NEWS and MUSINGS

Well it was good to see the rain teeming down on Sunday morning and know that our labours of the previous day to erect a marquee and gazebo had been worth it!
We had a very good turnout for our Magha Puja and it was an excellent day. It was what every good Buddhist celebration should be: Dana, Sila, Bhavana and good, friendly company. Such was the generosity that a mass of supplies was given that included all kinds of useful things, kitchen things, a wonderful deep fat fryer for the chips and £866 for the kitty. Anumodana!
When it was all over and the clearing up was more or less out of the way, our Buddha-Dhamma Fellowship (BDF) committee met and spent some time on the uncertain state of the finances. The BDF is the lay body that supports and cares for the business side of things here and which always welcomes new members. The financial responsibility includes the daily running costs and the outstanding debt on the purchase of Wood Cottage. Thankfully, due to a very welcome recent arrival of almost £7,000 from supporters in Thailand it's been possible to knock another £10,000 off the Wood Cottage debt. So that's down now to £135,000.
In an earlier post I reported that one wall of The Forest Hermitage building had been painted. On Sunday one of our members kindly offered to sponsor another, so hopefully, bit by bit we'll get the painting and the repairs completed.
Now it's back to normal. This week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I have prison visits and Warwick Uni Buddhist Society on Thursday evening, Tahn Manapo has a meeting of the Warwick Faiths Forum on Thursday and a school visit on Friday, and we have to prepare for Saturday's Angulimala Workshop.