bhaguri

The “bhaguri” is “the place where the ger stands“. My bhaguri was in a beech wood near Wesepe. This is an area of rather ancient estates, each the centre of a landscape that includes farmland, pastures with cows and a woodland area for hunting. For The Netherlands this is a “remote” area, but in reality it was buzzing with activity: after I became used to the sounds around me, it was easy to figure out what was going on around me: two dairy farms on either side, the “hobby farms” up the road to Wesepe and many, many people walking their dogs in “my” woods. It’s remarkable how the focus changes when you have a stove to keep going. The day is punctuated by feeding the stove and fetching wood to feed it. Walks and trips to get supplies are determined by how much of a risk they pose to fire in the stove. There was somewhat of a blizzard on sunday, which I only noticed because T. took me to have a shower at his house, and then the next morning because I stepped out in my Blundstones, but hastily changed into my Sorel boots because of the snow. I had the leisure of not having to depend on the light for my tasks. On the other hand, it took me a long time to learn the ways of my ger and it was interesting to notice that the ger needed three days to settle down properly. As the entire structure holds itself up by opposing forces, it takes some time before it has figured out how it wants to sit. The enchantment of a ger is that it is a structure that looks solid, but is entirely dynamic, all forces opposing each other, entirely alive. Hard to describe what is so appealing about solitude. In early sutras, Shakyamuni Buddha says that the effect of solitude is that it creates a feeling of happiness instantly. I think this is very true. After the second day, when I had enough wood and water and food to last a few days, an exhilariting, feeling of solitary self-sufficiency welled up inside me. And that feeling didn’t leave me until my guests arrived yesterday night. Then the spell was broken. Good to realize that it only took us a day to construct and stock this hermitage.