May 7-27

Standing Stones, Orkney

We’ve been away from Indralaya for most of the past three weeks, attending the gathering of Holistic Centre administrator’s at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland and touring the country for several days both before and after our meetings.

We arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday, May 8. While we were there, we met with members of the Edinburgh branch of the Theosophical Society and toured the city for a few days.

Room with a view at the Theosophical Society in Edinburgh

We then headed north to Findhorn and the nearby town of Forres, which is where the Findhorn Foundation’s Cluny Hill campus is located. The conference was stimulating and fruitful on many levels. New friendships were formed and we very much appreciated the opportunity to share thoughts and spend time with others who share similar concerns and responsibilities. It was also a great priviledge to have the opportunity to spend time at Findhorn and learn more about their community and work in the world.

Leonie near the original Findhorn caravan

The Findhorn Sanctuary

After the conference, Steve Murphy met us in Inverness and we headed to the northern Highlands and Orkney Islands. Steve is a life member of the Friends of Indralaya who recently moved to Scotland, where he is teaching physics at the International School of Aberdeen.

Minor & Steve standing along the North Sea Coast

Cawdor Castle Watch Words

We returned from our trip on Wednesday, May 23, and immediately began preparing for the Memorial Day Weekend work party. Over 60 volunteers attended and a lot of great work was completed.

It has been a very full and productive Spring. Projects that have been completed include repairs to Wisteria cabin, rebuilding of the benches and stage in the Grove, and painting of the kitchen floor. The garden is in great shape and well ahead of production levels in previous years. We've also been contending with a serious infestation of tent caterpillars.

freshly painted kitchen floor

restored Wisteria cabin interior

productive garden beds

tent caterpillar nest

A new look at the Grove

April 30 - May 6

For many years, morning meditation in the library has been an element of nearly every work party and program at Indralaya. This year, inspired by our time at the Krotona School of Theosophy and the national headquarters in Wheaton, IL, we've been experimenting with a 9:00 meditation for those who are at camp between programs ~ residents, fellowship staff, wwoofers, and people on personal retreat, for example. The meditation is a work-in-progress that has evolved considerably over the few months that we've been working with it. It follows in its current form. Please feel welcome to adapt it to your own use and let us know of your experience with it. 

 

 

Please begin by bringing your awareness to your breath and through your breath, to the present moment... (2 minutes)

From deep within, let us feel our harmony with each other... (2 minutes)

Let us feel our harmony with nature and the presence of all that is here at Indralaya... (2)

Now turn your awareness to your heart center and align with the wisdom that is present there...  (2)

Let us be in alignment with that aspect of our being that is one with every other... (2)

Let us center ourselves in stillness...  (10)

May our minds be open to the inspiration of those who have dedicated themselves to the service of the world... (2)

Let us send peace, goodwill and healing out to the world around us...  (2)

Let us finish by saying OM together three times 

We begin and end the meditation by sounding a singing bowl.

Travel Time

Later today, Leonie and I will be leaving to attend a gathering of “Holistic Centre Administrator’s”. As you might guess by the spelling of centre, the conference is taking place outside of the country. The gathering is taking place at Findhorn, Scotland. It’s an exciting opportunity to spend time with others who do the same sort of work that we do.

We will be back to Indralaya on May 23, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend work party. I'm not sure when there will be an opportunity to post an entry here. If there’s good internet access at Findhorn, I’ll try to post next week - if not, we’ll see you when we return!

April 23-29

Events at camp this last week were overshadowed by the passing of Linda Jo Pym at age 68. Linda Jo was involved with Indralaya for her entire life and served in every capacity from presenter to resident to head cook to registrar to Board chair to bathroom cleaner. In 2011 she was honored as an Indralaya Elder in recognition of her many contributions to the camp. There are many in the camp community who came to Indralaya for the first time at her invitation.

Linda Jo was a strong advocate of theosophy and the theosophical tradition. Although she was born into a theosophical family, Linda Jo didn’t just fall into membership in the Theosophical Society. She questioned and searched, and these attributes were always a part of how she moved through the world.

Linda Jo & Willamay Pym

For the last years of her life, Linda Jo struggled with significant health issues, but with an amazing strength of spirit she continued contributing to the Theosophical Society, Indralaya and the world around her. Her courage was a source of inspiration to many.

From the theosophical perspective, our passing from this physical realm is simply another step in a long evolutionary journey that unfolds over many lifetimes. In a conversation near the end of her life, she described how her heart always brought her home to the meadow and beaches of Indralaya and promised that after her death she would continue to be present and supportive. The three of us looked forward to the time when we would meet again and continue our work together. Her presence was significant and will always be with those who knew her.

