The calendar for March and April is now live on the website
Dragon Bell will be closed 13th-28th April, while I am assisting with the Jukai retreat at Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey.
There are places available for our Eden Rise residential retreat, 20th-24th May. Book yourself a place by getting in touch. Details here
My teacher, Reverend Master Daishin Morgan, is hoping to visit in the spring or early summer. We are currently arranging dates, provisionally looking at early June. He will likely stay over a weekend and we will hold a day or half-day event where he can meet people and give a talk. I’ll be letting people know when it’s finalised, probably in the next newsletter.
Much of January and February so far, has been quiet and I don’t have much that would be considered ‘newsworthy’. I did manage to get out in between showers, and prune a few plants in the garden including the apple tree. That’s a first for me. At the beginning of February, with some help and experiments with numerous ladders, the evergreen Ilex Oak got a hard-ish haircut, it was beginning to threaten, what I have been told, is the internet wire coming into the village.
Work has continued on developing an extension for our meditation room. It is now at the stage of our architect friend, Nigel Skelton, producing detailed plans for building approval and permission. I have a few potential contractors who seem to be interested and who I will soon ask to submit tenders for the job. My hope is to create a space as supportive as we can make it, one that people may wish to run to (metaphorically speaking), in their eagerness to immerse themselves in stillness. Budgetary considerations will mean that it won’t be posh (when are we ever?), though it should still be a lovely and welcoming space with a clear and helpful purpose. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned that the existing conservatory will now remain, with the latest extension plans being moved to the other end of the garden. Not losing the conservatory floorspace will be a great advantage, though it will need replacing at some point, probably in the not too distant future as it’s a good 30 years old.
In glooming wet January,
I picked up a twig in the village wood and took it home to the temple.
After varnishing and gluing on crude flowers made from children’s clay,
The Maitreya statue now carries a blossoming staff.
How is it possible,
That life can bloom from dead wood?
When we let go of ourselves,
Both life and death are equally alive.
Thank you’s
In gratitude for all forms of support, both material and spiritual. A mention for the generous donations of a three section extension ladder, and a book by Bonnie Myotai Treace, given for my birthday and now in our library.
Best wishes
In Gassho
Willard
This is an edited version of a newsletter sent to people who have subscribed through the website and a private email group.