I’ve been imagining the monastery as remaining a refuge for all the animals in the area and that the deer, cougars, feral cat, skunks, ground squirrels, birds, foxes, ants and all our other regular friends were able to shelter together in the square we think the fire crews made and defended. This is imagining, but a form of metta generation, none the less.
It has felt very good to be practicing with so many around the world out of care for the animals in the area, the neighbors, the fire personnel and the monastery buildings and land.
This fire is just one small example of the environmental crises impacting the planet. The sense of care and compassion spills so much farther than this little cup of red with the orange dot called Aloka Vihara and yet, I deeply appreciate that there is likely still a physical vihara standing from which that compassion can spread.
I was so glad to read the news this morning that Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery was safe. Alas, this situation was momentary.
The Candor fire in the Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery area is not yet contained, it has spread further and is still out of control. Although last night the firefighters worked so bravely and hard to successfully save the monastery buildings, there is still the change of winds tonight, and there is still a mass of out of control fire.
The fire-fighters are now going to face intensified conditions for another 12 hours, overnight, as they face the fires. To quote Ayya Tathaaloka (who has been keeping me in the loop with what is happening) they will need all the Love, Power, Energy and Blessings that we can send them.
Also, 11 am Monday high winds are predicted, during that time the fire could just explode again. The winds will be most dangerous sweeping up the ridge lines, and AVFM is on top of a ridge, with the canyon below full of fire. So, the fire people have one more day to get things under control as much as possible before the winds still come in.
In effect, through Tuesday evening (CA time) it is not all over.
We may know very soon if the monastery vihara (house) survived last night’s fire. This map shows they evaluated the next door neighbor’s house this morning and found no damage. In the picture the monastery is where you see the pool (which was taken out when it became a monastery ). Much appreciation to all those wishing the monastery well. We hope all the fire personnel are getting all the care they need in this time of difficult work. They are doing an amazing job.
Well, it will be tomorrow before the map updates (9 am PDT). They only reported as far as the neighbor’s house today.
It feels a bit like a Schrödinger’s cat situation. So I’ll focus on the feral cat, Elizabeth, whom we left part of a bag of cat food for and wish her well along with the vihara.
Dear everyone, I just had an update from Ayya Tathaaloka who has also been following the unfolding fire situation closely.
The Vihara at Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery is still in great danger. The fire fighters had a tough day with the fire today and there has been a humidity drop. During the next two days high winds are predicted.
The specific times when the danger will be greatest is August 30th from 12 noon thru 6 pm PDT (Pacific/California time) and August 31st from 11 am thru 9 pm PDT. These are the times when the winds will be strongest. So blessings especially needed during those times.
All blessings, chanting, dedications of merits, all types of spiritual support and good will during these next few days will hopefully help ease things, and the hearts of those involved, no matter what the ultimate outcome.
With much compassion for the suffering of all involved in this fire, and in all the fires of our world,
If you take a snapshot just a little further down you can see the green yurt also was marked as undamaged.
Monastery, dorm, and even the green yurt are marked as undamaged. The terracota yurt, manzanita kuti, and trailer are more tucked into the forest. They may not be evaluated and we might need to wait until we return to know if they survived. The property line goes south in a wedge shape to or near the creek. I’m not showing the full property in the screenshot below as the picture is very very outdated now.
Appreciation to the hard working inspectors as well as the frontline fire protectors and appreciation to all those who have been chanting and blessing the monastery. Please continue your well wishing for all beings in the area of this fire and all fires around the globe.
and as Ayya Adhimutti notes, it isn’t necessarily over for this fire and the monastery property. We’ll keep watching the community reports and the operations maps to see when they draw black lines indicating they think the fire is contained in that area.
Yes the large one was cast metal and the main piece on the altar. The small one was given to me by Ayya Gunasari and Ayya Dipa at my Pabbajja ~6 yrs ago. The little stupa was from an International Tipitika Chanting event.
We think it will be given a new home, likely in an outdoor shrine.
Meanwhile we are spraying soot off of solar panels and cleaning out smelly refrigerators and hoping to nurse the desiccated Bodhi trees back into health. This is a great time for practice.
Feeling so grateful for work done by the fire fighters and that the community has been able to maintain practice. I have experienced the results of fire at Wat Buddha Dhamma and reading your blog brought memories back. May you all find much support with the cleaning up process.
). Much appreciation to all those wishing the monastery well. We hope all the fire personnel are getting all the care they need in this time of difficult work. They are doing an amazing job.
