On the last Sunday of March, during the period when the Hsihu Center
was not open to the public, many fellow initiates took the opportunity
to come to the Center to clean and beautify the Bamboo Grove (a
favorite spot for meditation) and the Rainbow Garden. The weather
was fine and comfortable that day, as fellow initiates first meditated
in the Main Hall to prepare for the day's work and recharge themselves
with vitality, which was clearly discernible on their glowing faces.
Afterwards, the volunteers split into two squads to work in the
Bamboo Grove and Rainbow Garden, respectively.
In the Bamboo Grove meditation area, fellow initiates first sawed
off withered yellow bamboo to make room for young green bamboo shoots
and allow sunlight to shine into the grove. The sawn off bamboo
was then moved to the roadside and cut into shorter sections so
that it could be carried away in trucks. The workers' next task
was bamboo transplantation, which involved sawing bamboo plants
to a suitable length before uprooting them and then replanting them
in new, designated spots. After this rearrangement, the Bamboo Grove
became brighter and the ventilation improved. Sunlight, filtering
through the bamboo leaves swaying in the wind, projected glittering
spots of light on the ground. The Bamboo Grove thus took on a charming
new look.
Through the loving care of resident initiates over the years,
the eight banyan trees in the Rainbow Garden flourished. Their roots
grew so strong and extensive, however, that they had begun to block
the Center's lavatory sewage system. Thus, the resident initiates
decided to find a new home for the banyan trees on the other side
of the Rainbow Garden near the High-speed Railway, which borders
the Center. This relocation not only solved the sewage problem,
but also allowed the thick branches and leaves of the banyan trees
to shield the Center from the sand and dust produced by recent construction
work on the Railway. To supply sufficient nutrients for the fruit
trees, the resident initiates prepared special organic fertilizers
made from rice bran. Now that fellow initiates have lovingly applied
these fertilizers, plenty of fruit will surely grow on the trees
in the near future.
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