Fearless Mountain Newsletter
Spring 2006 Articles
The Heart of a Pilgrim Ajahn Pasanno on Sabbatical The Island That You Cannot Go Beyond 2006 Upasika Program to Feature a New Study Session Format From the Monastery Teaching Oneself Calendar View Archive
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We hope you can join us at Abhayagiri for these days of community, Dhamma study, meditation, and renewal. The Upasika Program exists to provide an opportunity for lay women and men (upasikas/upasakas) to deepen their practice and their relationship to the monastery.
This year’s program will feature a modified format for the afternoon study session, with each of the year’s five Upasika Days focusing on a single topic. Topics will range from sutta studies, devotional practices, practice in daily life, and more. Each presentation will allow for group interaction and questions-and-answers. More details of the program follow:
Purpose
* To enhance individual practice and increase self-discipline through making a formal commitment to spiritual training.
* To deepen both the intellectual and experiential understanding of the Dhamma.
* To have more supportive contact with like-minded people and the ordained Sangha.
* To be better equipped to communicate the Teachings to others.
Guidelines
* To undertake to live by the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts, with the Theravada Forest Tradition as the focus of one’s practice.
* To attend regular gatherings with other Upasikas, either at the Monastery or in your own homes.
* To visit the monastery and formally take the Refuges and Precepts at least quarterly.
* To observe the Uposatha Days of the full and new moon in some fashion appropriate to your living situation.
* To practice meditation daily.
* To find some time each year to go on retreat.
* To attend at least one festival day or communal gathering at the Monastery each year.
* To cultivate a basic working knowledge of the Teachings.
* To support the Sangha according to your means and abilities.
* To keep to the training for at least one year after having made the formal commitment.
Those interested in making such a commitment are invited to visit Abhayagiri on one of the Upasika Days (see right), or to arrange to visit at some other mutually convenient time. The commitment ceremony for new Upasikas is quite simple: each individual brings from home a small tray Page 2 of 2
of traditional offerings—candles, flowers, and incense. At the appropriate time, each person comes forward to offer their tray and to request the Three Refuges and Five Precepts. Afterwards, the afternoon study and practice session begins.
Everyone is most welcome to attend the Upasika Days, whether or not they have made a formal commitment to the program. There is no “in” or “out” group, nor any “secret teachings” for an inner circle! This program is offered freely as an opportunity to draw closer to the teachings and to make a public statement of one’s intentions and aspirations as a support to one’s practice.
Program Dates
April 2*
June 24
August 12
October 21
December 3
Schedule
10:30 am~ Meal offering (bring a dish to share)
1:00 pm ~ Chanting, meditation, Refuges/Precepts, Teachings & Discussion
*Commitment ceremony for continuing and new program participants. Please bring an offering of flowers, candles, and incense if you wish to formally join the program or renew your commitment.
