My visit to Padmaloka was very inspiring. The community were reaching the end of their ‘at home’ week together and they had kindly offered to spend the morning with me discussing the ‘land project’. The community has never been in better shape and I was so well looked after and so enjoyed being around them that I doubted whether a finer community could exist anywhere in our movement.

Earlier in the week they had explored amongst themselves how Padmaloka might connect with the land project which meant that by the time I had brought them up to date with the latest thinking and developments questions and ideas were flying around the room.

I quickly realised that the enthusiasm and levels of inspiration that existed in the community could really help boost this project and help make it a reality. In my ideal scenario I could see how the Padmaloka community would help bring this new mythic land to life and infuse it with friendship, depth of practice and play.

We explored the pros and cons of the retreat centre actually moving to the new land and, as with the women’s retreat centres, realised just how challenging it would be to protect the vital sense of a strong single-sex environment not compromised by other projects in the area. I wonder whether, assuming we do find 300 acres, a private fifty acre area for a retreat centre would assure it’s private independent operation (Padmaloka currently owns 7 acres). That is just one of several key issues that would need resolving.

Padmaloka, like Tiratanaloka and Taraloka, is a place that has to be protected, nurtured and cherished. The communities clearly do a great job ensuring their well being. So maybe, just maybe, the current strength of those retreat centres might make it possible to at least explore the idea of a couple of them possibly relocating, however unlikely that is. Suddenly the land is perfumed with spiritual practice even though the practitioners, whether residents or retreatants,  are hidden away in their own woods. Occasionally they might appear to circumnambulate the great stupa or open their doors to an Order gathering before drifting quietly away into their own realm…..

Please don’t get the impression that any of the retreat centres are ready to up and move. There may be other ways that they might interact with this new project. I just can’t help wondering….