It is the height of summer, the lawns are yellowed from the sun and lack of rain, the 50^th Celebration of Padmaloka is well underway, and most notably we have just ritually sent off our beloved brother Akashaja from the community.

Akashaja - He who is born form the qualities of the Sky - an excellent maintenance man, moved to Padmaloka 6 years ago and, quite unusually, didn't have a local centre which he came through. Akashaja was looking for somewhere to go deeper and came to Padmaloka for the Winter retreat in 2013, Padmaloka is where he became a mitra, something that has only happened a small handful of times.

This immediate and strongly positive response Akashaja has had to the place has been paid back with 6 years of vigilance, dedication and near impeccable standards in his role as maintenance man - a role he defines simply as: “slowing the rate of decay”.

On top of the countless door handles, toasters, breadmixers, burst pipes, hinges, gutters, and other miscellaneous broken items he has repaired; Akashaja has been integral in many larger projects throughout his time here. Primarily, working closely with Aloka to fit many of the infill panels in the shrine room, bringing the heart of Padmaloka closer to completion. Akashaja has also helped protect Padmaloka, by building flood defences, channelling water under and through the property without it causing damage to the buildings. As well as completing many decorating projects around the site, including helping with decoration of the community lounge which is a space cherished by the community.

Perhaps an area outside of Akashaja’s preferences is him leading a team on Decorating or Friends & Guests weeks. Yet, you will often hear many attendants of such weeks complement Akashaja’s skill as a teacher. Particularly in how his guidance helped to elevate the standards of their painting skills or the maintaining of tools and equipment. Akashaja passes this knowledge on freely and with enthusiasm and care to those willing to learn.

Outside of his work, Akashaja is a solid community member, a disciplined practitioner, and a dependable friend. We all trust him, his honest, sensitive, and honourable nature have moved us as a community, and he leaves behind a very large space to fill. A couple of months ago I wrote about what it means for a community to have someone new join it, which in some ways is a reconstitution into new community. With the qualities of the new member and new the dynamics that form around them. In a way it is a similar process with someone leaving a community, the difference being that instead of adding new qualities, there is a tacit encouragement for those who are left to have to cultivate more fully those qualities to fill the space.

Akashaja will leave in style, riding his Triumph Rocket III over to Guhyaloka, to deliver a large number of Tsar Tsars (small sacred objects we’ve been making here, that are going to be buried in the foundations of Guhyaloka's new buildings) and a sizeable donation to the Guhyaloka For the Ages project, if you would like to contribute to this donation, please do so here.

Go well brother, Saddhu for your time here and Saddhu for choosing this next phase of your life.  

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