I reached Utrecht and rented and apartment. I got a call mentioning that a package has arrived for me. I went to look at it and found that the package had my address but belonged to someone else. I did not accpet it and asked those people to wait and I shall try and find out about the person. With some effort and inquiries from other residents it was possible to locate the person and I informed her. She came to collect the parcel immediately. She mentioned that it had warm clothing sent by her parents and she desperately needed it because the weather has started to turn cold already.

I have often been weary of personal contact especially with those that I do not know very well. There is a new student staying our pagoda and at first glance and talking to him I was quite intimidated. He is very wise, he has a deep voice and it seems that he does not need any help from anyone. He attended a retreat that was held at our center the following weekend after he arrived and soften up. I guess I also soften up and realized I, like him, try to be “strong”. In our retreat I realized how lonely I had become because of this pattern of mine. The…

A dharma sister Ani Drolkar passed away within nine month’s of being diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer. None of her immediate sangha nor her family could adopt her twelve year old granny calico kitty. Although we have two male cats of our own, I knew I had to take her in to join my morning and evening prayers and meditation as she did with my dear friend Ani. I play a Tibetan animal liberation mantra CD for her repeatedly for the sake of her long life and for her own future rebirth.

Well, it was time for lunch offering and I was pretty hungry and tired from working on the farm. On the way to the Buddhahall a nun needed help carrying heavy boxes of books to the bookstore. Then Mr. Lao stopped a called for help at TM to unload a truck. I assured the nun I would be back. After unloading a bunch of food off the truck near TM, I went back to the bookstore to find the nun and help her. The cart was way to heavy for me so we got a visitor (Tourist) to help out. Two kindness stories in one! anyway, the cart didn’t collapse…

Mine is not really a story but so many stories that happened to me this summer. I was one of the fortunate ones who was part of the international team of World Harmony Run in Europe. I was running through Slovakia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and later Poland, the Baltics, Finnland and Sveden our main purpos was to bring the idea of friendship and the feeling of one big family to everybody. It really worked!At least in our team, because we were from different countries and we could work together happily on the same project and became very good friends.Our motto was “Harmony begins with me.” I take this run as…

I recited the Pure Land Mantra 108 times, and dedicated all the merit to world peace and to all soldiers and civilians who have sacrificed their lives in conflicts throughout the world.

I vow to implement a library software for the books available at Gold Sage Monastery. The literature made available there is truly a treaure trove. In this day and age, when every library has a web interface to search, reserve and track books, the library at GSM should have such a software too. This is a action that has not taken place yet, but it will be done.

There has been some times when i have been waiting for the bus somewhere in Helsinki or Espoo (city next to Helsinki in Finland) and all the passengers from that particular stop have already boarded the bus and the bus has been ready to take of. Then i have seen somebody appearing somewhere around the corner or up the hill etc. and very spontaneously without thinking too much i have raised my hand to stop the bus from leaving or gotten into the bus to inform the driver about some persons still coming onboard. This has happened perhaps three of four times in the last years. The people running have…

At the end of July I and my brother went sailing with 12 bahai youth from Nagu close to Turku in Finland to Esbo close to the capital. Our contribution was to provide the boats (two sailing boats) and to serve as captains on the boats. For most of the young people coming from lapland and the inner parts of Finland the sail was a completely new experience. Some pictures from the jurney are found at: http://patej.1g.fi/bahai/purjehdusvaellus2007