Agamayoga

All of us here at Agama Yoga are thrilled to announce the impending completion of two new Yoga halls of our own! (Well, almost! We own the buildings but they are built on long-term leased land, which is about the closest we can get at this time to owning property here in Thailand with our nonprofit level of operations….) The land covers a space of about 7 rai (an Asian land measurement – this equals approximately 11,000 square meters and is roughly the size of Bovy Resort), and is lush and peaceful, adjoining the Chao Phao Monastery along the entire rear border of the property.

Construction began with a traditional Thai-style land blessing on 7 April, 2009. Claudiu Trandafir and Mihaiela Pentiuc joined many Agama yogis in the blessings and to help pour the concrete for the first pillar together, which was fun and muddy! (Swami Vivekananda, alas, was in Europe teaching at this time.) Agama yogini, teacher, and architectural wonder Kirsten Reiss drew up all of the design plans and assisted project manager and Agama yogi Yogesh, who put in nonstop, very long days over a span of months to see the building plans through to successful completion. We owe them both a lot of gratitude for their heroic efforts and humble Karma Yoga. Heart-felt thanks to you both, Yogesh and Kirsten!

Along the way, we also held a Seva Day or two, at which the Agama yogi community joined forces to assist the construction crew with building, moving materials, and landscaping. Swami even got into the act, hauling beams and proving his physical vitality matches his mental prowess!

Now with the mosquito netting and tiled restrooms completed, we are putting the finishing touches on the two structures and preparing the interiors. The halls are beautiful, spacious (the smallest hall has room for at least 70 people, the largest, about 120 comfortably), cool even on hot days, and built in an ecologically sound and sustainable manner.

We cannot wait to welcome our students to classes, workshops, and retreats in these new halls! Although Agama will continue to rent the Bovy Resort in 2010, we will move retreats permanently to their new home – a dedicated hall which will not need to simultaneously share space with classes.

We look forward to a grand opening in December 2009, at which time we will welcome the monks of our neighboring monastery, hold some auspicious feasting, and generally make merry on this very special occasion! We hope to also welcome you soon to the new land and halls….