The three current community members are all back in the fold - Padmasakhi and Vidyachandra returned from the convention in India and Bodhipaksini from a winter UK visit. We’ve been enjoying Maitreyi’s company since Saturday - her final visit as president of Akashavana. (Maitreyi ritually handed over the presidency of Akashavana to Ratnadharini during the Order weekend at Adhisthana in December). On Thursday we performed a 7 fold puja in the shrine room up at the retreat centre, and were able to share our rejoicings in Maitreyi and she in us.

So. Significant times. The community now being 3 full time residents already feels a very different being and we’ll be welcoming Viryamani in March who will be here until October. Who knows what our community of 4 will enjoy!

One of the things we’re really looking forward to is our community-led silent practice retreat which will be from 4-24 July. This in addition to the reason we’re all here - namely to support the 11 week & 2 week ordination retreats - and the Order retreat in September, which this year will be led by Vijayamala and Moksanandi. It feels a rich programme and we’re all feeling excited about the coming days/weeks/months.

And of course the first event in our calendar is the 11 week ordination retreat, this year led by Punyamala with a fabulous team of Sucimani, Akasajoti, Sraddhamaya and Prajnasri.

The team and those beings who will be coming to Akashavana to be ordained are becoming more and more present to us as we start preparations for their arrival in April.

Meanwhile there is sound of a woodpecker starting work on a nest, the little birds who come to our bird feeder are increasingly active and songful and the warmth of the sun during the day is very welcome.

Tomorrow is Paranirvana Day - we’ll join the Order Kalyana Mitra yoga practice in the morning and then off line into a practice day here - bringing to mind Order members who have died over the past year including Kamalashila whose puja Relinquishment in Preparation for Death we’ll perform together.

Lots to do and nothing to be done. And of course no-one to do it.

Love from Bodhipaksini

From Maitrekara:

Akashavana  later in July 2024, Vidyachandra still very recently arrived, and there’s a short break between retreats.

For a few days the team’s focus has turned to the Community house and I have been invited to lend a hand. By the time I arrived Padmasakhi’s room had been decorated - but there was still much to do. Refreshing the whitewashed walls and ceiling in the community shrine room, painting and whitewashing the office/lounge and downstairs the walls and ceiling of the big kitchen living room space. It was fascinating to work with a lime based substance called Cal. It has the texture of soft putty and when liberated from its packaging and mixed in a bucket with water, turns into a milky liquid. When applied to the old uneven walls it has little immediate impact - but dries to a satisfying bright white. Although not always! A teaching was coming up for me as the work proceeded of how, like the Cal, the effect of my actions is not always as I anticipated or hoped and my understanding of the underlying conditions as to why this is the case, is not always clear. But enough Cal dried white -  to give an overall positive effect, and somehow that gives me hope. Now the house is brighter and feeling the love and care it has had these past days.

And it wasn’t all work. As the walls dried we celebrated Dharma Day at the Centro Mandala in Valderrobres (led jointly by Karunavapi and Bodhipaksini - and even a swim. What a treat to put a toe - not only into the reservoir, but to jump right into the swim of community life at Akashavana. I leave tomorrow- with such love, gratitude and admiration for the wonderful women who support this project for us all. Sadhu Bodhipaksini, Padmasakhi and Vidyachandra.

Padmasakhi and I were very happy to meet Vidyachandra from the bus in Valderrobres yesterday. She's travelled many kilometres since leaving Mexico in June and now has finally arrived on the mountain. Hooray! So in this moment we are the new Akashavana community...I feel very energised and happy to welcome in this new phase for us all and whatever emerges from this configuration. Last night we ritually dedicated the new community in both English and Spanish. Each wearing our saffron kesa...

Just to recap the last week or so - Padmasakhi, Acalavajri and I delivered the incredible retreat team and 19 brand new dharmacharinis back into the world beyond Akashavana on Monday 1 July - plenty of weather to see them out with heavy rain followed by bright sunshine. What a joyous job this is! The retreat was an absolute pleasure to be part of - I think I was able to feel more relaxed and confident and therefore to stay open to a slightly wider vision of what was taking place and the significance of the commitment that we all make at ordination - and ongoingly in our lives as dharmacharinis. That doesn't articulate the half of it but perhaps can be a finger pointing...

I have so much appreciation, respect and gratitude for Kulanandi, Akasasuri, Aryadrishti, Manibhadri and Saddhahadaya, the retreat team, who inspired, surprised, reminded and guided whilst exemplifying spiritual friendship and the Order at its best. Sadhu!

Now preparing for a period of maintenance and decorating and putting some love into the buildings and land before welcoming the team for Viveka and Singhashri's retreat in August. Soon come!

with love, Bodhipaksini

The name Akashavana means forest retreat of luminous space. The community here aspire to preserve and protect this place of retreat in the spirit of going forth into simplicity and freedom.

We have agreed not to post anything onto Facebook or Instagram for the time being. This decision was initially inspired by the action of Amsterdam Buddhist Centre’s to remove their presence from social media. Our hope is that by consciously deciding to take a similar action we will open up the space for more conversation, consideration and dialogue about the use of social media in the context of our sangha. Hopefully these conversations can be had in person, or at the least via a medium that allows those conversing the time to listen to and consider the other party’s contribution.

We do not wish to negate the positive aspects of social media, and recognise that for many it is a source of connection and finding out about positive events and occurrences. Merely that we want to communicate with our audience in a more conscious and focussed way. For this reason you will find information about Akashavana on our website and our blog on the Buddhist Centre on line. If you would like to go on our mailing list to be informed of news or upcoming retreats, please email the community directly on community@akashavana.org.

Let’s keep talking and listening

With love

Bodhipaksini and Padmasakhi

Akashavana Community

March

A moment’s pause…

The Akashavana community appreciating a moment of stillness - a small bardo between the activity of preparation and the actual arrival of the team for the ordination retreat. The wind whooshing through the trees and rattling the doors and windows with its message.

The house feeling quiet. We have been blessed by the company of Viryapadma, Padmaketu, Ujjala and Guhyasakhi and especially all their practice, effort and energy in the set up of the centre for the retreat(s). Clearing, fixing, making, painting, cleaning, cutting, sawing, fetching and carrying. Pruning and planting. Climbing up ladders and scrambling down slopes. Scrubbing and dusting and sanding. And sitting together to open and close the days.

