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The last couple of years I have done a lot of travelling. A few things still got done at La Ville au Roi, most notably the laying of a paving base and putting upon it of a wooden building to use as a store and workshop. This year I shall travel rather less and be here a bit more and it should be possible to get more done as a result. It is a rather wonderful prospect. I love to be here whether in solitude or with companions. the place is magical if somewhat primitive, or is so perhaps, in part, for the fact that it is primitive. The winter months are cold but my woodstore is full, and when it is not, I have copses in which to collect more. I feel a bit like the Chinese hermit living in retirement from the world, greeting the sun each morning and standing in awe before the stars at night.

I like to keep active and I work on a variety of projects concurrently, but they seldom require urgency so I can change my work as suits my rhythm. Perhaps one day requires more physical exertion, then the next i will choose less demanding pursuits. Each evening I cook and my larder is generally well stocked. Then I read before sleeping. I have no regular schedule of devotions or meditations, but they come upon me in the rapture of the natural elements or in the quieter passages of the day, or simply chanting in interludes. It feels like a holy existence and I commune with the goddesses of the place.

I sometimes have days of complete solitude, but often i get visits from neighbours or invitations to lunch or for a cup of tea and a natter. As the year gets warmer there will be more. Then once or twice a week I make a foray into one or other of the local market towns. Ainay le Chateau is the most attractive, St Amand Montrond has the most shops and facilities, and Sancoins has the most colourful street market. Then there is the forest with its lakes and the great rivers Cher, Allier and Loire if I fancy a country walk. It is difficult to imagine a more satisfactory life. Here love's labour brings peace. 

First blossoms of the year and the bees are busy already.

Here at Eleusis there is a long term project for the improvement of some of the old buildings. In order to renovate the big barn there needs to be somewhere to store all the things that have been kept there up to now. After some research a flat pack building was obtained from Leroy Merlin, a big DIY supplier here in France. It arrived on a huge palette all wrapped up in plastic.

The day of arrival was not clement and it was unpacked it between hail storms. Eventually all was under cover. 

The wood, however, all needed treating, so that was several days work.

Now that is all done - very satisfying. However, it turns out to be the case hat the area of paving laid as foundation is not big enough for the frame of the building, so the next job is digging.

It is good to be back in the profound silence of Eleusis. Somehow the silence here is deep, thick, primeval, connecting one with the chthonic bedrock of being. One can experience how it was that the ancients were in awe not just of the sky and the earth, but of an underworld more powerful that what is seen above. The ancient Greeks made offerings to gods above and below. We hear plenty about the sky gods in myth, and to them sacrifice was made on a high altar with fire, but the gods below were spoken on in hushed tones, it was a risky thing to say their names, and their libations were poured into pits. The sense of earth, sky and depth are all present here, the whole pervaded by a sense of timelessness that is a fine remedy for the soul.

Back in Spain, I am realising of the powerful energy of Eleusis, its rythm, its sangha, its spaces, its people... I really think that it is a good place to be for a while. In a short period of time it has triggered many interesting processes in me. Not only this; it has also given a frame of respect and support; it has let those personal processes evolve with their own pace.

I am very thanked to the kindness and generosity to each and everyone that I have met here. Specially the supporters, who make possible a space like this, where so many important things happen for those in quest. And the ordained community, specially Rev. Dharmavidya and Rev. Jnanamati. A smile come to my face when I think in Dharmavidya: his compassion, his humor, his kindness. As for Jnanamati, what to say of that earnest practicioner whose love for the Dharma and the Order is so important. It`s been very nice to be with you this time. Well, now I am quite worried about you because I have been seeing Dharmavidya's photos and, unfortunately... all the area where you did the removing of nettles and weeds  near the Bamboo Grove it's been covered again!! Not everything is not impermanent :)

In a word, THANKS!

Big hugs and hope to see you soon,

José

I am in the Basque country in north central Spain. We have just completed a four day retreat. This has been a success in that the ethos and atmosphere of our spiritual community became apparent and alive in this group who were all new to it. What matters is not so much that people understand a set of theories as that the ethos comes alive for them and this happened here. This weekend I shall be leading a Buddhist psychology workshop and in the next days will travel to Galicia.

Thank you all Dharma companions for these lovely and insightful days. I am sad because of your departure. But I also feel that each space created by each of you will last for long time. May we all remember our morning service "Strive diligently! Attain Nirvana!". Namo Amida Bu. Homage to him, the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Fully-Enlightened One.

Here at Eleusis we have a wonderful community feeling at present. With fourteen people we are about at our capacity. In this case we are four women and ten men. We have had a workshop on Zen Therapy and now one on being a spiritual teacher. We have got quite a lot of physical work done and the place is looking good. The weather was kind to us with pretty continuous hot sunshine until a couple of days ago. Now it is maild and damp. No doubt the sun will be back soon. 

Sentarse en zazen y que un minuto después comience a sonar una melodía inesperada de shakuhachi real... ¿qué más puede uno pedir?
Sorpresas de Eleusis/ITZI

To sit in zazen and just one minute after a real shakuhachi melody starts... what else can one expect?
Unexpected surprises in Eleusis/ITZI

Hola amig@s:

Hace nueve días llegué a Eleusis. Tras un par de días de trabajo para preparar el templo para los talleres venideros, hemos pasado cuatro días realizando un taller de Terapia Zen. Para mí este tiempo, aunque ha sido corto, hasta ahora ha sido muy intenso. De hecho estoy un poco 'puzzled' porque se han despertado rápidamente en mi procesos que en otras ocasiones han tardado mucho más tiempo.

