Monastics at Kagyu Samyé Ling had earlier called on the public to help support their bid to block plans for a military shooting range near their rural religious sanctuary. The plans would have seen a weapons training facility for US Air Force special forces operating just two kilometers from the retreat center.*
The Buddhist community at Kagyu Samyé Ling and local residents had voiced concerns that the firing range would shatter the tranquility of the village of Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway, and pose a threat to local wildlife. The abbot of the monastery, Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, had said of the plan: “I will do anything to request and persuade these people not to bring firing ranges and shoot animals close to Samyé Ling.
Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Centre for World Peace and Health was founded southwestern Scotland in 1967 by Tibetan lamas and refugees Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Akong Tulku Rinpoche, who named the complex after first monastery established in Tibet. The site now includes the largest Buddhist temple in western Europe and is home to some 60 resident monastics and lay volunteers.
(source: www.buddhistdoor.net)