HOW?

How am I able to do this logistically?

Safely: I was happy to visit Loretto in early October and to see the conditions I will live with for a year. It is not the rugged landscape of Sudarshanaloka at all, but rather rolling hills, fields, dense forest but with a high canopy that means bushwhacking is possible without supplejack tangles to trip me up. I feel confident that even with three broken ankles in the past, and numb feet I will be fine walking the trails and dirt roads. And, there is community nearby.

Emotionally: Doing a year-long retreat in silence, alone, is a hard thing. I know this very well. The one way I could do it in 2014-2015 was with your help and support and I ask for that again. Just ‘re–membering’ me helps and I feel it! Unlike some retreatants, I do not check in by SKYPE weekly with a retreat supporter, or even monthly as is often advised. But I do hope that my two KMs (kalyana mitras – spiritual friends) will be able to come for a short visit to see how I am doing, perhaps in October and March, four and nine months into the retreat. I will be able to receive mail and welcome a note of support.

Kiranada
Cedars of Peace
515 Nerinx Road, Nerinx KY 40049

If I can get a phone signal to work, I will try to send a short text to my daughter Amanda every three weeks to reassure her. Being away a whole year does mean I can’t easily keep up with your life however, I’m here, with you, if you want. I welcome your support emotionally and offer you my support as well.

Food-Wise: I was happy to find a big Kroger’s grocery store 16 miles away that stock many of my vegetarian needs. I also hope to find a Japanese food shop in Louisville to get some of the dried foods (noodles, mushrooms, tofu, crackers) as well as huge bottles of shoyu, mirin that I enjoy cooking with, before going south to Loretto. I will do a big shop at the beginning  when I arrived, buying pounds of dried goods: rice, oatmeal, beans, dried fruit, nuts etc. It will be a luxury to have electricity this time and a working refrigerator to keep food beyond a few days. The community will shop for me weekly and leave it in a box, on the road that I will retrieve and back-pack in. I do hope to grow some greens if possible. I will again sprout beans as well as celery, green onions and romaine in water from stubs and be as self-sufficient as I am able.

Financially: Taking this year off for solitary retreat, not working, not, teaching workshops or lecturing, pushes me into real ‘retirement’ without much savings or a pension. It’s exciting. My costs are somewhat less for this year solitary since it is within the USA however, I will need to pay for all my food and monthly lodging. In addition, I have this unfinished cottage in Kingston to maintain with property taxes and insurance and an old car that I hope to keep running and insured. Already, friends have stepped forward and made some lovely donations of support. As they say, if I ‘made it easy,’ they feel many others would want to be part of this year by donating to my air, housing, food costs or . . . bird seed! I thank you deeply for your support. In 2014 it was quite lovely to share a designated week of meals with you or remember that one of you was ‘housing me’ for that specific week or bought my birthday meal. You are truly with me in so many ways. With gratitude I put hands together, and bow. /ll\