April

And now everyone on the spring ordination retreat has arrived! Two weeks in and all seems well. We are receiving the rain which has been with us for a couple of days with thanks - the downpour that was forecast has blown past us but the ground is wet and the plants are perking up. All the wee lettuces that went in the vegetable bed a few days ago are finding their feet (?) and looking very promising. In the community this year we’re trying out the 3 sisters planting in one of the beds - maize, beans and squash - not sure how it’s going to work out as already done things a bit differently in terms of timings - but really enjoying starting the process and tending to the little plants which for the most part were lovingly seeded by Guhyasakhi. Re-promising to prioritise growing time - somehow it slips to the bottom of the list maybe due to a lack of confidence and experience on my part - but it affords such deep pleasure to put hands in the earth and experience intimacy with the growing medium and the life of the seeds and plants…note to self to remember this when juggling to-do lists.

May

Visitors to the community - Ratnadharini paid us a visit for a few days and Maitreyi is here as I write. Ujjala has now returned to life in Mexico after being in the community for 2 months. I really enjoy the process and practice of the community during the retreat season - we expand and shrink and it’s always a pleasure for me to experience the differences in the configurations. And many dharmacharinis who come and stay are so familiar with Akashavana that they are able to arrive and make themselves at home almost immediately. This I really love! As well of course as introducing people to the community and introducing our systems and ways of being together here.

We’re getting a bit more rain - as I write I can only just see Peñarroya rock through the mist - and it’s also a bit chilly for this time of year although the forecast is for warmer temperatures in the next week or so - to be a bit more consistent with what we might expect at this time. For now.

Padmasakhi and I have done some study over the past couple of days with Maitreyi, based on Bhante’s writings around animism. It’s been very interesting and has stimulated thoughtful discussion and reflection.

Thank you to everyone who's been here so far this year - you've all brought in different aspect of practice or inspiration or area of interest and I am happy to be slightly and sometimes not-so-slightly altered by our conversations.

I look forward to seeing those of you who will be arriving in the coming days/weeks/months. 

With love to all

Bodhipaksini

February already…the blossom on the almond trees that we pass on the way to Penarroya is fuller every time we drive through and here in the community we’re looking ahead to the retreats to come this year. We will be welcoming 20 ordinands along with the team of 5 to the retreat centre in April and before then we’ll be enjoying the company and generous support of dharmacharinis from Germany, Mexico and the UK who will be joining us to prepare the retreat centre for their arrivals.

We have a full retreat calendar in 2024 - beginning with the spring/summer ordination retreat, followed in July with a 10 year reunion retreat. A few weeks in July to put some love and attention into the community house by way of interior decoration and then we welcome Viveka & Singhashri (together with most of the Akashavana team who were on the previous Viveka & Singhashri retreat - Acalavajri, Mumukshu, Vikasini) for a 3 week retreat - Trikaya and the Possibility of Belonging. This retreat booked out almost as soon as the ink had dried on the publicity…

A quick turnaround at the end of August and then we will welcome those on the 2 week ordination retreat. The final Order retreat of the year will run from 23 September to 14 October - the third in a series of 3 6 element and sadhana retreats led by Maitreyi and Padmasuri. They will be supported by the same team who have been with them on the previous two retreats (Satyamuni, Padmabodhini and Padmasakhi). Originally offered solely to the dharmacharinis who were ordained during the unusual Covid years - 2020 and 2021, this retreat is open to all dharmacharinis. It’s been a real pleasure and honour to be here for these retreats, the wisdom and experience that Maitreyi and Padmasuri so generously offer is precious indeed.

Another week turnaround after the retreat and then the final retreat of the year which will be a self-organising 5 year reunion, which includes Padmasakhi as she celebrates 5 years in the Order with some of her ordination sisters.

Lots to look forward to whilst remaining present to the richness of each day (and sometimes even each moment). Our chapter are heading down to Valencia for the Order weekend this weekend and will be sharing some of our inspiration from the Joy of Liberation retreat led by Vajradevi and Prasadavati last autumn. It was such a pleasure to be on the retreat with our chapter sisters. Padmasakhi and I were cooking so weren’t able to join every session, but we were able to really connect in with the content and the practice and were very appreciative of the teaching and guidance in the context of the retreat community. Everything folded into practice and how best to serve that.

Personally, I’m now officially a temporary resident of Spain hurrah! After a long wait and the help of two lawyers - I’m now just waiting for my Spanish driving licence to come through. Still fumbling around trying to learn to speak Spanish so that people can understand me (and I can understand them) - sometimes feels like I’ll never be able to do it and others like there’s some progress. I imagine it’s using a part of the brain that quite enjoys being used - a bit like learning an instrument (my guitar is still waiting patiently for me - that’s another story)

So in closing, February brings with it more light and a return of outward facing energy, the spring isn’t quite fully arrived but we can hear her footsteps. And the birds are in fine voice as they start to scout our their mates and their nesting places…

As I write, the sun is streaming in through the window heralding warmer days to come...we're still very much in winter with a smattering of snow on the ground and ice in our buckets and outdoor washing bowls.

Padmasakhi and I returned to the community house last week from our winter sojourn in the UK and are gradually picking up the threads that we will weave into this year's retreat season - beginning with the 11 week ordination retreat which begins on 17 April this year. Soon come!

Lots to attend to as always and plenty of opportunity within that activity to stand still and breathe. The forest does a lot of that on our behalf, in close conversation with the deep blue sky. Which is appearing now and then amidst the snow clouds. The night skies have also been breathtaking - clear and so full of celestial bodies we can only gaze and wonder. The gift of a dark sky feels precious as a diamond as our breath cuts through the icy night air.

So as January moves towards February and the celebration of Imbolc on 1st we're coming out of hibernation season. Opening up what we put to bed a few months ago - and preparing to welcome all the women who will make the journey here over the next months. Step by step, one foot in front of the other. Thank you Antonio Machado for your words (in translation) below...

Traveler, your footprints

are the only road, nothing else.

Traveler, there is no road;

you make your own path as you walk.

As you walk, you make your own road,

and when you look back

you see the path

you will never travel again.

Traveler, there is no road;

only a ship's wake on the sea.

