Surrounded by municipal forests and tucked into a quiet rural corner of Mission, is the site where the district’s first Buddhist temple will stand.
And it’s not just a single temple – it’s a massive religious complex.
The property on Jacobsen Street, in the district’s upper northwest corner, is just shy of 150 acres with 12 buildings planned for development.
Some of these structures may take a decade to complete.
| A layout plan for where all 12 structures on the property will sit. |
The complex is the undertaking of the Dakinava Buddhist Educational and Cultural Society, an organization which was founded in Victoria in 1995, with roots in Taiwan. They bought the property in 2018.
Their application for an amendment to the district’s Official Community Plan, and rezone the property from rural to institutional, came before Mission council on Aug. 17 and passed unanimously.
“The proposed land uses will not likely cause any significant impact on the neighbouring properties, as the subject property is very large and relatively isolated,” a staff recommendation reads.
The dozen buildings planned for construction will serve as monasteries which house Buddhist relics, sacred offering and ceremony sites, meditation halls enshrined with Buddhist statues, a library complete with “treasured multi-language Buddhist canons and translation works,” living quarters for a monastic community, short and long-term retreat centres, academic research centres, classrooms, international conference and reception halls, kitchen and dining halls and farm management buildings.
| The design for the Bhiksuni Residential Hall on the property. The hall is a living quarters for the monastic community, and provides a "space for individual studies, with rooms for quiet canon reading and mediation," according to the application. |
Some of these buildings the public will have access to, while others are meant for internal use only.
The society’s application says the future site of worship has three main goals: to establish a Buddhist order in Mission for professional training; to teach the religious tenets, doctrines, and observances associated with the faith; and to establish and maintain a religious school of instruction on the Buddhism and interfaith topics.
| The design for the meditation hall, which will be enshrined with Buddhist statues. |