Current News
Postings:- Ecosystem Based Plan prepared by Keith Erickson, 2010
- AGM June 13th, 2009
- February 4th, 2009
- July 2nd, 2008
- June 29th, 2008
Ecosystem Based Plan, 2010
The purpose of this report is to:- 1. Determine how to protect, maintain and where necessary, restore functioning ecosystems on the Crystal Mountain land; and,
- 2. Recommend ways to minimize the impacts of Forest Retreat uses within the context of the identified ecological constraints.
AGM June 13th, 2009
The ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING FOR CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN
DATE: The AGM will be held this year on Saturday JUNE 13th
PLACE: at the RETREAT SITE on Galiano Island
TIME: 11:00 AM
ON THE AGENDA: A walk to the Teachers House! Come and have a look at the solid reality of Lama Mark's residence. Kim, her team and volunteers have created a Beautiful Home and Teaching Residence! See the progress. Beautiful, handmade, wooden windows and doors are installed.
Join in the discussion around Hydro. If the best route to the new house is through lot 9, what does this mean for Crystal Mountain? Where would we like to see hydro on the land, what would we use it for? What are our priorities and how much will it cost? Could we put up a utility shed on Lot 9?
The “Land Use Plan” - What is it? How will we use it? What will it do for us? We hope to be in the middle of an assessment proposal from Keith Erickson. We hope to have a schedule for participation of interested members.
Proxy Form- If you are unable to attend please send along a completed Proxy form. We need a minimum of 10 participants, in person or by Proxy, for the AGM to be held.
Membership – A membership form can be downloaded for those of you that have not yet paid your 2009 Dues! Your membership is important! And it gives you a voting voice. These Dues are needed every year to help pay our Property Taxes, Insurance and keep us running as a society.Please renew as soon as you can.
Pot-Luck – Let’s have a pot-luck lunch! Bring something to share. The water will not yet be working but the propane stove will..
Stay for the weekend! Members are welcome to spend the night on the land. Bring your camping gear.
Ferry – The Ferry schedule is available at www.bcferries.com
Phone me – Please call with any enquiries, questions or ideas. 604 947 0987. We can try to arrange car pool rides too.
Hope to see you!
With Metta, Helen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!Helen Foster
for Crystal Mountain Board of Directors
February 4, 2009
Dear Friends,
2008 was a fabulous year for us. Our hallmark; commencing the building of the Teachers House! With Lama Mark having committed to living on Galiano, Crystal Mountain gets such a tremendous boost. The lovely home that he and his partner Lyne are building becomes the cornerstone of the centre. Thank you Mark and Lyne.
The contributions and donations come from far and wide. Thank-you: to Kim, who is both architect and head builder, to Rikk, Tieg and Rafael, who have braved the unusually cold and damp weather, thanks to Stephen for the many hours dedicated to permit and burrocrat wrangling, to you all, for your dedication to housing the Lama. And thank-you to those who came to help, to those who sent money.
The construction continues. The roof is going on, the shrine room has been covered, windows and doors are being made, the woodstove is being installed. The house should be ready to lock-up by the end of the month!! After this point work will be inside! Hydro electricity will be the next major step. Unfortunately, Rikk's visa will be up the end of March and we will be losing a major contributor. If you are interested in coming over to help build, to cook some meals, or to give general moral support, please contact Kim at [klenglet@telus.net]. Libby and Michael have offered their B+B room for only $30/night (including breakfast) over the winter months; please contact Libby at [bilbot51@hotmail.com]. We hope as spring arrives and the weather warms, some of you will be inclined to come over, camp on the land, and help out. The kitchen will be set up and the warm water running for dishes and shower. Please keep in touch if you feel this is possible.
Your continued support for this project is needed! May we bring it to a speedy completion for the sake of all beings. For the Teacher and the dharma gifts he brings.
