The smell of incense and an atmosphere of peace are moving into a store on South Ashley Street.
The Jewel Heart, a nationwide group that promotes Tibetan culture and Buddhism, recently celebrated the opening of the first Ann Arbor reading room and retail store dedicated to these two areas of study.
"We want to provide a place where people who are interested in Buddhism can get information," said Debbie Burr, Jewel Heart store organizer. "We also want to preserve the culture of Tibet."
The store carries a wide variety of Tibetan merchandise including jewelry, sweaters, rugs and crafts from Tibet and India. The various items range in price from a few dollars for a simple wooden craft to thousands of dollars for the rugs that hang along the store walls.
"A lot of students are interested in Tibet and Buddhism," said Buddhist studies Prof. Luis Gomez. "The Tibetan culture has been in Ann Arbor for 20 years."
The 8-year-old Ann Arbor branch of Jewel Heart, the organization's national headquarters, will hold activities in the reading room, Burr said. On Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., Gelek Rinpoche, founder and spiritual leader of Jewel Heart, will teach about Buddhism as a way of life. Rinpoche also will teach meditation classes at 1:30 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month, beginning Feb. 2.
The store features several books on Tibetan culture as well as Buddhist practices and methods of teaching. The store carries many of poet Allen Ginsberg's books, including "The Fall Of America" and "Plutonian Man." Ginsberg helped dedicate the store earlier this month and is also one of Rinpoche's students. Singer Patty Smith is another well-known person associated with Jewel Heart, Burr said.
All the store's employees are volunteers. The store uses all profits from merchandise to either pay rent or provide aid for Tibetan people, Burr said.
Rinpoche, who heads the Ann Arbor branch, was born in Tibet in 1939 and became a refugee in India in 1959. He said he gave up his life as a monk to help a wider community of people understand Buddhism.
Rinpoche has published more than 170 volumes of rare Tibetan manuscripts and has worked to preserve Tibetan culture. Rinpoche's books, "The Three Principles," "Karma" and "Love and Compassion," appear in the store.
Buddhism was introduced in India more than 2,500 years ago and has gained its greatest number of followers in Tibet. Jewel Heart is attempting to bring the religion to a greater audience in the West, Burr said.
The store is not about pushing Buddhism on its customers, Burr said.
"We want to create a friendly atmosphere," Burr said. "We aren't trying to push the organization or Buddhism on people."
The Jewel Heart group has several branches in the United States, including Chicago, Cleveland and San Francisco. The Ann Arbor branch has sponsored many activities, including the Dalai Lama's appareance at Hill Auditorium in 1994.
Jewel Heart receives all of its funding from individual donations, as well as from group members.
"I think that the store will bring a different perspective on a rich culture to students," said Mary Beth Rossiter, who teaches at the reading room.
AJA DEKLEVA COHEN/Daily
Debbie Burr, a volunteer at the Jewel Heart retail store at 208 S. Ashley St., tries on a mask. The store, along with an adjacent reading room, recently opened in Ann Arbor.