As summer draws to a close, what felt like months of hot, dry weather has broken, with some epic cloudscapes and stormy showers. The front pond, which had become more like a mud flat, has finally had some help from the local rain gods and is beginning to resemble its old self again. The meadow field, once parched and barren, is now springing back into a green and verdant lawn as autumn rolls in.
The Adhisthana Men’s Community was blessed with a miracle earlier in the month – honey began flowing from the walls! The vent in Jnanagarbha’s bedroom began leaking honey from the large and venerable beehive in the chimney flue, presumably because the hot weather had melted some of the beeswax, causing a deluge. A number of us tasted this miraculous nectar, which was deliciously sweet, despite the ash, dust, and beetle remains floating in it.
Adhisthana welcomed a new resident in Cilene, who has moved from Birmingham to train as our new Site Manager in preparation for Renate leaving us at the end of the year. Cilene will also serve as a second housekeeper to help Maria, who works tirelessly to keep the place spick and span. The Women’s Community is now home to no fewer than six mitras, while the Men’s Community lags behind with two. If you know anyone who might be interested in living and working at Adhisthana, do encourage them to get in touch. We’re currently looking for committed Buddhists to take on the maintenance and Ops team manager roles, and there is also a potential opening for a publicity manager.
August included a quiet period for the retreat centre due to the large UK & Ireland Order Convention held at Wymondham College, which led to a mass exodus of Order members from the communities, leaving the mitras (mostly) on their own for a week. Well, you know what they say: when the cats are away, the mice will play! Of course the Operations Team, being very conscientious mice, continued to work diligently during this time, but they did enjoy an outdoor ecstatic dance session by the pond, with Olivia’s speakers booming from the back of a van while Hally DJ’d from an iPhone app. Sanghadeva and Dhammarati, the only Order members left on site, declined to join in the dancing, though Dhammarati excitedly took a few photos as the sun set over the scene.
After months of work, the Adhisthana 2027 print programmes were finally printed. This marked the end of a long process that involved Khemabandhu visioning, planning and commissioning the content, which Hally then edited and formatted to send to Dhammarati, who designed the entire 64 page booklet, which was then proof-read by Hally and other members of the Ops team, passing back and forth between them and Dhammarati before the final version could be sent to the printers. The programme this year marks a move towards a more magazine-style publication, with many more articles and entries than in previous years, revolving around the theme of spiritual friendship. Be sure to pick up a copy from your local centre, or here at Adhisthana.
Finally, the residential communities were joined by a new cohort of the women’s DharmaLife Course, with participants hailing from Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary and England. We were utterly disappointed that two young women from India were unable to attend the course after their visa applications were rejected. The residential communities met the new DharmaLifers during a combined community night, where we all introduced ourselves and got to know a little bit about each other. We’re delighted to have such a bright bunch of women with us for the next four months.