This year marked another first. Shelane Donohugh spent 3 months in self retreat, on the top of lot A. While she enjoyed the forest solitude and sweeping vistas from the ridge; she endured a lack of infrastructure. She was camping in a trailer that was not hooked up to a heat or power source. Her perseverance is awe-inspiring and "infrastructure-building-inspiring". Thank-you for your pioneering spirit Shelane and thanks to your support team, Johanna, Rikk and Kim, without whom it would not have been possible.
Retreats were held in July on the Crystal Mountain land and in November, a 4 week retreat was held at Bodega Ridge. Students came from Peru, Florida and Ottawa! Both retreats were very well attended. This January we reached another milestone; the weekend mini retreat was oversubscribed and actually had a waiting list. Lama Mark's ability to craft practice and retreat draws students from far and wide. The need for a centre that can provide a natural setting for wholesome unfoldment is more than a necessity! (thanks to Jane and to Jamie, to Nicole, Johanna, thank you Janice and Libby)
Your board, the rezoning committee, and the Abhidhamma retreat team are working to create this reality. Our collective belief that a Forest Retreat Centre needs a Forest, keeps us focused and respectful of our surroundings and the need for appropriate infrastructure.
While focusing on the completion of the Teachers residence we are also planning our next steps. Crystal Mountain has been the lucky recipient of a 10 thousand dollar grant from a private foundation (the money comes with no strings attached - thanks to Jane for applying on our behalf). As well, someone is interested in funding the building of a meditation hut. So we are working at formulating a Forest Management Plan and intend to hold a general meeting in April to share ideas on our planning for the coming season.
Lama Mark's upcoming July teaching will focus on natural surroundings as the vehicle "to experience wider and deeper views of interconnectivity, uniqueness, wonder and unity that are the natural experience of being, openness of mind and the bliss of experience." (The details the details were just sent out!) I feel that this theme expresses the true potential of our centre.
May you be well and happy,
Metta, Helen
July 2, 2008
Dear friends,
As you will have read in the recent update, the land is secured, the infrastructure costs are in place and we are ready to start construction on Lama Mark's house on Galiano Island . And as of this moment we are close to our financial goal. But we are not there yet.
We still need $60,000 to complete the teaching house.
Our final budget has required multiple revisions. Add-ons have included the purchase of a new driving easement on Cook Rd , and legal charges, the increased costs in going it alone on the road improvements, expenses to support volunteer labor, etc. As well, construction and material costs have skyrocketed over the last 12 months.
So this announcement begins our final fundraising campaign. We need your help.
Lama Mark has put everything he has financially into this house. This includes a large donation of $165,000 plus the full value of the house he sold in Rossland (about $220,000) as well as tens of thousands of dollars in general Dana, not earmarked for construction.
Now it's our moment to step up.
To the brothers and sisters of Crystal Mountain , to the friends and students of Lama Mark:
Let's put this project financially over the top once and for all!
This wonderful house will be the year-to-year residence for Lama Mark and Lyne. When they are on the road we now have the possibility of accomodation for Crystal Mountain-supported teachers. Rental houses are rare and expensive - the ongoing problem of finding suitable and affordable teacher accommodation on Galiano will finally end.
And for the first time we will have the year-round luxury of a significantly sized, warm and dry teaching/practice space. Hallelujah!
So please, step forward and help make a difference. Support us in reaching the $60,000 goal needed to get this teaching house built. Take a moment to think how you can contribute: perhaps by offering a lump sum or by writing a series of post dated cheques spread across the next 8 months; by pledging several staggered donations or by auctioning off something on eBay. We can easily arrange automatic transfers from your bank account.
(FYI, some money can flow through the Crystal Mountain books for tax deduction purposes (for shared costs with the retreat center, such as road improvements, hydro, etc), but mostly your donations will go directly to Lama Mark and the house building project).
I look forward to talking to you all soon. But please, email me with any contributions, thoughts or money engendering suggestions you might have. Email
Thanks. Best to you all,
Stephanie Kostiuk, Sunil Nathvani and Jamie van Dam ,
On behalf of Lama Mark, Lyne and Crystal Mountain
Posted June 29th, 2008
Update on Lama Mark Webber's Galiano home
After a long period of incubation we are now only weeks away from beginning the construction of Lama Mark's teaching house on Galiano Island. Very quietly over the last few months a lot of work has been underway to get us to the formal start of construction.
