The MAPLE Mindful EcoVillage

Live in deep relationship with a modern Buddhist monastic community dedicated to awakening for the benefit of all beings.

“It Takes a Village”

 

We’re growing a Mindful EcoVillage on the land, a close knit community of spiritual practitioners from different traditions who want to support and be supported by the monastic training we do here.

The Mindful EcoVillage is a multi-phase development project aimed at responding to modern existential risks such as climate change by creating a living model for community, culture, and economy based in conscientious care for all life.

Interested in making the Monastic Academy your home?

Everything that happens, happens in relationship.

 

The mission of MAPLE is to bring deep mindfulness to large numbers of people in the modern world.

The training at MAPLE emphasizes the deep value of community and friendship in walking the spiritual path, and so we’re building a Mindful EcoVillage inviting practitioners who want to benefit from MAPLE’s unique ecology of practices, world-class meditation instruction, and loving community without the intensive demands of our residential training program.

Villagers would be supporting our core mission to spread mindfulness to the world. You would participate in the community with an open invitation to our daily schedule, and in turn would be dedicating your life to practice and benefit to the world. Traditionally, those who give their lives to undergo this training, to be of maximum benefit to the world, are supported with the requisites of life by lay people who work to accrue resources in the world. This age-old conjoint relationship offers practicality as well as mutual benefit. Given the state of the world today, a return to small local communities and deep spiritual practice founded in ethics is of utmost importance.

We are committed to living in a way that supports the flourishing of life on earth and to learning to love all that we have turned away from. We are committed to the flourishing of this community, even when times get tough. And, as members of this community, we are committed to disagreeing without leaving, to a deep recognition of our interconnectedness, and to the everyday realities of truly caring for and being cared for by others.

This MAPLE Mindful EcoVillage is a pivotal step forward from a monastic-only training to a living model for a community, culture, and economy based on spiritual insight, connection, and trustworthiness for the benefit of all beings.

We hope to hear from you who are called forth by these commitments.

Mindful EcoVillage Logistics

 

  • Up to ten sites are getting permitted for house construction.
  • Lease land from MAPLE and build your own modest-sized house (one or two bedrooms with possible exceptions).
  • Enjoy benefits of MAPLE by participating in Meals, Meditations, Nature Trails, Community, Gardens, etc.
  • Set your own pace for involvement in intensive structure, benefiting from the offerings without the stricter requirements of residential training.
  • One-time lease payment starting at $100,000.
    • Exceptions are possible for those with limited wealth. However, the lease payments are significantly needed to pay for the Mindful EcoVillage infrastructure and costs.
  • Variable  monthly fee based on household size and needs required once house is built or one year after lease signature.  This fee is required to cover basic shared costs of on-going infrastructure and utilities. Some of the utilities included in the monthly fee  are water/septic, road maintenance, snow plow, etc.
    • Electricity would be separate along with training programs/workshop fees and personal home expenses.
    • Note, you would still be required to pay property taxes.
  • Right to sell your house and plot-lease to a new buyer contingent on MAPLE’s approval of the buyer as a compatible fit aligned with our mission.
  • Apart from the immediate land around your home, the rest of the property is held in common with MAPLE, stewardship of the land, and other Villagers to provide maximum benefit to cultivating wisdom, love, and power.
  • Rules and guidelines created in discussion with fellow villagers and MAPLE.
  • No RVs, trailers, or other temporary structures at this time.

Site plans do not represent final village design

Should I be a Villager?

We’re looking for villagers with a stable income striving to live in Right Livelihood, who are dedicated to life-long practice, and who have a sincere desire to live in community with the willingness to love even when you do not like. We’re looking for people who are eager to participate in our community, have a pre-existing relationship with us, and abide by Right Livelihood (making money in an ethical and responsible way). In addition, you will have the opportunity to co-create a spiritual community with a monastic core as a model for a peaceful world.

Ideal villagers are those who are dedicating their lives towards spiritual insight and responding to the great dangers of the world such as the threat of nuclear war, artificial AI, and global warming. This response may look very different based on you. For some, this might mean raising a good family. For others, it may mean dedication to AI research. And for others, it might be caring for the dying. In all cases, we are united in our aspiration to do the inner work and outer work to realize the truth and be of service.

 Join us in MAPLE’s work to train awakened leaders, and to be a part of the next phase of creating a global, trustworthy network of compassion to protect life on earth and to live & die without regrets.

 

Current Status

With expanding infrastructure in place and our first village homes successfully permitted, the EcoVillage is on its way to becoming a thriving extended community of mindful practice and right livelihood.

  1. Phase I: Sustainable Infrastructure – Solar, Water, Building Solutions (Complete)
  2. Phase II: Growing Mindful Community – (In Progress)
  3. Phase III: Compassionate Food Production (Begin Winter 2022-23)
    • As the EcoVillage continues to grow, the community has committed funding to establishing a Compassionate Food Production system as a means of coming into mindful relationship with life on a global scale. From 2022-2025, a year-round agroecological food production system will be designed and established on-site with deep consideration for the health of nested ecologies in a rapidly changing climate.

 

Interested in making MAPLE your home?