Garden of One Thousand Buddhas

One thousand two-foot high Buddha statues form the dharma-wheel at the center of the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas in Arlee, MT.

What a fun project to work while on our Montana roadtrip! Carmen got the green light to write a story she pitched to Tricycle: The Buddhist Review about a exiled Tibetan leader who found refuge in the mountain ranges of western Montana and formed a fellowship with the tribes of the Flathead Reservation. There he built his Ewam Garden of One Thousand Buddhas as a peace garden, pilgrimage destination and worship site for many faiths. It was cool to see the overlap of respect for the land, animals and people between the two groups. Fortunately for me, Carmen successfully pitched my abilities to do the photography for the story. Check out Carmen's uplifting story.

Here's an aerial shot of the dharma-wheel shaped Garden of One Thousand Buddhas nestled in the mountains of western Montana.

Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche is the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who founded the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.

At the hub of the wheel sits a larger statue, a 25-foot likeness of Yum Chenmo, “Great Mother.” This central figure “represents the unity of great compassion and transcendent wisdom, which is enlightenment itself.”

A blackbird sings atop one of the statues at the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.

Martin Charlo, a Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal council member, stands on a trail on the Bison Range area of the Flathead Reservation. He relates his tribe’s generosity with that of caretakers at the nearby Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.

A majestic bison watches visitors at the Bison Range on the Flathead Reservation not far from the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.

Carmen and Lester get a close look at a bison while on the motor route of the Bison Range on the Bison Range.