It was the week after the Urban Retreat - a time when we had been reflecting on how the worldly winds blow us about and make a mockery of our futile attempts to tame samsara.

Everything seemed normal on the Wednesday evening, but on Thursday when Debbie opened the shrine room door there was a very large chunk of Victorian coving resting on the blue carpet amidst a pile of rubble. The winds were blowing up a gale!

In due course the Landlord, who was away in London, was contacted and arrangements were made to survey the cause of the trouble and to close the Centre until it was certain that there was no danger of any more falls. So Friend's Night was cancelled just hours before the start, the mindfulness of breathing day retreat, due to take place the following Saturday, was postponed and the metta bhavana course, due to begin the following Tuesday, was cancelled.

When the structural surveyor examined the old Victorian ceiling which lay some feet above the modern suspended ceiling, it became clear that the coving and plasterwork around the edges of the main shrine room was crumbling badly and would have to be removed completely to make the building safe for use again. 

Our Landlord was most concerned that the Buddhist Centre should be able to operate normally again as soon as possible so great efforts were made to carefully inspect and clear the outside seating area for use almost immediately so that we could continue with normal activities but in a smaller space.

Then, the following week, the builders got to work chipping off the old coving and plasterwork around the upper part of the shrine room - above the suspended ceiling. This was slow, dusty work and though the builders did their best dust and dirt began to creep everywhere. Finally though, the work was finished and the whole of the walls above the ceiling could be re-plastered and the ceiling made good again.

This took us up to the week before last and another big problem. The work, though carefully done, had resulted in staining to the shrine room wall and also meant that everything, though protected, had still succumbed to a thick layer of dust. So the call went out for urgent help to clean the whole centre and completely redecorate the shrine room. A call that, thank goodness, was answered by more than a dozen sangha members who spent the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, cleaning, dusting, hoovering, rubbing down woodwork, and painting the whole of the shrine room. Even the ceiling tiles were rearranged (thanks to Samanartha and Khemasara) so that the new ones were all together at the front.

Come Monday all the meditation cushion covers and mat covers were removed and washed and the carpet cleaned. It was touch-and-go, but everything was just about ready by Tuesday evening at 7.00pm when the new Introduction to Buddhism course began. Phew!

Thanks to all involved for dealing so calmly and cheerfully with the effects of the worldly winds  and with this timely demonstration of impermanence (even in one of the most solid examples of Victorian architecture). Thanks to everyone who helped in any way. Thanks in particular to the landlord, his builders (who responded so quickly and competently to the situation) and finally, to Uddyotani, whose mindful, cheerful handling of these four stressful and disruptive weeks helped the rest of us to 'Stay Calm and Carry On'.

There were only a handful of us gathering together at the Centre on the full-moon night of 11/11/11 but all of us - Talia, Zara, Ben, Jenny and Joy (together with John who gave us a few hours support) - were all set for a long,and we suspected, challenging night.

We began with a hearty meal and then, around 9.30pm, began meditation. After a tea break at 11.30 Talia led a long and beautiful Tara Puja with chanting and offerings which, with more meditation, lasted until the 1.30am tea break.

Up to this point it had been surprisingly easy, but as we approached the depth of the night it got harder to stay awake and focused. The walking chanting helped, as did the 30 minutes of walking meditation but by the 3.00am tea break it was a question of willpower versus physical and mental exhaustion.

By 4.00 am the effort to stay awake was almost painful as we sat on towards the dawn. By 5.00 am sleepiness was overtaking all of us but we pushed on with some more chanting and then made final offerings to the shrine before one last very short sit and a blissful end to the night at 5.30am.

Bleary eyed and happy, the five of us travelled home to our beds!

Thanks to everyone who sponsored us. We haven't got a final figure yet but it looks like we raised over £250 which, added to all the other events taking place in both the UK and India that night, will hopefully have raised a whole load of money for the Bihar Girls Appeal.

If you'd like to donate a few pounds there is still time. Just leave your dosh in the 'Bihar Girls' Bowl at the Centre. You can find out more about the project  here

Many many thanks to Talia for organising this event and for keeping us occupied all through the night with such a variety of meditative activities.