On Sunday 22 May we ritually enacted the handing over of the chair of Akashavana from Mumukshu to me. Maitreyi, as president of Akashavana, led the ceremony, which Punyamala (who is leading the summer ordination retreat which is currently underway) very generously agreed could take place in the shrine room up at the retreat centre.  A number of the women on the ordination retreat came to witness and take part in the ritual, adding to the depth and luminosity of the sangha jewel shining throughout.

There were a number of synchronicities that occurred in relation to the event, including the fact that Vikasini was able to be present, meaning that there were 4 generations of Akashavana community members, all with an overlap (from Vikasini, to Mumukshu, to me, to Padmasakhi as the newest member of the community).

We concluded the ritual by circumnambulating the stupa, which is becoming/emerging/arising as a deeply significant energy and presence within the mandala of Akashavana. A recent addition to the landscape that perhaps has always been here.

I accept the responsibility of chair with both seriousness and a lightness of heart and the understanding that Akashavana is a collective endeavour, that could not exist without the energy, involvement, inspiration, commitment and support of so many women in so many ways, from the very beginning of the project to the present day. Our lineage is very much alive and tangible in everything that happens here, from the mundane to the mysterious. Long may this continue…

I offer these verses from Shabkar:

In wild places where no one lives,

Are pleasant caves in which to dwell and practice.

In wild places where no one lives,

One’s consoling friends will be wild animals and birds.

In wild places where no one lives,

One’s nourishment will be wild roots and berries.

In wild places where no one lives

Is the market where samsara is traded for nirvana.

In wild places where no one lives

Are the conditions favourable for realisation.

In wild places where no one lives

Is natural beauty delightful to behold.

There is no possible way to express

The many virtues of staying in remote and lonely places

Far removed from human habitation.

Therefore, heir of the Victorious Ones,

Go to a secluded place and practice!

On a working retreat in November, a new stupa was built at Akashavana retreat centre, Spain, containing the ashes of Dhardo Rinpoche, one of Sangharakshita’s main teachers.

This stupa joins a number of other stupas dedicated to Dhardo Rinpoche across our community in retreat centres such as Tiratanaloka, Padmaloka and Vajrasana in the UK, Aryaloka (USA), Vimaladhatu (Germany), Guhyaloka (Spain), and Sudarshanaloka (New Zealand). Dhardo Rinpoche and Sangharakshita developed a strong friendship over the many years Sangharakshita lived in Kalimpong. Sangharakshita came to see Dhardo Rinpoche as a ‘living bodhisattva’ and received the bodhisattva ordination from him in 1962.

The stupa at Akashavana was built with the help of Tracey Blackwell, a talented dry stonewall builder with more than two decades' experience.

Mumukshu from the Akashavana community writes:

Maitreyi led the practice and ritual side, which perfectly held all the hard work within a sense of the sacred and timeless. Dhardo’s ashes had been sitting on the shrine in the community for seven or eight years waiting for the right moment.

The design for it was inspired by the many ancient dry stone structures I had been noticing in this area of Spain (a corner of Aragón, called Matarraña), but it also evolved as we worked, led by Tracey’s expertise with stone construction and load-bearing. There were 14 of us on the retreat, including four of the newly ordained women from Mexico, and Siddhisvari cooking us wonderful meals.

A double vajra was buried at the base, with a metal pole connecting it up to the ‘flaming drop’, so the stones that make up the cone were threaded onto the pole, with holes drilled through them. The ashes were placed inside at the top of the ‘bell’ below the cone, in a special ritual, and earlier, offerings that had been sent or brought out were also placed inside.
 

It was physically demanding work, collecting the stones, mixing cement, dressing the stones and putting them in place, and we had very little free time, but the day was punctuated with practice and ritual so that the whole felt somehow outside of time and space.

Listen to a talk by Sangharakshita on his eight main teachers on Free Buddhist Audio

+Follow Akashavana on The Buddhist Centre Online

Listen to Nagabodhi talking about Dhardo Rinpoche, Stupa Building and Sangha

Weaving into and out of Akashavana…. 

It's been a while since an Akashavana blog … I, Satyamuni,  am now delighted to be physically back with Mumukshu and Bodhipaksini after longer in the UK than originally planned for.   Since being back from 01 July we have only had a couple of days of being three.  Our little community has been shape shifting: - also very joyous and delightful.  Firstly we were five: with Moksagandhi and Viryamani (Netherlands ) for two weeks and then we were four: joined by Acalavajri (UK) for another two weeks.  At different times, Karunavapi has joined us for a day or two at a time.  In between these visits,  Bodhipaksini and I spread our tendrils into the Spanish-speaking Mitra training retreat and cooked and (re)connected with our dharma sisters on the 10 day Ten Pillar retreat at Suryavana and joining Paramachitta, Prajnasiddhi,  Amalasiri and Karunagita.

Bodhipaksini’s and my Spanish is slowly developing and it was and is so heart opening to experience on the retreat us all stepping towards each other to (re) connect and communicate - characterised by patience, humour and good will in the listening and sharing across languages and cultures.  The week before, our community of three had attended the first dedication ceremony for the new buddhist centre of the Valencian sangha (a wonderful space and new neighbourhood to connect into).  Taking advantage of an overnight stay, we had time to walk through the amazing city river bed to the arts and science museums, and managed to stay upright bike riding to a nearby city park created out of a derelict area -thanks for the heads up Paramachitta and Saddhakara!

So it’s felt a full on time tending and preparing parts of Akashavana for specific projects as well as ongoing maintenance - let alone the hoped for women’s ordination and work retreats later this year.   

With Moksagandhi and Viryamani,  Tara’s Glade was transformed into what seems an even more magical realm to offer as a facility for a solitary ‘glamping-camping’ retreat.  Maitridaya (Netherlands) is coming towards the end of her 2 week solitary as I write.  With Acalavajri and Karunavapi we have made a good start preparing the site for the work retreat later in 2021 - to build a stupa in which we will place some of Dhardo Rinpoche’s ashes  Personally, I now have a greater sense of what a ton of rock looks like and feels like - and how many rocks and boulders a pickup can bear and how many women it takes to carry a boulder!   Such a counter to walking through carpeted pine woods to the rising up of delicate butterflies in response to the tread of feet or looking to the skies where vultures ride the evening thermals. 

Our working (and walking) days have started at 8 am in our attempts to miss the full heat of the sun - which at times has tipped 39 degrees.  Fortunately, occasionally we have managed to get to the reservoir (embalse) for a swim and even to to a beach … joining up with Siddhisvari and Karunavapi. 

