The dharma continues to blossom in our lives and we are all so lucky that it does. For all the classes, retreats, intensives and practice groups that we have going, there are many things that need to be in place, one of which is an actual space - a physical location or building. Over the past three years, the Berkeley Gompa has served the whole community as the primary location for our dharma activities in the Bay Area. The Berkeley Gompa has been a small facility for our group, but the ideal location has served us all very well. During the last few months of teachings in Berkeley, it became clear to us that we have outgrown the Berkeley Gompa as a main facility for holding retreats. We will continue to host events in berekeley but also a larger facility is needed. In addition to our Berkeley center, it is time to birth our vision of having a local center in the South Bay where we could offer retreats, weekly meditation, Yoga Classes, Pancha Karma, and weekly classes with Troma Rinpoche.

In addition to the two-day retreats, one-day intensives and other activities that are offered by our organization as a joyous journey and exploration into the path and teachings of the MahaSiddhas, we have also held annual five-day retreats for our community. These are longer, more in-depth style retreats. In the past, these longer retreats have served as a time of rejuvenation, deep study and an opportunity to immerse ourselves into the yogic lifestyle; including ayurvedic diet, daily meditation and yoga, contemplation of the teachings, and a chance to be together in nature and celebrate the deep connections, creativity and joy of our community. It is our goal to fulfill our facility needs while simultaneously keeping the cost down for our community. Retreat facilities have considerable costs and as you may remember, facilities are already consuming 60% of our operating budget.


For our next step - we need to have a facility that supports sixty people for two-day and five-day retreats. It must include shower facilities, a kitchen and dining space, and a practice space. In order to fulfill our vision, we have determined that it is really necessary for us to purchase our own retreat facility. With the great cost of renting facilities for our regular programs in mind, we may as well spend these funds on a property owned by our community. As we continue to grow and expand, we need the help and support of the entire community to continue the full calendar of programs that we all enjoy.

Over the last few months, a small group of dedicated practitioners headed by Uma have taken on this vision as their own and have been dedicating their free time and weekends to searching for the perfect location to host our activities in the South Bay. We are looking to rent, lease or buy a center that serves the North Bay as well as the local community, our community from San Diego, Los Angeles and Grass Valley and our guests from around the U.S. Currently the facility search team has been looking at churches, mixed-use properties and retreat centers, as well as commercially-zoned houses and anything else that seems appropriate to being the future home of a MahaSiddha Buddhism center/practice house.

Dakini Mountain would be an ideal location if we could raise the funds for both the purchase (2.5 million) and the cost of the first phase of buildings and utilities (2.5 million. If you are interested in fundraising, donating land or helping to manifest this dream, please contact me, aruna@mahasiddhas.org.

In the meantime our activities still need a bigger facility; we are no longer able to wait for Dakini Mountain to manifest, and recognize that another facility may be the stepping stone towards it. If you would like to be part of helping to manifest a retreat center or South Bay practice house/center, than please contact myself, aruna@mahasiddhas.org or Uma at kbodhi@gmail.com.

It is a very exciting thing, that we continue to out-grow the spaces that we have. Our growth has been non-stop since the beginnings of our community in 1999. We are very lucky that this is our problem. It has always been through the generosity and cooperation of us all working together that we have manifested this incredible Mandala, and once again we have the opportunity to bring together our talent and resources to create a dynamic hub for the path we practice.