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Remembering the purpose of the Mikyo Dorje Institute

Several years ago when asked 'Why is now the right time to develop the Mikyo Dorje Institute?' Lama Jampa responded by saying that “we can support this now, because we've developed enough centres and groups in cities where, in Western terms, a fairly well-educated Dharma community exists”, and explained that “the purpose of the Institute is to provide access to a richer, deeper and fuller presentation of dharma, where the next generation of scholars and meditation masters will be trained.” 

According to Lama Jampa, “Mikyo Dorje Institute will have an immensely transformative power for many people because it will give them, as it were, unfiltered access to the tradition and its power to transform lives.”

Thanks to the generous support, prayers and hard work of people across the Dechen community and further afield, we are in a position to purchase a site for the Mikyo Dorje Institute.

Site under consideration

The team is pleased to announce that after many years of gathering resources and refining search capability, they have identified a site which accords with the selection criteria of being accessible, secluded and holding the potential to develop all the envisioned functions of the Mikyo Dorje Institute, and which is both available and affordable.

The Board of Trustees of Kagyu Dechen Buddhism unanimously voted to support the making of an offer to meet the vendor’s required price, which was less than the asking price. 

On the 2nd February this year, the team were notified that the vendor was very happy to accept the offer on her farm, named Deer Park, a name, upon which we can all agree, would be fitting for the establishment and growth of an institute, for the teaching and practice of the Buddhadharma.

The front gates of Deer Park Farm.

Located an hour south of Kagyu Ling and twenty minutes from junction 14 of the M6, Deer Park Farm is a few miles west of Eccleshall, which has been been described, in a broadsheet newspaper, as one of the top twenty-five places to live in the UK, officially a town but with the look and feel of a village.  

The site is comprised of six acres of land, four steel-frame barns, one with a residential certificate of use and one with commercial use classification and two agricultural barns. Services are in place on the site, which has been used by a family as a hobby farm, and who are keen to downsize to another property in the locality.

The team visited the site on the 10th January this year. What left the greatest impression on them, amongst the well kept barns and grassland, was the sense that Deer Park Farm is its own place, enclosed, peaceful and quiet. 

The undulating topography of the neighbouring fields provides a bowl-like shape for the situation of Deer Park Farm, giving it a sense of being a secluded campus.

Aerial photo of the farm and its surroundings.

The potential of Deer Park Farm to provide accommodation for residents, retreatants and pilgrims, along with a café, shop and reception facilities is undeniable. It has sufficient space to develop a gompa, or meditation hall, in due course. 

This potentiality, like everything in samsara, is subject to a host of causes and conditions, including planning permission.

Each building will be surveyed by a structural engineer to determine the potential for redevelopment towards our intended purpose.

The first building, closest to the entrance of the farm.

The first building on the site has a certificate of residential use and has been inhabited for many years by the vendors, with several rooms, wood-fired heating, air pump water heater and a septic tank. It has storage space and a large garage.

The second building.

The second building, which is 176 sqm, has provided space for stabling of horses and has a lean-to chicken coop. This wood-panelled barn has the potential to be redeveloped as a multi-functional space. In time, this could be converted to a café and event space.

The third building.

The third barn is 600 sqm and has planning permission for commercial use. It has been a storage facility for online trading. The purchase of the site will be contingent upon this and the other barns being cleared. The team think this single storey barn has the potential to be converted into accommodation for retreatants and students attending teachings.

The fourth building.

The last barn is 190 sqm in size. It has planning permission for agricultural use and is home for a range of farm vehicles and other machinery.

Architects talk about the hierarchy of function when considering the layout of a site. As this final barn is the furthest from the entrance, positioned at the highest point of the site and is surrounded by a generous amount of land, it is the most suitable location for a gompa. 

Subject to planning permission and resources, this barn could be converted or demolished and a Tibetan-style temple constructed in its place.

On the subject of planning permission, the team is working with a planning consultant from SLR Consultancy, who will guide them through the planning process, with the initial aim of submitting and discussing a pre-planning application with Stafford Borough Council’s Planning Authority: to gauge their appetite and support for the proposed change of use, long-term development and activities of the Institute.

The team are in early conversations with a commercial conveyancing lawyer at Fieldings Porter Solicitors in Bolton, and, with the support of Simon Deeming of the Dechen community in Bristol, they are working with Triodos Bank to secure a mortgage. 

The plan is to purchase the site through a combination of cash and borrowing.

You can continue to help this endeavour by joining us in dedicating prayers to achieving a successful first step.

May all the necessary and auspicious causes and conditions come together to enable the smooth acquisition of the property.