Akashavana

Dear Friend

I am writing to all Order members worldwide, and all mitras who have requested ordination, regarding the international women’s ordination retreat centre in Spain, formerly known as Aranya. The nature of this letter is twofold: primarily informative, with a request for financial help at the end.

Most of you will know of the property-search, which started soon after the turn of the century. The long search, combined with impressive generosity in raising and giving funds, led to the eventual acquisition of some remote and beautiful 270 acres of forested, mountainous, craggy land, enfolding two ruined properties, sitting majestically beneath vast canopies of sky in the province of Aragon, in north-eastern Spain. Planning permission was laboriously obtained. First the community house was renovated by Sangha members, and in the last months the retreat centre itself has been ‘raised from the ashes’ of a dilapidated farmhouse to our particular requirements by Spanish and Brazilian builders. We are finally at the point of planning our first 3-month long ordination retreat there in the late Spring of 2007. Furthermore we have re-named ‘Aranya’: though it is a name most Buddhists esteemed with its suggestion of retreating from the world, unfortunately it means ‘spider’ in Spanish – (and Aranyaloka means ‘mad spider!’) So the retreat property and land is now called Akashavana – ‘the forest retreat of luminous space.’ And very fitting that name is!

For years women in the west have needed to hire venues in which to hold our long ordination retreats: a school, an alternative centre, and many years at Il Convento. And each year an immense amount of energy has gone into setting up and ‘converting’ these venues into conducive retreat environments only to be deconstructed a few weeks later. Due to a number of factors - a major one being the availability of a venue - 7 weeks has been the longest ordination retreat any woman in the WBO has attended to date.

I clearly remember 20 years ago, at a celebration of WBO day, watching a video about the then newly acquired Guhyaloka. Three things stick in my mind from that presentation: an uplifting vision to support Going Forth from the world; the wonderful rock formations; and an exuberant Subhuti talking in Spanish to some of the locals… I couldn’t help wondering, with a little envy, when we Dharmacharinis might get our own such retreat centre and hold 3-4 month retreats.

Twenty years is a long time to wait. But I believe what we now have has been well worth waiting for. In May, Ratnadharini and I paid a visit to Akashavana for the first time, doing a camping retreat in a hidden glade between community house and retreat centre (a good half-hour walk in different directions from each), primarily to get a feel for the environment, the atmosphere, and to let the imaginative juices flow in preparation for next years’ course.

The honey-coloured stone walled retreat centre itself is poised in surroundings more magnificent than any photos I’d seen had conveyed, and has 360 degree panoramic views. While to one side the craggy rocks rise up into blue space, the other way you have far-flung vistas out towards the sea, over ancient terraces, forests and almond trees, with the occasional hilltop villages just in view. On the paths around we brushed up against rosemary and lavender bushes, trod on thyme, sage and other wild herbs beneath the scented pine trees. At that time of year there was a plethora of tiny wild flowers: predominantly delicate blue flax and, as companions, miniature white flowers on slender stems. We became aware of fading purple irises on a walkway from the retreat centre and noticed wild roses about to bloom around the enchanted, verdant spring. The mountains and rock formations are majestic, and vultures circle overhead in the silence. I got a genuine sense of the vastness of space while enjoying the intimacy of detail in the natural world at my feet. At night we had in turn, heavy rain, and high winds, and complete stillness such that you could hear beetles move around the tent. While I believe winters can be very cold with heavy snowfalls – no doubt bringing it’s own magic - for us in the daytime the sun was hot and air clear with cloudless skies. Herb-scented breezes, cicadas and humming bees, and fresh spring water delighted the senses. The whole environment felt far removed from the world in a way so rare in Europe today. ‘How lucky we are,’ I kept thinking, while feeling a great deal of gratitude to all those who have and still are hands-on guiding the initial vision through it’s elongated gestation, lengthy labour and near birth, accompanied along the way by many uncertainties and frustrations. Most notably, and out in the thick of it right now: Vajradevi, Vijayasri and Bianca. But perhaps the birth will only be complete when a kesa goes around the neck of the first ordinand next summer!

We agreed to the purchase of the property very much hoping that the local planning law would permit the creation of a separate purpose-built shrine room. Now we have that permission, so are constructing a separate hall 3-4 minutes walk from the living quarters, out of hearing from kitchen clanking or patter of feet in other parts of the centre. It should comfortably accommodate 30 meditators. Due to the contours and undulations of the land it will not even be in view of the main centre: consequently a place to sit on undisturbed in meditation any time of day or night. We are enabled, financially, to go ahead with this last major building work by procuring loans on extremely generous terms from one Sangha member and Tiratanaloka to whom we are exceedingly grateful. This final building work is about to start.

