PROGRESS REPORT # 4 on MAJOR RESTORATION PROJECTS at STILL MOUNTAIN DHARMA CENTER
Another week of astonishing accomplishments on our quest to restore and upgrade the mediation hall so that we can reopen for public online and in person programs
THE DAWNING LIGHT—Daily Journal Of Transformational Writing
Volume 8, # 821 Sunday, March 10, 2024
STILL MOUNTAIN CHRONICLES Section # 51 Stories by Chinmayan about our life and adventures in search of simple living freedom, our service to the world and our spiritual path at a small rural dharma center in the mountains of Northern California
PROGRESS REPORT # 4 On Major Restoration Projects At Still Mountain Meditation Center
Wednesday March 6, 2024
Dear friends
I am sitting at my desk in my newly created writing studio in the back of our partially restored meditation hall here on Still Mountain.
It is the middle of the night and I am here alone to create the next issue of “The Dawning Light” and send it out to all of you before the coming of dawn.
Our big Alaskan wood stove is burning chunks of mountain oak in its belly. It is utter delight to watch the dancing flames through the glass in the door of its firebox…
I find myself moved to tears just to be here tonight. I feel like I am coming home and that this meditation hall is a vital part of the path to our new lives.
I am grateful that we have made it this far in bringing this Center out of being in hibernation for so long.
As I sit here tonight, I feel humbled by all the help and work by so many people who have brought us to where we are.
The painting of Buddha Maitreya that we had made for us
Our Reasons and Intentions For Restoring This Meditation Hall
There is nothing that gives me more pleasure and satisfaction than to be of service both to the divine and to others…
My life since meeting and becoming a disciple of my teachers long ago has been about learning how to serve and creating places where I can be of service…. This is my “Why” behind everything I have been doing or seeking to do as I have always sought to follow in the footsteps of and emulate the example of my teachers.
It is why I founded our first dharma Center in Bolinas, California in 1977, in San Rafael, California in 1979, and our original Still Mountain Retreat Center in the mountains of Mendocino County, California in 1981 and our present Center in this old church in 1996…It is why we formally established our non profit organization, Inner Resource Institute, in 2015 and why we are restoring our meditation hall here and reopening for programs…all so that we can truly serve others.
After becoming a disciple of Kalu Rinpoche’s in 1972, my mind and heart were always focused on creating Dharma centers.
During the course of my own dharma practice, I have had several very vivid and empowering visions of my previous lives in Tibet when I was a high lama Rinpoche myself doing the same work of teaching and establishing monasteries and retreat centers.
In those lifetimes, I was absolutely dedicated to this work so that same focus was reawakened in me in this life time through being drawn to Kalu Rinpoche and the 16th Karmapa. I realized had been their disciple in many lifetimes over the past thousand years.
Our new printer station in our new “Dawning Light” writing studio
Kalu Rinpoche would often say that “The greatest gift, the highest form of generosity is teaching others the precious dharma which they can use to transform themselves, become enlightened and free from all suffering.”
This meditation hall’s purpose is two fold…
to be a sacred space for our own daily spiritual practices, which includes prayer, meditation, kirtan, and this writing practice…
And to be the venue for our public on line and in person programs and a sanctuary and spiritual home for everyone who participates in our offerings.
Our intention in all this work is to make this Center and meditation hall into the ideal environment and facility to support this vital activity.
My new prayer and teaching table in front of beginnings of our new Altar
Thursday, March 7 2024
A DAY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
It is a brilliantly bright blue sky sunny day here on Still Mountain. After so many days of intense storm and rain that seemed to go on forever, it was a pleasant shock to wake up this morning to sunlight streaming through the window and the sweet songs of birds celebrating this new day.
Yesterday, after several days of study and reflection, we ordered 4 new heaters for interim use to insure the hall is warm. They are not our ideal long term solution, as our goal for Still Mountain is to become completely energy independent and off grid through building our own solar power based system.
But these new heaters will make it possible to keep the hall warm so that it is comfortable for our daily use and public programs.
I am once again at my desk in my new writing studio in the meditation hall.
I am here with Ani and our volunteer Arnold who are busy vacuuming the walls, floor and carpets. We have had a day of accomplishments and made major strides in cleaning, clearing and setting up the hall.
The hall is now almost completely clear of all the items which were stored here, and is now getting a deep cleaning.
