Taraloka

Saddhahadaya writes:

Saddhahadaya

On 4th Jan the Taraloka resident support team (Ginny, Jo, Desiree, Lindsay and Suchitta) were joined by three guests, Akasacitta, Jill Vernon and myself. We had ten days to clear, clean and redecorate the lounge and dining-room. The lounge walls - a rather dingy cream after some years use! - have been brightened and refreshed with off-white. The dining room is transformed. Gone is the old peach colour, replaced by ‘White Tie’ (cream!) along the west side, ‘Blue Ground ‘ a soft light greenish blue on the east, and ‘Chinese Blue’ a deeper blue-grey on the end wall and cupboards. Also a smart new pale granite top and sanded down beech top by the cupboards. Some of us wondered if the blue would be a bit much but at the time the floor was also covered in blue plastic! With that off it all looks lovely, and is a good foil for the colour of the wooden tables and floor.

There was a lot of work to do but we treated the eleven days as a retreat with a programme of early meditation, breakfast, check-in, and then painting, moving scaffolding, more painting and breaks for tea, fortified with a regular supply of crumpets and other treats. We were very well fed mainly by Suchitta who was chief cook. She also led some lovely simple pujas, and rituals some evenings. Other evenings we just hung out and chatted or had early nights. One evening mid-retreat was Jo’s birthday, which we celebrated with a delicious Mexican meal and a hilarious game of ‘Articulate’.

dedicating their work

Outside the ground was snow-covered for the entire time, which gave us a very beautiful backdrop and lots of reflected light for our work, as well as contributing to the sense of retreat because it felt quiet and mysterious. We were more or less cut off from the outside world. The chap who brought the scaffolding asked if we had enough food! That wasn’t a problem but we did ask him to set off in his 4×4 to get more paint. The very cold weather saw a neighbouring flock of sheep invading our grounds, their faces looking in at the art room window where we met. They seemed to be suffering in the cold and we were worried enough to ring the RSPCA. Fortunately the farmers turned up with food when they were able to get through. Then someone skidded across our track and needed help to extricate himself. Oh and we provided food for a couple of stranded boat dwellers on the frozen canal!

It was a lovely opportunity to be here at Taraloka and contribute to the place while getting to know people. It felt we were practising and sharing ourselves quite deeply even though some of us hardly knew each other to start with. We had a couple of closing rituals, signing our names on the beams where we found the names of the previous decorating team, chanting in the rooms and making offerings to Tara and Vajrasattva as a way of putting the work in the wider context of helping Taraloka’s work of spreading the Dharma.