Linda Jo with family and friends on her last visit to Indralaya, September 2011

April 15-22

Spring came on in abundance this last week. It is unusual in our experience here to have so many of the fruit trees blossoming at the same time. Plum, crabapple, cherry, pear and apple trees all were blossoming and the bumble & mason bees were busy in the ‘bee-loud’ meadow.

Although the Deep Singing afternoon that had been scheduled for Sunday was cancelled because leader Helen Bee was suffering a bout of laryngitis, there were a number of visitors coming and going over the course of the week.

On Tuesday it was quite a nice surprise to be visited by Sally Blumenthal-McGannon, up from the redwoods in Los Altos, CA for a visit with camp elder Phoebe Bee. Sally will be back in June for therapeutic touch. On Wednesday, Leonie’s sister Melanie dropped by. Helen Palisin was here on personal retreat for the week. Penny Sharp came by for tea on Friday. Sandora Hedrich and Regent Pellerin joined us for lunch on Sunday, and later in the afternoon Karen Sterling-Goens stopped by for a visit.

friend Sally

sister Melanie

cherry blossoms

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings. W.B. Yeats, The Lake Isle of Innisfree

April 9-15

Much of the week just finished had something of topsy-turvy quality to it. The week began with an email from program leader Grace Crowley advising that she was ill and wasn't sure that she would be better in time to lead the program that was to begin on Thursday. After some conversation back and forth with Grace and Board chair Jeannie Chamberlain, we decided that the best course of action was to cancel the program. This made for a busy day contacting everyone registered for the program and advising them of the situation.

As it turned out Jeannie was also not well and by Wednesday she was not sure if she was going to be sufficiently recovered to be present for the Indralaya Board meeting that had also been planned for the weekend. After a round of emails with all of the Board to see if we could find an alternative meeting date, the decision was made to proceed with the Board meeting as scheduled.

newly built cold-frame

In addition to this somewhat fitful approach to the weekend, there was a great deal going on as follow-up to the work party and in preparation for the Board meeting. This included looking into alternatives for rebuilding a stage in the grove, meeting with an electrician to talk about the possibility of relocating electrical service at Kunz cabin, developing a plan for implementing a change to the CiviCRM software that was the subject of my visit to San Francisco a couple weeks ago, following through on several decisions that the Indralaya investment committee had made at a meeting on Friday night of the work party, continuing with the work on Wisteria cabin, and so forth. All this and completing the meadow’s first full mowing of the Spring!

Eventually, the weekend came. The Board met, four of the people who had registered for the cancelled program came up for personal retreats, and the weather was splendid. On Sunday, Bil, Jake, Jesse, Leonie and me went to the Bullock farm potluck, then dropped Jesse at the ferry landing as his time as an Indralaya wwoofer came to an end.

leaf green crabapple

April 2-8

Morning circle at the work party

A lot of energy this past week was aimed at preparing for the weekend work party, which began on Friday and continued until Sunday. Attendance was near 50, and a lot of good work was done. We also enjoyed the arrival of kitchen manager Jake Doty, wwoofer Jesse Ring, and fellowship staffer Bil Bassel.

Jake, Jesse & Bil

the karmic chain of cause and effect

working in the grove

What’s missing?

putting the dock in

John & Mark Levey

Easter Eggs

Buddha Field #9

March 26 - April 1

Special San Francisco Edition
This past week I've been in San Francisco attending a workshop and conference exploring CiviCRM, an Open Source software system that is especially intended for non-profit organizations and brings together donation, membership and program registration into a single package. We currently use six different software products or online services to manage these operational areas. At this point, it is clear that there are both pluses and minuses to moving from our current system to CiviCRM. Over the next few weeks I'll be working with a test version of the program to more fully assess its potential for Indralaya.

Edifico de las Mujures

(site of the CiviCRM workshop)

Sunday allowed time for a break from the training. It was a beautiful day and I made the most of the opportunity by renting a bicycle and cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausilito, then rode a ferry back across San Francisco Bay to the city.

San Francisco from the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge

Along Embarcadero Avenue

Palace of Fine Arts

SF Row House

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll be heading back to Indralaya where we'll be preparing for the Easter/Passover work party coming up this weekend. On my way through Seattle, I'll be picking up Jake Doty. Jake will be starting his stay as the Indralaya kitchen manager.