Celebrations following early stages of mudding Orion cabin with clay and soil sourced at Clear Sky. From left: Thomas Fox, Jasmine Nathaniel, Qapel Achariya Doug Duncan, Catherine Pawasarat Sensei, Dean Nicholson, Jordan Allain and Maureen Smith.
Photos by: Tony, Asimakopoulos, Duncan Cryle, Ava MacLean

Clear Sky Meditation Center is moving ahead in new ways, with the private meditation cabin Orion, the fourth on the property, soon to be available to people  seeking personal retreat.

When construction completes on Orion this year, the cabin in the British Columbia Rocky Mountains will offer practitioners a quiet space in nature for full-service personal retreats, or as part of a group retreat.

As one of Clear Sky’s offerings to the wider Buddhist and spiritual communities, personal retreat cabins provide private sanctuaries for beginner and experienced practitioners to deepen their practice. Included are three locally-sourced organic meals per day, optional 30-minute daily meditation guidance, access to over 300 acres of walking trails, and outdoor meditation platforms.

“It’s exciting to have a birth to look forward to after a death,” said Catherine Pawasarat Sensei, six months after the passing of her co-teacher and partner of 26 years, Qapel Achariya Doug Duncan. Here Sensei was indirectly referencing many things: the March launch of Qapel’s science fiction dharmic memoir “Psynauts,” the July placement of a Guru Rinpoche tablet on top of nearby Bull Mountain, the birth of Alegria, Clear Sky’s newest resident horse, and the completion of Orion. 

“We are fortunate that Qapel left us such clear instructions on how to move forward,” said Sensei, about his unexpected death in October, 2024. Since then Catherine Sensei has been an anchor in helping the sangha move forward, while honoring Qapel’s teachings and vision.

One of Qapel’s visions for Clear Sky was the completion of a fourth meditation cabin, which would provide a home for both group and individual meditation retreats. The single-unit private meditation cabin is a reflection of Clear Sky’s lineage in the Karma Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism. Qapel and Sensei both received lay ordination from Qapel’s teacher, Ven. Namgyal Rinpoche. Up until his passing in 2003, Namgyal Rinpoche’s mandate was to take Buddhist teachings to new places, which included encouraging his students to study both the Earth and the cosmos as a means for spiritual unfoldment.

Qapel and Sensei continued Namgyal Rinpoche’s teachings by naming the meditation cabins after celestial bodies: Vega, Arrakis, Lyra, and Orion. A planned fifth cabin is to be named Rega, which together with the other cabins will spell out the word Valor, a reference to Namgyal, which can be translated to mean victory.

“We need a lighthouse that can be seen from inner space,” said Qapel in his final public teaching, referencing the center’s name Clear Sky. “We hope and intend to provide a reference point, a beacon, a light, a satellite for seekers.”

This mandate was also clearly visible in the March 21st posthumous launch of Qapel’s book “Psynauts.” The first in a three-volume series, “Psynauts” weaves together his decades of practice, study and teaching into an innovative blend of science fiction and spiritual memoir. Through the lens of science fiction, Qapel crafted a unique narrative that makes ancient Buddhist wisdom accessible to modern seekers.

Although construction on Orion began prior to Qapel’s passing, it was largely on hold for the past year and a half as students grieved the loss of Qapel, and adjusted to moving forward.

Orion has been primarily built and led by Jordan Allain, who is currently studying carpentry in Vancouver, B.C., and who plans to return to Clear Sky this summer to finish construction on the cabin. Allain participated in Clear Sky’s three-month karma yoga (yoga of action) program, prior to starting construction of Orion.

In addition Duncan Cryle, Clear Sky’s co-executive director, has been working on the cabin as part of an extended retreat. The cabin has been built almost entirely through karma yoga, with expenses covered by donations.

Clear Sky aims to bridge monasticism with the modern West by helping community members leverage their skills for the sake of awakening, by weaving their karma yoga practice with their career aspirations. Having already practiced green building in China, New Zealand, Costa Rica and the United States, Allain had a strong interest in combining beautiful craftsmanship with environmentally sustainable construction. His time at Clear Sky was an opportunity to channel his interest in green building, into service to benefit all beings.

Allain offered his passion, talent and rare craftsmanship, and in exchange, Qapel and Sensei taught him skills and practices to benefit his dharmic and career aspirations. When not leading retreats and courses for students around the world, Qapel could often be found at Orion giving Allain in-the-moment teachings on awakening. In this way they traded skills, with Qapel polishing Allain’s mind and heart states, while Allain in return polished exquisitely rounded corners in the cabin, to support retreat practice with seamless beauty and calm.

Catherine Sensei has been particularly instrumental in promoting sustainable practices at Clear Sky, as evidenced by Orion’s construction being as ecologically generative as possible. Some of the green building practices include straw bales as insulation, using existing lumber from the land, and mudding the cabin exterior with clay and soil from the land.

Including a subtle homage to Clear Sky Sangha’s inception in Kyoto, Japan, some of the exterior was finished with shou sugi ban, a traditional Japanese wood preservation technique that involves charring the surface with fire, creating a durable, fire-resistant, and insect-repellent finish. Charring wood creates a protective carbon layer that lasts for decades, often up to 80 years, without needing additional maintenance.

Thus Catherine Sensei has been ensuring that Clear Sky will support the health of its 300 acres, and will also benefit beings on a global scale.

While construction on Orion continues this summer, Catherine Sensei will be leading students on a pilgrimage up Bull Mountain to place a Guru Rinpoche tablet there. Thousands of these Guru Rinpoche tablets have already been placed around the world, intended to bring peace and protection, and to reduce disasters. Guru Rinpoche was central to the 8^th century founding of Tibetan Buddhism, and is considered a second Buddha in the Nyingma school.

Bull Mountain provides a beautiful backdrop behind Clear Sky. Standing at 8,665 feet (2,641 meters), Bull Mountain offers 360-degree views over the region. This vantage point will radiate Guru Rinpoche’s protective energy over the East Kootenay region, and into the northern United States.

With its steep, unstable terrain and lack of visible trails, Bull Mountain is a technical and challenging climb. But Jennifer Olson, Canada’s first female mountain guide, has offered to lead the trek and to help place the tablet this July. Olson came to Clear Sky for her first retreat in spring 2025, and in this way continues the tradition of exactly the right people appearing at the right times.

“There are always wonderful things happening in this universe and it’s up to us to discover them,” Sensei said.

Although this has been a significant time of change at Clear Sky, it has also been a time of birth. With “Psynauts” beckoning practitioners toward the cosmos, and Guru Rinpoche to overlook the Orion cabin below, all are welcome to join in this new chapter of unfoldment.

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