Hawai‘i’s Hermitage is Moving Forward ~ Late-summer update
Dear Sangha Members and Friends: Much good news!
On June 20, 2013, the Hawai‘i County Planning Commission approved a five-year time extension for Vipassana Hawai‘i’s special permit to establish its long-awaited Hawai‘i Insight Meditation Center (HIMC). While we now have until July 1, 2018, to complete, we are well on our way: HIMC is situated on 15 acres within Vipassana Hawai‘i’s 254 acres of spacious, coastal land in Hālawa, in North Kohala on the northeastern tip of the island. In November 2011, we obtained approval for HIMC’s final site plan, which anchors the Center around an agricultural farming area serving the kitchen. The plan includes 40 private monastic cottages (called kuti in Southeast Asia) as well as teacher cottages and, of course, a meditation hall. We are ready to launch HIMC’s pre-construction steps, such as drawing up architectural plans and implement the infrastructure. A locally-based architect who deeply understands the area has begun preliminary work. HIMC will be simple, sustainable, serene, much like a monastic hermitage. It will belong to the land, breathe with the trade winds, effortlessly serve the sangha.
And welcome to our new website! If you haven’t visited our site lately, please take a moment in the next few weeks to explore our new design and photographs. Upgrades include a more pleasant registration and donation process (If you see faulty or confusing links or pages, please feel free to drop us a note; if you like the site, yes, tell us as well!)
