Hi George,
How wonderful for the three of you! Yes there certainly are ways for you to establish a connection. I suggest the three of you make a pilgrimage to Abhayagiri, spend a weekend and chat with the monks about your appreciation for this lineage and the practice and your desire to form a connection with the Upasika program. They’ll be sure to offer you some advice and let you know who to contact. Start by dropping the guestmonk an email and let him know of your interest. There are Upasika’s that live near by that can help with your question too. And, who knows, maybe we will meet up as I visit there a couple times a year . . . hmmmmm . . .
I recall feeling much the same as you. I too live at a distance from the monastery and after having come into contact with Ajahn Chah’s monastics soon found myself intent on establishing some kind of connection.
There were three of us up here in Portland, Oregon who, seven years ago this April, decided to establish a sitting group. We were all impressed with Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Chahs teachigns. Two of us actually met at an Ajahn Sumedho retreat at Spirit Rock having lived in the same city for over forty years and never having met before. Back in Portland we decided to sit together in the style of this lineage and invite others to join. We were quickly joined by a third. For the first couple of years our wee sitting group was mostly just us with the occassional expansion and contraction. For a spell we’d have six to eight folks, then the sun would come out and whomp, back down to three . . . rain and bling, back up to six, heh, heh, heh. Every once in a while it would be just one of us and that was ok, we knew at least two more would be there the next week, or the week after. Over the years things have changed. One of our founders moved out of state where he started another meditation center, the other still comes to the center when the monks are in town, otherwise her meditation practice is focussed on Chinese Calligraphy. I still feel warmly connected to them both and am so grateful for their consistent support when establishing our little community.
There’s lots to share with you, I’m sorry I have not written sooner. Been a bit busy crashing my computer. And now it is time for me to rest as its 1:30 in the morning . . . yawn . . . I’ll write again in a couple of days and share further. In the meantime, I’d love to hear a bit more about how the three of you support one another. Do you meet in your homes? Do you ever try chanting or downloading a dhamma talk to meditate by? Do you have cake and cookies at the end of your gathering? (I brought homemade cookies or cake for years, now I only do it once a month. I’m not the most restrained of characters though nobody seemed to mind
George, it was a real delight to read your post. I wish you the best of adventures and welcome to this forum. Upasika practice is a rewarding practice and I’m very happy for the three of you looking to establish a connection with the monastery in this way. I will offer whatever support I can at 800 miles distance. Will post again soon.
George - 26 April 2007 09:24 AM
Greetings All,
There is a small (3) group of us in Ojai (southern California) who are interested in establishing a practice group based on the Thai forest tradition.
We’re interested in taking the precepts and formally beginning this practice. How would you suggest we organize ourselves?
In the Three jewels,
George