In the meantime, we await the arrival of Padmasakhi in September who is joining us for a period in the community. 

Finally, as a community we have been deeply touched by the generosity of so many in response to our update on Akashavana’s financial health with no regular source of income from retreats since late 2019.   The clear expressions of love and care about Akashavana (and I’m not writing about money here) speak volumes about the place of Akashavana as a vision, a project and experience in dharmacaranis’ hearts.  I personally feel privileged to take a place in the lineage of women acting as stewards on behalf of the wider women’s wing, of this mythic land and on behalf of all beings. 

As ever we look forward to welcoming you to this realm when conditions allow.

Writing with sun shining high in the sky over mountain landscapes into the first floor lounge of Akashavana’s community house.  Outdoors from window edges to mountain ridges oaks and pines stand silently still - whilst indoors the smells  of breakfast coffee and sounds of crockery accompanied by intermittent tones of Mumukshu, Bodhipaksini .and Maitreyi vibrate through the air. 

Akashavana community welcomed Maitreyi’s return for a 2 - week ‘presidential’ visit early in September.   We (and our chapter sister  Karunavapi) delighted in Maitreyi leading and sharing her reflections on six element and stupa practices over a long weekend. (This was the theme of a 3-week retreat she and Padmasuri were due to lead in September, but which was cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions.)  The opportunity to practice alongside others in the same physical space is simply precious, and energetically very different to virtual encounters which has become the default for so many during these uncertain times. 

The first bit of news to share since our last blog, is that the Akashavana project now includes the land and ‘ruin’ of Mas de Flara which is adjacent to the community and retreat centre.  We are grateful to all the friends and supporters of Akashavana, whose energies of vision, time, practice and money have contributed to this possibility coming into being.  Mumukshu signed last week and Pedro (who had inherited the property from his uncle) also ceremonially handed her the simple iron key to the entrance door of the ruin, and this ritual moment captured in a photograph.   The timing of the purchase, brought to my mind an image of a circle being completed given that Maitreyi was present at this time. I remembered  going for a  walk with Maitreyi to the ruin when I was ordained five years ago and how she shared her long standing hope that one day Akashavana could purchase it.  She did not think it would happen in her lifetime - and it has!!   As Maitreyi says - we have secured the mandala; to us as a community it feels a radical response to uncertain times; to me it feels at its best an offering to the wider women’s wing: the potential for a fuller range of practice contexts in more ‘wilderness’ conditions of simplicity if this is what enough of us want and at the least it extends the land mass where boar will not be hunted! We will be posting pictures and more news about possibilities for Mas de Flara and Akashavana project as a whole over the coming weeks and months. 

Alongside the purchase, the combination of Brexit, Covid and autumn has meant that as a community we have had to turn our attention and creatively respond to different issues.  It’s been a practice of holding all of these lightly, whilst also being aware of time ‘deadlines‘ and that we cannot control anything.   

So, September has brought challenging mental states arising out of multiple (to date unsuccessful for Bodhipaksini and me) attempts to apply for spanish residencia - i think we are on our fifth attempt to progress this (involving long journeys and early starts to the day). Fortunately on our last visit, Mumukshu got closer to converting a more temporary residencia into a more permanent one.  Also on our ‘to do’ list is converting our English driving licences into Spanish ones.     

September has also seen us busy clarifying and putting in place  policies, protocols and practicalities from which to offer future ordination retreats.  It has been a pleasure to witness how the 2021 ordination teams (and subsequently wider private preceptors and future ordinands) have responded so positively and creatively to what we can offer under COVID restrictions.  Plans for four shorter ordination retreats instead of two longer ones have been confirmed which means that as many women as possible will be able to be ordained at Akashavana in 2021under current COVID restrictions.

More immediately, we are also delighted to welcome a Spanish ordination retreat taking place here in early October 2020.  So as September progressed, we were busy readying the retreat centre for our first retreat this year: from deep cleaning, to wooding, strimming and chainsawing to getting the spring water tested to making sure repairs are done to fitting out and reorganising the retreat centre and shrine room to meet Covid  protocols. 

And September has been a time of abundance from the earth: this time the season of blackberries, lavender and figs as well as crops of golden yellow tomatoes.  We discovered a wonderful recipe for vegan blackberry and lavender cake, which was delicious. And biting into fresh figs - food of the goddesses and gods - brought by Karunavapi from her land.

And in all this busyness staying open to experiencing this elemental landscape. Delight, joy and wonder alongside sadness are oft companions.  Joy arising in response to noticing the moon and the stars in night skies,  delight in seeing fresh fox poo; sadness in coming across a dead ibex on a track; wonder in the coming together of about 50 vultures circling high and low above the community house.  Noticing that the earth just seems to keep giving across the seasons as life arises out of the tiniest of cracks in rocks or in the slightest depth of soil, and leaves, branches, bodies of insects and .... and ... and ...  create the humus for the next generations.  Being so aware that we are the conditions for each other (human and more than human), and ongoing reflections on what are the conditions we ourselves offer and bring?

Love Satyamuni x

It’s just about a month since Amritamati left Akashavana. Somehow it feels like a lot has happened in these few weeks. Plus ça change plus c’est la meme chôse. (I don’t yet know the equivalent idiom in Español.)
Mumukshu and I said goodbye to Amritamati in Tortosa on 31 July. The date was as had originally been planned (pre Covid). The events that occurred inbetween had been nothing like the plan. I felt sadness in the parting.
The day before I waved goodbye to Satyamuni as she boarded the bus in Valderrobres, en route to Valencia to be the cook and kitchen devi for the Spanish sangha GFR retreat at Suryavana. A first in terms of supporting a retreat within Covid protocols - a first in terms of supporting a Spanish speaking retreat. It sounded like the retreat went really well and was great experience for Satyamuni which she brings back to Akashavana for the benefit of us all...
Another waving goodbye for me on the Wednesday of that week as Mumukshu boarded the bus in Valderrobres for the first leg of her journey to the UK for a visit with family. Which left one. I enjoyed a solitary couple of days spending time at home and up at the retreat centre, gradually getting on with things that need attention up there. Our work up at the retreat centre has taken a very different shape from previous years, naturally informed by the fact that there have been no retreats this year (yet! there’s still a possibility).
Satyamuni returned from the retreat at Suryavana on the Saturday and we were a household of two for the week. On Friday we drove to the coast and met up with Karunavapi for a swim in the sea (fantastic!) and then the three of us came back to the community for a practice weekend centred around the on-line Order convention. We listened to talks, had our own discussions arising from those and zoomed into rituals and meditations. Although I am largely resistant to on-line interactions, I was able to stay open to the sessions and really appreciate both the content and the huge amount of energy and work that had gone into producing the whole on-line programme and event. Being able to practice with my Dharma sisters in physical presence in tandem with etheric connection to the wider Order made all the difference.
We were happy to welcome Mumukshu back from the UK just over a week ago and are in the process of establishing our new community-of-three, gradually settling our feathers into the nest in our new configuration.
And so. It’s nearly September and today we are blessed with cooler air and a breeze. After the scorching heat of the past few weeks it feels welcome. With the breeze whispering the imminent change of season, we are preparing to say farewell to summer and to welcome in the autumn...
‘...On the mountainside a great rock stands, the great vulture circles round. This meeting and parting mark the flow of time...’ Milarepa - Song of Meeting and Parting