The House Plans
While Lama Mark, accompanied by Lyne, has been traveling, teaching and leading retreats worldwide, there has been constant contact with Kim Lenglet on Galiano Island, to continue to refine the house design. The trick has been to balance the various needs placed on this house: as Lama Mark and Lyne's residence, as a spiritual activity nucleus and as a teaching space. These multiple uses mean that the interior design is a long way from your typical home. And all of this refining has been balanced by the location requirements and of course, costs. After much back and forth, we finally have a solid and attractive design that has many practical compromises but will be a beautiful and inspiring place to come for teachings and study.
In keeping with Lama Mark's offer to make the living room size useful as a teaching space, note that the living room/shrine room is over 510 sq. ft of floor space, easily big enough to host a class of 40 people. This extra size will be a tremendous benefit to Crystal Mountain.
Roads
District Lot (DL) 87, a 160 acre lot that surrounds and backs both the Crystal Mountain properties and Lama Mark's house, has now been acquired by BC Parks. This is fantastic news for all of us on the north end of the island. Since last November we have been negotiating with the former owners and with BC Parks about acquiring a vehicle easement over DL 87 so that we can drive in and out via Cook Rd. (this means a shorter drive to the south end). We are looking at doing improvements on the upper portion of our own easement, on the section coming in off of Cook Rd, across Lots 12 and 11 and then on to Lot 10, site of Lama Mark's house and the Peace Pagoda. Our current access is too steep and rough and therefore not in good enough shape to handle truck traffic to the building site. As well, the new Galiano Island (north end) fire truck is only 2 wheel drive and can no longer access the houses on the ridge. The Fire Marshal made it clear to us that he would not issue a final occupancy permit until upgrades to our driveway/road were made. So we have contracted to do these improvements later this month, with some further surveying work to be done soon. Unfortunately our neighbours have not been willing to participate financially, so the cost to do this work (ballpark figure - $15,000) lands on us.
Water, Site Prep and Hydro
A well has been drilled and water is gushing out at a rapid rate. The house site was cleared last fall and many of the felled trees have been milled and will be used in construction.
Lama Mark will not be bringing in hydro at this time. The cost to do this is significant (perhaps $60,000) and would be greatly reduced if we could get better co operation with our neighbours, particularly if we are given access to the pole on Lot 12. As yet, that co operation has not been forthcoming. So we will be building with the use of several gas powered generators.
We are waiting for our building permit and will soon be ready to start. Kim Lenglet, who will be building the house, is raring to go and has been all over every detail of construction and planning. Rick has now arrived from New Zealand, beginning his 6 month commitment to assist in the construction. Jerome has offered to do all the plumbing and various other jobs, according to design and need. Several other folks have offered to assist with the construction, committing chunks of time throughout the summer.
The summer retreat is well subscribed. Lama Mark is here with us until January of next year. Lama Mark and the CM board have already started investigating the feasibility of committing to a 5 month retreat for August to December of 2010, if we can find a way to build accommodation for 10 people on the property and if the house is ready for use. The flowers are definitely blooming.
So the future has never looked brighter for Crystal Mountain. We already have our root teacher with us for the rest of this year, with more extended time planned for the years ahead. We will have access to a wonderful and inspiring house and teaching space, suitable for many of the teachers we want to invite here. And we are starting to plan for all-season facilities that will, for the first time, allow us to provide year-round teaching and retreat work, something we have dreamed about since we first bought the land 28 years ago.
So thanks again to all of you and the generosity that has guided us to this wonderful moment. This is exciting times for Crystal Mountain.
Some of our Activites- Crystal Mountain sponsors teaching and retreats on Galiano Island, Vancouver, Bowen Island and Vancouver Island.