2016 has been quite a year. As many people know, in February of 2016, we purchased a property in the Old Church area, just outside Richmond, Virginia. The property has required a great deal of work to prepare it for use. Though we had the property inspected before our purchase, many serious unexpected repairs have been necessary. The buildings are very old, the oldest being built in the late 1700's or early 1800's. Repairs have been complicated due to the historic materials used and the unique difficulties of repairing older buildings. For the last year, we have had 6 people living at the property working full time on repairs or contributing money for the work. We have made amazing progress, especially considering that none of us have done this type of work before, but the work is much more than we had imagined. Because we have been focused full-time on getting the buildings usable, rather than working on money making projects, our budget has been extremely limited. Living conditions have been difficult and this winter we were without heat and running water for over a month. We are progressing none the less and have managed to improve living conditions a great deal. As of January, 2017, we have completed work on 4 of the 12 rooms in the main house. A busted water pipe has forced work to begin on the building Swamiji is living in as well. Work has yet to begin on the guest house were volunteers have been living and there is much work yet to be done.
Our Long-term Goals
We bought this property with the intentions of making it a home base for our teachings and work in Ayurveda, Yoga, Mantra and Meditation. The Historic nature of the property, makes it an ideal place to teach Ayurveda in particular, because it connects us to the past, when the theory of Western medicine greatly resembled that of Ayurveda and many of the same herbs and minerals were used for healing. We intend to teach about the utility of the traditional practice of Herbal Medicine in the US through the perspective of Ayurveda (which is an allied living practice of herbal medicine). Once repaired, we hope to invite visitors to the site to tour the beautiful historic property. We hope to be able to continue also teaching about the Vedic sciences which bring peace and happiness to society.
As we have approached this massive project, we have decided to address the project in three progressive stages:
1) Restoration and Repair:
To make the property safe for us to use, we must address many issues with the old buildings. There are issues of deterioration which cause concern for health and safety. Lead paint chipping from the walls, deteriorating foundations and frames, structural problems, and moisture issues are among the dozens of concerns which we are addressing in this stage. We are first working to get the buildings safe to use and updating them to a modern standard of living, while striving to preserve the historic integrity of the property. The historic property is a beautiful one, and when we complete our renovations, we hope to be able to welcome the public to enjoy the space.
2) Zoning and Legal Considerations:
Zoning restrictions are stricter here than in Henrico county where we were previously teaching and hosting events. Some of the services that we offer are permitted by the county for our agricultural zoning. Growing and processing and selling herbs, obviously are permitted. Private prayer services and Ayurveda services, also are permitted as a home-based occupation. Public classes or teachings of any kind and public prayer services, however require a permit or rezoning from the county. In order to attain this, we must get formally established as a not-for-profit organization and apply to the county for a conditional use permit. Our neighbors have been kind and helpful to us, and we do not wish for our work here to be a disturbance to the quiet rural community. We wish to address any concerns they may have about our changes to the property in the hopes of maintaining a quiet and peaceful atmosphere that causes no disturbance to our neighbors. If our efforts are aimed to promote the peace and happiness of the people, it is important that we start at home by gaining the approval of those close by.
3) Construction:
Once our plans are approved by the community and County, we will have to make several alterations to the property to allow for commercial use. Improvements must be made to the 1/4 mile driveway, which also address water runoff issues. Handicapped parking with lighting and a handicapped accessible bathroom must be added. The historic buildings do not lend themselves well to handicapped accessibility. There are too many steep steps, low and thin doors, low ceilings, floors with varying levels and other concerns. We intend to construct a small building, which complements the historic architecture, for use at this stage to meet accessibility requirements. At this point, the property would be usable for our purposes.
Long Term Goal:
Then we intend to work to pay off our mortgage, after which we can build a small, dedicated Temple building. Our services are small and we do not intend to try to attract large crowds, but to work with a small dedicated congregation in an intimate setting. For this purpose, pending the approval of the community and county, we desire to construct a beautiful Temple building constructed according to the Agamas and complementing the architectural style of the Historic buildings on the property. A dedicated space like this would surely take years of planning and work to complete, but will increase peace, prosperity, and happiness in the community. We offer our efforts humbly to the Lord, and pray that they will benefit society. We do not intend to convert people around to our views, but we know that the act of prayer is powerful to increase peace and prosperity in the community and to influence others toward dedication and devotion to their own respective faiths.