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

I​ came across this quote from Seneca recently and it resonated as I prepare to leave Akashavana after two years. Originally I was only coming for a year, but very quickly knew that wasn’t going to be long enough, as being in this quiet and beautiful land made me feel at home and supported by nature’s brilliance. One of my constant delights has particularly been sharing the land with the ibex, although there is a sadness there too as they have had an illness over this past year, which has decimated their population and we see far fewer of them than before. Hopefully they will breed and grow over the coming years, but for now it is a joy to sometimes meet one along the path, or hear them munching grasses outside my bedroom early in the morning. You can stand still and stare into each others eyes for quite some time and it feels a little like the communication exercises we used to do in Triratna (maybe they’re still done?). 
 

Our year here hasn’t been the usual, as I imagine is the case for all of you, with Covid-19 meaning we haven’t had any retreats at all yet and seem unlikely to have any this year now. Financially this isn’t great of course, but personally I have appreciated the time and space to do little. I’m not a ‘doer’ by nature, unlike the others on the team here who enjoy getting on with projects; I am happy to sit and learn about people and the world via podcasts or documentaries, or dive into some engrossing drama. Recently we all listened to the conversations about race, both between Suryagupta and Subhuti, and more recently the panel hosted by Vimalasara. I really recommend them. This feels such a positive move, both in the world as a whole and in our community, and I feel I’m learning about myself, society and my friends. May it long continue. 

My last month has also not been as expected...life definitely is king at the moment...but then isn’t it always. Three weeks ago my dad had a cardiac arrest and died 5 days later without ever regaining consciousness. It was hard being in Spain the first couple of days, but as the hospital wouldn’t let anyone visit my sister encouraged me to stay here, but I needed to be with her and my family, so flew over, leaving here with about an hours notice. Community shine through at times like this and Mumukshu was so kind, driving me to Tortosa over an hour away and staying the night with me there so I could catch the earliest bus out to the airport the next morning. The hospital allowed my sister, Dad’s wife and me to stay with him once they withdrew treatment, which I am very grateful for as I was very aware of those families that couldn’t be with their loved ones as they died due to Covid-19 restrictions. It was a painful but also precious 31 hours until he died. Returning to Akashavana a few days later to pack up what little I had left here seemed the best idea, but of course has meant this last couple of weeks has felt very different to how it would have if Dad hadn’t died. Trying to control life seems pointless and yet there is some need to organise too. I must admit I’ve yet to find that balance without stress or apathy taking over. 

So I leave in 3 days, no longer returning leisurely through France by train, as Covid-19 has led to the cancellation of my Barcelona to Paris train, but flying back in time for the funeral and now having to quarantine at my sister’s for 14 days before moving to Shrewsbury for yet another new beginning. A new home, a new job (neither of which I have yet!), and now a life without any living parents. I think that’s why I appreciated Seneca's quote...seeing new beginnings and remembering that everything before was also a new beginning is a way of allowing life to be king and yet staying awake to and excited by whatever is happening now and next. 

So goodbye Akashavana. I shall miss being here and the community, but it does feel like time to start anew somewhere else. I especially want to thank Mumukshu for two years of such enjoyable friendship. We were ordained together in Tuscany in 2003, but didn’t really know each other well when I arrived, but it has been a joy to share this time with her...many evenings spend playing Bananagram (a word game) with a bowl of crisps and a tonic water with ice and lemon...we became creatures of habit in those days. She works so hard to ensure Akashavana is thriving for those of you that come on retreat, and she deserves to be lauded. 

Some of you might have wondered what the team here have been doing since the lockdown began, given that our purpose for living here is to maintain the retreat centre and service the retreats, and with no retreats happening yet we have had a lot more free time. There is no normal day, but I thought I’d offer you a glimpse into our life at Akashavana at the moment.

We only keep a rough structure to our week, with a business meeting on Monday mornings, which was going over our 5 year plan for a while, but now is generally looking at the week and anything that needs to be done, such as MOTs for the cars, trips to the bank and shopping or some maintenance issues. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings we split into pairs and have a Spanish lesson...Mumukshu and Satyamuni receive work from our teacher, but she seems to have forsaken me and Bodhipakshini (we’re at a lower level), so we either use the workbook we have or read the local paper, which is full of news about fiestas cancelled or local facilities gradually reopening. Then on Thursday evening we have a community night/Chapter and we also have regular phone dates with friends or family. We enjoy participating in the Order bodhicitta practice on Sunday mornings and occasionally the Spanish language one on Monday evenings. Other than that the week is loosely planned.

However, we do start the day by meditating together at 8am in our wee shrine room, with Shakyamuni on the main shrine of old wooden planks and Dhardo Rimpoche’s ashes on a smaller shrine beside it, awaiting the time we build a stupa to house them, which we hope will be late next year. We start the meditation by chanting the positive precepts in Spanish, which helps to both remind us of our desire to live by ethics and also that we are indeed in Spain, which isn’t always that obvious unless we leave the mountain. Some of the community are usually up a couple of hours before meditation, but others are later risers, so there’s time to drink tea and read some Dharma beforehand. Then the day unfolds...some people go for a short walk, or make a phone call, or have breakfast. Then there’s either a meeting or people head off to town to shop or go to the retreat centre to do some work, or stay here to keep going with the pizza oven project. One of our ‘projects’ has been to wash all the old blankets from the retreat centre, which took a while as we can only wash two at a time and only when the sun is out enough to ensure there’s solar power for the machine. It’s been very satisfying getting them done. And then there are more phone calls to friends, usually in the UK. Occasionally we have a practice day together up at the retreat centre or we all go for a longer walk around here, which we are very lucky to be able to do during this time of restrictions.

