Dear Devotees and Friends in Dhamma,

The beginnings of Buddhist temples were the result of the advent of Buddhism by the Noble Buddha and the various dwelling sites of the Bhikkus and Bhikkunis became temples or Viharas. Over thousand of years, the temples have provided a useful service to the society, in terms of the religious and educational needs of the people. Even today, such services are being provided by temples. Our Hamilton temple also provides similar services such as Dhamma sermons, Dhamma discussions, Meditation, Pirith chanting, Sil programs, and advice and support in times of grief, crisis and difficulties.

The temple also provides a multimedia library, conducts a Sunday Dhamma and Language school for children together with yearly Vesak, Poson, Kathina and New Year blessing programs to foster fellowship, and maintain peace, unity and solidarity. The temple recognises the fulfilment of all the above is essential to achieve people’s religious, educational, cultural, environmental and social needs so they can function as good productive citizens.

As diligent followers of Buddhism, we who have joined to maintain the temple over the past number of years, have also benefitted from the above valuable services. We, who are far away from our motherland, should consider ourselves lucky to maintain such a valuable asset. However, we are all aware that the services provided by the temple since 2006 were being carried out amongst a number of drawbacks. Some of the drawbacks are Difficulty of conducting religious programs within the limited space.

Insufficient room for the Sunday Dhamma and Language School to cater for the increasing number of students. • Limited parking area for vehicles. • Difficulty of providing accommodation for visiting monks and devotees. • Lack of space to erect additional requirements such as Bodhi Tree and Pagoda, which are essential constituents of a Buddhist Vihara.

As a result of these drawbacks...

The time has arrived for us to consider a long-term plan to buy a suitable piece of land and build our temple. Obviously, such an undertaking would be a gracious act of service for the long-term continuation of Buddhism, prevalence of the timeless Dhamma and the well-being of all people. Therefore, a parcel of land of sufficient area would allow us to:-

• Build a temple with all necessary facilities.
• Provide general facilities to cater for a larger number of devotees.
• Provide a sufficient parking area for vehicles.
• Erect Kutis or small dwellings for the monks.
• Reserve a portion of land for the Bodhi Tree and building a Stupa and other additional future requirements.