Over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend Adhisthana welcomed sangha members from all over the world as well as from Centres and Groups in the UK, both in person and online, to reflect on the teaching of the Taste of Freedom. Retreatants speaking Polish, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Turkish and French joined the Adhisthana community and retreatants from Birmingham, Bristol, Colchester, Cork, Essen, Glasgow, Hereford, Ledbury, Leeds, London, Norwich, Oxford, Sydney, Warwick, Worcester and Worthing.
The Polish sangha group arrived early and stayed for an extra day, along with three Turkish women who attended the international retreat and then stayed on for a few days to connect with Dharmacharinis involved with the Turkish sangha. Both sanghas added to the international atmosphere of Adhisthana and brought much joy.
A very special atmosphere developed when a Sub40 order seminar was held at the same time as an ‘Elders’ retreat – those ordained by Bhante Sangharakshita. There were joint pujas and activities that connected the two retreats, and there was the opportunity to reflect on the lived decades of practice represented by the Elders, and the potential of decades of practice represented by the Sub40 order.
And it was goodbye to Caroline as she departed for her ordination retreat, and hello to Rush who is helping out in the office for three days a week while she is away. We also welcomed Suzanne, who has joined the women’s community for six months and is working around the site helping the Operations team, and Laura who is here to look after housekeeping while Maria is on a two-week retreat. And behind the scenes the site itself is being brought right up-to-date with new cables and technology to control and manage the heating system throughout the site – more about this development next month.