Although the principal use for Akashavana will be long ordination retreats we are also keen to hold other long meditation retreats for Dharmacharinis, inviting some of our experienced teachers from across the globe to run such events. Gradually we hope to have a few solitary facilities (there is already a yurt in use), which will be available to women mitras and Order members, and an evolving support community. The particular flavour of Akashavana, as distinct from our other UK-based retreat centres, is of it being far removed from the busyness of the world: a place outwardly as well as inwardly to ‘go forth’, comprising basic eco-friendly facilities, honouring the simple and reflective life of a Dharma practitioner – a ‘forest retreat of luminous space’ for generations to come. None of this could have happened without the big-hearted financial help already received from many of you.

Which leads me finally to the fundraising element mentioned at the start of this letter. To date a staggering £600,000 has been raised for the project as a whole, including £100,000 made from interest, tax repayments, and a nifty bit of currency conversion at the right moment. However, we’re not quite there. In order to pay for the separate shrine room we had to go over our budget, yet it was never our intention to start running retreats with loans still to pay off. Once up and running it will be pioneering and unpredictable work for the support community, for living in the mountains, with it’s changeable climate, and erratic communication systems (which can leave you cut off for days on end, as has already been experienced) means that whoever lives there will have to be especially resourceful and totally reliant on one another. Furthermore, there are bound to be some unforeseen expenditures in the future. If we can start operating the project without having the extra strain of inherited monetary concerns, those living there will be free to concentrate on getting on with the job in hand – that of maintaining the properties, facilitating the retreats and creating a conducive environment for keeping alive the Buddha’s eternal legacy. Akashavana income itself won’t start coming in until the Spring of next year, so if we could pay off the shrine room loans, £30,000 worth, as soon as we can, then the running costs thereafter will hopefully pay for themselves and ‘we’ll be on our own.’

If any of you receiving this letter could help by giving money, enabling us to pay off that £30,000 loan, or can pass on the letter to others you think might be interested, we would be incredibly grateful. Gifts, however small or large, are very welcome indeed and will be of significant assistance. Appreciative thanks already to Padmaloka, who have recently given a £500 donation, another two £1,000 donations from a Dharmacharini and a Dharmachari, and further contributions from an appeal on the June women’s national Order weekend. With a bit of luck this will be our last fundraising appeal of this kind for many a decade as Akashavana realizes it’s initial vision – a mythic retreat location for the benefit of women practitioners in the FWBO worldwide, now and for generations to come, who are intent on making Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels ever more deep and real.

Yours in the Dharma,

Padmasuri on behalf of the Akashavana steering group:
[Maitreyi, Vajradevi, Vijayasri, Kulaprabha, Ratnadharini, Padmasuri.]

For us the easiest form of payment is by cheque
Cheques
Make a donation by cheque (UK Sterling) payable to
ARANYA
Please send cheques to:
‘Aranya’
c/o Samagita
79 Green Lane
Lancaster LA1 2EZ
UK

Standing orders:
If you would like a form please call Samagita on 01524 389705 and she will send you a form.

Bank Transfers - a good method of payment for those not based in the UK
And the info you will need:
BIC: LOYDGB21295
IBAN: GB78 LOYD 3094 7401 5173 19
ARANYA FWBO SARANA
Sort code: 30 94 74
Acc no: 0151 7319

Gift Aid
Please state if you are a UK tax-payer and wish us to claim gift aid on your donation.

Gift aid is 28 pence in the pound so if you were to give a donation, say of £50, we would actually receive £64; or if you were to donate £1000 we would receive £1,280. A note to go with your gift is fine, no need for a form as such.

For further information and pictures of Akashavana do browse the website. http://www.akashavana.org

And thanks for reading all this.

Padmasuri is based in Cambridge, UK. She is the author of ‘But Little Dust’, an account of her experiences working as a nurse and a Buddhist in India among the Dalit community. She was among the first three Dharmacarinis to conduct ordinations of women in India into the Western Buddhist Order. She has since ordained several women in the West and will co-lead the first 3 month Ordination Retreat at Akashavana starting next April. Padmasuri is a member of the ‘Aranya Group’ who meet regularly to talk through a whole range of issues relating to Akashavana.