Kora Meditation Trail
Start of the Kora MeditationTrail
If you’re looking for peaceful respite in a relatively easy stroll, you might visit the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington. This center is open to the public and they gladly welcome visitors. The HHC built the Kora Meditation Trail in 2009, which is a little over a mile in length and circles the complex as it meanders through the woods and ravines of their grounds. Soon after construction His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited and had the opportunity to be among the first to enjoy the new trail.
A young monk patiently makes progress on the sand mandala
The trail also offers a variety of interesting stops, such as a very elaborate and intricate sand mandala housed in a stupa shrine, brass prayer wheels, the Kumbum Chamtse Ling Temple and monastery, and many colorful strings of Buddhist prayer flags. The trail also passes near a small camp of authentic yurts, which are circular and collapsible tents used by nomads of Mongolia.
Buddhist prayer wheels
The trail begins near the driveway entrance to the center, and heads in a clockwise direction. It starts out in the open grounds, where the shrines, prayer wheels, yurts, and other interesting sites are visible. It winds into the woods for a while, offering great views over the steep ravines just beyond the TMBCC grounds. The trail does drop down into one of the ravines, crossing a small stream on a bridge donated and built by a local Boy Scout troop.
Visiting monks enjoy the new trail
While you are free to enjoy the trail however you prefer, the ancient Buddhist tradition is to circle in a clockwise direction.
Here are the GPS coordinates of the Kora Meditation Trail, in standard gpx format: Right-click here and select “Save As”.
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