Showing posts with label AMIDA-JI TEMPLE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AMIDA-JI TEMPLE. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Amidaji construction news 2016 (part III)

- last update August 8th - 
 Dear Dharma friends,

Here it is a short summary of what I did this summer, and what I plan to do in the next months at Amidaji temple. For more detailed information (including the funds I spent from your donations) and photos you can click on the links provided in the text:

1) What I did until now
the renovated Hondo (Dharma Hall)
(a)
- I renovated, arranged and did some repair on the inside of the Hondo (Dharma Hall). I also added some liquid thermal insulation and painted the walls.
- I paid half of the taxes that must be paid for this year and which are related with the land of Amidaji and the two wooden houses (Hondo and Library)
- I added a new altar with a new beautiful Amida scroll (a gift of Zuikoji temple Osaka)

Monday, July 4, 2016

Amidaji Construction News 2016 (part II) - THE LIBRARY

scroll down for the latest updates!

building the concrete platform for the library
1) The plan for the library
One of the most important steps in the Amidaji project is the library. The original plan was to build a bigger Hondo (Dharma Hall) near the actual one, which will be then transformed into the library. But as the funds needed for the new bigger Hondo are beyond my financial possibilities, I decided to build a little wooden house this summer and use it as a library. When that bigger Hondo will be built and the present one will be transformed into the library, this little house will be used only for the accomodation of visitors.

The truck with the building materials 
for the new wooden house arrived on June 13th. 
I also had a service and Dharma talk on  the12th 
and did various little works in the courtyard of the temple.
The thing is I have a great ammount of copies of my books (especially those printed in Romanian by the CBBEF), as well as various old and new Jodo Shinshu English translations that need to be stored in a proper building. Now many of them are kept in precarious conditions near the place dedicated to the temple, and in the homes of some of my trusted friends and readers. So, while many copies will still remain at these friends who help distribute them in their respective towns, I urgently need a suitable place to store the books I have at my disposal, and where the visitors can easily come in contact with them.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Amidaji Construction News 2016 (part I)


Dear Dharma friends,

working on the inside walls of the little Hondo (Dharma Hall)
Here I am again at the place where I build Amidaji temple. And here is the main plan for this year (2016):

- to pay some taxes for the land of Amidaji and for the little Hondo ( - partially done, read bellow!)
- to add thermal insulation to the inside walls of the little Hondo (Dharma Hall) - done, read bellow!
- to build two toilets and a showers area (plus a little septic tank because the village where I build Amidaji has no sewerage)
- to build a gate for the Amidaji compound (you probably remember the fence I built last year!)
- to build one or more accommodation places for visitors
- to build a well (nowadays our source of water is outside of Amidaji land)
- to make a large concrete platform for a new bigger Hondo (around 50 square meters or more) which will be placed near the actual Hondo (Dharma Hall) - when the bigger Hondo will be built, the actual one will be transformed into the library. This bigger Hondo is scheduled to be built in the next year, but if I raise enough funds I do not exclude the possibility to start working on it this year, too!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Amidaji construction news 2015 - part 3 (The first trees planted at Amidaji)

oak tree
From the donations sent by readers and Dharma friends I bought 11 trees and planted them in the garden of Amidaji temple: 2 oak trees, 2 birch (betula), 2 japanese ginko biloba, 2 linden trees, 2 pine trees and 1 chestnut oak.
They are little now, but my hope is that they will grow into big trees and last for a few hundreds of years so that they can accompany many generations of nembutsu followers.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Amidaji construction news 2015 (part 2- updated)

Dear friends,

scroll down in the article for the last updates 
(6th July, 16th July, 27th July, 17th August, 6th September)!

carrying one of the seven rolls of wire
Finaly, I was able to start building the fence around the land dedicated to Amidaji. So, I bought 50 iron pillars (300 euro), 7 rolls of wire (250 euro), some gravel (50 euro), sacks of cement (30 euro) and various other materials.

car with gravel for making cement
First I cleared the portion of land around the old fence and I took it out of the ground. Then, I dig  holes of 40 cm , and I fixed the iron pillars in them with cement. The next day, when the cement was solidified, I attached the roles of wire on them.

The work was very hard and slow because the old fence was stuck in  wood bushes and small trees with thorns which needed to be cut one by one with chainsaw and axe.

clearing the portion of land
arround the old fence
Until now I completed two sides of the terrain, and in the next days I will repeat the same process (dig holes, fixed the iron pillars in them with cement, and attach the wire) on another side. So, this article will get a new update soon!

