Exuberance of Spring
Picture: Tan Ratthapalo having arrived at Aruna Ratanagiri
The Full Moon day for this month falls today, Sunday 29th April; the next New Moon will be Monday 14th May. Spring is certainly in full flow now: Harnham is teeming with daffodils and frisking lambs, the weather is generally improving and the area is looking greener and more vibrant each week. The rising activity is also being felt in the monastery: Tan Thitapañño has moved back to Abhayagiri in the USA after spending nearly three years with us. After a drawn out process with many obstacles Tan Ratthapālo has finally joined us from Wat Pah Nanachat and seems to be comfortably settled in. We were happy to have Ajahn Chandapalo here for a few days earlier this week after a recent visit with his mother in York. With more agreeable weather the building project is moving towards completion, hopefully in time for Vesak. Earlier in the month we were pleased to see members of the South and South-east Asian communities gather for the traditional New Year (Thai: Songkran). Yesterday was our first lake work day of the year. The weather was on our side with the rain holding off (for most of the day). Next month we have our public celebration of Vesak on Sunday, May 27th. There is an official announcement in the news section of our website containing the details of the day. Sister Khemaka from Amaravati who will be staying with us for just over a week has been invited to offer the Dhamma talk at Evening Puja on that day. The next lake work day will be on May 19th. All are very welcome to join in.