We eat together about 3pm, taking turns to cook each day. It’s quite Spanish to eat the main meal about then, but we choose to do this mainly as we all feel it’s better for our digestion not to eat later, although some people might also snack and of course copious amounts of tea and coffee are consumed throughout the day. One of the knock on effects of the lockdown is that normally one or two of us would have visited the UK by now and brought back lots of decent tea, but we’re slowly running out, although Bodhipakshini has just received a gift of two packets of lapsang suchong, so we’ll eke it out! Three of the community are keen cooks, hence the pizza oven project, so we eat well and the lockdown hasn’t adversely affected what foods we can buy...it’s only recently that the decent toilet roll has started to vanish even!

After our meal another walk might be taken or more maintenance work and phone calls, or you might find Satyamuni dozing on the sun lounger, Amritamati plugged into a podcast sitting on the depósito, Mumukshu spinning wool in her room or Bodhipakshini listening to a course on story telling. The evenings are generally spent reading, writing, watching films or listening to podcasts...and more phone calls. 

During the lockdown each one of us has taken the opportunity to have a more solitary time, mainly up at the retreat centre, but Mumukshu has chosen to have a ‘soliday’ at a wee house by the reservoir. We all signed up to do Vajradarshini’s wabisabi/lakshanas retreat and two of the community are starting Kamalashila’s retreat soon, so it’s been great to have some Dharma input from far away, as it helps a feeling of connection with our wider movement. Listening to talks and joining an occasional online meditation also makes a difference, so while we might be quite physically isolated here we definitely feel connected in other ways. What a different experience this would have been 10 or 20 years ago with less online activity. We’re very grateful to the team at thebuddhistcentre for helping us all stay in communication as a sangha.

Stay well and healthy everyone. 
 

It’s day 53 of lockdown, I think! After some days of torrential rain last week and an amazing storm with sheet lightening that illuminated the house one evening we are today basking in the sunshine. Bodhipakshini has gone to Valderrobres to do the shop, Mumukshu is on the phone with our president Maitreyi and Satyamuni is cooking lunch. I’ve just attempted to make ciabatta for the first time, but it’s looking more like a simple loaf of bread rather than the airy loaf I was after...tastes good though.
 

The time seems to have been passing fast and we’re often amazed to find the evening has arrived before we know it. The relativity of time appears heightened during this period and dependence on human created time of minutes, hours and days seems somewhat irrelevant, other than when we want to ensure we join the Order in the bodhicitta practice or phone friends and family who are expecting a call at a specific time. What would it be like to live a more spontaneous life with less clock watching and settling solely into our own natural rhythm? Many of us will have had an experience of this on solitary retreat, but as a collective it’s an unusual event. Without covid-19 we’d be regulating our week around vegetable shopping, team meetings, talks we could attend etc. For now we have a loose structure, endeavouring to continue our Spanish class twice weekly, although self led, a business meeting once a week and community night. Add to that the bodhicitta practice twice a week (both the full Order practice and the Spanish speaking Order) and the week flies by.
 

We're very aware of how different our experience is here and how the lockdown has only had a small practical impact on us and our thoughts do turn to others for whom it is a much harder time. Even within Spain we were lucky in being able to walk outside whenever we want in this vast and beautiful landscape. It’s only been a week since others in the country have been allowed outside to exercise and enjoy fresh air and space again, and as many in Spain live in flats it will have been a long time since they walked further than the supermarket around the corner. Last night one of the older male ibex with his huge horns was just outside my window chomping noisily on the rough plants and grass. Being so close to nature is one of the many delights of life here. We’ve enjoyed seeing videos on the news of animals coming into towns and cities during this time, such as the kangaroo in Adelaide and the beautiful goats in Llangollen. We don’t know if the ibex have ventured anywhere near the village! 
 

This month we’re all taking part in Vajradarshini’s wabi sabi and the lakshanas course online, so it’s fun to take beautiful photos of not conventionally beautiful objects and share them with others doing likewise. There have been some fantastic images. There’s so much to chose from online, which is wonderful, but almost overwhelming at times. This seems like something manageable around other projects on the go here, such as a pizza oven being built outside, reorganising the shrine store at the retreat centre or constructing a bender so we can more easily sit outside in the baking sun or the pouring rain. We find enough to occupy us as well as plenty of time to relax, read, walk etc.

Wishing you all well in these continuing strange times. 

So, here we are two weeks into the lockdown in Spain, four women who have only been living together roughly the same length of time, getting to know each other and luckily finding we laugh a lot...over Spanish practice, which recently involved learning a song which we recorded and sent back to our teacher (or nuestro maestro!)...europop still rules it seems...and also over a number of amusing video clips sent by friends around the coronavirus (sometimes humour is needed to cope with something so devastating for so many. If you’ve seen “Option B” you’ll know what I mean!). We have different rhythms and different likes and dislikes, but seem to be happily accommodating each other. 

We’re aware we are blessed to be somewhere so spacious and beautiful during this time and we can go for long walks locally without seeing a soul. Pictures in the news of empty streets in the world’s cities are a striking reminder of how the lives of others have been so radically changed, but up here, 7km from our nearest neighbours in the village we look out on a scene that doesn’t appear to have changed much...rustling oaks and pines, the occasional passing lizard or ibex, the solidity of Peñarroya rock up above, the thick brilliance of the cloudy sky. All seems more-or-less the same, but of course it’s always in constant flux, even if in a much less explicit way than streets and parks being emptied of crowds. 

For us there are a few obvious changes though. Most prominent has been the cancellation of the three month ordination retreat, which has been quite an adjustment as it’s probably our central focus all year. Suddenly, instead of cleaning the retreat centre from top to bottom and buying in all the necessities, we’re faced with an open three months together, with work to continue to do, but of a different nature. Amritamati was going to be on the team for the retreat, so she’s recalibrating to life in the community until she returns to the UK in August (although, like everything, that is quite provisional now), but she’s seeing the plus side too...not having to share a room for three months for instance, or stressing over the special diets! Mostly we’re thinking of the women who were due to come and what a change of momentum this is for them. But it’s a good reminder that life is indeed king. 

