Search
Recent News:
Consensus Communities
Lhasa Consensus Community
Since October 2005 restoration and renovation of the House of Shambhala has involved over fifty Tibetan craftsmen. To date all roofs have been replaced with traditional Tibetan natural wood beams and braided woods inserts and elaborate carving
A jewelry artisan commune that re-empowers Tibetans by providing them with a venue to design and create their own jewelry, and ultimately, to reclaim a rich history of jewelry making.
Micro-equity program that allows Tibetan nuns to supplement their income by creating beautiful strings of prayer beads as they recite their daily mantras. As an added bonus, these mala beads can also be used as fashion accessories, worn as necklace, bracelets, or charms around bag straps.
An initiative which seeks to revive Tibetan tiger rug-making (originally developed as a replacement art to help save the Himalayan tiger) and traditional carpet weaving using holistic natural dyes and wool. Along the way, the initiative empowers rural women and supports sheepherding and traditional lifestyles.
Tibetan textile revolution Involves marginalized Tibetan women adopting traditional weaving skills into modern fashion with Tibetan characteristics to sustain traditional Tibetan family and lifestyle values.
An initiative which creatively empowers handicapped Tibetans by allowing them to produce Tibetan animal hand puppets to accompany a storybook meant to raise children’s awareness of the importance of the biodiversity and the role each animal plays in supporting a healthy environment.
Shambhala is working with Tharjay Charitable Association, Montessori Beijing, and Roots n Shoots Shanghai in founding and administering what is hoped to be the most progressive primary school in Tibet, intended to be a model and inspiration for the region.
Tashigang Monastery as the center of a new experiment to expand holistic and preventive health care to Tibetan communities at the grass roots level involves empowering monks, monasteries and communities with the tools of their own sustainable health care and development embedded entirely within a Tibetan cultural context.
Location: Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Commenced Date: 2005
Project Vision:
The Lhasa Consensus Community consists of two separate Boutique Hotels which are restored historic buildings located within the Barkor Heritage District: House of Shambhala (10 rooms) and Shambhala Palace (17 rooms). These cultural heritage lodges support costs for the community’s community outreach programs, outlined below.
Heritage Restoration:
Properties within the maze-like old quarters of Lhasa’s Pilgrim Market were selected for restoration based on their heritage value. These buildings comprise old homes, which once belonged to Tibetan nobility, religious figures or merchants. While the properties were carefully selected to honor traditional culture, renovation was a display of community participation, involving over fifty local Tibetan craftsmen. This method created a revitalized new building, which pays tribute to their culture, and led to income supporting individuals and their community.
All roofs have been replaced with traditional Tibetan natural wood beams, braided wood inserts and elaborate carving. The woodcarving masters chosen for this project had previously undertaken restoration of the Norbulingka Summer Palace in Lhasa. The stone carving master at the Nechung Oracle was invited to carve sutras and sets of deities. A senior Buddhist image clay master in Lhasa was invited to make a White Tara for the central courtyard garden of House of Shambhala. Many of the slate workers were employed from the Nyechung Monastery, and a stone sutra carving master has been selected to do stone carving on mani-stones. While creatively incorporating Tibetan designs into his work for the House of Shambhala, he will be earning more than his usual income carving for pilgrims. All lanterns, furnishings, pillow cases, bed spreads and ceramic dining ware for the hotel are also made by handicapped Tibetans, thereby allowing them to become active participants in this integrated community project.
To date, the Lhasa Consensus Community is the finest example of the Himalayan Consensus culturally sustainable development paradigm in practice. Established in 2005, the House of Shambhala, as a boutique heritage hotel, has not only contributed to the architectural restoration of Lhasa, but has also become the engine for the entire Lhasa Consensus Community, supporting educational, healthcare, and artisan programs.
Educational Programs:
“Give the Children a Chance” is a progressive education program that seeks to offer free education for rural children that are currently deprived of equal education opportunity in the Himalayan region. Shambhala is working with Tharjay Charitable Association, Montessori Beijing, and Roots n Shoots Shanghai in founding and administering what is hoped to be the leading pre-school in Tibet, intended to be a model and inspiration for the region.
Healthcare Initiatives:
Proceeds from the House of Shambhala further benefited the Lhasa Consensus Community through support of “Outreach for Health,” a program that empowers monasteries with medical treatment facilities, adopts the traditional community social networking system, and reestablishes the importance of Tibetan medicine in the monasteries. So far, Shambhala has established one Tibetan Medicine clinic at the Tashigang Monastery and another at the Tendrum Monastery. As an extension of “Outreach for Health”, Shambhala has created a program called “Let The People See,” an action to fight blindness in the Tibetan Plateau, empowering nomadic and rural communities in Tibetan regions to improve eye health and eliminate curable blindness. Shambhala is working closely with Seva, and has already funded over 500 eye operations provided to the area’s nomadic populations.
Cultural heritage projects:
Microequity artisan and craft community revival projects take place on the House of Shambhala premises and in the surrounding area. The boutique hotel’s commercial success has made possible a series of microequity projects for sustainable cultural preservation, with the goal of empowering marginalized women, the handicapped, and other vulnerable populations, giving them a sense of self pride, identity and accomplishment. These programs are supported by the generous funding of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Beijing, The Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Embassy of New Zealand in Beijing. Current programs include:
“Tibetan Jewelry Revival” － Most jewelry items on the Lhasa market are imported from Nepal or India. The program has, therefore, empowered Tibetan women to make their own jewelry.
“Save The Tibetan Tiger Rug” － Most tiger rugs are synthetic and made in Beijing or Shanghai. We have supported a group of women who use natural wool and dyes, helping to revive the craft before it is lost. Historically, the Himalayan tiger was decimated by British raj bounty hunters. Tibetans began to replace tiger skins with rugs. In this product, we have an economic-social message about conservation and product replacement.
“Tibet Children’s Initiative” － The handicapped produce puppets that depict a series of nomadic animals. These are sold with a trilingual (Tibetan, English, and Chinese) book that educates children on the inter-relationship between animals and their environments in a balanced biodiversity region.
“Tibet Textile revival” － Tibetan handicapped are given the opportunity to manage their own business, sewing pillow cases, bed covers, and other textile-based products.
“Mala Bead Breakfast Club” － Nomad women and nuns design high-fashion prayer beads to supplement begging income.
Click to See Other Consensus Communities
