Hi. A few of us around the ‘hood have arrived at a delightful and
structural meditation and living space that we offer to make for you. Anywhere.
Anytime. Named The Lotus House (from mud they grow), they are so fun and powerful in
which to meditate that we will do everything we can to insure everyone who
wants one has one, regardless of ability to pay. There’s a host on standby to
playfully pull magic from the earth for the benefit of your successful practice
and life on earth, for all worlds. Here’s the history and lineage of The Lotus House.
After the first Great Three Year Retreat, our Holy Lama said that
practicing in a round earthen structure was most conducive to successful
inner
body work and meditation. Thank you for
telling us, dearest Geshe Michael Roach, so
kind. So to see what that looked like, we made a first dome at Diamond
Mountain, The Kiva at Jamyang.
Adorned with a mother bear and two cubs in honor of Bear Springs, this
kiva
continues to house students and retreatants for over five years.
This is the second dome at
Diamond Mountain, The Lama Dome. Both these
domes used plastic bags as flexible forms. The method was taught to us by Nader
Khalili, a Persian architect and builder who drew his knowledge from the
building methods of desert dwellers of the Middle East throughout the millennia. Thank you, Nader.
The dome is a classic
structure used for over 40 centuries by cultures without steel, timber and
concrete. Its strength is derived from the shape, which is also the shape of
submarines, rockets and bullets, withstanding the most forceful dynamics of
pressure and gravity. It’s also the best shape for long term meditating in that
it simulates and resonates with the shape of the channels of the inner body.
This is the third dome at Diamond Mountain, The Temescal at Bear Springs.
This evolution was made without expensive
plastic bag forms and extensive, arduous labor.
We used an enhanced adobe product and built in the way of the Nahtual
Indians, a tribe of the Mayan civilization.
We were taught this method by Trini
Pena Lopez, an adobiero and shaman from Isla de Piedra, Sonora, Mexico. He spent
the last months of his life at DM, leading us on a mystical tour into the minds
of ancient earth builders, learning to play with the dynamics of gravity and
form, exploring alchemical and archetypal relationships with the elements. We
have been uniquely inspired by this man and he lives forever in our heartsand domes. Thank
you, Trini.
I also want to speak of Trini’s extraordinary
family. Chabela, his wife of 13 years, is from Montreal, and she is an avid adobiera creating large
earth and natural projects in the ways of her holy husband. Vicente, 12, is
their oldest son. Gabriella is 10 and Maya is 7. We are hopeful Chabela and the children return
to our mad mud adventures here as soon as possible. Working with their holy
children, Chabela is truly a master of earth, water, fire and wind. The
relationship each child has with the elements is also profound. The whole
family exudes ancient earth wisdom, pouring out of their every pore, very important in this world now. Thank
you.
This is the fourth dome emerging from the mud at Diamond Mountain and the first Lotus House. This
Lotus House is named Helen’s Dome in the
combined honors of Helen Chen from Taiwan, and Helen’s
Dome from this place, the prominent peak on the west horizon of Diamond Mountain.
This design results from seven years of research in materials and
methods.
This design results from seven years of research in materials and
methods. The goals were to come up with (a) the most affordable housing option,
with (b) the least amount of negative impact to life and to the environment,
and (c) the highest performance in safety, operations, maintenance, durability
and demise. This sealed dome is made entirely of recycled paper adobe and
locally harvested timber costing as little as $3.50/sf. It can be made by 4
“unskilled”, like, everyone can do it, yay laborers call them players dancers
angels, within three weeks. Cellulose amended adobe offers earthquake resilient
and fire resistant properties. It offers highly insulated, non-mechanical
environmental controls. It is low maintenance and highly sound proofed.
Recycled paper amended adobe is seven times less brittle than other amended
adobes. The material is proven in resulting highest
performance, with lowest carbon footprint
and lowest cost of any other option. And
as for demise, every single building will
eventually be abandoned, leaving behind itself, transformed into “garbage”.
Everything we put there will be left on the landscape. Being made only of mud,
emulsified cellulose fiber and locally harvested timbers, The Lotus Houses will sweetly and seamlessly transform back to
earth, from whence they came. They mirror the shapes of the surrounding
mountainsides blending in to the landscape with timeless grace and beauty, during
all phases of their existence. You can make it yourself with your friends and with lots of fun. And best of all,
you won’t have to work for years to earn tens of thousands of dollars to buy
the stuff you need to make one. Playing with local elements and spirits is a
great way to get-away for a month in the high desert. Please accept our invitation and offer to
benefit all worlds, all happiness and freedom.
Contact KatEhrhorn@gmail.com
if you’d like drawings and schedule
for your general
contractor and permit,
or if you want to play in
the mud
for the benefit of
another’s.
And there They grew Dakinis of the field born.
