June 24th 2024 marked 30 years since Donald Lambie took up leadership of the School of Philosophy and Economic Science. So we had a great celebration at the School’s London building, at 11 Mandeville Place.

Celebrating 30 years!

First the flowers: passers-by were calling in from the street to photograph the entrance and stairs!

The house was beautifully decorated with flowers, garlands, large pedestals and candles, and looked really resplendent!  

Mr and Mrs Lambie and Mrs Lambie’s father arrived in an Uber Limousine to a reception in the library.

Glasses of prosecco, elderflower presse or water were served and there was lots of happy chatting among the guests during that time.

The event was billed as ‘black tie’ so everyone looked nicely smart. 

The reception in the library was followed by a beautiful concert in the MacLaren Hall; music and readings.

Richard and Ann Garry hosted the celebration; months of planning went into this! Following the reception there was some entertainment in the MacLaren Hall.

This lasted about 30 minutes: a choral piece composed by Derek Saunders, readings of Plotinus, Kabir and Anandamayi Ma…

… and a mystical song written by Vaughan Williams and sung by Will Pate and a lively Mozart Duet played by Derek Saunders and Gillian Thompson. This was followed by presentation of the book of thanks in which many had signed and written messages.

After that, the guests descended to the refectory to taste the delights of a meal. This was all cooked and prepared by students in the Garry M stream group. The meal was served by some more students, in a most professional way to the 50 or so guests. Beautiful crockery and cutlery were hired for the event. The glasses were crystal, the cutlery was silver and both the plates and glasses were gold rimmed. The refectory looked spectacular. 

Towards the end of the meal, Jane Mason gave a speech in praise of Mrs. Lambie, and presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. At the end of the feast, there was a speech in praise of Mr. Lambie and the presentation of a painting by Charles Hardaker. Mr and Mrs Lambie were delighted with this.

The narrative behind this is that a commission had been given to Charles to paint the story of Nāmadeva. And to make the dog in the story look like Lily (Mr and Mrs Lambie’s dog) which he did!  Mr and Mrs Lambie each responded with their own speeches saying how much they have always enjoyed working with and for the students in the school. They both spoke very touchingly and beautifully.   

Of course the real heroes were the people serving! Apart from musicians and readers for the entertainment, many people contributed to the event. This included works of calligraphy (pasted into the book and one framed), making made-to-measure tablecloths and napkins and creating candles for the tables. 

Definitely the A-team! None of this event would have been possible without the outstanding work of so many people who gave their time and skills lovingly. Thank you.

Charles Hardaker painted this interpretation of the story of Nāmadeva’s dog.  The story is that the dog took some bread and ran off with it, stealing it from the sage Nāmadeva.  But immediately Nāmadeva chased after the dog, to offer it some butter as well as the bread. At this point Krishna sprang out from the dog and congratulated Nāmadeva on recognising him. Nāmadeva replied, ‘Krishna lives as consciousness in everything – how could anyone miss seeing you? ‘  

The book was specially made for this occasion. Many students from all over the world either signed it or sent statements for inclusion.