I have to apologize for dismissing in my last post the idea that the past month has been anything but magical; in 28 days (I was reminded last night I arrived on the 9th of February) we’ve managed to establish daily and weekly programs in meditation, put together articles of incorporation, and finalize a purchase agreement on a new monastery. You have to admit, that’s a lot like magic.
Last night the loan on the new property was approved and the purchase agreement ratified – we move to the new location on Saturday. March 23rd – we’ll be having a monastery-warming meditation party that day instead of our ordinary day of mindfulness in Winnipeg, and everyone is invited.
The address of the new place is 46025 Municipal Road 39E, Ste. Anne RM, MB
Here’s the Google Maps location:
Here is the Google Plus photo album:
https://plus.google.com/photos/118014954414967440482/albums/5853513363142404497
And here is the site for more information (once we put more information up) on the centre:
http://canada.sirimangalo.org/
I’ve also reposted the link to the Canada mailing list, which we decided could be used to arrange the monastery’s affairs. If you are interested in getting involved in the local affairs of our organization (organizing food, supplies, construction, teaching, courses, etc.) you can subscribe here:
http://sirimangalo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/canada
If you are already on the list and want to get off before we start using the list again, also visit the above link.
So, twenty-eight days of preparation and something magical has happened. Not a bad start! Auspicious as well; it’s about 20 km off the longitudinal centre of North America at a place called Paradise Village. So, I’ve informally dubbed the place “Parideha Forest Monastery”. Parideha is the probable Pali cognate of the word “paradise” – a word that just means a walled park or garden (deha/dise = built up, pari/para = all around).
But the most magical aspect of all of this is how smoothly our organization is running; no, how smoothly everything is running. Everyone is motivated, organized and committed; I think I’ve never worked with such a good group of people. A big thanks goes out to them involved, especially the core five Sri Lankan families who invited me here and have been instrumental in brewing up our magical potion. May it long be for their welfare and the welfare of the global community – bahujanahitāya, bahujanasukhāya!
As a cautionary note, I have to admit that the first month is always the best everywhere I go – things always seem to get complicated as soon as that grace period expires. We’ll see, but all signs point to long-term prosperity, so there is reason to hope that this is genuine magic, and not just illusion 🙂