STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Sawtooth Botanical Garden will celebrate 20 years of compassion on Thursday, Sept. 11.

The garden will celebrate the gift of its Garden of Infinite Compassion with a celebration beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11.

Dr. Tom Archie will share an original composition called “Wheel” that was inspired by the unique prayer wheel that arrived in the Wood River Valley in 2005. Some of those who had a part in building the Garden of Infinite Compassion will recount that and the visit of the Dalai Lama to mark the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Local faith leaders will offer readings of "Many Languages of Compassion." Among them: The Very Rev. Jonah Kendall of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, The Rev. Kathleen Bean of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Rabbi Sam Klein of the Wood River Jewish Community, Spiritual Practitioner Manon Gaudreau of Light on the Mountains Spiritual Center and Buddhist Ryan Redman. And cellist Ellen Sanders will provide music.

The event is spearheaded by Jeanne Cassell, chair of the garden’s Ambassadors Council. She and her late husband Bill were among those who brought the Dalai Lama to the valley and found a home for the prayer wheel.

She was also there when the Dalai Lama walked through a walkway of marigolds, his smile as big as the sun, and blessed the wheel, which is one of two of its kind in North America.

Others who were involved were Michael Olenick, who oversaw the project for Big Wood Landscaping.

“Thousands of people visit the Sawtooth Botanical Garden from around the globe,” said the garden’s executive director Jen Smith. “The prayer wheel and story of the Dalai Lama’s visit are often key to the desire to visit. Learning about this very special gift to our community is often a highlight of their time here at the Garden.”

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama named the Garden of Infinite Compassion during a visit to the Wood River Valley that was sponsored by Kiril and Kate Sokoloff. The Nobel Prize-winning spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists spoke to thousands of people on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the football field at Wood River High School.

He met with schoolchildren and spoke at a handful of other events, including one involving CEOs of America’s largest corporation. And he blessed the prayer wheel, which Tibetans believe spin off spiritual blessings and prayers as they turn.

Check out Dr. Tom Archie’s “Wheel” on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXkZwwyiSYw.

DID YOU KNOW?

The prayer wheel that is the focal point of the Garden of Infinite Compassion was unintentionally diverted on its way from Dharamsala, India, to London on the same day subway bombings occurred in Britain’s flagship city.

The Dalai Lama belies the diversion was intentional—that the wheel was mean to be there for the people of London as they tried to work through the tragedy that had taken place.