Since
its inception, the Toronto Center has rented various sites around the city
as a venue for its Sunday group meditation sessions. However, restrictions
due to zoning regulations made it increasingly difficult for the ever-growing
number of practitioners to meet. After relocating several times, it became
apparent that purchasing a piece of property would be the best alternative,
if we could manage it. We needed a place that was zoned both for commercial
use, to accommodate the group meditation sessions and retreats, as well
as residential use, so that some practitioners could live there to take
care of the Center and pay rent to help with the mortgage payments. We searched
and, after a short while, found a location in the southwestern corner of
the city which met our needs and was available at a very favorable price.
The
place had previously been a convenience store with a main floor, a basement
and two apartments on the second floor. We looked around in dismay. The place
was truly a shambles! There were holes in the floor through which one could
see all the way down into the basement. The floor was covered with half-torn
linoleum tiles and littered with debris. The walls were grimy and dirty. The
previous owner had left enormous quantities of rubbish on both the main floor
and basement levels. The basement was completely unfinished, and in many places,
the walls were covered with mold and mildew from moisture that accumulated
due to leaking from outside. The apartments upstairs also needed much work
to make them livable. Old plumbing throughout the building caused water to
constantly leak from one floor to the next. The place was a nightmare! Some
of us had grave doubts that it would ever be habitable.
Nevertheless,
those who had more faith in Master's blessing power reassured us, and so we
set to work. There is an old saying, "Many hands make light work." Nowhere
was that more apparent than at our new Center. Our small patch of backyard
accumulated a veritable mountain of garbage -- the remnants of shelving, equipment,
and dusty old merchandise from the one-time convenience store. We cleared
away one mountain of trash to make way for the next. All together there were
several such "mountains" before we finally emptied out the building!
Before
our disb. Holes were patched, debris was swept away, floors were mopped, and
fresh paint was applied to the walls. We knocked out some walls to make one
large room on the main floor. A young brother, who was very enthusiastic about
wielding his sledge hammer for this purpose, was particularly jubilant any
time someone suggested that another piece of a wall should come down. Next,
about several dozen brothers and sisters hammered in the sub-flooring. It
was a thunderous and thoroughly enjoyable activity. Then with some financial
help from a brother initiate, we completed the floor and tiled it ourselves.
We
then attacked the basement, building a storage closet at one end, and installing
a large kitchen at the other, complete with new plumbing, electrical wiring,
drywall, paint job, counters and sinks. One very determined brother, who had
masonry skills, succeeded in stopping the leak that came through the basement
walls. (Well, most of it!) Some of us had understood that a wet basement could
never be made dry, and were amazed to see that these efforts paid off.
Upstairs
the overhead apartments were painted, carpeted, and repaired. Then some initiates
moved in.
The
exterior of the building received a major "face-lift" when an entirely new
storefront was installed by professionals, and our new sign, "The Supreme
Master Ching Hai International Association," was hoisted over the top. New
vertical blinds were installed indoors, and Master's paintings were hung along
the walls. A long shelf at the front of the hall was draped with a gold colored
cloth. We set up the TV for watching Master's videos, and hung Master's picture
overhead. We all stood back in awe at our new meditation Center, and silently
thanked Master for making our work go so swiftly, smoothly and enjoyably.
Financially, we have somehow managed to pay the down payment and most of the
expenses. Some of us don't know how this happened, given the considerable
costs involved, and the fact that we had very little money to begin with.
While we stand about and scratch our heads, others simply smile and nod knowingly.
Now,
each Sunday we come together to meditate here, benefitting our surroundings
spiritually, as well as physically. To those of us who live at the Center,
the change is most keenly felt. When we first moved in, we could hear the
neighbors fighting loudly with each other. We could also see and hear groups
of children and teenagers "patrolling" the streets, cursing and fighting.
One neighbor had paint thrown on his car. The store alongside us had suffered
two robberies before we arrived. A few months after we moved in, these incidents
had already diminished. Today, two years later, the neighborhood has become
friendly and peaceful, and disturbances have become virtually nonexistent.
The
fellow practitioners have worked happily together here in Toronto, both physically
and spiritually. A little more work still needs to be done on the Center,
but it is nearly finished. Master has given us a cozy place to call our home
in this world, while we await departure to our true Home. In the process,
a new feeling of closeness and camaraderie has been created amongst us, and
for this, as well, we are ever thankful to Master.
Center's
Event