We often talk about wearing hats out here, "It's hot today, where's your hat?" or "Oh, we're wearing our Sautrantika hats when we study this verse." And we each wear lots of different hats every day: friend, chef, teacher, plumber, meditator, chai-tea drinker, dry-waller, roofer, mudder, driver - you get the picture.
Recently I was asked to wear a particular hat - the Volunteer Coordinator Hat. Ahhhhhh! This hat is fun to wear, sometimes a little heavy, and it does seem to be very attached to my head. I like this hat. And I like to call all of us who volunteer here, "Diamond Mountaineers."
Gaining a full understanding of each cabin site and the volunteer needs is a big task. Schedules vary from site to site - some are just finishing framework while others are ready to install light fixtures and cabinets. We've got straw bale, earth bag, stick-built and adobe brick structures. Plus, retreatants are utilizing a variety of alternative energy, desert gardening, and alternative sewage plans. There's a big need for a wide range of skilled and unskilled help. And that's where you come in
We need you to come wear a hat! I've had the joy of working with a core group of 20 Diamond Mountaineers who dedicated their summer working on 24 cabins or cabin sites. The math tells you that it's slow. That's why we need you – with your hands and help we will progress quickly. And if you don't have a hat, we'll lend you one.
Come for 2 days or the next 4 months. If you're planning to be here for the September teachings, come a week early, or stay a month after classes end. For those not able to be away from home or work for an extended period, try this: sponsor someone you know who's always wanted to do something like this. Reach out in your local community to a college student, your favorite coffee barista, or friend-of-a-friend and sponsor them. Be creative! I remember my first day on the land and how fortunate I've been to return again and again. You can offer that experience to someone you know.
As the Volunteer Coordinator, I'm here to help you make plans and match you up with a position where you will enjoy investing your interests and skills. You're welcome to contact me at any time with questions, ideas and advice.
The retreatants need your help. The builders can use your help. I would like your help. Please use the "CONTACT" button at the top right of this page and let me know how you would like to get involved to finish the retreat cabins.
Here's to you trying on a new hat!
Comments
4 comments postedBlessings dear Annela,
so happy to know you are there supporting and guiding the project.
If its not possible to get to DM before retreat starts then count me in
for volunteering sometime during the 3 years. You can schedule me for heavy
cooking shifts; just make sure the knives are sharp.
love ya,
nancy g
ps love your blog:)
I am sincerely wondering why this is being called a "Silent" Retreat. Is this just another business as usual slogan with no meaning? The reason I wonder such is due to the fact that many couples will be living together in those very nice "cabins" (houses in the mountains, really), and I find it hard to believe that these couples (and others) will really be silent for over 3 years. Answering this question will also relieve doubts as to whether or not the "schedule" will be kept as well.
It is not my intention to criticize negatively, but I think it is spiritually necessary to speak the truth and such a retreat can only be helpful, to the rest of the word for which they want peace for, if the name reflects the reality.
I've done group retreats, and it's definitely possible to keep silence together. If you are trying to meditate deeply, talking and even writing notes can be very distracting. Staying on a schedule and keeping silent go hand in hand: if you have an unvarying schedule, then you don't need to talk about it.
Furthermore, most of the cabins are spaced close to one another, and sound travels easily in that valley. So I think as a matter of courtesy, if nothing else, silence will be observed.
A few of the cabins are indeed like small houses, albeit with a very small daily allocation of water and only a little bit of solar electricity. The cabins that went up first are the most houselike, since they were built by the retreaters who are best organized and/or had the most money available. But most of the other structures could only be called a cabin. Recall also that this is the desert, where it's quite radical to live without air conditioning (which none of the retreat cabins will have).
Dear Ann,
Thank you so, so much for taking this on for us all!
And I want to echo the need for more helpers.
Great good karma making machine: helping others get into a three year retreat.
Much love,
Rene' Miranda