Fearless Mountain Newsletter
Spring 2005 Articles
Chanting the “Mirror of the Dhamma” These Are the Highest Blessings Mississippi Journal From the Monastery Building Committee Calendar View Archive
COMMUNITY
The first significant event of the fall took place on September 26: Samanera Ahimsako took full bhikkhu ordination. Tan Ahimsako’s mother and eldest brother were there to offer his robes and bowl, along with other friends and community members who were there to witness the rare and noble event. The ordination took place on a beautiful sunny autumn day at the monastery, with preparations beginning first thing in the morning. The ceremony was held in the late afternoon and continued on into the evening. Ajahn
Viradhammo came from Ottawa to join the event, and two monks and an upasika from KPY monastery, the small Thai forest monastery located beyond the ridge from Abhayagiri, also attended.
The following day Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Viradhammo, Ajahn Sudanto, Tan Karunadhammo, and Tan Nyaniko headed to Land of Medicine Buddha in Santa Cruz for the tenth annual Western Buddhist Monastic Conference. Monks and nuns from the Theravada, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Korean Zen, Soto Zen, and Ch’an traditions came together to discuss the topic of “simplicity and renunciation.” Reverend Heng Sure of the Chinese Mahayana tradition and Venerable Drimay of the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition facilitated the conference, and the monastics engaged in friendly dialogues centered on practice issues, the balance between meditation with work, and the benefits of living a celibate life. Old friendships were strengthened and new ones formed. The fully ordained bhikkhus of the different traditions were able to recite the monks’ Patimokkha training rules together on the uposatha day, while the bhikkhunis recited their Patimokkha together in another location. This made for a strong sense of connection and harmony between the different traditions. Speakers from all traditions told stories of their practice and of obstacles in their holy life. The sense of unity between these traditions led to expressions of hope that everyone would meet again next year and made for a colorful group photograph. At the end of the conference the total number of years in robes was added up: 500 for 30 monastics.
Our group returned October 1 to prepare for the third annual Buddhist Bicycle Pilgrimage, a two-day ride from Spirit Rock Meditation Center to Abhayagiri, with a stop at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The weather was much cooler this year, which made for a pleasant ride. One biker, when interviewed by a newspaper, exclaimed, “This is by far the best ride I’ve ever done. I rate my rides on food, scenery, and friendliness, and this ride had the best of all three.” The community at Abhayagiri greeted the riders on the afternoon of the second day, and Ajahn Pasanno gave a talk about the benefits of pilgrimage. Reverend Heng Sure joined the event and closed with a powerful “Sharing of Merit” song.
The “Monastic Men of the West” Buddhist-Christian dialogue took place at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas this year and was attended by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Sudanto. The group visited Abhayagiri during day three of their fourday meeting.Ways of spiritual practice and views concerning living a monastic life in America were discussed. In the same vein as the Western Buddhist Monastic Conference, friendships were made and wishes for a more large-scale Buddhist-Christian monastic dialogue were expressed.
Another special event this fall was the annual Kathina, or Robe-Offering Ceremony. This ceremony,which was originated by the Buddha himself, is held within one month after the rains retreat (Vassa) has finished. On this day the laity gathers and offers cloth to the Sangha to be dyed and sewn into a robe by the monks. The robe must be finished before the next dawn in order to be a valid Kathina robe, so the monks have to work together in the stages of sewing and dying. The Sangha chose one monk who is pure in the discipline and who knows the rules and observances of the Kathina Ceremony as the candidate to receive the robe. Ajahn Pasanno received the Kathina robe this year.
Ajahn Jayasaro, along with about eighteen of his lay disciples, visited during the Kathina period. Ajahn Jayasaro, a former abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, is also a good friend of Ajahn Pasanno. Ajahn Jayasaro has been working with some of his lay supporters to help promote the teachings and practice of Buddhism in the education system of Thailand, mainly on elementary levels. Before leaving California, Ajahn Jayasaro also had the opportunity to meet with some of the teachers at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas schools and at Spirit Rock Meditation Center to discuss the integration of Buddhist principles into education.
In December, four monks and two anagarikas headed to Los Angeles to see the Body Worlds exhibit. Body Worlds is an exhibit of real human bodies—people who have donated their bodies to science when they died—that have been “plastinated.” Plastination is a process in which chemicals are injected throughout the body and gases are used to harden them, thus preserving the hardened corpse, dissected and posed in any way. This was a great way to get close images of the inside of the human body and use them in the meditative practice of body contemplation. Normally a monk in Thailand would see an autopsy for the same reason, but access to autopsies is very difficult in the U.S., especially if people have never heard of the various Buddhist contemplations around the human body.
