EC Blog Archive for November, 2011

It was kids and parents Sunday last weekend – organized by the newly formed EC childcare team, which consists of voluntary helpers – parents themselves or not – like Henkjan and Leonie, EC’s new residents from the Netherlands.

Such family afternoons give the parents time to meditate together while their kids enjoy themselves too – this Sunday they could get their faces painted, draw, watch a movie or just play with each other. Parents also found time for a chat, collecting ideas how to organize the EC childcare together for the benefit of everyone involved.

In return for the childcare, the parents could give a donation towards the moreEC – this way everybody got something out of it. It’s an activity we would definitely like to repeat. Thank you Childcare team!

The EC Villa magically turned into a glamourous casino last weekend – for the benefit of moreEC, of course!

Who knows more about glamour than the Austrians – so thanks to the Graz Sangha, everything from the red carpet to the chips to the handsome croupiers was perfectly organized. We just had to take a seat at the poker, Black Jack or Roulette table and play – after taking part in what was certainly one of the best-dressed meditation sessions ever seen at the EC. ;-)

The fact that no one was going to get a single cent for themselves out of it or that only fake cigars were permitted did not stop us from discovering hidden and quite passionate gambling talents in our friends – some did not get up once for hours from the poker table, others spent the whole night at the Roulette, now looking forward to retreat days at the Buddhist Retreat Center in Graz for their friends instead of money.

Enough said – we think that the pictures speak for themselves, so there are a lot of them this time.

A place like the EC with all its local and international projects, frequent events and unceasing flow of guests can be a complex thing to navigate organization-wise. Throughout the 4,5 years of building it up many different teams and working groups established to keep the EC not only running but foremost inspiring and home-like for many friends from around the world.

Last weekend, the team leaders and representatives of the different EC teams met under Michael’s guidance to take look at how our work is organized and what could be improved. After an introduction into the latest knowledge on the subject we proceeded with mapping all our groups, their roles and how they interact with each other. The following presentations of each teams’ maps resulted into insights and action plans to be used as a basis for further development of how we do things here. We aim, as in all our centers, for the leanest organization possible – after all, it is only a tool on our way of human development towards liberation and ultimately enlightenment for the benefit of all.

Britta, Pit & Martin

Life at the EC is fast – and Lama Ole is even faster. ;-)

In less than 24 hours, he arrived home after touring the Channel countries – just to repack the bags and drive off for a weekend course in Switzerland and afterwards the Americas tour starting in Canada next week.

The packing frenzy did not stop the Lama from guiding the morning meditation for the EC sangha, praising our gompa in the villa: “This is a very powerful, very blessed place!”