Windhorse Imports, buddhist practice supplies, meditation supplies and tools

buddhist practice supplies, meditation supplies and tools, windhorse trading in dharmaware, ritual objects, hindu statues, buddhist statues, tibetan art, buddha sculptures, religious statues, handcrafted statues, buddhist shrine, spiritual and religious items, tantric art, nepalese art, prayer flags, quartz crystal, butter lamps, butterlamps, tibetan singing bowls, religious education resources, buddhist artifacts, dharmaware, himalayan art, tibetan artifacts, brass buddha statues, buddhist artifacts, buddhist giftsWindhorse Imports, buddhist practice supplies, meditation supplies and toolsUK Imports of fine quality Tibetan Buddhist meditation and feng shui suppliers, ritual objects, Dharmaware and practice materials. Buddhist and Hindu statues, Tibetan singing bowls, prayer flags, wall hangings, door curtains, Tibetan turquoise jewellery and quartz crystal.buddhist practice supplies, ritual objects, buddha sculptures, religious statues, handcrafted statues, free tibetAll Buddhist traditions use a Buddhist shrine as a reminder and focal point for meditation. It represents the Buddha, and offerings are placed on it. Some traditions are more elaborate than others. The Tibetan shrine, for example, is more ornate than the Zen or Theravadin shrine. The essentials in every tradition are as follows: The right space. The best is a room which is used for nothing else. Otherwise a quiet corner in a bedroom, sitting room or study is okay. The shrine itself should be higher than one’s head when seated. An image or representation of the Buddha, usually a Buddha rupa or statue of the best quality one can afford, and offerings of water, light, flowers and incense. As a leading Buddhist shop trading in dharmaware, we offer high quality Buddhist practice supplies and meditation tools, including Buddha statues, offering bowls and butterlamps, and Tibetan Buddhist jewellery.Types of Shrine. THERAVADIN BUDDHISM: A simple Theravadin-style shrine is a single platform with a picture or image of the Buddha, flowers on either side, a set of religious statues, handcrafted statues and candles or butterlamps in front, ritual objects and a pot of Tibetan incense in front of that. ZEN BUDDHISM: A Zen shrine has an image of the Buddha at centre back; water and food offerings placed in front; incense in front of that, a candle or butter lamps on the right, flowers, on the left. TIBETAN BUDDHISM: An elaborate Tibetan shrine has three levels. The highest has a Buddha image or statue in the centre with an image of Guru Rinpoche the Tantric Buddha of Tibet, on the left, as you stand facing the shrine, and Chenresig, the deity of compassion on the right. A photo of one’s personal guru may be included here. The second level has dharma texts in the centre, a yidam such as Vajra Yogini on the left, a protector such as Mahakala on the right. A bell and vajra and a stupa may be included here. At the lowest level are the seven offering bowls representing water, one for washing one for drinking, flowers, light, food , music. A mandala set to represent an offering of the universe to the Buddha is often placed here. Dharmaware including Buddhist statues, handcrafted statues, singing bowls, prayer flags, prayer wheels, prayer beads and other religious and spiritual items, and buddhist gifts can be obtained from our online buddhist shop. We also stock Tibetan door curtains, shrine hangings and other Tibetan artifacts.

   Windhorse Imports
                     Windhorse Imports, (Noble Truth Ltd)
           PO Box 2687, Swindon SN4 7ZQ, United Kingdom
           Tel: 01793 855839   Email: sales@windhorse.co.uk

TONDASHUN TIBETAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

(Dechen Da Zhong Ci Shan School)

Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, SW China.

The Dechen Da Zhong Ci Shan School, high in the mountains of northern Yunnan, is home to forty-two children, two Tibetan monks, one dog, thirty-one black pigs, a large number of chickens and one proud cockerel. The students are the children of Tibetan farmers and nomads who travel up to eight hours each term to board at this rare school where the students learn in Tibetan with Chinese and English taught by voluntary staff who share their accommodation.

A brochure for the school might read:

“Join our school set in idyllic mountain scenery - heaven on earth when the sun shines, shear hell when it rains. Learn Tibetan with two dedicated monks, share the workload and run freely in the surrounding woods enjoying the local flora and fauna.”

The school brochure may also point out that every time it rains, the area becomes a quagmire. The buildings, constructed with planks of wood and polythene, have mud floors and regular maintenance is needed to try to keep the rain out. In July they endured appalling conditions; teaching had to be carried out wearing a waterproof coat with the hood up and the children made every effort to keep their books dry under pieces of plastic.

Fuel is a problem as dead wood has to be collected to provide warmth and heat for cooking (cutting trees is banned in this environmentally protected area). Often lessons have to be missed for fuel collection and maintenance, as they become the priority.

Between May and September 2004 the author worked with the community both as an English language teacher and an environmental scientist, chiefly helping to find ways of producing income enabling the school to remain independent and sustainable. This included raising funds to provide traditional Tibetan costumes (Chubas) for the students’ Song & Dance group which performs to tourist groups and in the local villages, raising income to feed themselves. In 2005 they plan to raise further income from the sale of their own meat, eggs and vegetable produce and their very skilled drawings and local handicraft. New school buildings are desperately needed for these hard-working, fun-loving, bright children aged between seven and nineteen who are dedicated to their culture.

I am now back in the UK dreaming up ideas for next year and working with the The Shuxiong Schools Fund - which has supported this school for three years – raising the capital to provide them with proper school premises on a site which has already been prepared for construction work.

The buildings are designed to capture and hold the sun’s warmth and will be constructed of local stone with roofing designed to accommodate the extremely heavy snowfalls in winter. Landslides are frequent in these mountains during the wet season and a stone wall has been built to protect the site. Funding is accumulating gradually but overall £44,000 is needed to accommodate the current students and staff and further buildings are planned to eventually provide for 120 children.

If you would like to know more about this Tibetan school project, or are in a position to offer advice of help with funding and support, the Tondashun School would be truly grateful.

In Dharma Tsultrim Drolma (Jane Wheeler MSc.)

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The Shuxiong Schools Fund, Carol Turner, 16 Compton Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP70NH Tel: +44 (0) 1747 811920, email carolturner@tiscali.co.uk

Jane Wheeler +44 (0) 1908 542705 (Tel or Fax), email at namesti_jane@hotmail.com