The group then headed to Wat Metta to pay respects to the abbot, Ajahn Thanissaro (also known as Ajahn Geoff). Wat Metta is located in Valley Center, near San Diego, and is comprised of eighty acres of avocado orchard. The group spent the night at Wat Metta, then joined the Sangha there for the meal the next day. The successful three-day journey ended with a long, long drive back.
Ajahn Pasanno left Abhayagiri on December 8 for his annual trip to Thailand. He returned from his travels on December 28 after spending time with family in Canada. This happened to be two days after the terrible tsunami disaster in Asia, so the next few days were spent chanting and wishing well for those who have died and those who have survived but lost family. Ajahn Amaro was in southern India at the time, but soon after the disaster he sent us an e-mail assuring us that he was alive and well and that he wasn’t in an area hit by the waves. His year-long pilgrimage nearing its end, Ajahn Amaro has set his return date as June 16, and the community is looking forward to his return.
After five years of bhikkhu training, Tan Hasapañño, Tan Jotipalo, and Tan Phasuko now have a chance to leave nissaya, or dependence on the teacher, in order to train in different ways and in different monasteries. Tan Hasapañño has gone to practice and train in Thailand after spending about two years at Abhayagiri. Tan Jotipalo left Abhayagiri and is now on his Mississippi Pilgrimage, which began on March 1. Tan Phasuko spent two months away at his uncle’s Laotian monastery in Houston, Texas, and then returned to Abhayagiri for the winter retreat The community also welcomed back Tan Dhammadaso after his eight-month stay at Birken Forest Monastery in British Columbia.
TEACHING
On September 19 Ajahn Pasanno led a daylong retreat at Three Jewels Dhamma Hall in Fort Bragg. Ajahn Pasanno started with some guided breath meditation and focused his talks around the simple but profound theme of suffering and the ending of suffering. At the end of the retreat Mettika gave a talk on dana (generosity) and why it is so important for people to bring this quality into their lives.
Abhayagiri’s annual ten-day Thanksgiving retreat was held this year at the beautiful Angela Center in Santa Rosa and was led by Ajahn Pasanno and Taraniya. Shirley Jayanta Johannesen assisted by providing yoga instruction, leading awareness of body meditations, and offering other reflections on Dhamma. The retreat was an opportunity for many of the monastery’s friends, old and new, to come together and practice diligently in a supportive and delightful community environment. Two of the primary teaching themes throughout the retreat were the Five Hindrances and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Although Taraniya has led the Thanksgiving retreat with Ajahn Amaro before, this was Ajahn Pasanno’s first long retreat in California. Everyone greatly appreciated the opportunity to receive his teaching.
In early winter Ajahn Sudanto made a visit to Portland, Oregon. He visited with the Dhamma group at the Columbia River Correctional Facility, joined the Friends of the Dhamma sitting group for a Friday evening, and led a daylong retreat. The sittings at Yoga Mendocino in Ukiah have continued to attract attention on the second Wednesday of every month. In addition to the normal routine, Ajahn Sudanto led a daylong retreat on December 4.
DEVELOPMENT
Abhayagiri has been hosting community work days once a month. These times provide an opportunity for people who don’t come to the monastery often to offer service, to interact with the monastics, and to help with the physical development of the monastery. In October during the Casa Serena work weekend, people came and helped clear sites for women’s day meditation huts. This included clearing for trails and building a bridge. In November, people helped to reshingle the roof on the Dhamma Hall. A series of Sunday community work days is scheduled for 2005 as well. Guests are encouraged to arrive on Saturday for the evening talk and should contact the guest monk in advance to arrange for accommodations. (See the calendar for dates.)
The community also completed various smaller year-end projects including installing insulation under the floor of the main house and repairing odds and ends at Casa Serena.
The first phase of a long-awaited redesign of the Abhayagiri website (www.abhayagiri.org) was finished and launched on January 10. The new website has a muchimproved layout and navigation scheme as well as many new features. A second phase of development will be finished this spring. The website is produced with software that will make it easier to contribute new material and maintain the site. Please visit the website and use the form to send us any feedback you care to share. While we can’t satisfy everyone’s desires, this feedback is critical to improving the site for those who use it.
Plans for spring 2005 include remodeling our kitchen. The back porch to the house has to be torn down in order to build several new buildings, so the remodeled kitchen will extend out into the current living room. After the kitchen is remodeled, we hope to begin construction of several small buildings in the cloister area, including offices for the abbots, a wheelchair-accessible guest accommodation, and additional facilities for the growing community.
The Abhayagiri Community