receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
View at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 26, 2015
“It’s exhausting,” Ven. Gyalten Yarphel told Mandala in a phone call on Thursday afternoon, August 27. “Breathing all the smoke, it’s hard to be energetic.” Ven. Yarphel (John Jackson) was speaking from Buddha Amitabha Pure Land (BAPL) in North Central Washington state in the United States, where wildfires continue to burn out of control.
On Thursday, August 20, fires came through the valley where Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s retreat house and Buddha Amitabha Pure Land are located. According to Ven. Yarphel, the fire came up to and burned around the structures — Rinpoche’s house and the retreat cabins — and the two large statues — Medicine Buddha and Amitabha Buddha — leaving small unburned islands on the land. Sadly, their close neighbor’s house was burned to the ground.
The current residents of the 500-acre retreat property had evacuated their homes the night before, but had to stay with neighbors as the road out of the valley was blocked by fires and did not open up until early on Thursday morning, when they got out. They stayed with friends who lived about 40 miles away and returned to the BAPL on Tuesday, August 25.
On Wednesday, August 26, the winds came up and blew an ember into the trees near one of the retreat structures on the land (not Rinpoche’s house). The trees caught fire and caused the structure to combust and burn to the ground.
Retreat structure that burned on Wednesday, August 26, 2015
On Thursday 27, the winds picked up again, and those staying on the property were told to again evacuate. While most of the ground at BAPL is charred, Ven. Yarphel said there is still a lot of fuel for fire in the trees, although he added that Rinpoche’s house seems to be safe. Fires continue to burn in the surrounding areas and across the valley. Spot fires could flare up on the property depending on the wind and other conditions. There is also very dense smoke, which prevents air assistance with the fires.
View at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 26, 2015
Ven. Yarphel said the firefighters are doing all they can, but simply don’t have enough resources. The Okanogan Complex fire, which is the fire affecting BAPL, is currently covering 302,224 acres and is threatening to merge with another large fire burning to the east, the North Star fire, covering 179,834 acres. In addition, wildfires fueled by drought and a very warm summer are burning throughout other parts of the Pacific Northwest.
The residents at BAPL hope to return to the retreat land on Friday, August 28. Early reports on Friday said that no new structures were burned. The residents staying on the retreat land are without electricity, but there is one generator, which provides internet access, some light at night and runs a pump for water. They also have food and can cook on a camp stove. Gelek Sherpa, who has been staying there painting the large Amitabha Buddha statue, will be returning to California next week as it’s become too difficult to continue his work because of smoke and swarming wasps and yellow jackets. Ven. Yarphel is looking forward to getting out of the smoke, too. He’ll be leaving for Mexico next week to attend the retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Screen shot of wildfires affecting Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, August 28, 2015 (http://gacc.nifc.gov/nwcc/information/firemap.aspx)
For now, fires continue to threaten Buddha Amitabha Pure Land. Some rain is forecast for the area over the weekend, however if it is accompanied by wind and lightning, which was the cause of the current fires, it might not help. Students may do prayers and practices to dispel fires as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This advice can be found in last week’s post “Wildfires Threaten Buddha Amitabha Pure Land and Pamtingpa Center.”
You can see a short video after the August 20 fire of Buddha Amitabha Pure Land on Facebook.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.