AshokaPlus

• Discuss with John Reid the possibility of building a small sleeping quarters and/or dining facility for an institution.
• Rich business partners are required or trusteeship, shareholders, patron etc., ideally someone with a venture or a vision and capital (mainly capital -- we have the vision), a take-charge individual so Jim can retire and sequester himself away in peace.
• Also discussed the possibility of creating a Hollyhock South for the winter months onlythough as Jim needs the place to himself for the summer.
• There is a need for a caretaker/manager so Jim can be hospitable if and when he chooses.
• This institution needs to make $5000 a month rental from condo to be factored in.

Margo Fryer later added thses observations:

I consulted the I Ching yesterday re what the land wants and got a somewhat obscure answer (hexagrams 63 and 15, if you are into the I Ching). But I'll give you a compilation of what I took from the I Ching, my own observations and my feeling of being in synch with the land at Ashoka House and similar spots. I'll try not to ramble on too much.

I think the land is in line with the way Jim seems to feel--not wanting too many people around, wanting people who are simpatico, who will be respectful. I sense that that piece of land does not have a huge carrying capacity, in terms of numbers (one concrete example of that is reflected in my question in the money session about the capacity of the septic system if there were workshops happening there on a regular basis). If the land was connected to the 40 acre adjacent parcel and a workshop facility built to order, it would be a different set of questions. But considering Ashoka House as it stands, I think it is a beautiful inspiring place that can serve as an incubator and refuge for a family like yours, with spiritual, artistic, world-affirming tendencies. A place for reflection, inspiration, growth, etc. I don't see it as being large enough to serve as a commercial enterprise that could be self-supporting. Maybe the Gouse could be a bed and breakfast but not with a reluctant hotelier at the helm. I see the place as being suited for what it has been-- a family home with occasional use for spiritual, educational, and artistic pursuits. But I can't imagine it carrying the load of traffic it would need to carry to make $1500 to $2000 per month without diminishing the health and power of the land. For all that rain forest spaces like Ashoka seem powerful and invincible, (having lived in a very similar place for 3 years) I think their spiritual and ecological balances are actually quite delicate. These spaces invoke reverence and silence in compatible beings and sometimes they generate compatibility by their power but I think they need space and silence and freedom from human interference in order to maintain their integrity (this is maybe how Jim and the land are alike since I think the same could be said of him, given what I heard from him on Sunday).

Anyway, that's my two bits worth. This is very much all filtered through my own perspective. I can't say I got a huge message direct from the land.