Retiro de la Orden 2026. (Faltaba Priyadasa, Amalamati, Suratna y Vidyasri en la foto).
El año que viene tenemos planificado un retiro guiado por Vessantara 24 agosto a 7 septiembre 2027. “La Naturaleza de la Mente” espero veros allí!
La visión de Suryavana como centro de práctica budista es a largo plazo y abierta al todo el mundo. Mientras existan seres y estos deseen practicar el Dharma, queremos que Suryavana sea un lugar donde quienes lo deseen puedan profundizar su conexión con el Dharma.
La visión a largo plazo del proyecto, requiere una mayor inversión, y vuestro generoso apoyo podrían financiar estos tipos de desarrollos:
Si desea realizar un legado a Suryavana, póngase en contacto con Sudaka. info@surayavana.es
I am back in my wee room floating over the shrine room here at Suryavana, Thankfully the searing heat of earlier in August is over. Order members are arriving for our annual Order retreat and this year we have a good mix of friends old and new from near and far across the Iberian Peninsular.
I just got back from a rare beach holiday in Sardinia. The first beach holiday since I met my wife and we had Satya (more than 14 years ago). Both Jesu and I love being by the sea and genuinely get an experience of «doing nothing» lying under a parasol and dropping in to the cool Mediterranean waters from time to time. The experience was mixed as we travelled with two dogs (first time out of Suryavana for Kuki) and both kids! A large tent and all the regular camping gear, all packed into our not too small Fiat. There were lots of moments when all six of us wanted to do different things at the same time creating the inevitable tension of centrifugal forces following multi-directional vectors. The family did stick together and mostly we had a good time. Next time, would love to go back for month with Jesu and the dogs (minus the two kids). Both kids said they don’t like camping and only want to do hotels. I told them they were too posh for my liking! Sardinia has a rustic beauty and being Italy the food was amazing, though very wheat based! The beaches are fantastic, white crystal quartz on the West coast and there are lots of nooks and crannies to explore!
I finally got through «Crime and Punishment» (after 37 years), such a dark exploration of the human psyche and a beautiful message over all. I started it back at Leeds University in November 1989.
I was 19 years old, and back in those days I was in a disintegrative process of my own making. All of a sudden, on the back of a mild bronchial chest infection, I’d given up some «bad habits» I was lying in my bed with some interesting and not so pleasant psychotropic spin-offs. Dostoyevsky’s wonderful book was on the floor by my side. The autumn cold creeping in, I was wrestling with serious doubts about whether to keep studying Chemical Engineering. I had abandoned a bunch of First year buddies and was alone up in my room in a run down red-brick terrace house. The cold damp Leeds Winter was on its way.
I had just started out to meditate more seriously but was suffering a crisis of my own and had to stop reading, identifying as I was too much with Raskolnikov and his own mental breakdown .(just to be clear not because I’d axed an old lady!). Anyways, 37 years later I put the book into the shelf, now read through!
It has been really important to get away from «project Suryavana». I am so «in it» most of the year, even when I am on retreat here. Every detail from emails to booking forms and bank accounts down to the nuts and bolts of our aged diesel generator, water filter and solar system is somehow logged into some corner of my psyche. When it all works like clock work, that’s fine, but somehow my consciousness gets overly wrapped up in it all. A week away and I come back fresh and revitalized seeing the whole thing in clearer light. Less emotionally tied-up and anxious, more from a state of marveling at the wonderful matrix that is Suryavana.
By all accounts we have had a good summer. Lots of retreats back to back. Nothing broken or gone wrong at an inopportune moment. Many souls coming though, meditating, practicing puja and hearing the Dharma, the cooks happy! What more could we ask for our little retreat centre?
There is much to develop here; I want to develop the infrastructure, this autumn upgrade the remaining 10 solar panels (now 25 years old) – we put 10 new ones last year but didn’t have enough money to do the whole lot. That would make for an array of 20×440 W panels around 10kW production capacity. We are going to insulate the solitary cabin and put in a wood burner. We have a generous donor who wants to do winter solitaries, but such an improvement will be good for everyone.
