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Dear meditators,
this is report about recent courses in Ukraine.
Autumn 2021 had been the last time when courses had taken place in Ukraine. During the usual winter break the war started in 2022 and all planned courses were cancelled that year as large gatherings were not possible.
At some point in 2023 gatherings were allowed again and old students started to search for potential sites. It was decided to look for a location near Kiev as most old students that were still active lived there. This turned out to be much more difficult than before because most camps were now used for military purposes or for refugees from Eastern Ukraine. Whatever was left was usually occupied by holiday makers who wanted to get out of the city. (One old student told me that there was a new saying that “you need to look after your war/life balance”.)
As a result prices had multiplied for accommodation. We eventually decided to follow an old tradition and so we covered a suitable site with banknotes. It was costly but worth it! This camp south of Kiev was comfortable, quiet and far away from any sirens. The latter turned out to be very important as sirens were still sounding in Kiev on an almost daily (or rather nightly) basis.
We ran two 10-day courses back to back in September. The first course was for old students only (50 attended plus servers) and the second had a small contingent of new students (30 NS and 40 OS plus servers). Both courses ran very smoothly. The students worked very focussed and seriously – they seemed to appreciate this special opportunity to be able to meditate in a place that seemed to be far away from the war. The weather played along – it was unseasonably warm and sunny (which helped as the male entrance to the Dhamma hall didn’t really have a door).
Also the refugees that were sheltered on the same site were quiet and co-operative as was the personel. At times it seemed almost unreal that a course in a country at war could be so peaceful. Still the war was going on elsewhere and two of the old male students had to leave the course as they got a letter from the army that they had to go back to the front (both were war veterans).
After the 10-day courses two children 1-day courses were organised in a school in Kiev. Altogether 17 children attended. The CCTs (Children Course Teachers) came from Poland and two CCT trainees (one from Ukraine and one from Moldova) served as well. The special challenge for the children courses was that children in Ukraine cannot be instructed in Russian language any more. So the 1-day course material had to be translated and recorded within a short time frame. Luckily there was already a translation committee “in full flow” translating the 10-day set and they just had to shift focus for a little while. We had already translated and recorded a group sitting (for the daily virtual group sittings that have been running since the start of the war) so the recording process also went smoothly.
The challenge now will be to carry the enthusiasm and inspiration through the winter.
With Metta from Ukraine
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