Another change is that only one of us can go into town to shop at any one time, otherwise we risk a €1000 fine, so we’re missing the sociability of having a coffee with friends before our Spanish class or exploring new places together, but these are small things in the face of what the world is experiencing. Unfortunately the village seems to have a name and shame policy for anyone venturing outside for no apparent good reason, so again we benefit from our isolation. Step outside unnecessarily and your name and ‘crime’ is texted to everyone! 

For now, despite the horrendous death toll in Spain, we’re all healthy and expect to continue to be so considering how little contact we have with anyone other than ourselves. We hope the same can be said for you all. 
 

Our year began with the preparations for the 3 month ordination retreat, and we thought all was ready when we discovered the lower water tank was completely empty, an animal had broken a pipe and all the water 20,000 litres had flowed down the hill ! Fortunately we were able to have it fixed pretty quickly and begin filling it again and also fortunately, we had another full tank ! That was enough of a heart stopper one may have thought – but Mara had other plans … The day the retreatants arrived something went wrong with the electricity, which meant no pump to get the water into the house, and no lights!

What a start to the retreat! We filled buckets from the rainwater tank to bring in for washing and of course the solar water is gravity fed so that was OK in the kitchen. It was quite atmospheric with lots of night lights about the place. This too was fixed the next day. We were very impressed and touched by how quickly all the repairers came to our aid, they all seem to share in the responsibility for all these women up a mountain!

Once the retreat had settled in, we were able to take some time to catch up with friends and family – Mumukshu's came to her and the rest of us went to our homelands to see ours. We were all back together in the community by the time the preceptors came. We took over the cooking for that period of time too – a first for us during this retreat. It is always a busy time for the community so we were glad to be four sharing these extra duties! The public ordination day went well, was full of joy and celebration. Great to be able to witness another 12 women enteriung the order !

At the end of June I (Acalavajri) left for the US to be on retreat in San Francisco with Viveka and Paramananda. The community were most generous in supporting me taking a couple of months away during the final phase of the ordination course and the busiest time of the year with retreats coming afterwards. I really appreciated this gift.

Whilst there was a gap in the calendar – Mumukshu went off to the UK, to see family briefly, attend the Buddhafield festival and then on to the European Chairs Assembly at Vajrasana. Shridaya's daughter, son and his girlfriend came to stay for a few days at the community. Vikasini was left fielding all the bookings and communications for the two week ordination retreat, as well as all the other admin that goes on here. The two of them then prepared for the Bodhiheart retreat, which began on 24th July, and Vijayamala and Moksanandi led everyone expertly through the Tonglen practice and the seven point mind training in a very experiential and spacious way. The eleven retreatants really appreciated the teachings and left changed.

We then sadly, said 'goodbye' to Shridaya – she felt that it was no longer possible for her to stay as a member of the community here. Her health was not 100% and there were pulls from other directions. We miss her and naturally, wish her well.

During the Summer we had some shocking news - a straw-bale house built and run by friends as a rural hotel was completely burnt down. They were out for the day, no-one was hurt, but they lost everything, all their possessions plus 7 hectares of surrounding pine trees and bush. It has made us think again about building the solitaries with straw bales, mainly because the planning authorities are going to be less likely to approve the plans. Mumukshu and a local agent have been independently researching about building with earth, a traditional and popular material in Spain far more likely to be approved of here where fire is such a hazard. They have been using this method at Eco Dharma. There will be more discussions and decisions – but we are still hopeful to begin the build in the latter part of 2018.

We have just said goodbye to the folk on the 2 week ordination retreat, which was the largest we have had with 15 ordinands, 13 preceptors, 3 public preceptors plus me as organiser and Siddhisvari came again from Barcelona to be our cook. Another great day witnessing the public ordinations and we have now had 215 Ordinations in the shrine room – a lineage that will continue down the years ahead.

Currently, we are hosting the 10 year reunion retreat for those pioneering women who were ordained here in 2007 – the very first year that Akashavana was open for retreats. There were 14 women in 2007 who bravely came up the mountain to a 'just finished' retreat centre and 11 of them have returned this week. Sadly, one of the 14 died and one resigned in the intervening years … and one cannot make it for family reasons. They are seeing some changes in each other and in the retreat centre. Things are much easier these days on the mountain than they were ten years ago ..

The community here is changing too – Vikasini will leave us in November as she too, like Shridaya, feels that she can no longer stay on the mountain and I will be leaving sometime next year. So Mumukshu is currently looking for others to come and join her in this wonderful place. We have some interest – both from prospective community members and from possible short-term volunteers. Its heartening to know that Akashavana is firmly in the heart of the Triratna Community and its future is secure.

"What a beautiful, peaceful valley alternately scoured and cooked by weather patterns that clearly haven't heard of 'the middle way'.  My ten days there went from hot-water bottle, lumber jacket and woolly hat (all borrowed I'm afraid, my girl guide camping badge is now sadly forfeit) to coveting the shade.  So maybe I didn't manage to embrace the cold; there was no problem, however, luxuriating in the wood-burning stove, slippers and coffee...Thank you Community for hugging us in!  I loved the taste of community life, the nitty-gritty practicalities shared with generosity and enthusiasm, so often turning to do something and finding that it has already been taken care of by another. Having plans and having to let them saunter off. The vibrant, enriching conversations, the laughing, the superb food.  Seeing inspired practical solutions, learning on many other levels besides, not always comfortable of course.  The kindness, so heart-warming.  Sitting in the loo-palace in full-throttle thunderstorm: waterfalls of rain, backlit by intense sunlight, indulging in a Niagra Falls impression on the corrugated roof. Fabulous. Knowing that just over the mountain 16 women have recently been ordained and wondering what that feels like. 

Looking at a photo of the rising solstice moon up on the 'Sunset rocks' elicited a bright flood of gratitude and contentment.  I feel very fortunate to have been able to share the Dharma in such a precious context. Living and working together in Akashavana, even for a relatively brief period, has expanded and deepened my sense of sangha and been a very confirming experience in terms of Triratna being my practice 'home'.  I hope to jump in for another stint next year!

