Spring is an exciting time at Adhisthana. The gardens are in full bloom, the trees bright with fresh green leaves, and some of the more elusive local wildlife and migratory birds begin to appear. We’ve seen fluffy little ducklings bobbing and whizzing about the front pond, hedgehogs snuffling in the long grass at twilight, and house martins happily returning to old nests under the library eaves, bickering and squabbling as they compete to claim the best homes to rear their chicks. The woodland is loud with the songs of blackcaps, thrushes, and warblers. One day we found three blind mice on the lawn (no, really). Their nest must have been disturbed by the mower, and though the Operations Team cooed delightedly over their sweet obliviousness, we were saddened by the harsh reality from which we could not save them. Though we do our best to preserve the natural world around Adhisthana, living in such close contact with it inevitably leads to casualties.
At the very end of March we welcomed two new community members to Adhisthana. Saraka, who has recently taken over the role of International Order Convenor alongside Vajrapriya, joins the Women’s Community, although her jet-setting job meant she was only here a few weeks before she was off again on a trip around the globe. Jnanaruchi, who led the Men’s DharmaLife Course last year, has joined the Men’s Community and taken on the role of Operations Team manager, to which he has brought great energy, humour and care.
April began with the Elders Gathering and Sub40 Order Weekend, which are programmed to coincide each year, providing an opportunity for younger Order members to spend time with some of the most venerable. We also held our first retreat exploring Bhante’s pivotal text The Religion of Art, led by Dhammarati, Lilavati and Padmadhara. This was a dynamic retreat involving deep engagement with the text, as well as practical exercises in art-making. The spirit of art seems to have seeped out into the communities too, as various Adhisthana residents have been busy drawing, painting, singing, writing, devising and composing over the last couple of months.
April was a fairly quiet month overall, with lots of relatively small retreats, and community members stepped up to help out with jobs that would usually be done by retreatants, such as washing up after lunch and dinner. However, the latter part of the month was punctuated by two more populous retreats, the Manchester Sangha retreat and the Combined Spring Sanghas retreat, which saw large numbers of energetic friends, mitras and Order members coming together at Adhisthana, spending sunny days meditating, listening to Dharma talks and getting to know each other. In between retreats, Yashodeva and Sanghadeva (otherwise known as “the Devas”) have been making use of the site being empty to get on with some heavy-duty maintenance such as laying new cobbles outside the office, and making preparations for a new solitary hut. The new hut, now referred to as ‘The Forest Cabin’, has been many months in the planning by Ratnaghosha and will sit nestled in the woodland at the bottom of the Swales, hidden from view by the thick greenery surrounding it.
We’ve had a much busier time throughout May, beginning with Vessantara’s Immersion Retreat, Conditionality and the Nidanas, which brought around 80 Order members to Adhisthana for a mostly silent nine-day retreat. The atmosphere at such times is very strong, when so many are collectively deepening their practice through listening, reflecting and meditating. The Operations Team were very grateful to receive an effusively thankful card and a generous gift of cash from the retreat.
After a week of slightly fewer people on site, we welcomed the People of Colour Big Weekend Retreat – a wonderful event for people of colour to meditate, connect and deepen their practice together, from newcomers to Order members. For the occasion, the Adhisthana menu, usually mild in heat at most, got a rare and refreshing kick of chilli. Feedback from the team was very positive and we’re so pleased that Adhisthana can become a home for the Triratna people of colour community for the weekend.
On the last Wednesday of May we celebrated Kerianna’s 40th birthday. With glorious sunny weather, beautiful bunting and an extravagant dessert of gulab jamun adorned with voluptuous roses, it was a fitting celebration for our beloved gardener before she set off to explore doing a longer solitary retreat in the Indian Himalayas.
In the middle of the night an epic electrical storm gathered around Adhisthana. Lightning flashed blindingly and thunder boomed and cracked, shuddering the hearts of community members and leaving us quaking and sleepless. The storm swirled all around, lighting up the clouds in a panoramic display. Oddly, there was very little rain, and the next morning there was no sign of the tumult of the night before.
The month ended with a triple-whammy of retreats – Sub35 Changemakers: Let the Demons Come, Groups and Pioneers: Building the Future Sangha, and the Philosophy Symposium: Schopenhauer – the First European Buddhist? With the site full of three such inspiring and energising retreats, Adhisthana is ending springtime on a high and looking forward to whatever delights (and difficulties) summer may bring.
