A delicious holiday cookie baking took place last Saturday at the Sunburst lodge, with many people participating. In addition to baking, a large group of residents and friends gathered for a festive tree and lodge decorating party. As well, it was a birthday celebration for our dear sister Sandi DeSilva. Sandi lived with us in the earlier years of Sunburst, helping Brother Norman prepare his first book for publication.
Abundant laughter escaped the kitchen as cookies were baked, decorated…and tasted; these treats will sweeten December festivities. These events include weekend activities of Winter Solstice [Dec. 21 – 23] and Celebrate Life [Dec. 28 – 30]. Come and join us for any part of these special days to meditate and call in the light for a New Year.
The lodge looks exceptionally beautiful with its beams decorated in green garlands and white lights. A big “Thank you!” to Elena and Greg for delivering the tree this year and stringing it with rainbow lights. They also bedecked the mantel above our huge stone fireplace, a point of focus during these cool, wet winter months.
After last Saturday’s festive potluck dinner and dessert, Elena provided us with pens and large glittery stars. We wrote our 2013 wishes and projections on these, then hung them on the tree.
May we all find joy in our hearts, living in brotherhood and peace!
Happy Birthday dear Sandi (pictured on the left)
Owen puts his Christmas wish star on the tree
We wrote our wishes and projections for 2013 on glittery stars that were hung on the tree.
The Sunburst garden is in full bloom and production now! A new wind break for the garden—a wonderful cob wall—has almost been completed. It will also provide the garden with a built-in bench and tool room.
The wall’s material, cob, is a natural building medium composed of sand, straw and clay soil. Mixed with water, it is applied over a small rock foundation, then formed with one’s hands as it grows in height. It will be covered with a slight roof to keep off excess rainwater and prevent erosion. Helge and Heiko are among the people who have been working to complete the project. A big thanks goes out to Steven (running the tractor, below) and Rita (in hat, below) who made the long journey many times to assist with this project.
In the garden, sunflowers are beginning to bloom. These and other brightly colored flowers attract bees, aiding in pollination and Sunburst honey production. Jessica is now caretaking the garden, keeping it weeded and planted. The brunch teams have been using the vegetables for their meals on Sunday. This last weekend featured zucchini chocolate chip cookies and a lovely pasta salad with veggies from the garden. Feel free to take a look around the garden on your next trip to Sunburst!
At Sunburst Sanctuary there is always something going on, and an ever-conscious awareness intended to help newcomers or visitors feel at home. This past week preparations were made for the Experience Sunburst program. Attendees camp, work, study and meditate with Sunburst residents for two full weeks.
Preparations included the transformation of our old meditation area in the Lodge into a comfy spot for social interaction, or simply relaxing—a sort of living room. Several intimate seating arrangements invite conversation, crafts, creating music, playing games, reading or a movie. There are shelves for a few books and games. The area will be able to morph as needed.
It continues to be a wonderful day for a walk almost every day at Sunburst. Despite the heat most of the country has been experiencing, coastal temperatures remain comfortable. Many recent visitors have gotten to see baby turkeys and young fawns.
A pair of twin fawns graze outside.
Yesterday I saw a very large coyote, quite close up. He didn’t see me because I was hardly moving while thinning apples at the far end of our orchard. He walked along outside of the nearby deer fence. I’m always happy to see our native critters, and pinch myself that I live surrounded by Nature’s beautiful “living room.” Hope to see YOU soon at Sunburst!
Jake and Lucinda readying the new living room area in Sunburst’s lodge.
The cozy new living room area in Sunburst’s lodge, ready for everyone to enjoy.
Coastal fog shrouded our hillsides, but Sunburst’s solstice “sunrise” labyrinth walk went on as scheduled. Craig, Sibylle, Steve and Sandy were at the labyrinth walk. Personally, I would have been happy to sleep in today, but got up for meditation, and was glad I did.
