Buddhist Center in the Heart of Topanga
Nestled at the end of Topanga’s Santa Maria Road is a serene and special place, the Yuthok Ling temple at Pure Land Farms.
A friend recommended going to Pure Land Farms, somewhere I’d never heard of, to see the Medicine Buddha mandala built by visiting Tibetan monks from Gaden Shartse monastery in Phukhang. The mandala took days to complete and represents the Buddha’s teaching of impermanence and non-attachment while offering the healing energy of the sand to the environment for the benefit of all. It’s a moving and powerful experience to be in this tranquil atmosphere, watching the monks painstakingly creating the mandala as members of the public observe respectfully.
The grounds and gardens are also wonderful. My sister, Julia, and I had such a great time looking around that we returned the following day for a blessing from the visiting monk master, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. In one of the yurts on the property, Julia and I were purified (including past life stuff, supposedly) and divinely protected by the chanting monk master who gently poured holy water over our heads and threw a little salt and rice over us for good measure. We did feel calm and peaceful afterward.
While the monks were visiting Topanga as part of their world peace tour, they offered a blessing to the Topanga community during a Friday Farmers Market at the Community Center that was received gratefully by local shoppers.
Pure Land Farms, co-founded in 2017 by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang and Christiana Polites, offers holistic health services rooted in the ancient wisdom of Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) and Yangchenma — a community organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and celebrating art and musical cultures from around the world.
Dr. Nida, as he is known, is the principle teacher at Pure Land Farms, and founder and medical director of the Sowa Rigpa Institute: School of Traditional Tibetan Medicine. He is a regular visitor to Pure Land Farms, but the majority of his teachings and consultations are done online as he lives in Italy with his family.
Born and raised in New York of Greek heritage, Christiana Polites has a degree in comparative religion from Harvard and formally studied Chinese medicine, but stopped being a practitioner when she created Pure Land Farms with her teacher, Dr. Nida.
“I do some consultations and teachings, but I’m mostly behind the scenes running things,” said Christiana who lives at Pure Land Farms with her partner, award-winning music producer and composer Simone Giuliani, who organizes the arts and culture events there known as Yangchenma Arts and Music, named after the Tibetan goddess of wisdom, higher learning, music, and the arts.
People come from around the world to attend courses and retreats at Pure Land Farms, but there are also regular events locals can attend like meditations and yoga. Some community events are free, some require buying tickets.
Tibetan medicine practitioners offer consultations at Pure Land Farms. Christiana makes it clear that Tibetan medicine works well in conjunction with Western medicine when there is a chronic illness or, say, a cancer diagnosis. It’s definitely not a case of either/or.
“With Tibetan medicine, there’s a lot of emphasis on prevention and well-being,” said Christiana. “There’s a saying: To be happy is to be healthy. To be healthy is to be happy.”
Sowa Rigpa — the Tibetan science of healing — is a 2,500-year-old system that balances the mind and body. Diagnosis involves pulse reading, tongue and urine analysis. Treatment focuses on the whole body, not just the symptoms.
You don’t have to be a Buddhist or believe in any faith to enjoy, appreciate and benefit from what’s on offer at Pure Land Farms. “We are inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist practices and traditions,” said Christiana. “And that’s a lot of what we do here, but everyone is welcome. We have a wonderful herbalist who gives a medicine-making workshop using herbs from the garden.”
While I was there, I spoke with Bair Manzarkhan, a Tibetan medicine practitioner, and asked him if he had anything that might stop my annoying and persistent cough.
I bought some herbal tea to clear my bronchial tubes and Bair also suggested I stop eating pepper and avoid pepper trees (which are plentiful in Topanga), as a lot of people are allergic to them. So I did. My family is eternally grateful, as am I, to Bair for possibly curing my cough.
I have also cut out dairy and my family doctor prescribed something for acid reflux that was making me miserable. Apologies if that was way too much information, but I may be a good example of Tibetan and Western medicine working together.
If it’s not an advertised event, you do need to make an appointment to visit Pure Land Farms. You can’t just turn up. There are always interesting and diverse activities going on.
For example, to celebrate the lunar new year, Julia and I attended a ritual purification and smoke offering guided by Lama Gyurmé Rabgye to remove obstacles, accumulate merit, settle karmic debts, and invite auspiciousness for the year to come. I’ll let you know how that goes.
This was followed by Dr. Nida streaming in from Italy (600 people from around the world were on the livestream) for his annual Losar Sangha greeting and teaching on Tibetan astrology and the special significance of the Year of the Fire Horse, which is apparently going to be much better than the outgoing Year of the Snake.
There are some cool events coming up at Pure Land Farms in March and April.
On Saturday, March 7 at 6.30pm, Bardo Songs features internationally acclaimed Tibetan singer/songwriter Tenzin Choegyal who will be joined by composer Simone Giuliani on piano and master artist Tsering Dorjee Bawa, who will be performing the rare Black Hat ritual dance. I’m told this will be an extra special concert featuring outstanding musicians.
Sunday, March 8, 2-5pm, Meditation as Medicine is part of a monthly series.
On Saturday, March 28, 2-5pm, From Root to Bloom: Tibetan Yoga & Meditation for the Spring Season with Liz Sung. Drawing on the wisdom of Tibetan Medicine, they’ll explore self-care ways to nurture physical and mental health through the season.
Pure Land Farms is open every Saturday at 10am for a community practice and they have a garden volunteer day the last Saturday of every month.
Santa Maria Road off Topanga Canyon Blvd isn’t signposted for some strange reason, but look for green fencing at the intersection. Just follow the road all the way down until you see the entrance to Pure Land Farms on the left. Our friends at Waze will get you there if you put Pure Land Farms, Topanga as your destination.
There’s a calendar of events on the Pure Land website where you can book tickets for the events and consultations from the practitioners of Tibetan medicine.
instagram @purelandfarms