A nivel humano, el ambiente es incomparable. La calidez y proximidad de todos los compañer@s es realmente 'nice', especialmente de los principales responsables, el Rev. Dharmavidya David Brazier y el Venerable Jnanamati.

Gracias a todos.

Hi friends,

Nine days ago I arrived to Eleusis. After a couple of days working for arranging the temple for the next workshops, we've spent four days doing a workshop on Zen Therapy. It's been an intensive time for me (although it's been very short). In fact I am quite puzzled because some processes have been aroused in me that in other occasions have taken much more time.

On the human level, the climate is incomparable. The warmth of all the partners is really nice, specially the main responsibles, Rev. Dharmavidya David Brazier and Venerable Jnanamati.

I am really thanked to all of them.

28th April 

I have now been at Eleusis for nearly a week and spent my first ever weekend here alone. In fact this is the longest period I have stayed without companionship. There is much to do and at the moment I am just really establishing a daily routine (of sorts) and mostly concentrating on tidying up the immediate environment around the main building - cutting the grass, weeding the main flower bed at the front and starting the mammoth task of organising rooms, shifting pieces of furniture etc, cleaning as I go. Dharmavidya was here with me at the beginning of the week, and aside from visits to local friends and to the shops for essentials he has concentrated on an area of paving round the back of the main building - a hard stand for a wooden building to house all the tools and garden equipment in preparation for the first stages of transforming the main barn. During this period I have managed a first cut of the area of grass we use as a general activity space - eating (when warm enough), workshop activities and discussions, clothes washing and so on - as well as some of the main field where people camping usually set up their tents. Its been hard going I have to say since the two petrol powered machines are both not starting and I have had to resort to using an old electric powered mower. It makes me smile to think about how this beaten up inverted plastic bucket with a front wheel missing just goes and goes and goes. I have become rather fond of it. Okay its not the easiest of tasks, nor the quickest, pushing and pulling this through the long grass, but it has helped to get the job done. Give it another week as well and the scythe would be needed. This is a whole other prospect. On Thursday Dharmavidya and I consider it wise to buy a hover mower given the Herculean task that still faces me. I only get a couple of hours in the evening with the new machine, managing to get quite a bit more done before sun down. On Friday morning we are greeted with rain and the grass is then far too wet and has been so ever since to get any further.

Inside I have re-organised the room on the ground floor as a sleeping space and office for myself. I shall be here a while so it needs to be practical and a comfortable home for me. This room and the one next to it - to the right of the kitchen as you face the building - both get quite damp so there has been a good deal of work cleaning down furniture after pulling it out from the walls, shifting mattresses to dry out and clearing the debris from around the stoves that have been used by people on occasional visits over the winter. I have also started a thorough clean of the kitchen, also adding some shelves and a spare unit from another room. I often do the catering when groups gather so feel I need an operational kitchen that suits - to some extent-  the way of working I have learnt during my time as cook in the Amida community. I start also familiarising myself again with baking bread and using the soya 'cow'. Its been a while since I have done either of these things. 

And so to practice. Well I haven't yet settled on a routine. Three mornings this week I have sat zazen for half an hour or so, and on Wednesday night Dh and I sat in the meditation barn in the light of a rather special full moon.

My plan is from Tuesday to begin a routine that will remain relatively consistent (that is outside of what happens during scheduled events) through the summer until September. Thus anyone visiting will know in advance the skeleton practice at the centre and, when here, can join in as they choose. I shall publish this tomorrow.

Tonight for supper in addition to a leftover vegetable curry from Tuesday night I had nettle fried rice with mustard and onion. One tip I learnt a couple of years ago with nettles, use only the top leaves. Best in springtime. Pick leaves from the stems wearing rubber gloves (of course) and wash thoroughly. Believe me given the amount of nettles growing here there is plenty enough if you just use the tender tips, and it the makes clearing of an area of ground doubly satisfying. 

Stinging nettle, Urtica dioica - primarily a source of food for caterpillars of a number of different moths and butterflies including the Red Admiral, Vanessa Atalanta. Nettles are associated with a number of health benefits particularly gastro-intestinal complaints and urinary infections. In taste when cooked they are rather like spinach. It is said that Milarepa, the famed Tibetan Buddhist ascetic, survived years of solitary meditation subsisting on nettles alone. As a result his skin turned green and he lived into his early eighties.

Thank you  ever so much for inviting me to join.  I am trying to find my way with modern technology and believe it or not this is my first 'blog'  and I just  recently found out what 'facebook' is all about.  As my grandaughter tells me - time to get a life Nan.  

Its pleasnt to dip out of the world of  legal jargon - see some nice faces and positive thoght progess.  Loved the pictures and got really inspired as I can see lots of gardening to be done in that beautiful place in France.  Now all I need to do is find out how to send  this. 

I've been stripping the turf from where we will put a new wooden building to use as a store and workshop.

Mirjam treating outdoor furniture.