Rebuild Our New Home at Luk Wu Together

 September 29, 2020

Dear Sangha members,

Greetings from the monks and nuns of Plum Village HK & AIAB.   In November 2019, the monastic sangha was very joyful to receive a small templefrom three venerable nuns at Luk Wu area on Lantau Island. The templeis surrounded by mountains, trees, birds, and open sky, offering a unique place to heal and transform our body and mind. With our presence at Luk Wu Village — an old Buddhist village with more than 100 years of history — we can together cultivate mindful, peaceful, and joyful energies and connect monastics of different traditions practicing in the village. The templewill serve as our new home, in addition to the Lotus Pond Temple for the nuns and Bamboo Forest Temple for the monks in Ngong Ping. It offers us more space for Sangha practice and mini-retreat for lay friends.  See picture of the temple enclosed within the boundary below. It is 4km from Ngong Ping.

 

 

However, the templeswe received was built in the 1950s, so an extensive renovation is needed to ensure the safety and wellness of the visitors and create suitable living conditions for retreatants, requiring a complete re-do of the water and power supply systems and relocation of kitchen and toilets. Meanwhile, the addition of a new meditation hall is exceptionally challenging as it requires total removal and restoration of the aged ceiling seriously damaged by termites and water leaks. Adding to the complexity and building and maintenance costs to the project is our commitment to preserving the Buddhist heritage of the building. We will retain the traditional tile-roof design of the house, rarely seen and precious nowadays, while meticulously repairing the corroded historic structure made of locally-carved sandstone.

How to support?

Our Teacher Thay always encourages us to build sangha, to spread the joy of Dharma. The monastics, therefore, are humbly asking for your support for the project to benefit all future Buddhas. There are two ways to support:

1. Join the monastics’ “Do it by Ourselves” campaign to practice mindful working on painting and flooring, outdoor landscaping, etc.  To sign up, please contact Sr. Tu Nghiem at dana@pvfhk.org.

2. We need to raise HK$2.3 million for the renovation.  You can offer a donation via the following ways:

i) Faster Payment System (FPS) at FPS identifier: 8104739 (”The Plum Village Foundation (H.K.) LTD” will be shown with the identifier input),

ii) Bank transfer at Bank of East Asia:

Account Name:	The Plum Village Foundation (Hong Kong) Limited
Account #:	015-191-404000216
For TT transfer:	Swift Code: BEA SHK HH
Bank address:	Bank of East Asia, Waterloo Road Branch, Shop A, G/F, Richland House, 77B & 77C Waterloo Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

iii) Write a cheque to “The Plum Village Foundation Hong Kong Limited” and send it to Lotus Pond Temple, Ngong Ping Village, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.

Please put your name and state that it is for Luk Wu House as the reference or message to payee for the transaction (e.g. Happy Smile for Luk Wu House). Donations of HK$100 or above are tax-deductible with a valid receipt. If a receipt is needed, please send a screenshot of the transaction record with your name and mailing address to Sr. Tu Nghiem at dana@pvfhk.org or WhatsApp to our volunteer Mr Michael at (852) 6871-7872.

May you be peaceful and happy,

The monks and nuns of Plum Village Hong Kong & AIAB

 

____________________

 

建設我們的新家園

2020年9月 29 日

親愛的僧團，願大家安好！

香港梅村正在籌建新家園。2019年月，香港梅村的出家眾欣喜地接受了在大嶼山鹿湖修行的三位比丘尼贈送給我們的禮物，一間位於鹿湖，曾用作佛教僧侶清修處的小屋目青翠，是坐看風雲起，耳聞鳥兒鳴，療癮身心的環境。鹿湖小屋將成為我們另一家園。昂坪蓮池寺是的們心靈家園，這間小屋則給予僧團另一獨特的修習空間。香港社會經歷動蕩不安，加上疫情，令我們的身心承受很大壓力，這間小屋亦將是為在家眾舉辦小型正念營、修習和療癒之處。

鹿湖是具有百年歷史的佛教修行禪林，香港禪宗的發源地，僧才輩出，虛雲老和尚、筏可老和尚及聖一老和尚和鹿湖亦有一段因緣，目前仍有38間大小寺院。我們寄望在此建立我們的家園後，在家眾和出家眾常到此修習，連接中國傳統的禪林氣息，同時希望能爲這個歷史悠久的禪修地添一份朝氣和活力。

但是我們的小屋建於上世紀五十年代，長期沒人居住，日久失修。要重新啓用作舉辦活動，提供參加者及訪客安全和合適環境以修習及住宿，必需重修廚廁及水電系統。此外，為騰出設立禪堂所需空間，牆柱也有移位需要，這同時涉及重修已老化和滲漏的瓦屋頂。而我們決意保留小屋珍貴的傳統瓦屋頂和佛教特色的建築傳承，這需要進行很大的整體修葺工程。

我們需要您的支持：

老師一行禪師總是鼓勵我們建立僧團，分享佛法，香港梅村的出家眾因而謙卑地請求您們的支持。大家可以通過以下兩個途徑持：

1) 參與出家眾「我們一起建設」的活動，與梅村的法師們一起修習正念工作：清理地面，清理和美化戶外的環境等。報名請聯絡：修嚴法師：dana@pvfhk.org.

2) 捐款支持：

a) 可通過「轉數快」（FPS）過數。「快速支付系統識別碼」：8104739輸入識別碼時將會顯示香港梅村的戶口名稱（The Plum Village Foundation (Hong Kong) Limited）;

b) 銀行過數：東亞銀行戶囗：015-191-404000216

                   窩打老道分行，九龍窩打老道77號B及C，芝齡大廈地下

c) 郵寄支票，抬頭請寫：The Plum Village Foundation Hong Kong Limited

然後寄到：大嶼山昂坪村蓮池寺香港梅村修嚴法師收（請注明你的名字及支票用途：支持建設鹿湖小屋）

一百元以上捐款可有收據申請退稅。如有此需要，請屏幕截圖交易記錄，注明你的名字和地址後傳給修嚴法師：dana@pvfhk.org, 或 WhatsApp 給義工江先生(852) 6871-7872

我們的目標是籌款二百三十萬港幣，需要您們的支持，一起建設新家園。

祝願大家健康平安

呼吸 微笑

香港梅村法師們