Upgrading the Vihara before Vassa

Greetings and blessings from Ayya Santacari, dear friends in the Dhamma,

over the last year I have been reflecting on my future;
– will I stay here in Christies Beach?
– will I go to Dhammasara or Santi or Sri Lanka?

The Blessed one taught that if we have supportive conditions and our practice is moving forward, we should stay where we are.

My 4 requisites are kindly supplied by our local Sri Lankan and wider Buddhist communities, and I am fortunate to have been offered Scott’s chef and driving services.  Thank you to Kanchana for this years Vassa and Kathina sponsor, who is currently filling up my Dana calendar.Dana calendar.

I am fortunate to be supported in Bhavana and meditation practice by two kaliyanamitas: Kaz and Padma.

After discussing these and other choices with many people, I have decided to stay here at Christies Beach for the foreseeable future. I will be moving into intensive practice modality, sincerely striving for Nibanna by maximising my meditation and training. I want to discover whether striving for Nibanna is possible right here in SA.

Therefore, there are a few facilities that we would like to have upgraded before Vassa.

The Outside Bathroom and Kitchen

Kaz will be joining me as a companion meditator and anagarika for this year’s Vassa and will be residing at Dakkhina Dhammathala in the small Kuti. Since the death of my mother Joanna, Sam has made the main house his home. Therefore it is my wish to separate the facilities so that Kaz and I have our own bathroom and kitchen. This will be done as a natural renovation of the current laundry into a functional bathroom and the extension of our outside kitchen into a more permanent design.
Sam, Scott and Wendy have volunteered to help with the labour of the bathroom renovation, however tradespeople will need to be hired for the electrical and plumbing work. We don’t yet have quotes for all of this work, but the following rough costings are known.

Kitchen
Electric Stove $1300, 2 additional stainless streel commercial splashback benches at $350 for 600x610mm and $400 for 800x610mm (= $2050)
New kitchen Tap @ $350 donated by Wendy, (all numbers rounded )
Electrician to install stove, install additional power outlets, move existing power and light switches on back porch, repair light on front porch. $?
At some point we will need to resurface the flooring in the kitchen/Dana area (currently crumbly concrete). Ideas anyone?

Bringing More Shelter to the Outside Area

We currently have wonderful cafe blinds surrounding the porch to keep it rain proof. However there are spaces which still need blinds, such as the front of the shrine room needing two blinds. The area in front of the shrine room needs to be kept dry so that our shoes do not get wet. For the blinds already in place, one of the existing blinds is needing modifications to close a gap at the bottom. This work will create a secure enclosed space for us.

We have a quote for the blinds of $5,250.

infilling the triangle at the top is not included in the quote.

Bathroom upgrade

Because the existing laudry is very small, the following is the plan to introduce to facilities we need, without the cost of adding an extension or extra room to the house. The washer and dryer will be removed to the back porch and installed there,

Door
Door and frame will need sanding, priming and painting. $ for paint, primer, sandpaper.

Window
The existing raw timber needs sanding, priming and painting. The clear glass should be replaced with frosted. $?

Shower
A caravan sized shower to be installed behind the door.

Hand sink unit will be removed and either one on top or the cistern will be installed to save space or replaced in another location.

Bath
An upright soaking bath will be installed into the corner where the washer and dryer currently are. Something like this. These are $1400.

 

Your support is requested for these upgrade projects.

If you would like to support Kaz and I as we strive for Nibanna this Vassa in Christies Beach, please consider supporting our facilities upgrade projects.
We hope you will be able to help us.

For those able to make merit through financial support:
Bank Account details
BSB 633-000 (Bendigo Bank)  Account: 1605 13 859
Account Name: Buddhist Society of South Australia

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu, Anumodami