SINCE 1996 THE FAMILY CAMP HAS BECOME THE FIXED POINT around which the rest of our
year is planned. We went to Amaravati Monastery,
my wife Torn, daughter Justine (6) and son Francis (4)
that year, excited if apprehensive, for an event that we had
little knowledge of apart from the Rainbows magazine and
some interesting accounts in the Forest Sangha Newsletter.
A few memories of that first afternoon and evening still
remain.
First, there was a warm reception from Wendy who
was doing the bookings role; we registered our arrival
and found out where we were sleeping and what the
basic programme for the day was. I wish I could say that
as bookings officer in later years I had organized such a
welcome reception for new arrivals.
Then there was a helpful and polite young boy from
the family staying in the bedroom opposite us. He
showed us around the Retreat Centre, which he seemed
quite at home with, and he also mentioned ‘Puja’ at 7.30
as if it was the most natural thing. What was that? Oh,
when we all get together in the shrine room. That was
Josh.
Finally, the gathering for our first Evening Puja. I
wondered how this would work with two tired and restless
youngsters. We sat together as a family that evening.
The chanting started up, ninety people or so in that
confined space – what a sound and resonance. It didn’t
need any translation. I remember Justine leaning across
to me excitedly
and whispering ‘I love this, Daddy’. The
Camp was led by Venerable Kusalo in those days and he
proceeded to expand on the Camp theme of The Worldly
Winds and the role in life of what he coined as ‘squirts’
– those ‘beings’ (unexpected happenings) which have a
habit of popping up and changing things just when we
think it’s settled. So not a bad first Puja; Pali chanting,
squirts … and then we heard that young Oliver had broken
his nose in a corridor collision! |
