Akashavana

‘Emptiness and the Great Compassion’
led by Kulaprabha and Maitrivajri

The Order Retreat at Akashavana in 2008 is not quite a month long but almost, partly connected with Kulaprabha’s retreat commitments and partly to avoid everyone travelling to and from Valderobres on a Sunday when there are no buses.

The retreat is in two phases:

Dependent Origination - a Praise of the Buddha, 16 - 29 Sept. Led by Kulaprabha

The Great Compassion, 29 Sept - 13 Oct. Led by Maitrivajri

Cost for the whole time is £500, or you can book on either of the two phases for £325. For enquiries email info@akashavana.org. Your booking will be confirmed on receipt of a deposit of £50 - cheques payable to ARANYA.

Click on the retreat links below for further information:

• Dependent Origination - a Praise of the Buddha, 16-29 Sep 08
• The Great Compassion, 29 Sept – 13 Oct 08

Satyalila has written about her time on the 2007 ordination retreat at Akashavana on her weblog:

http://www.satyalila.cx/?m=200711

Kulaprabha’s account of the 2007 ordination retreat is on her weblog:

http://kulaprabha.net/?p=64

Subhadramati (above) was on the team for the first women’s three month ordination retreat which took place this spring at Akashavana. Here is her description of life on retreat. Photos taken on the retreat can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/akashavana/

Out on the terrace a couple of women are sewing a new blue robe, cut from a discarded bed-sheet. Another is making a patchwork square to be part of a ‘communal’ blanket for a new grandchild whose birth is expected while we are here. Three more are cheerfully perspiring as they wheelbarrow away loads of rubble in anticipation of a ‘Zen Garden, outside the shrine room. Another prunes the wild-rose bushes whose delicate pink and white petals have just come into bloom. Someone else is trampling her laundry in the outdoor washtubs before carrying off the rinse-water to the vegetable garden - ingeniously constructed to be goat-proof by Ratnadharini. A few will be following logging trails and goat-paths in the mountains, perhaps a more experienced walker leading the way for others. Maybe they will bring back a fossil - the perfect spiral of a seashell, or the delicate dome of a sea urchin cast in stone. Yet others are simply sitting, sipping tea, gazing at the sheer white vertical of the cliff, crowned with pine trees and graced by the flights of vultures.

And all of this in silence.

In a while three of us will prepare a simple feast from local ingredients: aubergines, field mushrooms, white beans, olive oil. Then we will all file along the mountain path to the shrine-room: past the Milarepa rupa who sits happily on a rock surrounded by flower offerings; past the carpet of blue starry flowers in the shade of the Spanish oak trees; past the white-cherry tree whose fruits ripen by the day; past the terrace wall whose crumbling stones have split to reveal troves of glistening white quartz. And sometimes when we reach the shrine-room we pause for a moment in hushed delight to watch the wild goats frolic on the grassy bank, amidst the scents of sage, lavender, rosemary and thyme.

Throughout this time the theme of renunciation has been strong, sparked off by Vijayasri’s inspiration by Milarepa. Many of us have cropped our hair but I would not say that this has made us look less beautiful! In fact, when I look around what I see is radiance!

There are 21 of us here (and a team of three at the support community, an hours walk away, who keep us supplied with food and other essentials). Fourteen women are here to be ordained, two Order members, recently ordained are taking the opportunity of a longer retreat, and five of us are on the team. And what a talented bunch of women! We have nurses, a doctor, a vet, wielders of chainsaws and pickaxes, excellent cooks and bakers of bread, songsters, calligraphers, gardeners. But it’s not just that these women are talented. From literally the first moment of arrival, there has been a willingness to co-operate and share to a remarkable degree. No one has drawn a line around herself with ‘this is my duty and no further will I go’; instead everyone seems overflowing with helpfulness and willingness. And perhaps none more so than the team itself. So Ratnadharini moves gracefully between being the overall leader of the retreat and preparing for the private and public ordinations, to gleefully beholding the healthy young lettuces she has carefully nurtured from seed. Padmasuri is as willing and able to concoct lunch from yesterday’s leftovers, as to devise and lead a splendid and celebratory Wesak festival. Vijayasri can one-day transport us to another realm with a richly imaginative ritual, and then fix the squeaking doors with candlewax. Dhammadassin faithfully leads the early-morning meditation, then just as faithfully walks down to the spring to collect our daily drinking water.

I hope others will be able to tell you of the splendour of the dark-blue and indigo irises, the sensuousness of the rain-soaked, deep-pink peonies and the exuberance of the scarlet poppies.

This month marks a big change as Vajradevi comes to the end of her work for Akashavana, now that the building project is on the edge of completion. I want to celebrate her and all that she has achieved. I have worked closely with Vajradevi for more than two years, she has become a dear friend as well as an inspiration to me, an example of what can be achieved through vision, boldness and determination.

Vajradevi first caught the enthusiasm for this project from her preceptor Sanghadevi on her post ordination retreat. Sanghadevi spoke about a women’s retreat centre especially dedicated to ordination, somewhere that women can go to experience a real sense of Going Forth. Vajradevi had an immediate response - ‘I want to do that’, which came with a mental picture of herself driving a jeep up a rocky track. To her surprise, no-one else was queueing up to volunteer - she thought there would be other offers. She was very happy to be trusted with the freedom to go ahead with the project.

For the first two years after her ordination Vajradevi worked as secretary to Srimala and Sanghadevi, and prepared for the beginning of the first stage, fundraising. The fundraising campaign was launched in 2000 with its defining image of a forested island, seemingly floating in space. Vajradevi took advise from a skilled fundraiser, Samayasri, and their bold and creative approach proved highly successful, raising their target of around £600,000 in two years. She told me that when she approached one senior order member she asked for feedback about her fundraising style, he told her she needed to be ‘more cheeky’, advice which she definitely took on board.

So having banked a large sum of money, the next stage began with the property search. At this point Moksanandi became involved and she and Vajradevi would tour Spain, driving from estate agent to estate agent in hire cars, following up possible leads. Sometimes Vajradevi would go on property searches on her own, a daunting task. She described how often at the beginning of these trips she would feel intense fear as she got on the plane to go out. And during this time there were several occasions when hopes would be raised and dashed. I joined the property search towards the end and I can testify how very hard it is to keep an even mind in the midst of so many raised and lowered hopes.

What I especially admire in Vajradevi during this time is the degree to which she would not compromise the original vision. There were many properties that might have ‘done’, maybe not exactly what we wanted, perhaps a bit too close to a road, or not quite as much land as we would have liked, but Vajradevi decided against property after property, because it wasn’t quite good enough. After two years of this it was possible to wonder whether the right place would ever come along, but it did.

And so began the third stage, the building project, when Vajradevi and I worked closely together. She has tremendous energy and courage, always taking the next step forwards and never prevaricating, this is part of the reason that the project has kept moving forwards so quickly. Two things that I have especially appreciated about working with her - firstly that she knows how to balance hard work with a lot of fun, secondly that her commitment to her meditation practice is strong and unwavering. I think that both these qualities mean that she can bear responsibility lightly and not allow herself to be overwhelmed when things get difficult.

So, I will miss her on the project, it’s been fantastic to spend this time with her. She has given a tremendous gift to the order, and I want to say thank you, Vajradevi for this, for all the fun and friendship, and wish you well in all your next steps. I know that many others will say the same.

Vijayasri