EC Blog Archive for the ‘Summer Course preparation’ Category

For the last weeks we have been astonished every single day how much can be moved and done within a very short amount of time… and in what fine style and great mood, too!

Putting up the huge tents in just a few hours despite pouring rain, preparing and serving three delicious meals each day to a lot of very hard working and hungry friends, organizing and coordinating, shutteling people up and down the hill, doing laundry and making beds, driving ten-ton-trucks, forklifts and containers back and forth whereever they’re needed, keeping the houses in shape and running… there’s absolutely no way of mentioning all the activities going on during the course preparations. And above all, there is still enough time to meditate, listen to travel teachers’ lectures and celebrate together as well, of course.

So we will just try to give you an idea of the fantastic atmosphere by posting some miscellaneous pictures taken during the last weeks… more to come during the next days! To all the helpers who have been here, are here at the moment and will be here during and after the course – thank you so much for your amazing support!

By meike

Last Friday morning a van full of strong men, and a couple of trucks loaded with metal rods and plastic sheets, parked at the highest plateau on our land. Five hours of well coordinated work and pouring rain later, the plateau was covered by a tent that will be the gompa for the 3rd International Summer Course. How did this happen? Watch this video to find out!

By meike

Shortly before the 3rd International Summer Course, we would like to take you on a virtual tour through our beautiful EC Villa…

Our resident conservator Beate and a team of diligent and skilled helpers put great effort into the preservation of the almost 100 years old, monument-protected building all year around. It’s their everyday challenge to restore the art nouveau building according to both our needs as an International Buddhist center and the monument protection laws. The original antique furniture combines somewhat naturally with our statues and thangkas, and the “Inner Beauty” team has come up with amazing ways of finding inexpensive fabrics and interior pieces to brush up the looks of the house.

When you come to the Europe Center for the first time, please ask one of the residents to take you on a tour, we would be very happy to show you around. The house will be open during the summer course and we will organize guided tours to make sure everyone interested gets a chance to see our beautiful EC home anyway!

For now, here’s the photographic tour through the villa – welcome home!

By meike

Last week started with a three day visit by Lama Ole at the EC.  An inspiring sangha meeting with him on Tuesday gave us a wonderful opportunity to get answers to questions and challenges arising in daily Europe Center life.

Around 200 friends e.g. from the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Australia and Germany came for the 2nd Summer Course Build-up Weekend. Pretty close to the speed of light, they built up both the kitchen and the cafeteria tent. On Saturday, a downpour of app. 20l per squaremeter in 15 minutes only started when the tents already had their roof – so the installation of the wooden floor could continue despite the very wet conditions. When the sun was back on Sunday, we enjoyed breakfast and lunch on the terrace and went on with the work both on the 2nd House’s roof and the Summer Course areal after a long evening with an inspiring lecture on Buddhism by Kerstin, meditating together and enjoying a great party at the Baucafé.

The 3rd International EC Summer Course is getting very close – kicking of 03 August. Please remember to register online in time – and of course you’re more than welcome to join our build-up phase whenever and for how long you wish! Just send a mail in advance to join@europe-center.org to let us know about your stay.

By meike

The summer sun is back at the EC after a very rainy period. And so Achim, Edwin and the boys are again hard at work on the roof – or rather what will soon be the brandnew roof of the EC’s “Second House”. We’ve learned quite a bit from our skilled experts about roofing with the traditional bavarian beavertail tiles by now. And we are very close to envying them for the breathtaking view of the Villa and the Great Alpsee lake they have from up there. So here’s the view for you – enjoy!

Our cook Fernando and his team take good care that our hard-working guys get nutricious and very tasty Italian food and cappuccino afterwards, and a bit of stretching in the evening does the rest to keep them fit for the next day on the roof. In time for the 3rd International Summer Course, the Second House will have a roof that surely is going to last for a very long time!

By meike

Last week many friends from Reutlingen came to kick off our first “ECtropy up!” weekend. “ECtropy up!” is a concept of special work’n’joy weekends organized every couple of months at the Europe Center. The aim is making the EC facilities nicer, cleaner, more useful and organized and saving some money by reusing or selling unused material. And of course, we don’t forget to meditate and have fun.

The Reutlingers cleaned our garden house and built a beautiful and safer bridge to make it more easily accessible for guests. Some of them did a great job inside the villa hosting our neighbours on Saturday and helping with the housekeeping and cooking all weekend long while others worked in the forest or the courtyard. Even the road leading up to the EC improved thanks to them – they filled up all the pot-holes caused by the large amounts of rain during the last weeks and cleaned the drainage system along the roadside.

If you would like to join us individually or with your Sangha friends for working and having fun at the Europe Center, please let us know by sending a mail to join@europe-center.org.

By meike

The phowa course with Lama Ole ended on Monday morning with very good signs and already in the afternoon we could welcome Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche, a highly respected lama of the Kagyu lineage. Sherab Rinpoche started the 72 hours Chenrezig meditation and we are very happy to meditate in his powerfield of Maniwa: the one who encouraged others to recite the Mani mantra more than one billion (1,000,000,000) times.  Rinpoche and Lama Ole are regularly coming to meditate with people in the big gompa tent and more then 40 countries are simultaneously joining the meditation via streaming.

By klara

Friends, the course will start really soon and surprisingly there was not heavy rain so far, but you never know with this mountain weather. Anyway, the place is getting more and more ready for welcoming Lamas and all of you, who are taking part this year.

Yesterday the big course kitchen started to cook, cafeteria is already making great capuccinos, shuttle servis is working perfectly, stage is going to be arranged and the tent next to the villa is always full for regular morning and evening meditations.

By klara

Do you have déjá vu from time to time? Do you remember last year at the end of July? We were all here preparing the first International Summer course on our own land.  And the time to the second one is getting shorter and shorter. The teams are already here and all is going well to be finished on time. However, we would be very happy for your helping hands if you have time to come early. Looking forward to see you here again!

By klara

Behind every successful man there is one (or more) exhausted woman. Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce our construction women heroes: Aleksa, Daniela, Katrin, Beate and of course many others who are coming and joining the heavy construction work. All of them are very skillful and talented, so in case you need to build a house, don´t just look for a man to help   These ladies can do it all!

By klara