cement blocks. Faswall makes a sturdy structure that is both fire and pest-resistant. Two previous Abbey buildings—Chenrezig Hall and Prajna Cottage—are Faswall buildings. Read more Faswall details.

Geothermal Heating & Cooling

The Buddha Hall climate will be managed with a geothermal system, which takes advantage of the natural constant temperature of the earth, which leads to higher efficiency and lower energy use. Both Chenrezig Hall and Gotami House use geothermal heating and cooling systems.

Infrastructure

Because we are in a rural area, building also includes bringing in the necessary infrastructure: power, water, septic, and road improvement are all included in the constructions plans.

Metta Cabin

In conjunction with the Buddha Hall, Young Construction will also build Metta Cabin, a one-bedroom cabin for our second resident teacher, Venerable Sangye Khadro. Metta Cabin is privately funded and will be owned by Sravasti Abbey.

Click for large map

Function & Benefits

The Buddha Hall will:

  • Contain Sravasti Abbey’s teachings, daily meditation practices, regular sangha rites, chanting rituals, retreats, pujas, ordinations, memorials, and special Dharma events.
  • Create ample space for practitioners and visitors to hear teachings, to practice cultivating love, compassion, and wisdom, and to integrate these qualities into their lives.
  • Greatly improve the quality of streamed and video recorded teachings to share on YouTube and other platforms.
  • House an extensive library of precious Buddhist texts in English, Tibetan, and Chinese, together with facilities for study, translation, and teachings to enhance sangha education.

Funding Plan

Since our founding in 2003, Sravasti Abbey has offered the Dharma without charge. Courses, retreats, books, food and lodging are freely offered. In turn, support for the community, programs, and capital projects has come through the kindness, generosity, and merit of countless living beings.

We know that people support Sravasti Abbey’s values and mission, and will join us in constructing the Buddha Hall.

Hundreds of donors have already offered to help build the Buddha Hall.  Throughout 2023 the Abbey will continue to invite gifts and prayers to raise the remaining necessary funds.

See How Can I Help? to learn how to join in.

Participants take refuge.

Building Team

Tim Wilson of Momentum Architecture, designer for the Abbey’s Gotami House nuns’ residence and Chenrezig Hall, has designed a building that complements the existing structures and landscape.

John Young Construction is a commercial contractor with decades of experience building in the Pacific Northwest. John has a professional team that takes pride in making their clients’ goals and needs as their top priority.
Scott Pfeiffer at Threshold Acoustics will ensure that you can hear every word of Dharma spoken in the main hall. Threshold is also designing the audio-visual systems for streaming, Zoom-ing, or recording teachings and discussions.
Peter Griffin is creating the the custom Buddha statues for the main hall altar. See more here.

The Sravasti Abbey Team includes:

Abbess Ven. Thubten Chodron and Ven. Thubten Tarpa, who has overseen construction on most Abbey building projects, including Gotami House and Chenrezig Hall.

Ven. Samten, who guided the building of Prajna Cottage, is especially concerned with acoustics in the main hall. Ven. Damcho is working on the altar design, and Ven. Semkye is involved with aesthetic decisions like choosing the lighting fixtures. They are supported by everyone in the resident community.

Nuns with big machine on cleared dirt.

More Buddha Hall Info

What is the Buddha Hall?

Long-awaited temple and library

Can I help?

Many ways to give

Latest Teachings

Newest Photos

Crew member sets block.
Monthly eNews & eTeaching
Find out what's happening at the Abbey.
Learn from books by Ven. Thubten Chodron.

Sravasti Abbey

692 Country Lane
Newport WA 99156 USA
[email protected]
509-447-5549