Tilorien Monastery: we've started building!

Ayya Kathrin is building the inside walls:

Danny has been working at a nice garden:

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Ayya Vimala has started putting in plumbing, electrics and ventilation systems—so pipes everywhere!

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The inner guts of a building is something people don’t often contemplate. You can kind of look at it like the asubha of buildings. Seems to me this is the broader principle of asubha, that things are only beautiful/attractive when taking the wide view — it is only upon analysis/dis-integration that a subject loses it’s allure. Hmm, maybe a bit too much thinking about pictures of building progress…

Anyway, always glad to see progress at Tilorien! :+1:

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Update on the progress of the building works: We’ve been busy… :wink:

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Yikes! I hope everyone is OK! Lots of bandages in the last picture…
:face_with_head_bandage:

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:grin:
The doodle is slightly exaggerated. All these cups of tea keep us going. :wink:

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First picnic on a freshly mowed lawn, with flowers and butterflies all around:

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=) can this be dhamma doodled?

Also… empty picnic blanket, kinda like That Empty Throne/seat. Lovely :slight_smile:

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What we’ve been busy with during the last few days

Painting:

Putting in laminate—and this room looks already really nice:

Trimming the hedge:

And this is how the flowers in the garden look like:

And the veggie bed:

And finally—the riddle of the day: Can you figure out which ones are the famous two bad bricks??? :wink:

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More groundwork…

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… and painting:

We’re very happy that the work is progressing so well! :house: :heart:

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Today at Tilorien with a marker pen and nothing useful to do… :wink:

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That reminds me of a practice that one of my favorite bands would engage in at each hotel they visited on tour, where they would move a picture or any other typically stationary object and proceed to dress up that hidden space with a work of artistic expression. Although it’s technically vandalism, I always thought it was kind of a neat way of enlivening a dead space, and giving the one who discovers it a small joy. A similar story is that of Jack White of the White Stripes who, in his time as an upholsterer’s apprentice, would leave special notes inside the refurbished furniture intended for the next upholsterer to find if and when the piece was ever given yet another life.

Anyway, very excited about the work progress, and eagerly anticipate more pictures!

:pray:

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After sowing grass the ground needs to be compressed :sweat_smile: :heart::

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After many difficulties a few of our external contractors did indeed show up at the building site! :heart_eyes:

Yesterday the first layer of the floor insulation in the ground floor has been put in:

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And the stones for the outside cladding arrived:

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Best of all: We made the acquaintance of this very sweet neighbour: :heartpulse:

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As you can see above, we had a few busy days at Tilorien. Except for one person… :sweat_smile:

Tilorien Monastery - Nothing to do

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Doing Nothing seems pretty important work (too).

I love seeing these updates. i am not looking forward to them stopping. So i kinda hope they don’t! And i kinda wish other vihara might sometimes share in this way.

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How do locals react to the fact this is a place for Buddhists renunciants? Do they get interested to learn more about Dhamma?

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I’m probably not the most competent to answer this question because I am only occasionally at the site.

But as much as I know there are people in the village who have quite a spiritual attitude, and others might rent us their holiday home in order to accommodate people so that we could organise retreats at the monastery (for up to 15 people or so, that’s the size of Tilorien’s meditation hall).

Overall people seem to be friendly and open.

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This moment we’ve been waiting for for so long now: Finally, the water has been connected to the building!

(I almost had given up hope that it would ever happen at all… :disappointed_relieved:)


They had to make a hole in the street so no traffic could pass for 4 hours.


Our new shower :sweat_smile: :sweat_smile:

Inside the building the underfloor heating is being put in place:


… and we’re exhausted!

And outside the masonry is nearly finished:

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:pray: :pray: :pray:

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By the looks of it I bet it will be finished within 12 months since the first photos were posted by Ayya @Vimala. Very efficient builders you’ve got! :slight_smile:

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