A word from those getting Ordained - Monday, April 16, 2007
Alban Leigh has worked on the centre team for 5 years, and he has left for his ordination retreat. Alban says:
"There was a dream that I had recently. I was in the Tate Modern. At the top, David Smith (the sculptor of metal) had a vast studio. I went up there, finding myself on the edge of a vast space, full of his imaginative works. He was there, welding metal, sparks flying, but hidden from view. Infront of me was a small sign. A piece of card held up by a feeble metal pole. It read 'Please do not enter'. So I didn't. I turned around and walked off.
The image of stepping back from the edge is familiar, showing up in tendencies and habits borne of fear. I imagine disregarding the sign and stepping over the threshold. Taking a step, not away out of fear and habit, but towards out of resolve, awareness, faith.
Stepping towards Guhyaloka is an enjoyable, meaningful and moving experience. The conditions here, the people of the LBC, are so genuinely positive; it is a good place to leave from. I have appreciated and been touched by the support, gladness and rejoicing that I have received. Having such an event 'in front of me' calls forth energy, gratitude, potency, happiness. Simply to have such a clear direction and to be relatively free of indecision is itself enjoyable.
Carol Bois has been working at the Wild Cherry for the past year, and she has left for her ordination retreat. Carol says:
Leaping into the unknown. We do it all the time - getting up to welcome (or face) a new day, making friends, meeting a lover, tasting some new food, walking around the corner.
For me, ordination is all of this and more - an unknowable combination of the mundane with the magical, for life. And all with the underlying, supporting context of the Three Jewels in both the practical and transcendental sense.
To be ordained with the first group of women at Akashavana, the WBOs first women's dedicated ordination centre, is a wonderful gift. I go with much gratitude for the support and kindness of my new sangha, the LBC, where I have been since July 2006, my earlier FWBO sanghas at Birmingham and Aryaloka in the States as well as all my various inspirations along the way. I return as - who knows?
"There was a dream that I had recently. I was in the Tate Modern. At the top, David Smith (the sculptor of metal) had a vast studio. I went up there, finding myself on the edge of a vast space, full of his imaginative works. He was there, welding metal, sparks flying, but hidden from view. Infront of me was a small sign. A piece of card held up by a feeble metal pole. It read 'Please do not enter'. So I didn't. I turned around and walked off.
The image of stepping back from the edge is familiar, showing up in tendencies and habits borne of fear. I imagine disregarding the sign and stepping over the threshold. Taking a step, not away out of fear and habit, but towards out of resolve, awareness, faith.
Stepping towards Guhyaloka is an enjoyable, meaningful and moving experience. The conditions here, the people of the LBC, are so genuinely positive; it is a good place to leave from. I have appreciated and been touched by the support, gladness and rejoicing that I have received. Having such an event 'in front of me' calls forth energy, gratitude, potency, happiness. Simply to have such a clear direction and to be relatively free of indecision is itself enjoyable.
Carol Bois has been working at the Wild Cherry for the past year, and she has left for her ordination retreat. Carol says:
Leaping into the unknown. We do it all the time - getting up to welcome (or face) a new day, making friends, meeting a lover, tasting some new food, walking around the corner.
For me, ordination is all of this and more - an unknowable combination of the mundane with the magical, for life. And all with the underlying, supporting context of the Three Jewels in both the practical and transcendental sense.
To be ordained with the first group of women at Akashavana, the WBOs first women's dedicated ordination centre, is a wonderful gift. I go with much gratitude for the support and kindness of my new sangha, the LBC, where I have been since July 2006, my earlier FWBO sanghas at Birmingham and Aryaloka in the States as well as all my various inspirations along the way. I return as - who knows?
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