It has been a busy summer at Akashavana, with a great bunch of women camping at the community to do lots of work with us. A few of them have promised to write something for this blog, and this is the first contribution, from Colette Power. The news of the uk vote to leave the EU came through when the first volunteers had been with us for a week or so. You will see the relevance.

Instant in a Mug with Cows

'You better make sure you vote', Jayne said, and I thought, hmmf…what's all the fuss about…we're just going through the motions…we won't leave…what will be the good of that?! Anyway, I arranged to vote by proxy while I was away and left for France. I spent ten days or so there, hanging out with friends…most of them German…one French. I then headed for Spain. I was going to work on a building project with a group of women. The group was made up of wo...men from UK, Holland, Sweden. We would spend the next weeks together up a mountain in pretty fundamental conditions. We would work together and look out for each other.

We took turns to make breakfast every morning. One of the Dutch women (mg) showed me how to make coffee. Surely I knew how to make coffee?! Perhaps not? I gave up the burden of thinking I have to know everything…moved close…listened. That old UK style…instant in a chipped mug with cows milk was history. We made coffee in 3 stainless steel percolators. We packed the fine, dark, aromatic powder into the perforated cup, filled the little wells with spring water and screwed on the body. It was careful and delicate work…a daily ritual…something of grace in it. We placed the pot on the stove and waited while it bubbled and gurgled. Then we heated cold, creamy soya milk in a pan and when it was warm through whisked it hard until the pan was filled with delight…a white, bright, air-filled foam. We carried the pots and the pan carefully down the hill, down the path made from red earth and loose stones.

The Dutch woman poured the black coffee into a deep wide glass and when she added the milk something beautiful and fascinating happened...things came together...the whiteness and the darkness...the milk sank down and the coffee let it…let itself be transformed….let itself be turned slowly and rhythmically into something lighter…and the milk gave up its whiteness…let go of going solo…of being separate…and the fusion was exquisite…clouds of white billowing into the darkness…a movement of colour and form… swirling… entwining…combining…and what was separate joined... and what was either/or became something new…something both dark and light and creamy and powerful.
Then the woman spooned froth onto the surface of the coffee and the milk… and it sat like a lace crown…delicate...vulnerable… and the whole thing was like a celebration of something that had been made…together…carefully… with the kind of attention that is the foundation of love…and (given the primitiveness of the environment) made with hope.
It tasted so good.
While we were drinking the coffee, another Dutch women asked me why 'we' ('the British') wanted to leave. I felt intensely sad...and I just couldn't think of one reason why we might want to do that…
to leave…
to separate…again…
to go it alone…
to keep on pretending we're an island...
and that we dont need each other...

The new year is well and truly underway and the community of 3 is fully occupied with the 'work-in' … three weeks of working with volunteers to prepare the retreat centre for the season ahead.

So, who is in community at the moment ? Well, the resident community currently is Manigarbha, Mumukshu and me – Acalavajri. This is going to change though later in the year as Manigarbha has sadly made the decision to leave the community. She will be returning the Netherlands to support activities there. So we are getting used to that news and at the same time hoping that we will have a new community member to fill the gap (if thats possible).

The three of us were reunited back on the mountain in February having spent time off the mountain visiting with family, friends or going on retreat. It was good to be reunited again and catch up with each others news and we welcomed Maitreyi to the community at the end of February for a weeks 'presidential visit'. We did some study as well as hanging out together. She was inducted into life on the mountain when the snow falls …. and she only just made it off the mountain when it was time to leave. We were also able to begin looking at what 2016 may bring – and its really exciting, though a little daunting too. Not only do we have another full retreat programme there are many projects that will hopefully come to fruition in 2016.

Firstly though – the retreats. There is one retreat this year which is open to all Dharmacarinis. Vijayamala, Srisambhava and Moksanandi will be here for two weeks from 21st September to 5th October leading a retreat entitled 'Deepening Freedom', which will be an exploration of Sadhana and Insight in what they have called 'the sky palace of Akashavana'. Check out the website for more information.

The others are by invitation only but still keep us busy The first of which is the three month ordination course which starts early next month … there are 16 ordinands who will be led through the course by a team of 5 led once again by Padmasuri. This is the biggest number of ordinands for a few years and it will be great to see them all join the order. Then we welcome back those who were ordained here in 2011 for their 'Reunion Retreat'. This years feels particularly poignant as it was the first time that Manigarbha and I were supporting an Ordination Retreat when we came as volunteers that year.

September sees the 2 week Ordination retreat and the calendar is rounded off with a new initiative from Maitreyi. Excitingly, she is having a 3 week retreat here with the women she has privately ordained – well, as many of them as can possibly come. She is expecting quite a good turn out and we are already starting to take bookings.

Secondly, the projects … our first project has been successfully completed. We have a new car !!! Our trusty white Berlingo is leaving us and is replaced with another Berlingo half its age and one that has heating !!! No longer do we have to travel in the colder months wrapped in blankets and holding hot water bottles (not easy when you need two hands on the steering wheel). Happily we sold the white Berlingo to Rujimati and Siddhisvari (in Barcelona), so she is staying in the 'family'.

Our next project, currently underway, is building a new space at the retreat centre … We are having help with the construction (when the weather allows), but the design is ours. We cannot say more at this time – you will just have to come and see what it is and where it is ….

The next project should be fitting in towards the end of the month – solar water heaters are to be installed at the retreat centre AND at the community. These improvements have only been made possible by the fantastic fundraising achievement of Santacitta and all those who kindly donated.

These installations will save us money on bottled gas which we currently use to heat water … and will help save some of the earths precious resources. Thanks.

I guess the biggest project by far – is the proposed building of two solitary cabins this summer. They will be built using straw bales and once again we will be indebted to a vast team of volunteers who will be coming in to help us with the construction. We will have Barbara Jones and 'Strawworks' in tutorship throughout the build, so we are in good hands and we will be learning lots of new skills.

Finally, we will get to tick off one of the prime objectives for Akashavana – that of offering women the opportunity to come to these mountains for a solitary experience. With being able to build 2 cabins …. we may be able to offer longer solitaries in one as well as the more usual 2-3 weeks in the other. We will let you know when we will be in a position to take your booking !!

So, thats it for now – hope to see some of you at the Convention in the Summer.