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.

The Blog Writer: Tomas

Spring is almost among us as we bid farewell to winter. Crocuses have emerged on the lawns and the daffodil stalks are beginning to make their awaited appearance as the sun’s brief moments of shining bring a little warmth to the frosty hill. We’re now into our second week of painting. Everyone’s been banding together and the progress is fantastic. The Dhamma Hall walls are pretty much complete and work is moving on into the vestibule. Ajahn Abhinando and Ajahn Punnyo have been lending their accumulated painting experience (both are masters of monastic decorating) to the guests, helping to move things on swiftly. Meanwhile work upstairs continues as the flooring is prepared for improved sound insulation and re-carpeting, and once that’s complete the walls will receive a fresh coat of paint (white of course). The VA Room (visiting Ajahns) still remains somewhat inhospitable (it currently has a huge square hole in the wall leading to the conservatory) but we hope it will be complete for Ajahn Thiradhammo when he leads his retreat in April. Despite all the manual work Tan Nyanavisuddhi continues to cultivate his recitation, in Pali, of the patimokkha rule (he committed these 227 rules to memory in a phenomenal 5 weeks earlier in the winter). Meanwhile numerous friends have rallied to Harnham’s kitchen to lend a hand in the cooking, including Kath, Penny, Marian and Mame, allowing the resident cooks to focus on the Dhamma Hall. Hopefully with all this wholesome effort work on the painting should reach completion shortly, and focus will shift to the upstairs accommodation and the conservatory.

Recycling the old carpet

The winter retreat has now come to an end as we enter the month of March. The finale was marked by the auspicious day of Magha Puja, one of the traditional holy days of Theravada Buddhism commemorating the spontaneous gathering of 1250 arahants and the declaration of the ovadapatimokkha (Dhammapada verses 183-185). Harnham Hill became host to quite a large gathering that day but not nearly 1250. Members from the Thai and Sri Lankan communities came to give Dana in the afternoon and many came to hear Ajahn Abhinando’s talk. This was the last time the Dhamma Hall was used before our big work projects begin (Sunday evening Pujas will be at Kusala House until further notice). The Dhamma Hall has been completely cleared and the Buddha completely covered in preparation for a lick of paint (the Hall that is...). Also the adjoining rooms (upstairs and down) are being renovated. Upstairs, new carpets are being laid and sound insulated floorboards have been fitted. Downstairs is being converted into a special room for visiting Ajahns (and has thus been named the VA's Room). Tan Nyanamoli has been doing his usual Stirling job as work-master in overseeing and directing these projects, while the rest of the community have provided the manpower necessary to get the job done.

The Leeds Group

Last weekend Kusala House hosted nine people from the Dhammapala Buddhist group in Leeds who had come to offer dana on the Saturday and Sunday and share in the peaceful atmosphere of the retreat house. Ralph, who is now officially the Kusala House Manager, coped admirably with his first influx of visitors. Also staying was Dr. Mark Overton (ex- Bhikkhu Jotiko), an old friend of Ajahn Munindo's and fellow New Zealander, who had come to take part in the retreat for ten days. No doubt he was pleased to escape the current heatwave of Australia (his current residence) where temperatures have risen past 30 degrees Celsius. Perhaps the frosty mornings and below zero nights (Bolam Lake is still frozen by the way) of Northern England were quite a shock, but they haven't deterred Ajahn Punnyo, who set off for a three day trek to Hexham and back on Tuesday (he will hopefully be back later today). A thrilling display of Yorkshire resilience. We now have only one full week of Winter Retreat left, but fortunatly next week shall be a silent one, allowing us to put aside other concerns and spend our remaining time as skilfully as possible. The blog next week will thus be postponed, but the dana list will continue to be updated as normal.

Mame cooking

Another pleasant week has zipped past. The winter is slowly retreating and the attractive inevitability of spring is becoming more apparent as we begin to welcome earlier dawns (which create beautiful sunrises just around breakfast time). Ajahn Munindo returned from a trip to Amaravati Monastery last Friday where he welcomed back Luang Por Sumedho after his two months away.  Ajahn Munindo brought back with him a new Buddha-Rupa, hand crafted by Ajahn Vimalo, which is currently being gilded. The next day Harnham hosted a large party of Sri Lankan Marine Engineer students from South Shields who had come to offer Dana - fortunately the weather permitted their coach to get up the hill. On Sunday evening the Dhamma Hall was full of visitors who had come for the evening Puja, where we heard a Dhamma talk on the Dhammapada verse (verse 193) featured on the February page of the Forest Sangha calendar (to hear the talk click here, to read the verse click here). Once the weekend had passed the monastery returned to its sparse self, with only the community and winter support team residing. This week Mame has been lending a hand and has been teaching Ralph many a recipe in the kitchen (and a few gardening tips as well). All in all a delightfully ordinary week.

The Sunrise on Wednesday

The Winter Retreat continues into its second month with a return to quietude rather than the full silence which pervaded the week before. Silent Week was exceptionally uneventful, but no news is good news, and the community and guests here were given a perfect opportunity to intensify their practice. For the past fortnight the weather has been distinctively English, and after a brief sunny spell (which caused mild sunburn in one community member) we’ve been cycling through rain, sleet and snow. Fortunately we expect a delivery of firewood this Thursday which will help keep the cold away. The future this month seems unlikely to become much more eventful, but many a project is planned for the month of March, so be prepared for epic blogs in a month or so.

