The Maltese sangha, who joined us for the combined sanghas retreat on Living with Kindness, have made a beautiful new contribution to the alcoves in the main shrine. The atmosphere on-site was as warm as you’d expect from an international gathering of sanghas practicing metta bhavana.
We were also delighted to welcome Shubhavyuha back after her six-month sabbatical in Australia, where among other things, she helped run an ordination retreat. The women’s community is enjoying her positivity and kalyana mitrata, and celebrated her return and birthday with a breakfast feast towards the end of the month.
It’s been a quieter month for retreats, giving us room for some creativity in the kitchen. Jayadhi has been sharing her skills and experience with Annika, one of our newest community members. Those on-site have been treated to delicious dishes, from focaccia to summer rolls. The fruit trees are heavy with plums, damsons, and apples, which we’ve been turning into crumbles, tarts, hoisin sauce, stewed apples, and plum jam.
We celebrated Padmasambhava Day one evening with the local sangha. Lalitanaga and Maitriyogini led an inspiring evocation of the vajra guru, followed by a puja led by Prakasha. Our Monday night drop-in class continues to grow, with impressive numbers attending, even braving flooded roads after one of this month’s epic storms.
The new DharmaLife course participants are settling in well. They’ve been studying with various members of the men’s community and helping out around the site during work periods, often guided by Jennie, who has been volunteering here this month. Jennie has expertly managed housekeeping while Maria has been on retreat, for which the team is very grateful. We’ve also benefitted from the warmth, generosity and practical support of volunteers Robyn, Annette, and Iulia (a DLC alumna), who have been invaluable. Later in the month, we were joined by Vimalabandhu, whose culinary skills delighted us with creations like a ‘banana wellington.’
The operations team has been busy planting bulbs in the wildflower meadow, and Sanghadeva and Kerianna have been creating new beds in the cut flower garden. Hopefully, next year all the flowers for our shrines will be grown right here at Adhisthana!
