PROGRESS REPORT # 7 ON MAJOR RESTORATION PROJECTS at Still Mountain Dharma Center
One of the most reliable sources of lasting happiness is to make steady progress towards a great and worthy goal
THE DAWNING LIGHT—Daily Journal Of Transformational Writing
Volume 8, Issue # 854 for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
STILL MOUNTAIN CHRONICLES Section # 54 Stories by Chinmayan about our life and adventures in pursuit of simple living, our spiritual path and our service to the world in a small rural Dharma Center in the mountains…
Upper image by Chinmayan ,Lower Image courtesy of Pixabay
PROGRESS REPORT # 7 ON MAJOR RESTORATION PROJECTS at Still Mountain Dharma Center
Our ongoing dairy of great daily accomplishments continues
A RELIABLE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS
Monday March 18, 2024
Dear Friends…
I have learned over the years that one reliable source of happiness is making steady progress towards achieving a great and worthy goal…
And that is what we are doing here on a daily basis as we continue making steady progress towards our goal of reactivating this Center.
With each thing completed, with each step forward that we take, there is a soul satisfaction that is deep and profound.
Looking Back
I can look back on when we started this major restoration work a couple of months ago…
when the South End floor was still rotted out…
when a lake formed under the floor whenever it rained…
when this Meditation Hall was still stuffed with stored things and remain silent and unused…
When this Hall was always freezing cold, and we rarely even came into the building…
When this new Publications Studio didn’t exist and I was producing this newsletter on a tiny desk aboard my tiny house…
and it seemed like the retreat we had been on since Covid would continue, and this Center would stay closed to the public possibly for years.
The Inner Call That Changed Everything
Fortunately for me and for us, I have maintained my nightly Kirtan and Prayer Bath sadhanas steadily as I have sought the sanctuary of inner communion with the Divine which, after 50 years of dharma practice, is so essential to my well being.
After many years of effort, one of the greatest breakthroughs and gifts to myself was developing the ability to tap into and accurately hear my Inner Guidance.
This ability is crucial to everything I do because I know the Inner Guidance flows in an unbroken stream through my higher consciousness and through it, the Divine tells me everything I need to know, shows me everything I need to see in order to live consciously and in alignment with what the Divine is calling me to do.
One night, during a Prayer Bath, I received very clear and specific guidance that it was time for us to come out of retreat and get busy launching public programs as soon as possible.
I was shown the steps that we need to take and the work we needed to do to restore this Center so we can reopen and take the next stages in serving others and the world, especially at this time when the need is so great.
This guidance was and remains the impetus for all we have accomplished so far and still endeavoring to accomplish.
Following The Inner Guidance Accurately Always Produces Exceptionally Good Results
We launched these major restoration projects the next day after receiving those inner directions.
Looking back, I am extremely grateful that we had the confidence and courage to launch this work.
Ani and Arnold working on clearing the Center kitchen of mold and mildew
I find it to be absolutely true as Patanjali says:
“When you are inspired by some great purpose,
Some extraordinary project,
All your thoughts break their bonds—
Your mind transcends limitations,
Your consciousness expands in every direction,
And you find yourself in a
New, great and wonderful world.
Dormant forces, faculties and talents
Become alive, and you discover
Yourself to be a greater person
By far than you ever
Dreamed yourself to be.”
Ani working on repairing the ceiling of our Meditation Hall
We are living proof of this principle because we are being steadily uplifted and transformed by this work.
We are sincerely and totally dedicated to serving others by being sources of inspiration by how we live, what we do, what we share and what we teach.
That is our “why” to all we are doing.
I was inspired by my own teachers, whose living example of selflessly dedicating every moment of every day to helping others, awakened in me a powerful desire to follow in their footsteps that has shaped my life ever since.
“One should rejoice at every opportunity
You get to serve others.
Selfless service bestows its own rewards,
If it is offered unselfishly to benefit others.
Even the smallest act of kindness
Is a blessing for both the giver and the receiver.”
—Amma…Mata Amritanandamayi
Pixabay
Our story continues in the next issue of “The Dawning Light”…
In case you missed our previous stories about our restoration work, here is a link to these stories:
THIS WOULD BE A GREAT TIME TO MAKE A DONATION TO OUR BUILDING FUND
We are extremely frugal in the use of all the money that our friends and supporters have generously donated to this work.
As of this writing, we have a few hundred dollars left in our building fund, and a lot more that still needs to be done or purchased before we reopen.
This would be a great time if you feel drawn to help us by clicking on the donation button below and giving us any amount!
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!