| The Tower of Harnham |
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| Thursday, 18 March 2010 17:22 |
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Spring has arrived
Last Sunday was Mother's Day in UK and we were happy to have Ajahn Punnyo's and Tan Nyanavisuddhi's mothers visit. On Sunday we were also visited by sixty guests who had come to offer Dana for the midday meal in memory of Dr. Gilbert Silva, a long term friend and supporter of the monastery who passed away in Sri Lanka a week earlier. Gilbert had been in England for many years and helped many people in the Sri Lankan community get settled as well as being one of the very early trustees of our monastery. It was obvious from the visitors that they were all hugely grateful for his help and that he will be greatly missed. After the meal offering the gathering went to Kusala House where Ajahn Munindo gave a Dhamma talk and was joined by two of Gilbert’s friends who also gave reflections on his life. The next day Gabor arrived back at the Monastery after spending a fortnight in Hungary visiting his family. His journey home took nearly the whole of Monday and he arrived late at night, and on Tuesday morning he looked somewhat weary but most content. Weariness didn't stop him immediately picking up his project of reformatting all of Ajahn Chah's talks ready for publication as a (probably) 3 volume edition. Penny has been busy negotiating with estate agents to try and purchase the lake at the bottom of Harnham Hill and on Thursday was helped by Tina to spring clean the office, turning out loads of clutter. Ex Suriyo arrived on Thursday to stay for several days and possibly help with the remaining work in the Dhamma Hall. A 3.7 metre scaffolding tower has been erected in the centre of the hall to help us in washing the ceiling and cleaning of the windows; quite an epic finale to the painting project. However there’s still plenty of painting etc. to look forward to, with the upstairs accommodation and visiting Ajahns’ room still in need of much attention. |