Six baby turkeys, and their mother hen, visited the temple this morning just before we spilled out the doors. It was fun to see them. JK was first out, and they jumped/flew 8 feet into the air at the sound of him opening the door. The turkeys then slowly headed into the redwood trees around the temple.
My husband, Al and I walked home while watching a coyote leaping at mice across the field. It was a magical morning for wildlife. We have at least two beautiful and rare Eurasian Collared Doves here, and one of them serenaded us during meditation. Mostly white, they like our evergreen trees and are usually perched or flying as a pair. I often see them drinking at my ground-level water saucer. A lovely fox drinks there daily as well. He’s so comfortable around us, that we can get in the car and bang the door shut while he’s sleeping undisturbed on the hillside 15 feet above our driveway.
Summer is officially here. Let’s find joy in every day, no matter where we are. Joy is God’s life and love in us.
Walking the tree lined path on the way to meditation at the Sunburst Sanctuary is an experience in itself. The peaceful walk over bridges and under arbors, surrounded by smells of redwood and pine trees, one begins to feel the peace, presence, and intention of the many seekers who have traveled this path before you.
On a morning when you arrive early take some time to meander off the main path and travel along the winding walkway, where native plants are growing and giving sustenance to butterflies, hummingbirds, and honey bees. This path will lead you back into the main lodge area where meditations are held almost every day of the week.
I have heard that on a farm, the farmer’s footsteps makes the best fertilizer.  I find that the same is true of meditation centers that seem to be infused with all of the energy and heart of its meditators. When you walk into any church or temple you can feel the prayers and devotion that linger long after the devotees have left the building.
One of the comments that we receive often from visitors to the Sunburst Sanctuary are how peaceful they feel the minute they drive onto the property. The wildlife agree, it seems, the deer no longer bound away when cars drive by, and recently even the foxes, coyotes, and bobcats are seen playing and hunting openly in the fields.
Letha Kiddie and good friend Ischa brandishing spatula
I love walking into the kitchen at the Lodge on Sundays before meditation service. There’s the wonderful smell of whatever the week’s brunch team is cooking, underneath which I can always detect the kitchen’s usual comforting aroma of coffee and spices. It’s nice and warm in there now, too, on these suddenly chilly winter days.
But my favorite part is seeing the people I’ve come to love so much over the last year and a half. No matter how busy they are with final preparations as the clock races toward the 10:30 deadline, my friends always make time for me with smiles, hugs, and laughter. I always feel grateful to be part of this special group of people.
Even when there’s some kind of tension in the human community known as Sunburst, I feel confident that it will be worked out with consciousness and kindness. I’ve never had that trust in people before, so this is a new experience for me. I’ve also never seen a group of people who love and care about each other as much as this one! I guess that’s part of what it takes to live in community—a commitment to look at ourselves and our own issues as least much as those with whom we’re having a disagreement or problem.
The remarkable Brother Craig Hanson
As I go to sit down with my friends in the meditation circle, I always get a big, involuntary smile on my face. I probably look a little goofy. But it strikes me suddenly, as I enter that sacred space, how wonderful it is that so many people want to do the same thing: make the world a better place by becoming clear in their own purpose and goal of Self-Realization. Whether or not that’s how each of us articulates it, the energy of that desire is palpable and very powerful in our beautiful meditation circle.
I’m also struck by how very often the speaker for the meditation service says exactly what I needed to hear at that particular moment in my life. John Henry McCaughey did that on a recent Sunday, with his talk about the rain and being alone in nature and creating beautiful memories for each other. John Kiddie, Heiko Wirtz, Val King, Jake Collier, Craig Hanson, and others have also done the same on more than one occasion. In my experience, this only happens when a teacher is tuned into Source Energy and has learned how to put ego aside and allow Spirit to speak through him or her.
It’s a most wonderful experience to be in that Presence.
During this holiday season, I’m so thankful for the people in this community and all the many guests who come to share their time and energy here. I’ve never met so many people in one place who understand and practice the art of gratitude!
