Donations

The Nashville Buddhist Temple is being developed and sustained entirely through the generous donations as well as the labor of other.

Each donation to the Nashville Buddhist Temple is matched by enormous appreciation on the part of all of those who benefit from the Temple. This appreciation begins with the Sangha who are housed here in facilities with which they can practice, study, teach, provide the pastoral needs of the Sitagu community and reach out beyond through lecture appearances, writing, good works, etc. This appreciation includes the many yogis who are able to come here to meditate and study. The Buddhist Temple moreover stands as an oasis, a place of peace and force for good in a troubled and turbulent world. Casual visitors and neighbors and even people that read about us on like are glad we are here.

The Nashville Buddhist Temple is indeed a fertile field of merit because it brings great benefit in fullfilling its mission of supporting and propogating the Buddha sasana in America.

How to Donate

These are some of the ways in which donations can be made:

Make a cash donation to the monastery. Checks should be made out to The Buddhist Temple and can be mailed to:

The Buddhist Temple
99 Lyle Lane.
Nashville, TN 37210 USA

Donations to the vihara can also be offered by hand to the abbot. Please contact our treasurer to arrange for a monthly bank transfer

Donate to the Sangha members. Generally lunch is offered by local families on a weekly rotating basis. Moreover, other families are welcome to make a one-time meal offering, or simply to supplement what is otherwise offered. It is common for a family to offer on a particular occasion such as on a birthday or a memorial day. Please contact the abbot to make arrangements. Note that the sangha must eat before noon. Robes are traditionally offered at Waso or Katthina (see Events). Other material offerings, for instance tooth paste or socks, can be made at any time to individual monks. Monks are in general not allowed to make a request for material things. However, one may declare to a monk, "If you need anything, just let me know," in which case a monk is allowed to make a request. Because most people will not know the specific material needs of a monk, nor what might be appropriate, small cash donations have become common. See the etiquette page for how to make a cash offering to monks.

Donate to a specific fund. Often a donor takes a particular interest in a particular need of the monsastery, for instance in expanding our library holdings. At any one time generally one or more funding campaigns are underway, for instance, to make a repair or develop new facilities. These are generally announced in our news page. Donating to a specific fund engages the donor directly in shaping the future of the temple according to the donor's values

Donate to the material needs of the temple. Some members of the community become adept at assessing what the monastery might need, from household appliances through computer and office equipment to gardening equipment.

Volunteer. This can range over routine cleaning and repair, preparation for events, editing and publishing, mowing the lawn, publicity or communications. Although monks cannot in general request material things, they can request help in the form of labor. Find out about opportunities here.