Greeting and parting
On September 18th we had a farewell afternoon tea for Luke who was departing after living with us for a year in the community at Sudarshanaloka. A substantial gathering of friends, mentors, aquaintances and family - we rejoiced in Luke's merits with gifts and euolgies in appreciation of his presence at Sudarshanaloka, his energy and the tremendous amount of work he did about the place over the year.
Luke is returning to Wellington to complete his carpentry apprenticeship and we wish him well, hoping to see his smiling face up here again before too long.
Akasamati who lived with us in the community for 8 months left in November to live in the town, Thames. Prior to joining us Akasamati had spent six months on solitary retreat in Abhaya disappeared into the bush, as invisible as a Ruru, seriously practicing Dharma. Upon completion of her retreat Akasamati stayed on in the community cabins forming an integral part of the community contributing much to the life of the place. She intends to stay around Thames and maintain her involvement with the retreat centre offering much by way of ritual, spiritual practice, landscaping, the Suvarna project and the women's ordination process. Sorry to see you go, glad to have you in the mix.
