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Temple closure: in the snow, in a tent.
Mar. 27th, 2013 02:25 pmThis is ridiculous.
Here we have a warm, lovely, and might I mention warm, temple. And because the requirements for the Use & Occupancy permit, we had to have our Phowa retreat in a tent.
On the lawn.
In the snow.
People were cheerful. Snow flurries swirled about us Sunday night as we walked to the stupa, singing mantras at the close of the day's practice. Plenty of hands to help put the cushions, thangkas (Buddha paintings on tapestries) inside after the last session.
We got 2-3 inches of snow by the next morning. The 10am session was miserable because the tent heater ran out of juice. By the afternoon it was tanked up again and we were ... reasonably warm? Well, Sunday my feet froze, but I'd learned to keep my feet off the grass (which retained moisture), to wear a big fleece scarf to protect the back of my neck, and to use my down jacket to block the open space in the folding chair where my lower back would get cold.
But I repeat: this is ridiculous. Not twenty feet away was the temple, where we were supposed to be holding the retreat. Heated. Protected from the elements. Carpeted floors. Beautifully decorated, with benches to put our prayer books on (in the tent mine was precariously perched on my knees).
The good news is we've started the crowd-sourcing campaign, yay!, and we're not waiting for alll the money before we begin. There's enough to begin the very first phases.
Here's Khenpo Norgey, who led the retreat-in-tent, talking about the renovations:
Crowd-sourcing: http://www.razoo.com/story/Renovate-Renew-Adapt-Evolve-Transmute
Here we have a warm, lovely, and might I mention warm, temple. And because the requirements for the Use & Occupancy permit, we had to have our Phowa retreat in a tent.
On the lawn.
In the snow.
People were cheerful. Snow flurries swirled about us Sunday night as we walked to the stupa, singing mantras at the close of the day's practice. Plenty of hands to help put the cushions, thangkas (Buddha paintings on tapestries) inside after the last session.
We got 2-3 inches of snow by the next morning. The 10am session was miserable because the tent heater ran out of juice. By the afternoon it was tanked up again and we were ... reasonably warm? Well, Sunday my feet froze, but I'd learned to keep my feet off the grass (which retained moisture), to wear a big fleece scarf to protect the back of my neck, and to use my down jacket to block the open space in the folding chair where my lower back would get cold.
But I repeat: this is ridiculous. Not twenty feet away was the temple, where we were supposed to be holding the retreat. Heated. Protected from the elements. Carpeted floors. Beautifully decorated, with benches to put our prayer books on (in the tent mine was precariously perched on my knees).
The good news is we've started the crowd-sourcing campaign, yay!, and we're not waiting for alll the money before we begin. There's enough to begin the very first phases.
Here's Khenpo Norgey, who led the retreat-in-tent, talking about the renovations:
Crowd-sourcing: http://www.razoo.com/story/Renovate-Renew-Adapt-Evolve-Transmute