Ajahn Chah's Shrine

Last Saturday 16th January was the Ajahn Chah Memorial Day, marking eighteen years since our teacher’s passing. The day was internationally commemorated at our Mother monastery Wat Pah Pong in NE Thailand with several thousands of supporters and sangha members coming together. Also it was observed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a large gathering where many teachers, including Luang Por Sumedho, gave talks throughout the day. Here at Harnham we remembered the passing by listening to one of Ajahn Chah’s talks being read aloud by Tan Nyanavisuddhi. The following day Ajahn Munindo gave a talk called Gratitude Inventory to our Sunday visitors focussing on how making gratitude conscious can aid and support our practice. Saturday also saw the annual Dana organised by Amara Jayaweera and the wider Sri Lankan community to remember Sushila, one of the earliest supporters of Ajahn Chah's Sangha in UK, a well-respected figure in the early Sri Lankan community. After the Dana the community gathered to listen to the chanting the Parittas and a Dhamma talk. Fortunately the Dhamma Hall was heated as we now have a full tank of gas to see us through the rest of winter. Meanwhile this week our very skilled and diligent computer expert, Anagarika Gábor, has been working hard to fine tune our aruno.org website. He has now made available a podcast for the Dhamma talks given at Harnham - http://aruno.org/podcast/. And for those of you who are new to podcasts he has also written a very helpful how to guide. To read it click here. Finally, one of our lay friends staying here to help keep things running through the winter Retreat time, Richard Thomas, is doing an inventory on the contents of Kusala House Library. If you have books or CDs that should have been returned it would help to have it back. If you signed it out (which we hope you did) you are likely to get a gentle  reminder (or not-so-gentle, depending on how long).

A fire to keep us warm and healthy

The second week of retreat is coming to a close and we are all settling into the quietude. Winter Retreat doesn't mean everyone is intensely focussed on hours of formal practice. During the three months periods there will be weeks when we go into strict silence and follow a routine of group sittings (probably no group walking though). For some of us winter retreat is a time to work on memorising the chanting, and then others will be into study. The support team all seem to be settled in to their routine doing a splendid job in helping keep things running. No doubt they’re receiving some interesting history on the place from our old friend Richard Wilson, the monastery caretaker of a few years ago, who has arrived to stay for a several weeks. Back when he was living here Kusala House was still evolving from a dilapidated cottage and the meditation room was a workshop, filled with tools instead of zafus. He’s astounded by the progress. Within the greater picture Harnham Hill’s snow has begun to melt as the weather has crawled up a few degrees, but still we are without a proper supply of gas as the gas truck scheduled to visit was deterred by the slushy road conditions. (At the time of writing sangha members have been out with spades attempting to clear the road hoping that the tanker might make it up today. A few days ago the sewerage truck also got stuck....)  Meanwhile blankets, hot-water bottles, electric heaters, and extra socks have become the norm as we save what little gas we do have for the cooking. Fear not! as Tan Nyanavisuddhi is on the job, talking with the distributors and trying to get our heating up and running as soon as possible.

Tan Nyanamoli shovelling

Like much of the rest of the country Harnham residents have been helping each other deal with the unexpected big freeze. Nothing like a crisis to get folk to be friendly! And friendliness has been the theme as we saw in the New Year. Billy, Moe, Koko and Lin from Glasgow took up the challenge of a very icy hill to spend several days here. Then Richard Thomas arrived to join Ralph who had come a few days earlier to offer assistance through the winter retreat. Ralph will be here for three months. A reshuffle of rooms to give ourselves a bit more space (anagarikas occupying Kusala House annex) and we have all now settled into a welcome quiet routine. Not even road noise from the A696 to break the silence. Saturday morning however found us all talking a bit more than usual when we discovered the main gas tank was empty. Looking at the small amount of wood left in the wood-pile we broke out the (rarely-used) electric heaters and telephoned our gas suppliers. They did a sterling job of coming within a few hours to deliver an emergency 2 or 3 bottles to tie us over until the tanker can attempt the hill. Meanwhile concerned friends have been leaving their cars at the bottom on the hill and walking up with arms laden with offerings. Bright smiles and rosy cheeks make somewhat cooler living conditions quite tolerable. We have noted for next year the need to look out for cheap firewood in June/July.

The Shrine on New Year's Eve

It’s the New Year and a new decade has begun. Despite the weather, with several showers of snow on New Years Eve, our annual forgiveness and aspiration ceremony was well attended by many old friends who have come from the far corners of the country (and beyond). The week has seen a steady flow of guests arriving as we prepared for the ceremony, including Ralph, who will be staying at Kusala House for the next three months and lending his support for the winter. On New Year's Day the snow was heavier than ever with at least five inches, but one determined Sri Lankan family managed to brave the journey and came down from Glasgow to hear the Sangha chant the Parittas during the afternoon. The near future of Harnham will be much of a contrast, as in a few days time we will enter the winter retreat. We will also be bidding farewell to Myke. For the past six months Myke has been doing a terrific job taking care of Kusala House and he will be missed. He is expected to become a guest himself in March to help with our work project, so we can look forward to seeing him again soon.