Ven. Dhammadipa has a vow to spread Buddha's message in Europe. For that purpose he founded the Island of dharma, DHAMMADIPA foundation, with the aim to provide space for study and practice of Buddhism and spirituality in general. The name of the newly established center is "The forest of tranquility", Shanta Vana.
The base for the Shanta Vana meditation space are three cottages build in a typical local architecture style. All cottages are mainly wood constructions build more that 100 years ago. The last new part of Shanta Vana will be the new meditation hall.
The current meditation room in the lower cottage is unsatisfactory due to it's very small capacity. We are planning to build the new meditation hall that will be used for meditation, yoga, chi kung etc. Planned capacity is approximately for 30 people.
The land for new meditation hall has already been purchased, we prepared a project and now we are dealing with the official permits. Shanta Vana is in the national park and there are strict rules for new construction. We have obtained all permits except the last from the state forests. Although the old house stood on this land (it was demolished years ago), the Forestry Office has still not issued permission for new construction. We are preparing other variants for new meditation hall too. One possibility is to build a meditation hall at the former forestry. We are investigating this option, there are also administrative obstacles for this alternative place. We are looking for a legal solution now.
