Around 370 Order members have arrived at Adhisthana this evening. The cars are lined up in the field, many tents have gone up, and we have a marquee shrine room. The Adhisthana community and a lot of volunteers have worked very hard all week to get ready.

This evening's shrine room activities were led by the Order Convenors, Lokeshvara and Parami. Lokeshvara asked us to put our hands up if our Dharma lives had started over 20 years ago. Most of us had our hands up. Thirty years ago? A great many hands stayed up. But 40 years ago? A select few. This show of hands was one way to pay respect to our elders, said Lokeshavara, to a round of applause. Between us, he reckoned, we represented 10,000 years of practice.

Parami led the Dedication Ceremony, which ended with the White Tara mantra for Bhante - which he has asked us to chant not so much for the prolongation of his life as for his health and wellbeing.