Hi all. We just had a really “full-on” run of activities leaving me a little “Frito”. “Fried”. If you had spoken to me Sunday morning at 8am when we were preparing breakfast for our guests I would have been in a very different mood to now. Six events one after the other with a few days to recover in between each event. Padmashalin did a great job of running the kitchen. We were blessed by a couple of young volunteers, “making lighter work with many hands”. The extra challenge was that nearly all the groups were new non-Triratna folks, that rent out Suryavana. I see them as “collaborators”, helping us pay the bills. We have to try to explain what we are trying to do here; Buddhist ethical values, team-work, offering a friendly service. Not easy in a culture of “we pay, you make the coffee!”. Hospitality, just like everywhere else; long hours, poorly paid, rude customers.
We also ran the first “working retreat” in years and built a Stupa! Pure magic! We want to inter earth from Bhante’s burial mound from Adhistana.
Juan Castell, an old friend and Mitra from the Valencia Sangha, designed and built, with the help of others a beautiful new addition to Suryavana. It is a modest size, around a metre and half base and just over two metres tall. You have to gently look up to it, when standing near, which feels appropriate. It’s the first outwardly evident Buddhist structure here at Suryavana.
We also added some radiators to the newly refurbished Shrine-room downstairs.
Then there has been the crazy juggling act of trying to pay for everything. Suryavana accounts are always “on the edge” “Culo al aire” as they say in Spanish. Just like many Triratna projects around the world and probably many other projects based on idealism and not current market values. There’s no Artificial Intelligence here. Just simple hostal style accommodation and nutritious vegetarian cuisine.
As “el Responsable”, the Chair, the “responsible” person, I do end up losing sleep at times, which is really no joke! My wife tells me sleepless nights go with middle age. Maybe that’s the reason heh?
We are trusting there is forward movement, progress. Suryavana is in the “build stage”. Repayment of debts, til 2036! That’s . Monies invested in the infrastructure make the place more attractive to anyone wanting to come and do retreats here. This seems to be the case, as everyone delights in the new Stupa , and they love the refurbished and heatable practice space.
The Stupa, I see as a “halo” project. It wasn’t costly (250 euros). It gives the Centre a truly “spiritual” atmosphere, a “consecration” of our Buddhist temple. It shifts Suryavana more concretely into the mythical realm of the Buddha. One more step!
In fact, as Juan, and others, were erecting the stupa, it felt like the Stupa had always been there and Juan was carving the bricks and mortar out of the ether, manifesting something that was already present but Invisible! It was like a condensation of matter into the world from another dimension, rather than picking up construction materials, cement, sand and so forth from the builders yard and adding them into an empty space in the garden! I am curious to see what happens as a consequence of it’s “force field”.
We are now into the colder winter months. Dropping to near zero at night. Who would have believed it after the long hot summer? Such is Alta Palancia. Fortunately bright sunny days. Our wood burner is alight 24 hours. I take the chain saw to some felled almond trees across the way and stock up on logs. A deep sleep prevails after a morning of carting wood across the terraces. We prepare the house for a Silent meditation retreat organised by the Valencia Buddhist Centre.
Some of us here in the Order in Spain are working through the Heart Sutra retreat material led by Vessantara last year at Adhistana. For me it’s ideal. Remote study. It’s actually been surprisingly beneficial to weave sessions into my outwardly very busy life of activity. Sitting in the car waiting for my daughter to finish her music class, I am guided through a “skandha” meditation, a pause in the morning communications with clients and friends, I lie back on the sofa in the retreat centre lounge and listen to a talk on the deconstruction of Buddhist practice. Wonderful! We are meeting up Online to discuss the material every two weeks. It nourishes me.
The last five years of picking up the project and running with it has been working out how to live and work here sustainably. Me as Dharmachari, me as Chair, sustainable for my family. Sustainable as a viable project, which is essentially a small business enterprise in a tricky economic climate. I am taking one month at a time. Which is just as well.
Fortunately, being here brings me into contact with lots of people both within and outside of our Triratna community, so though physically isolated I feel connected. I would not be able to be here without my family and the support we receive from many others.
My main intentions for the next period on a personal level are to get the kids through school. Eight years to go!
On a “professional” level, there are two major projects I would like to realise before I leave Suryavana. One is to clear the Windhorse Trust loan. Secondly, build a larger shrine room. We are running fund raising campaigns for both objectives. I plan to send out a more detailed “Directors report” at the end of the year for anyone interested.
Vessantara’s gentle reminder of Bhante’s teaching in the Greater Mandala of Uselessness seems so appropriate these days. A life of activity. Where is the calm? Where is the Aesthetic appreciation?
All the best. Happy New Year!
