Dear friends,
Though summer is here again, our staircase project appears to be still in hibernation. Actually, some individual components, such as fire doors and the platform lift, are already being prepared for installation in various workshops now, so that everything should finally be completed during October. We are sorry that so many events had to be canceled due to the unforseen delays.
With this year’s spring and summer weather, Kandersteg, unlike most of Switzerland, so far has been fortunate to receive sufficient rainfall. Therefore, the landscape here is lush green, and the cows have plenty of grass on the Alpine pastures. Even though it rained above average here, our numerous guests were still able to fully enjoy the nature surrounding the monastery. Between thunderstorms and downpours, the sun repeatedly shone intensely, making it not only above average wet, but also above average warm. At times, it felt like a climate shift toward subtropical conditions. Let’s hope this summer doesn’t bring us an “Alpine monsoon”!
The photos accompanying this blog entry show some of our visitors announced in the last preview. We are very pleased that all of them had a pleasant time here. In addition, at the beginning of July, we also had a spontaneous day visit from Ajahn Anan, who was traveling in Europe with eight monks and, with a group of his local supporters, also stopped by.
With the start of the traditional “rains retreat” during the summer, our travel season is over, and all our resident monks are back at the monastery. In addition to our five long-term community members, we are welcoming Tan Sihanado from Cittaviveka Monastery in England, who will stay with us over the summer. Tan Nikkamo, who was accepted into the Bhikkhu Sangha at Santacittarama Monastery near Rome in May, plans to join us again in time for the Kathina celebration on October 19.
As guests for this year’s kathina celebration, we are expecting, among others, Ajahn Vajiro from Portugal and Ajahn Kongrit from Norway. Ajahn Kongrit will offer the Dhamma talk in the Thai language. The celebration will take place in the community hall in Kandersteg again and will start at 10am.
Since the construction work on the stairwell will continue throughout the summer, it is still uncertain whether the events planned at the monastery for this time can take place. However, the adult education center introductory course over three evenings in September will definitely take place, as will, of course, the visits of various community members to the meditation groups in Switzerland (see events calendar).
With good wishes,
Bhikkhu Abhinando
