The Guan Yin Garden is located near the village of Huai Rua, in the centre of Thailand's rice-growing region in Nakhon Sawan Province. One third of the 60 Rai is used to provide an autonomous water supply through groundwater banking. Another third is being reforested with native local trees. The remaining area is being converted to organic farming based on the permaculture model.
Guan Yin and Dharma
At the beginning and in the centre of the garden stands the goddess Guan Yin.
She is the great bodhisattva of loving compassion for all beings. Guan Yin is the Chinese translation of her Sanskrit name Avalokiteshvara and means ‘she who hears the sounds (of lamentation) of the world’.
She protects and inspires us to treat our environment with love and respect. This mindset is the basic premise.
The goal: agriculture in harmony with nature, to which we want to give back the needed space to prosper in all its diversity.
In this way, a beautiful place shall be created, ideal for meditation and as a Dharma centre.
The garden
In 2022, work began on the groundwater bank project.
Extensive canals and reservoirs with deep boreholes were constructed. These are
used to collect the surface water in the rainy season and to store it
additionally through the re-created connection to the groundwater.
Subsequently, around 5,000 local saplings were planted along the dams and canals and on protected plots. After just a few years, the tropical climate has ensured that the first forest zones have already emerged. These are supplemented by various fruit trees, always on the hunt for old species that are unfortunately also disappearing in Thailand.
In 2024, the first and surprisingly successful trials with organic rice followed.
Water
Forest
Biodiversity
Organic farming
