Hi everyone.
Just a short(ish) newsletter to keep you up to speed with Vajraloka world before the centre closes to retreats and begins the new annex project building works.
Retreat news.
This year’s retreats so far have been a great success and many have been full or nearly full. This has been good for the finances but much, much more importantly good for what we can offer and what many can enjoy. This is the main reason Vajraloka exists, after all.
Our ‘Emptiness and the Heart Sutra’ retreat is currently running and ‘Embodying Love’ begins on 24th May and there are still some places free, I hear. Balajit, who used to live here, and Rijumitra will be leading this retreat, and it’s always a joy see them in action.
By September we hope that the bulk of the annex will be complete, but as with all building projects we can’t be precise. Retreats will nevertheless start up again in early September but the ‘Simply Being’ retreat is full. However, our ‘In the Seen only the Seen’ retreat has spaces and starts on 20th September.
Annexe Project update.
And so onto the annex project. The very capable Jinapalita (who has arrived back to Vajraloka after a long retreat in company of Vessantara and others) will be the guy on the ground overseeing the works. We wish him our support and good wishes in such a task. We will, of course, try to take ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ pics to share with you all. The very good news is that your generosity has helped us to raise a fund of nearly £90,000 towards the cost. Initially we felt that a target of about £85000 would cover the project. However one of Jinapalita’s reflections whilst on this retreat was the idea of converting rooms B and C into four single rooms. This would be a very wise move at this point, while we are building the annex. With this in mind the Vajraloka team and Trustees have decided to keep the fund raising appeal alive until after the project is complete. We will of course keep you up to date with the progress and hopefully when you visit us next you’ll see the results. There should be quite a few more single rooms, and of course more shower and toilet facilities.
Other news.
Water leaks Vajraloka recently had yet another water leak from the old pipes that are gradually failing. We have therefore decided to get replacement piping which, as it is around a mile to the mains, will we think cost around £7,000 to replace. But it is an essential task and we hope to be getting on with the work during the next two months or so.
Programme 2020 Most of you will have had an email recently asking whether you want to receive a program brochure by post or would like a PDF version via email. Once collated we will ensure those of you who’d still like the brochure in your hand will receive it and that the PDF is available via email and online. This will save Vajraloka lots of money and will also be better for our environment. We have already received many lovely responses from you. Thanks so much.
Team news. Tejananda is off to lead some retreats in the USA this summer. Prajnapriya is leading a Buddhafield North meditation retreat in June (which I – Padmadasa – am on too). Jinapalita is mainly chilling out at Vajraloka, (well overseeing the Annex Project isn’t really quite as luxurious as chilling!). The rest of the team are having some well-earned break time, and also some Vajraloka at home time.
That’s all for now Folks
Have a great summer and all our love The Vajraloka Team
Newsletter by Padmadasa