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Amidaji construction news - 2015 (part1)

Dear Dharma friends,

     
greetings! :)
As I already announced a few days ago, on my facebook page, I am now at the place where I build Amidaji temple.  My hope is to fulfill as much as I can from this year's plan: 1) clearing the rest of the land dedicated to Amidaji, 2) building the fence around the property of the temple (this is most important!) and 3) isolation for the inside walls of   the little Hondo I built last year. Of course, if funds allow it, I will go on with other necesities, as well.

So, I rented a tractor (200 euro) from the donations sent by some of my Dharma friends, and I cleared arround 80 % of the land dedicated to Amidaji. This cleared land will be arranged into a garden with grass, alleys, trees, etc, and will also contain the rest of the buildings in the Amidaji complex (accomodation rooms, bathrooms, library, etc).

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

I installed the altar of Amida-ji Temple


Dear friends in the Dharma,
  

I am glad to inform you that I have just installed the altar in the small Hondo (Dharma Hall) of Amida-ji.
As you can see in the pictures, it is a simple altar made from an old piece of furniture covered with cloth. On this,  it is placed a statue of Amida Buddha which was donated a few years ago by the Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation (CBBEF) from Taiwan. This statue was previously used at Tariki Dojo Craiova and now moved to the temple. It is not a Hongwanji style statue of Amida, but it is the only statue we received until now, and with so much generosity.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

I installed the little Hondo of Amidaji

update June 12th - I finished the wooden floor of the Hondo! Under this floor there is water insulation and heat insulation. The next and last thing to do before I can install the altar, is to make insulation for the inside walls (see the last photo).
update May 26th - working on the water insulation floor (see photos)
update May 13th - I fixed some errors at the concrete platform on which the little Hondo is placed,  raised it  and enlarged it a little more. In the next weeks, depending on the funds I am able to raise, I will add a water resistance floor (inside), some good isolation for the walls and electricity  
update May 8th - I added the windows and finished the roof

Dear friends in Amida Dharma,

I have just came back from Amidaji construction site and I am happy to inform you that I successfully installed the little Hondo (Dharma Hall). You can see the progress in the photos bellow.

The Hondo is not ready yet for religious services, as I still have to do a lot of things until then. For example, I need to add something at the rooftop, add windows, fix some errors at the concrete platform[1] on which the Hondo is placed, add a water resistance floor, some good isolation for the inside walls, electricity, etc. All these will require extra funds, which for the moment I do not have, so any little donation will be grateful received and appreciated. I mention that since the beginning of this project I spent around 2500 euro, which came from donations sent by readers and Dharma friends from all over the world. Nothing could be done without the help of  these people who are the true founders of Amidaji. As I said from the beginning, all donors and people who support in one way or another, the construction of this temple, will be considered among founders, and their names[2] will be remembered in a special place inside the temple.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I built the concrete platform for the Hondo of Amidaji

Dear friends,

I have just made some little but important progress in the construction of Amidaji temple.
In the last days I built the concrete platform (5m in lenght and 5m in width) on which I will place the Hondo (Dharma Hall).
In this post you can see some of my dusty pictures made at work J:

The next step is to place the wooden Hondo on this platform, but for the moment I cannot do it due to lack of funds, so any small help would be very much welcomed and appreciated. 

I assure you all, those who helped me until now, who will help me in the future or who can’t help, but support me morally from afar, that I am determined to go on with this project, no matter the difficulties.
I hope to give you more good news as soon as possible.





Namo Amida Butsu!






















Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Clearing the land for the Hondo of Amidaji

first a tractor made some holes in the ground
so that I can pull out the big roots and weeds
I have just came back from the land where I am to build Amidaji. I successfully cleared some space of weed and grapevine roots on the spot where I will place the Hondo. Here are some pictures, but sorry for their low quality.


then I cleared the land by hand
and with a spade

the spot where I will place the Hondo is cleared


Saturday, July 6, 2013

Amidaji temple - work plan and progress


(Last update - August, 2023!
)

If you wish to read updates and see photos of the progress in building this temple, 
click on the links below  (the last updates are the first in the list):

Gratefully yours
in Namo Amida Butsu,

Rev Josho Adrian Cîrlea







[1] Calopăr belongs to the commune of Calopăr which has a population of about  4,000 people. Distance between Craiova and Calopar is about 20 km, which can be covered up in 20-30 minute by bus and even faster by car. 


Dharma talks on my youtube channel