There seems to be plenty of interest in renting the place this Winter and into next year.
I intend to start helping run a Mitra study group Online (Tuesday evening) after many years of not being involved in such activities. I was the Mitra Convener for men for several years in Valencia. Since moving out of the city and up here, doing study groups has not been so readily possible. I am looking forward to exploring the Satipatthana module with old and new friends. The group is probably too large and mixed, but given the recourses it’s the best solution to have some ongoing contact with friends and Mitras.
I wish you all well and until next month, adieu et au revoir, (farewell until we see each other again)
Hola
Ha sido un mes muy intenso, en parte por las olas de calor aquí y también el nivel de trabajo. Hemos tenido casi evento tras evento desde el principio de mes. Y seguimos así en agosto. Gracias a tod@s que están colaborando. Simona se fue después de varios meses cocinando durante el Invierno y hemos tenido el placer de tener Siddhisvari en cocina últimamente. Gracias también a todo el apoyo de Jesu (con las tareas que parece imposible a momentos!)
Aquí tienes un reporte más personalizado que voy a compartir en Shabda.
Lo positivo es que todo está funcionando y fluyendo bien. Los ingresos de Suryavana benefician de tanta actividad.
Un punto técnico
Está claro cuando la Masia está a tope con personas el sistema solar tal como tenemos montado no da suficiente Luz. Nuestra intención es ampliar las placas en otoño para que generamos más Luz durante el día. Entre bomba de la piscina, la bomba de agua, varios ventiladores y el hervidor vamos consumiendo!
Un donativo para La Cabaña
También nos han dado €3000 Padmasakhi para aislar la Cabaña y instalar una estufa de leña. Un trabajo que Sadhita va a realizar en otoño este año. La motivación es que Padmasakhi quiere hacer retiros solitarios largos en Suryavana a partir del Invierno 2027.
Sería un beneficio para Suryavana tener la Cabaña más cómoda en los meses más fríos del año para que las personas podrían aprovecharse del espacio.
Dear all, it’s been a busy month — high season, with events back to back. It’s ok so long the whole year was not like this! It means the coffers of Suryavana fill, at least temporarily. Sudaka and co, meanwhile, can end up feeling rather depleted. The heat waves that have been coming through this part of Spain have added an extra intensity but fortunately for us the nights are refreshing (unlike the coastal areas) and the new Shrine-room remains cool too!
We had a slightly tricky «outside» group at the beginning of the month. There can be a clash of values! I am trying to gradually «choose» the best guests with time, that resonate as much as possible with what we are trying to do here but this is not always possible! I managed to be firm but friendly, probably more firm than friendly, not being sure I really want to entertain them again!
Then came our friends from Respiravida-Breathworks, which was a delight, then I ran a yoga retreat. Next up we have the Women’s «Going for Refuge» retreat and two retreats run by the Valencia Buddhist centre.
I am really pleased that the retreat centre can host such diverse activities. Suryavana gets stretched to its limits. Over the years we have been improving the installations but of course we want to go further. Bigger Shrineroom, more batteries and Solar panels.
I have just had a couple days post retreat and find myself well. There has been a few cooler days, though another heat wave is on its way! A long with the arrival of 24 women Going for Refuge!
Sadly some 50 km away the Vall d’Uixo is burning, threatening the beautiful mountains of Sierra d’Espadan which embellish our long view to the south.
I now have a period where my job is to be in the background and make sure the retreat centre is running as smoothly. I am not going to be upfront and teaching. That cycle is over til September. More of a support role. This is more restful actually. I am less «in the limelight», less «exposed». I want to pick some reading material again and just relax and enjoy the nature, meditate and walk the dogs. Throw some sandbags around!
hola. Hemos sufrido un colapso total de nuestra querida página web y vamos recuperando y reconstruyendo
