Our two monks on tudong ('wandering') are making their way North up the coast towards the Pacific Hermitage. Here are their latest messages:(June 17) "We are currently staying on Reservation land, South bank of the Smith River. The Native Americans here are impressed with our life and what we are doing, and are keen to look after us. " (June 16) "We followed the Coast Trail (CT) from Klamath to Enders Beach and camped. Walked 3 miles on beach into Crescent City. The CT is an excellent alternative to 101, goes all the way up Oregon Coast." ...

What does a Buddhist monk know about the real world anyway?” It’s a common question because there’s a sense of the monastery being an isolated sanctuary where we say, “Goodbye cruel world,” then we come into our beautiful sacred space and suddenly we’re spiritual. That’s a bit of a sweeping generalization, but it’s often the way people think. What is a monastery, anyway? What is the purpose of a sanctuary like Abhayagiri and what is the “real world”? Anyone who has stayed here for more than a few hours realizes that far from getting away from the world, monas...