When Buddhism started it was just a group of disciples around a master. Same as the group of disciples who surrounded Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus). Every civilization starts with a small group of people who live in devotion and ecstasy.

When the teaching of a master roots in reality it is not localized anymore. More and more people are taken by those teachings, and a culture starts to evolve. At this point, the communities of people that adopted the teachings and made their life around them start to need their own structures. In the beginning, they use structures from the old culture and do their new thing within it, but then the call comes to create new structures that will fit the new culture.

Monasteries were created in Christianity and Buddhism for the practitioners of these paths to have a place that is dedicated to their practice. Churches and temples were built all around the world for people to gather in prayer. In Japan, Zen gardens were created to support meditation.

We need it too.

As I see it, our culture is rising. It is not merely a culture, but a beginning of a new civilization, actually. We have moved from the first stage where students will gather around a teacher and get inspired, to the second stage where our culture is mushrooming and more and more individuals pop up and wake up around the world. Communities are starting to form and the need for our own structures is heard in many hearts.

We no longer want to use places that were not designed for love to do our work. We need to start designing our own temples. We need to start to have our own “monasteries” where practitioners can gather, live and practice the path. We need to also create online structures that are based on our values, and not only make ourselves small enough to fit into the box that apps like FB or Tinder give us since they were planned on totally different values.

Hearing this call some years ago, I started to look for land for an Ashram of Love. Later on, with some friends, we started to ask ourselves what will be the online structures that will serve the growing communities of Love around the planet.

About a week ago was the Hebraic festival of Shavuot: the festival where our ancestors used to pilgrim to the temple and bring their first fruits as an offering to the divine, with utter gratitude.

On the altar of gratitude, I want to offer two new fruits:

1. The Ashram of Love in Malta.

2. Lua — the online application that is here to deepen intimacy and connect people to Love.

These two fruits are still very new. They are still humble and fragile, still making their first steps in the world, but they are here! And they will grow to be of full service to the call: the call to serve Love, Freedom, and Authenticity as the center of the new civilization that is starting to rise as the old one, of power-over, ego and abuse is falling down and crumbling.

As I give my gratitude to the divine, I give gratitude to the AMAZING people I am surrounded with, friends and partners, who dream together with me and work together to bring dreams to manifestation.

Vee Dolingo, my shaman brother from Malta, a wizard of spirit and matter — my partner in the establishing of the Ashram of Love.

Roni Makatu, Dor Kitenberg, Amir Suisa, Caitlyn Cook, and all the people working day by day in Lua, who are helping this app to be well funded by serious investors, and putting in so much effort to make it an amazing supper pro app for the field of Love.

And my beloved Heartner (not just a Part-ner but a Heartner, as I learned just today from a wonderful poet in the Bay Area) — Dawn Cherie, whose supportive spirit, wisdom, and inspiration are in all that I do.

I thank you, I thank Great Spirit, and I thank my son Yehoo and our global ISTA community with its sexy wisdom, my lovers, my friends, and all creation.

These are some of my new fruits of this year 🍇 🍉 🍊

What are yours? What do you bring to the altar of gratitude?

Ohad Pele /May, 2021