Zen River’s mission is to pave the Buddha Way for whoever feels inspired to walk it. And this time we would like to take that rather literally. Since we moved into our beautiful property, the buildings and garden have been improved and upgraded immensely—thanks to both the work and financial help of so many members. Yet the driveway could use some extra attention. About seven years ago, a fundraiser enabled us to remove the old and sick trees and bushes and replace them with new candidates who were happy to join. And, of course, the temple gate installed a year later makes an elegant entrance.
Now, the old concrete slabs on both sides of the driveway look forward to finding a good recycled second life somewhere else, while the gravel strip in the centre feels out of date as it is a real nuisance for rolling suitcases.
In short, it was time to rethink the pavement, and the picture above shows the most fitting plan. The idea is to have the whole stretch paved with red bricks in a fishbone motif and have strips of light grey bricks on the sides (where the concrete slabs are presently). We are attached to red because it matches the colour of the building itself and makes it feel like you are entering on a very welcoming carpet. As a little extra, the beautiful front door of the main building will get a raised piece of pavement that will give it more the status it deserves.
The price-tag for this project will be around €15,000, and we are happy to receive any contribution, great or small, that you could make. Updates will be sent out regularly.
In gassho,
Tenkei
Bank account number (iban): NL72 TRIO 0212 4970 30, bic/swift: TRIONL2U
Account name: Zen River; Triodos Bank N.V., Nieuweroordweg 1, 3704 EC Zeist, The Netherlands
or via PayPal to office@zenrivertemple.org (tick the box ‘to a friend’)