ESCONDIDO -- Nestled on the shoulder of a hilltop avocado orchard in northern Escondido is a place of peace and quiet.

It is the Drikung Kyobpa Choling Monastery, the region's only Tibetan meditation center, which was founded 12 years ago by Drupon Samten Rinpoche, a meditation master born in India's Himalayan Mountains.

As he toured the center's grounds on a recent afternoon, Rinpoche, 50, spun a brightly colored prayer wheel. Nearby, prayer flags fluttered in the breeze.

A small man, draped in colorful silk and a simple, floor-length robe, he talked about the work he's done with his own hands, and the help of volunteers, to build what he calls a haven for both Westerners and the approximately 20 Tibetans who call the San Diego area home after fleeing their native land in the 1950s.

"I feel it's very important for me to help them," Rinpoche said. "They have no place to go to meditate and celebrate."

The monastery, located in a quiet residential neighborhood, is a place for people of all religions, Rinpoche said.

"Religion is to help people, to save people from their suffering," he said. "If I wanted, I could be teaching in India, but I'd rather build this for people."

For the last several years, Rinpoche, two other lamas and Ani Chodron, an ordained Buddhist nun, have worked to expand the monastery. And they're almost finished.

They raised $100,000 for the initial construction of the two-story, 4,000-square-foot meditation center and nearby retreat cottage that complement the original white house on the property. The cost for the entire project is estimated at $1 million.

On May 16, the lamas will host a public Tibetan Cultural Spring Festival at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas to raise money for the final push. They hope to finish the work -- mostly tile, cabinetry, paint and electrical -- by next year. They also hope to encourage volunteers to help.

When the meditation center is finished, the monastery's ornate shrine room with a gilded Buddha and hand-painted cloth wall panels depicting Buddha's teachings will be moved from the original house to the center's shrine room.

The center also will have monastery quarters for resident and visiting monks and nuns.

Meditation is meant to focus the mind and clear it of all distractions. It helps one feel better, Rinpoche said, like exercise.

Rinpoche was one of the first Tibetan Buddhist lamas from the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Buddhism sent to the United States in 1987. After completing the traditional three years of solitude, he was chosen from hundreds of monks to fulfill his teacher's prophecy of preserving the ancient culture by creating a proper place to hold its teachings.

He said he chose the Escondido site after looking for two years because it had all the necessary qualities of a proper place to hold the teachings and needed supports for meditation, prayer and refuge.

"We are very proud to be here," he said. "The United States as a country allowed us to show our culture and express ourselves and in this modern world we are able to preserve our culture."

Stopping near a table saw in front of the new meditation center, Rinpoche said his monastery is different from some others that have resources to hire people to do the work.

"That's why I get involved and put my energy and meditation into the construction," he said, pointing proudly to the brick wall along the driveway which he said was completed by people at the monastery.

Ron Barry, a longtime friend of Rinpoche who traveled from Cape Coral, Fla., to help with construction, is spending about six months on the project doing electricity, plumbing, tile work and anything else that needs doing.

Barry took a break from working on cabinetry to point out the mosaic glass tile in the meditation center's public bathrooms.

"He's (Rinpoche) doing this work all by himself and he needs the help," Barry said. "It's for the benefit of all the people who come for the teachings. I do this to give back."

Board member Nancy McDaniel said the nonprofit monastery has resolved concerns expressed by some neighbors several years ago about noise, traffic and the center's appearance.

McDaniel said the neighbors and the lamas now get together for tea. "It's kind of symbolic of his (Rinpoche's) energy," she said. "A peaceful approach will always bring reward." Rinpoche said the lamas keep an eye on the neighborhood, and when a water pipe burst recently, the lamas repaired it.

He said that in addition to providing a place of solitude and retreat, the monastery preserves the ancient Tibetan cultures and traditional teachings as taught by the great masters of India and Tibet.

"When we finish it, it will be an amazing experience for everyone," Rinpoche said. "It is very unusual that it is being built directly by the lamas. There are layers and layers of the lamas' blessings and fingerprints imbued in the earth. That's what makes spiritual places different from a 20-story building, which might be magnificent, but doesn't have the same energy as what is being created here."

Rinpoche said that when he's finished with the construction his energy will turn to getting involved with hospice work and public service agencies such as Interfaith Community Services.

"Whatever I can do," he said. "This is a legacy. Coming to the United States changed my life. Here I can make the difference."

Spring Tibetan Cultural Event, May 16, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Drive, Encinitas.

Festivities will include traditional cultural dances, a healing ceremony and blessings, Tibetan cultural song and dance, a special puppy circus, live and silent auctions, and the sale of Dharma items.

Suggested donation: $20 for adults, $10 for children. Information: (760) 738-0089 or email info@drikungkc.org. You can also to go the Web site www.tibetanmeditationcenter.com.