Accompanied by my seven year-old grandson, Kye, and beloved friend, Anne Ashton, a former director of Gaia House, I enjoyed a few hours at Gaia house recently to join in the celebration of 25 years since the opening of Gaia house in 1983. Gaia House invited me to attend the daylong event. More than 100 others attended the Sunday gathering with Christina (Feldman) reminding us of some of the incidents during the last quarter of a century and Yanai (Postelnik) acting as MC (Master of Ceremonies).
Prior to the current Gaia house, we purchased a 10 bedroom vicarage. Before that we rented East Farmhouse, Wyle in Wiltshire, owned by the military attache at the British Embassy in Washington DC. We didn’t tell the owner that we held regular retreats in his home. One day, he expectedly knocked on the front door and asked if he could peruse around his home. It happened to be a weekend retreat with about 20 people participating.At the time of his arrival the group of meditators were engaged in standing meditation in a large room that would normally serve as the dining room. We had cleared everything out. The major opened the door of the dining room, walked around, looked at the beams and the walls without taking the slightest notice of the 20 people standing in silence with their eyes closed. In the very best traditions of the British stiff upper lip, the major walked out of the room and said to me: “Yes, everything looks in very good order.” It was as if the room was utterly empty of people, and his furniture and carpets were in place.
The major stayed for afternoon tea with the managers and myself without any reference to the group of people. Perhaps all of these years of his training as a soldier gave him the idea that everybody in the room was standing to attention. It was the only explanation that I could come up with. On another occasion he came when we had a large teepee in the garden. Again, nothing said. Gaia house looks breathtakingly beautiful. I walked around everywhere, indoors and outdoors, appreciating and enjoying the tremendous attention that is given to detail and upkeep of the propoerty.
The centre serves as an important refuge for those who need a break from the demands of home and working life. Visitors experience the invaluable resources of the Dharma, depths of meditation and the pervasive atmosphere of kindness and empathy. They can leave renewed, inspired and with greater clarity about everyday life. I met numerous friends there, past and present trustees, past and present managers, teachers, as well as dedicated yogis.
Yanai kindly sent me a card a few days later to thank me for coming and for my Dharma service over the years.
When we bought the current Gaia house in 1996, the abbess of the then convent, told me that the nuns prayed that we would be able to buy the convent so that it would continue to be used for spiritual practices rather than become an old people’s home, school or holiday flats. She knew also that we would take great care of the tiny cemetery where more than 30 Christian nuns are buried – close to the meditation hall. The meditation hall continues to be maintained with pristine sensitivity as a mark of respect for all those nuns who lived a life dedicated to pray and service.
Incidentally, several years ago I wrote my will. I asked to be cremated rather than buried since it seemed to me a burial for myself would be rather a waste of good land. I requested in my will that my ashes would be thrown over the grass of the small cemetery at Gaia house. Of course, whoever the trustees of Gaia house are at the time will have to make the final decision about this. Om.