Designing Peace Gardens in India and Nepal

Next Saturday the Bay Area designers Tim O’Shea of Greenworks Design and Davis Dalbok of Living Green are headed for Bodhgaya — the famous site in India where The Buddha attained Enlightenment — where they will begin work on the first of Eight Mandala Peace Gardens dedicated to the Eight Sacred Sites of The Buddha. The duo will be working under the auspices of The Light of The Buddhadharma Foundation International, which works to beautify the ancient places where the Buddha walked and taught, and that still echo with his teachings and blessings. To date, Eight World Peace Bells have been donated and installed in Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Vaishali, Kushinagar, Shravasti, Tso Pema and Sankasya. All Eight Bells will eventually be surrounded by beautiful gardens designed by O’Shea and Dalbok, which will reflect the awakening and flowering of the Buddhaharma throughout India and Nepal.

The Bodhgaya garden plans were developed to revitalize a disused area of the Mahabodhi Temple grounds to the south of Mucalinda Lake. This Peace Park will facilitate walking meditation by creating greater connection to the adjacent areas. The Scripture Garden will display plant species both mentioned in Buddhist scriptures and known to be growing in the Buddha's lifetime. Shade trees and the Meditation Houses/ Veranda allow for restful contemplation and mindful awareness. This plan was designed by Tim O'Shea of Greenworks Design and Davis Dalbok of Living Green with direction from Wangmo and Richard Dixey of the Light of the Buddhadharma Foundation International. See the complete plans on Dalbok's blog