Spring has arrived in full force at Adhisthana, and with it a sense of brightness and energy in every corner of the place. The UK heatwave has brought a golden hue to the gardens and inspired the communities to make the most of the sunshine with trips out to see the bluebells in the Malvern hills.
In the kitchen, Robyn has been volunteering alongside the ops team while we’re temporarily under-resourced in the kitchen (if you you would like to help by volunteering or joining our team, read more here). Annika has stepped in as kitchen manager and done a fantastic job training up the team, who rose to the occasion in catering for a fully booked retreat, with over 130 people.
The women’s DharmaLife course is now halfway through their time here and are very much a part of the rhythm and life of the place. Khemabandhu and Lalitanaga completed a half marathon recently, and Annika and Renate made the most of a quiet couple of days on site to do a retreat together in the library.
A bee swarm appeared behind the men’s community and has since been safely rehomed. Meanwhile, the shrine room flowers are now coming from our newly established cut-flower beds, lovingly tended by Kerianna.
A few notable changes around the land: the beautiful old wisteria outside the shrine room has come down and will be replaced with a new variety that we hope will be even more lovely. And thanks to Sanghadeva, there is now a beautiful new set of steps leading from the Prajñāpāramitā courtyard up to the barn. Over by the library, work has started on redoing the women’s toilets, with the (fun) demolition part now completed.
There are continuing celebrations for Sangharakshita’s centenary year, including previously unseen videos (check out A Precious Teacher and The True Miracle) and stories continued to be shared by those who knew him (see Parami, Jnanavaca and Sangahdevi share their expereinces on our YouTube channel).