As we have approached this massive project, we have decided to address the project in three progressive stages:
1) Restoration and Repair:
To make the property safe for us to use, we must address many issues with the old buildings. There are issues of deterioration which cause concern for health and safety. Lead paint chipping from the walls, deteriorating foundations and frames, structural problems, and moisture issues are among the dozens of concerns which we are addressing in this stage. We are first working to get the buildings safe to use and updating them to a modern standard of living, while striving to preserve the historic integrity of the property. The historic property is a beautiful one, and when we complete our renovations, we hope to be able to welcome the public to enjoy the space.
2) Zoning and Legal Considerations:
Zoning restrictions are stricter here than in Henrico county where we were previously teaching and hosting events. Some of the services that we offer are permitted by the county for our agricultural zoning. Growing and processing and selling herbs, obviously are permitted. Private prayer services and Ayurveda services, also are permitted as a home-based occupation. Public classes or teachings of any kind and public prayer services, however require a permit or rezoning from the county. In order to attain this, we must get formally established as a not-for-profit organization and apply to the county for a conditional use permit. Our neighbors have been kind and helpful to us, and we do not wish for our work here to be a disturbance to the quiet rural community. We wish to address any concerns they may have about our changes to the property in the hopes of maintaining a quiet and peaceful atmosphere that causes no disturbance to our neighbors. If our efforts are aimed to promote the peace and happiness of the people, it is important that we start at home by gaining the approval of those close by.
3) Construction:
Once our plans are approved by the community and County, we will have to make several alterations to the property to allow for commercial use. Improvements must be made to the 1/4 mile driveway, which also address water runoff issues. Handicapped parking with lighting and a handicapped accessible bathroom must be added. The historic buildings do not lend themselves well to handicapped accessibility. There are too many steep steps, low and thin doors, low ceilings, floors with varying levels and other concerns. We intend to construct a small building, which complements the historic architecture, for use at this stage to meet accessibility requirements. At this point, the property would be usable for our purposes.
Long Term Goal:
Then we intend to work to pay off our mortgage, after which we can build a small, dedicated Temple building. Our services are small and we do not intend to try to attract large crowds, but to work with a small dedicated congregation in an intimate setting. For this purpose, pending the approval of the community and county, we desire to construct a beautiful Temple building constructed according to the Agamas and complementing the architectural style of the Historic buildings on the property. A dedicated space like this would surely take years of planning and work to complete, but will increase peace, prosperity, and happiness in the community. We offer our efforts humbly to the Lord, and pray that they will benefit society. We do not intend to convert people around to our views, but we know that the act of prayer is powerful to increase peace and prosperity in the community and to influence others toward dedication and devotion to their own respective faiths.
Our Teachings and Prayer Services
Through the years we have been sharing teachings online, through the website and other social media sites like face book and youtube. We have offered classes in mantra, yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and Vedic astrology. We have provided Ayurvedic, Astrological, Puja, Counseling, services. This year has been extremely busy with renovations to the newly acquired property, so we have not had much time to offer services or teachings. We have just completed preliminary renovations to our puja (prayer) room, and after a year of work, we have a space to offer daily prayers and to offer prayer services again to individuals. Though we have made good progress in our work on the property this year, the work has prevented us from doing our other work. Though we are willing to continue working on the property, if we need to, we realize that it could take us many years just to get the property safe for us to live here and use the buildings. We are not professional contractors and so we are learning as we go. We plan this year to work on many fund raising projects to help speed up the needed renovations by hiring contractors to quickly complete the work, while allowing us to gradually return to our spiritual services and teachings.
With our prayer room finally completed, we are commencing daily prayer services and teachings for the people living at the property. Though we cannot invite visitors to physically attend these services, we will be broadcasting them live online so that people may view them distantly. Please send us a friend request on facebook or simply visit our page to view our daily teaching, puja, and meditation.
With our prayer room finally completed, we are commencing daily prayer services and teachings for the people living at the property. Though we cannot invite visitors to physically attend these services, we will be broadcasting them live online so that people may view them distantly. Please send us a friend request on facebook or simply visit our page to view our daily teaching, puja, and meditation.
Work Accomplished this Year
This has been a difficult but rewarding year. We have faced many hardships as we have taken on the task of restoring the property for use, but we feel that this place is special and well worth our efforts. Many people have generously donated money and time to help us with this massive project. We deeply appreciate the assistance of everyone who has offered money, labor, advice, or other assistance. We hope that that their efforts will inspire many others to participate in this inspiring project, to help us meet our goals of offerings teachings and prayer services by the end of 2017.
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