Help construct Prayer Wheels for World Peace. You will learn many new skills - welding, metal work, concrete work, power tools, gardening, landscaping and vegetarian cooking- as you help create over 2,000 large Prayers Wheels to surround the Main Temple of Odiyan Retreat Center in rural Sonoma County overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The purpose of this year-long project is to reverse the negative momentum of our world, restore balance in nature and heal the pain of so many beings who are victims of war, hatred and natural disasters.
Living and working at Odiyan includes:
- Free home-cooked vegetarian meals and beverages
- Free housing in large room with balcony
- Free WI-FI and domestic phone calls
- Free skill training in a wide range of trades and traditional arts
- Access to healthy setting of nature, hiking trails, swimming, wide-open spaces, sacred beauty, fresh air, clean water, and nutritious food
- Free Classes on Development of Mind & Spirit: Tibetan yoga, Skillful Means, Buddhist study and more.
- Living allowance, $100 per month after the first month, $150 per month after six months.
Odiyan is an all-volunteer non-profit Buddhist center dedicated to meaningful work, wholesome living and the development of mind and spirit .
For over 40 years volunteers from around the world have been coming to Odiyan to live and work, gaining new skills and integrating creative and challenging work with a path of self-exploration.
Odiyan is open to applicants aged 24-45 who want to live and work with us for at least six months, although we prefer nine months.
You will have the opportunity to learn:
All types of electric and motor hand tools, sanding, welding, copper fabrication, metal cutting, polishing, finishing, painting, concrete work, building, electrical work, solar panel installation.
You will also participate in vegetable gardening, landscaping, maintenance and cleaning and we will teach you vegetarian cooking!
REQUIREMENTS:
- Minimum age of 24 years old
- You must be strong,physically able for manual work for hours each day, including lifting, bending, kneeling
- Minimum commitment is six months. We prefer nine months.
- Couples welcome to apply.
- We cannot accept children or animal companions.
- We are a smoke and drug-free community.
If you have a passion for the physically active lifestyle, self-knowledge and giving to a greater vision, Odiyan may be the place for you! The community life, classes, and on-going work projects are directed to the benefit of yourself and all humanity.
With 1000 acres of land to roam, we encourage our volunteers to stay close to home to enjoy the beauty and majesty of the Odiyan land. There is hiking the eight mile Pilgrimage Road in the Spring, swimming in the reservoir in the Summer, foraging in the forests in the Fall and enjoying the evenings at the huge fireplace in the dining room during the rains of winter. We have a herd of rescued semi-tame horses to visit on the land, two yaks, two aviaries and lots of wild life to observe and photograph. Fun at Odiyan means having your own side-project at the shop in metal, wood or fabric, working on your own art project, going down to the garden on Sunday to harvest just because you want to, and helping with all the drying, canning, freezing and preserving of fruits and veggies during harvest season. You can join in some of the Buddhist ceremonies and practices and the longer you stay the more you can participate. Being away from the city and on a high ridge, the stars at night are incredible.
Although Odiyan has its foundations in Tibetan Buddhism, no religious affiliation is required to join the team. The ideal volunteer is open-minded, self-reflective and ready to engage deeply on both internally and with the work.
Founded in 1975 by Venerable Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, Odiyan Retreat Center is located on a 1000-acre spiritual and ecological preserve in rural Northern California, north of San Francisco. Living and working at Odiyan includes housing, vegetarian meals, meditation, classes and the opportunity to live in a truly unique, healthy and spiritually oriented environment.