THE PROJECT

Znamin is a project by students of Lama Ole Nydahl to build a Buddhist Retreat Centre in the Carpatian Region of western Ukraine.

Znamin is 25ha of land including forrest located at the top a beautiful mountain 720m above the sea level with a 360° breathtaking view over Carpatians.

The goal is to organise meditation courses with the great meditation masters of the Diamond Way Buddhism.

Because Znamin is a remote and wild place, we have a 2-story house in the nearest village, Vilshinky, which enables us to build the infrastructure and, very importantly, to get well known by the local population.

At present the main activity of the Znamin Centre is to finish the house in Vilshinky and to build infrastructure to host meditation courses during both summer and winter.

LOCATION

Znamin lies in a stunning, rural Zakarpaty region of Ukraine:

• 50km from Uzgorod, Ukraine
• 140km from Kosice, Slovakia
• 195km from Debrecen, Hungary
• 310km from Lviv, Ukraine
• 340km from Krakow, Poland
• 590km from Brno, Czech Republic
• 620km from Vienna, Austria

There is a public transport connection from Uzghorod to Vilshinky.

We have built a house in the nearest village from Znamin, Vilshinky, that will serve as a springboard to the main construction of Znamin. It is a 190m², 2-story house with a 65m² gompa, 3 bedrooms, kitchen, toilets and a shower.

We have created a group responsible for spreading information about Znamin in the countries involved in the project.

We have hosted 6 working weekends. Friends from all over Europe has helped to build the house and the infrastructure in Vilshinky. During these weekends we have also organised meditation sessions and lectures by travelling teachers.

We have created an active group of friends from the countries involved who come to help with building, share experiences from projects in their countries and help to organise work. We meet regularly since more than a year.

We have organised meetings in various locations such as Mangutovo, Budapest and Zagorzany.

We have big plans for this year…and thus a lot of things that need to be done. There are going to be three weekends with DW Teachers at Znamin:

• May, 18-20 – meditation and working retreat
• July, 20-22 – Ngöndro in the open space (Znamin mountain)
• September, 14-16 or 21-23 – meditation course

So save the dates! It would be great if you could join us for one, two or even more weekends and give us a hand! Don't hesitate to share this info with your friends!