Peace and Goodwill

Sāmanera Visuddhi's blessing

With the 'Quiet Week' over we've returned this week to our regular routine of early morning and evening pujas plus morning work around the monastery before the meal. This stable foundation, upon which we practice, supports our calm hilltop refuge which in turn attracts visitors from afar. So this week Kusala House has begun to fill up with guests looking to share our peaceful haven over the festive season. Not for them the illuminated high streets crowded with seasonal shoppers, just our simple country lane accompanied by the flocks of jackdaws above and the occasional passing bhikkhu.

Also settling back into a routine has been Ajahn Punnyo; home now and back at the heart of things Ajahn Punnyo has been kept active, even going so far as Carlisle to visit the group there. And despite being thousands of miles away in Asia Ajahn Munindo also has been keeping a busy schedule although he finds time to send us all goodwill (and remind us how warm it is in Thailand). With Samanera Visuddhi returning from 'woodworking duty' at Chithurst next Tuesday and even more guests gathering at Kusala House, the community here is preparing for a harmonious and joyful end to December.

Beneath the Surface

Ajahn Munindo and Venerable Nyanamoli in Kuala Lumpur

Although designated a monastic 'Quiet Week' when our community withdraws from work projects and personal interaction to focus on individual practice this week's silent time was accompanied by the sounds of our car park being surfaced. Despite the potentially distracting noises community members and guests paid little heed to the superficial external activity and instead mindfully went about their own deeper work, probing and enquiring beneath surface appearances. Visitors to the monastery are now able to smoothly drive into the Kusala House car park plus it is easier for wheelchair users and walking upon.

As reported last week Ajahn Munindo and Venerable Nyanamoli departed with a 'not for sure' journey ahead of them, however as is clear from the photo, our intrepid spiritual travellers made it happily to Kuala Lumpur. Latest sightings place them in Bangkok, from where Bhikkhu Nyanamoli is headed to a remote forest wat. And finally, after weeks of uncertainty we can confirm that Ajahn Punnyo is back home at Harnham; our good friend Khun Jeab delivered him back to us safe and sound on Wednesday. We're looking forward to hearing about his extended time in Thailand when we're all back on speaking terms again next week.

Leaning Hut of Harnham

The movement of Harnham's monastics finally got under way this week. Ajahn Munindo and Venerable Nyanamoli resolutely set off into the unknown on Tuesday (ahead of the re-opening of Thailand's main airports) with a heavily revised and still very uncertain itinerary. They left just in time as by Thursday the snow was severely restricting travel off our hill. As for Ajahn Punnyo coming back the other way, conditions take time to settle down so we're still not sure exactly when he'll depart Bangkok. However we're hoping to quietly welcome him home early next week during one of our Silent Weeks when many of our greetings may be unvoiced.

Not quite so famous as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Leaning Hut of Harnham this week went the way of Nature. Users of our car park will be familiar with the erratic shed which acted as a reminder of the instability of the very ground beneath our feet. In a past life the shed had served up at the main house as the monastery's larder but had been reborn over the Summer when it became a store for Kusala House's decorating equipment. But the final stage of the guest house's development required that the shed break-up once more and vacate its position ahead of the upcoming car park surfacing work. Residents and guests happily laboured outside in heavy snow and a blizzard to clear the whole area and were later to be seen at the nearby frozen Bolam Lake sharing scraps of food with a mass of hungry swans, geese and ducks: it may have been cold outside but clearly there's been lots of warm feelings within.