The Bodhi Path Buddhist Center on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, had its start in 1999. Twenty-five years later, it has become the center of Buddhist practice on the island. On 18 September, the center celebrated its 25th anniversary by consecrating a new stupa.

“To have [a stupa] here, I just think is incredibly special,” said Bodhi Path Buddhist Center member Penelope Dixon. (Vineyard Gazette)

The grey stone monument, bearing images of the Buddha in meditation on its sides, was built in Nepal and transported to the US. Local landscaping business owner Celio Guimaraes assembled the stupa on Martha’s Vineyard. 

The Bodhi Path members placed the stupa near center’s meditation building, and the Buddhist teacher Karma Trinlay Rinpoche performed a ceremony to honor the occasion, throwing rice on the stupa and reciting Tibetan prayers in unison with the more than two dozen attendees who participated in the occasion.

Stupas, traditionally made of stone or clay, are often used to house relics of Buddhist teachers and saints, and many practitioners believe that people who build stupas or assist in maintaining them receive blessings. The Bodhi Path Buddhist Center’s stupa contains mantras written on paper, as well as treasure vases and a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. 

All of the items within the stupa were blessed by Karma Trinlay Rinpoche, who lives in France but traveled to the United States for the blessing ceremony and to offer a Dharma teaching. “Take care of [this stupa]. It has the power to fulfill all your wishes,” Karma Trinlay Rinpoche stated. (Vineyard Gazette)

In its 25 years, the Martha’s Vineyard Bodhi Path Buddhist Center has earned a reputation as a calm and tranquil haven. Dixon was living in the town of Chilmark on 11 September 2001 when she learned about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Needing a place to pray, she began attending services at the center. Dixon noted that she had recently traveled to Bhutan where she witnessed Buddhists performing devotional services similar to the consecration ceremony at the Bodhi Path Buddhist Center.

The Bodhi Path Buddhist Center, in the town of West Tisbury and led by resident teacher Lama Yeshe Drolma, offers three weekly meditation sessions and regularly hosts visiting teachers and rinpoches from the Bodhi Path network.

The center was founded by the 14th Shamarpa, Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche, a senior lineage holder in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Before moving to its current location, Bodhi Path was located in community of Vineyard Haven, where ceremonies were held in a small house. The new center was built in 2001.

Under the direction of Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche, the new center was built by some of the original members and includes a house for visitors, along with an open meditation hall, and a large field behind to give practitioners an open view.

Co-coordinators Sharon Gamsby and Barbara Dacey shared that it had been an honor to lead the center, especially during events such as the stupa consecration, and they expressed hope that such events would inspire others eager to learn about meditation.

“Come here and learn to meditate with us,” Gamsby remarked. “Anybody can come in and hopefully feel comfortable.” (Vineyard Gazette)

See more

Bodhi Path Celebrates Twenty Five Years on the Vineyard (Vineyard Gazette)
Celebrating Bodhi Path Martha’s Vineyard’s 25th Anniversary (Bodhi Path)

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