Ani and Arnold hard at work doing deep cleaning
We have set up my prayer and teaching seat in front of the altar, which will be the place where I do all of my own personal sadhana (Sanskrit for “spiritual practices”) and teaching classes and courses and leading kirtans from now on.
We have set up an interim sound system which is enough to get started. Last year, I received the inner guidance to have two very high quality vintage stereo speakers (Pioneer 88’s from the 1970’s) rebuilt by a master electronics restorer…and these will be the main speakers for now. We have one good amp, one good microphone and a Crate stage monitor…all this together is a good start.
We were able to have our first kirtan in this hall last week, which is a huge step forward. Kirtan, which is chanting and singing meditation, has always been one of my primary sadhanas and it is an absolute delight to be able to do daily practice here in this hall, which has excellent acoustics.
Ani and Arnold hanging our Chenrezig thanka on new Altar with our newly acquired rare and beautiful temple statue of Chenrezig
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PICTURE FOR THE MAIN ALTAR IMAGE
We have put a lot of prayer and consideration into the main thanka to be hung over the altar.
In our process, we had a large, extraordinarily beautiful painting of Buddha Maitreya made and shipped to us.
It finally came during the heaviest part of the last intense rainstorm, and once we got it safely inside and unboxed it, we were astonished by its vibrant colors and the sheer power and presence.
It is 3 and ½ feet wide by 6 feet tall and depicts the Buddha in deep blissful samadhi with his hands raised in the blessing mudra.
We first tried hanging it above the altar, but it didn’t feel like the right place for it. After discussing it, we realized the back wall of the hall would be the best place for this powerfully uplifting image.
This Center has an extraordinary collection of traditional hand painted thankas that have been donated to us over the years that are truly exceptional.
Since we seek the divine’s guidance on everything that we are doing, we are prayerfully asking to be shown which thanka is best to be our main altar picture.
One of our new interim heaters going full blast in the writing studio
Saturday March 9, 2024
ITS TIME FOR PRAYERFUL GRATITUDE
I am once again at my desk in the meditation hall in the wee hours of the night to write this report and send it out to all of you before dawn.
This new writing studio for “The Dawning Light” is another unmitigated joy. From here I have a clear view of the altar, the wood stove with a fire burning brightly in it and the now very clean and empty hall.
The heaters that we ordered arrived and are perfect for our needs.
When we pray through to be guided on what to do before we act, then things turn out perfectly.
These heaters are an example of this principle. Even though it is bitterly cold outside, one of the new heaters is running now next to my seat and is bathing me in delicious heat.
As soon as this report is published, I will be turning to prayer for a few hours before going to bed. I will be filling our big prayer bath tub with steaming hot water and while that is happening will be “getting down” with the Divine through doing kirtan…singing and chanting with our sound system and then…lying down in the hot water for a timeless time of communion with God.
I am grateful beyond words for coming this far and all the hard work and blessings it has taken to be where we are now on this journey of love and service.
There is still so much more work to be done before we are ready to re open this Center, but I am confident all will be done in due course in alignment with the Lord’s sweet will.
Chinmayan in work mode hanging our new Buddha Maitreya painting to check it out as possible main altar image
Before this week’s accomplishments…
In case you missed our previous stories about our restoration, here is a link to those stories…
WE THANK EVERYONE WHO ARE SUPPORTING THIS WORK
We are sending a big thank you! To all those of you who have written to encourage us, who have made financial donations to keep these projects going, who have offered their help through volunteering and most of all, who believe in us and value what we are doing to serve the world. We could not be doing these great and wonderful things without you!
We still need your on going help and support to complete these projects and re open this Center.
Here are the links to our ultra safe donation site… We are asking for donations of any size, even a few dollars makes a massive difference!
DONATION PORTAL to Support Restoration Projects At Still Mountain Mediation Center
Or use this QR code:
In return, everyone who donates any amount to our cause will receive a generous discount on tuition to upcoming new programs and courses, plus we will send you our “Meditation Training Intensive” video course ($150 value) as a reward.
Meanwhile, we will continue to keep on working to do everything we can to be a source of inspiration, information and encouragement for you, our friends and family in the “Dawning Light.”
Thanks again for being here and shining your own light of Love which is needed now more than ever!
A small donation to express my gratitude for leading me to a more peaceful place.