WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — You could say it’s been 10 years in the making. This weekend, a new Buddhist center in Wesley Chapel will host its grand opening.
“It is incredibly rare to have a center like this, so in all of Florida, there aren’t centers such as this where we have a resident teacher, we have acres of land and regular programs going,” said Damien Contessa, president of the Drong Ngur Jangchubling Buddhist Center.
Contessa says what’s really special about their new temple, is that it was built by the Tampa Bay community for the Tampa Bay community.
“So a lot of the hard work done here has been done by volunteers, so the excitement is not just coming through in their hard work and efforts, but the aspirations they have for the functioning and flourishing of the center,” said Contessa.
Visiting all the way from India to be here for the opening is His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. His Holiness is the supreme head of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of the Tibetan Buddhism.
“It came out really nice, happy about this, yes,” said Chetsang.
“This is quite an amazing experience, the last time His Holiness was here in Florida was 2015 so this is a very rare opportunity to have His Holiness here, he is not just the head of a Buddhist tradition but also an international dignitary,” said Contessa.
When it’s time for His Holiness to return home, the center will be in good hands with a full-time spiritual director, Drupon Thinley Nyingpo Rinpoche, leading programs for everyone from beginners to life-long participants.
“In the west, in western countries, there is this increased interest in practices like mindfulness and meditation, that there is a great benefit that people are experiencing from making contact with these practices and just more of an interest to learn them,” said Rinpoche.
The grand opening of the center is on Jan. 27. For more information, go here.
“Our doors are always open and welcome for everyone who would like to come, learn to meditate, learn about Buddhism, or just learn how to work with their daily stresses and things of that nature,” said Contessa.
