Many Hands Make Light Work

Cleaning day Retreat at Woodside Cres, 15th March 2025

We had an amazing day at our new Centre when over 30 people turned up to our cleaning day retreat. Gunasiddhi had built a shrine out of cleaning products and the Buddha sat in front of it. Parami led a dedication ceremony, every word felt so right because this was our first formal activity at the new Centre. Gunasiddhi then led an exercise to get to know one another, which stimulated much laughter. 

Cleaning Shrine

We then formed teams to tackle the daunting task of cleaning up the building which had been unoccupied for 6 months except for building work. Maitrinaga formed a team to work in the basement where a lot of extra clearing was done. Not only did they clean the space but they shifted rubble and rubbish that revealed a hidden drain. Other teams formed upstairs to clean the thick layer of dust that lay on everything, even to the detail of cleaning the glass lamp shades!

Stephen wielding a mop

Pauline cleaning windows

The sun shone during our lunch break and we spent a convivial hour resting between work periods. Working together on a shared project is a great way to meet new people and get to know one another. To that extent the day retreat was a resounding success. We finished with a puja in front of a new shrine that had been built during the day. 

On behalf of the Centre cleaning team, Graham, Ahram, Stephen and Gunasiddhi, a huge thanks to everyone who came, we accomplished so much. It's true many hands make light work.