May 2015

Bhante's secretary Ashavajit writes: "Here at Adhisthana, spring has truly begun. The cuckoo has been heard not just once but many times, little brilliantly-coloured wild flowers are to be seen everywhere, and Sanghadeva’s constant gardening is providing vivid splashes of colour at strategic points on the campus. The trees are dressed in myriad greens, and on the warmer days Bhante has been able to walk up and down beside the pond and even to sit in the sun.

He has been sleeping quite well, though with the occasional not-so-good night. This means that, on the whole, he has had sufficient energy to attend to his emails and letters, though not always to respond at the length he would have liked, and to receive quite a number of visitors. He has also listened attentively to Shabda and enjoyed various talking books. His appetite is good, as I have witnessed regularly at lunch time, and he has been taking his regular exercise walking up and down the corridor of the Urgyen Annexe several times a day.

He has been studying the Sandhinirmochana Sutra with Paramartha in the conservatory in the evenings, and after supper, Suvajra tells me, has occasionally been quite talkative.

This will be the last Sangharakshita Diary written by me since I am standing down as Bhante’s secretary at the end of this month. Mahamati will be standing in until a new man is able to take up the post. See my reporting-in for more about this. Here is my list of people, apart from his carers, whom Bhante has seen this month: Angela (Melbourne friend of Chittaprabha), Candradasa, Dennie, Elena, Karunamaya, Kate Clarke, Lizzie, Maitreyi, Maria, Mokshajyoti, Punyamala, Ratnaguna, Sobhanandi, Sona and Viriyavasin.

With much metta, Ashvajit