The past two weeks have just whizzed by, and so much has been accomplished by the loving kriyavans who are serving God and masters through their divine seva.
On the night of August 6th, Heath Wood came all the way from Oklahoma pulling a trailer full of tools and sporting a smile as big as Texas. He didn’t waste a minute, going to work on the guest housing the next morning.
His energy and enthusiasm are astonishing, as is the amount of divine work he accomplishes in a single day.
We’re really blessed to have you, Heath!
On August 9, Krishna Ma, Punitha Ma, and Anjanadevi Ma came from Dallas bearing gifts for the Temple of Compassion, and a desire in their hearts to celebrate Guruji’s birthday the next day with a special puja.
Krishna Ma and Punitha Ma modeled the aprons they made at home, offering them at the feet of Guruji here at the ashram.
The three divine mothers upgraded our makeshift altar using bunk bed boxes, and decorated it for the paduka puja. Heath joined the celebration; enjoyed some prasad with the mothers, and then went back to work on the guest housing.
On July 12, Jack and Sydney Platt came from Houston for the day.
Jack helped Heath install windows and cut metal trim for the outside to frame the windows and match the metal building.
Sydney made labels for all the kitchen cabinets and drawers so that visitors to the ashram can find things when they come, instead of opening every drawer and door to search for a plate, a cup or a spoon. Thank you, Sydney, it’s a relief to know the proper place for everything!
She also took on the task of removing labels from the stainless steel dishes that were donated by a very generous kriyavan. The dishes began arriving from India the week before, and are still arriving – 768 pieces so far! Thanks for ruining your fingernails for the cause, Sydney.
Sri Ma, her husband Dinesh, and their two children Rishi and Diksha arrived on the evening of August 13th and immediately put their energy into assembling one of the bunk beds being tested out for guest housing. The next day, the two children helped out by watering the long garden that has not yet been outfitted with drip lines and a watering timer. And Sri Ma also cooked for us, which is always such a delight.
Our local electrician Garrett was on site for several days upgrading the wiring in the garage-become-guest house. Heath helped in many ways, including tearing out all the old wiring, and climbing up into the rafters to string wiring for the outdoor floodlights.
Garrett had some immensely useful input about many aspects of the work we have going on. Next he will tackle the rewiring of the outdoor kitchen!
Thanks, Garrett, it’s really a pleasure having philosophical conversations, working with you, and having you as a neighbor!
Austin kriyavan David Russo, his wife Jenny, and their son Jack came August 17th through 21st to help with a variety of things. David built the stage/altar for the meditation hall, worked on one sample bunk bed to assess the feasibility of reinforcing and modifying it, built up the concrete at the bottom of the doorways in the new guest housing to make a level base for the doors, and worked alongside Heath to finish closing in the garage-door openings in preparation for the spray foam insulation.
And finally, our painter/cook/creative idea person Cherri Burrows came back again August 20-21 to knock a few items off of the seva list. She provided wonderful savory Mediterranean style meals that were a pleasant and welcome change for the palate. She also brought some nice plants for our gardens, worked tirelessly on the tedious task of removing sticky, gummy, messy labels from the new stainless steel dishes, and helped Cheryl Ma make soap to sell at the inauguration program. Soap making photos will be included in the next update!
As promised, we finally got a nice picture of Cherri’s smiling face. Thanks for all you’re doing to support Temple of Compassion, Cherri.
Come join the divine company of these loving kriyavans who are knee-deep in helping to create a wonderfully loving and beautiful ashram for the Southern region. Spending time here will make you want to come back again and again – just ask anyone who’s been here!