Santi sits on the northern edge of a vast forest that is burning in an extraordinary firestorm. A call has gone out among nuns to send blessings, and you can add blessings too.
The fire is not exactly close, yet is enormous, having covered far more land than remains between it and Santi; it is completely uncontrolled in the worst rated fire conducive conditions (“Catastrophic” combo of heat, high winds & low humidity), and spreading north quickly.
In just 2 hours the front northern edge noticeably changed, as you can see in these screenshots taken about 3 hours ago & 1 hour ago, respectively. (Santi is just below the middle of the town’s name Bundanoon.)
The losses of habitat already are staggering.
The forest in and south of Santi is the home, by aboriginal designation, of the famous Lyre bird. (Male Lyre birds hold court at Santi, choosing a good place for sound projection, and cutting loose heart stopping unique remixes of every bird’s songs.) The land has phenomenal properties of micro-climates; even within Santi’s property, walking down the steep terrain from ridge to creek, the climate shifts from arid to tropical - complete with leeches and fern leaves taller than a man! Countless birds sing or shriek, colorful parrots descend upon trees by the dozens, wombats leave their droppings on prominent rocks on paths right where you need to step… It’s magical place, with stunning cliffs, gullies and beautiful, deep forest. And one of only a handful of forest dwellings for Theravada Buddhist nun communities in the world.
Kindly do whatever you do to send blessings - chant, recite words of truth, pray, call upon assistance of forest devas, share merits, anything. Many well wishes coming from around the world can only help.
