Abhayagiri News

New eBooks and Dhamma Talks

2009-01-04T19:18:23+00:00

Abhayagiri is glad to announce the publication of two new eBooks on our website.

It has been nearly ten years since the Abhayagiri edition of ‘The Pilgrim Kāmanīta’ was published. This is a novel set in the time of the Buddha, and portrays the life of the pilgrim Kāmanīta in his long and roundabout quest for spiritual perfection. The original print run of a few thousand copies has long since been exhausted yet, even though interest in the book has maintained a steady level, sadly there have not been the resources to fund a second print run.

However, these intervening years have also brought technological developments and it is now possible to make this book freely available in the public domain via this website.

The text of the story is largely unchanged from the 1999 edition, although a few more factual errors have been corrected. There have also been a few additions and amendations to the Notes and References since, over the years, more of the author's sources have become apparent.

The original edition that we produced in 1999 was printed for free distribution and it is in this same spirit that this 2008, web-edition is offered. This can be found on this same website at www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/book/366/.

The second eBook being published, ‘Mangala,’ is a story intended to be both a partner to the novel ‘The Pilgrim Kāmanīta,’ written by Karl Gjellerup in 1906, and a tale that stands on its own. There is no need to have read the earlier book in order to make sense of this one, however, should you wish to go to the source from which many of the characters and scenes of this tale have sprung, it will be very easy to do so (see above link).

This book is being published here as a ‘serial novel,’ which is to say that it will appear one chapter at a time, on the first day of every month, over the next couple of years. The plan is that, after the entire twenty-six chapters of the story have been released, a PDF file of the complete book will be posted, both as a web-article and a freely downloadable PDF at http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/teacher/C14.

We also wish to announce that the Abhayagiri website will have a new Dhamma talk posted each Tuesday morning at 4.00 am PST throughout our upcoming winter retreat (Jan 4 through March 31). These talks will be available at www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/media/. This series of talks is from the Metta retreat offered by Ajahn Pasanno last September at the Padmasambhava Peace Institute in Cazadero, California.

A Case for Gratitude

2009-01-04T13:39:14+00:00

Generosity and gratitude are hallmarks of many of our country’s holidays. Thanksgiving is an obvious example. For the December 2 Sanghapala First Tuesday Gathering in Berkeley, Ajahn Amaro, accompanied by Ajahn Sudanto and Venerable Pavaro (who arrived at Abhayagiri in October as a visitor from Birken Monastery in British Columbia) and Anagārika Ian, contrasted the suffering associated with our all too human tendency to sink into narrow-minded blaming, criticizing, and complaining with the liberation possible by opening up our minds, hearts, and spirit to our inherent but often muted qualities of contentment and gratitude that appear in “The Mangala Sutta” (The Highest Blessings), which we chanted that very night.

Ajahn Amaro began his talk with a reference to the “Contentment and Gratitude” theme of the annual Thanksgiving Retreat at the Angela Center in Santa Rosa that ended just two days earlier. These qualities find it tough going in today’s consumer culture where, until the economic “downturn” that afflicts all of us, the ruling mantra has been “greed is good!” He recalled the now almost ancient days of the 50s and 60s in Thailand where the government applied pressure to the monasteries to cease teaching about contentment because it was bad for the GNP, which required more productivity and increased consumption to stimulate it. Ajahn Buddhadhasa, known for his fierce and forthright defense of the Dhamma, begged to differ, asserting that the government cannot legislate against reality, and consequently had to withstand considerable pressure to get the message right.

In the face of this cultural conditioning, we find it easy to sink into an ungrateful, complaining mind state when things don’t go our way. After all, if we’re suffering, it has to be someone else’s fault. Ajahn cited a New Yorker cartoon, captioned “I thought the first Nobel Truth was complaining!” With this head start, the mind easily moves to finding fault and flaw in practically anything. Presented with an old masterpiece, we complain that the covering glass plate is cracked. We can even swing too far in the other direction and begin to cultivate guilt and criticize ourselves for not being more content with what we have. Unfortunately for us, the collection of negative mind states, following the law of cause and effect, wreaks its damage on our heart-minds, though we may not notice right away things like the psychological and even physical discomfort that go with being continually ungrateful. When do we begin to see that underneath all this is a well-known culprit—the self-identity view?

Ajahn Amaro suggested a way to breach the walls we build to protect our sense of self in the context of a gratitude practice. One thing that doesn’t work so well is to take the direct approach and just resolve to have gratitude. Ajahn’s strategy for cultivating gratitude was to begin with just feeling your own ingratitude. Listen to your mind commenting and complaining. Stay with it through the whole story, which ends often enough with “it’s not fair!” Then ask yourself what qualities are present in the experience; how does it feel in your heart? You may find an incredible narrowness, tightness, constriction, cramping associated with the righteousness from which you launch your complaints. Just feel these as well. Notice how uncomfortable it is, what a terrible thing it is to make yourself feel this way. If you do can do this practice from the vantage point of a neutral observer, without sinking into self-judgment (“I shouldn’t feel this way”), you open the way to loosening the constriction and broadening the mind. You recognize that things don’t have to be that way. Then the antidote becomes to more directly cultivate gratitude by enumerating your blessings.

Ajahn Amaro summed up his message with two stories, The first was the story of Punna from the Samyutta Nikaya 35.88, Punna Sutta (To Punna). While the portion of the story repeated here may seem to carry a certain life-denying flavor to some modern ears, when read in its entirely, it contains a profound teaching on transcending attachment to both pleasant and unpleasant with a charming nod to gratitude. In Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s translation on the Access to Insight website, the monk Punna is seeking the Buddha’s permission to live in the country of Sunaparanta:

"Punna, the Sunaparanta people are fierce. They are rough. If they insult and ridicule you, what will you think?"

"If they insult and ridicule me, I will think, 'These Sunaparanta people are civilized, very civilized, in that they don't hit me with their hands.' That is what I will think, O Blessed One. That is what I will think, O One Well-gone."

As the Buddha raises the level of insult and injury through successive stages ending with death, Punna persists in his gratitude toward his persecutors,

"If they take my life with a sharp knife, I will think, 'There are disciples of the Blessed One who—horrified, humiliated, and disgusted by the body and by life—have sought for an assassin, but here I have met my assassin without searching for him. That is what I will think, O Blessed One. That is what I will think, O One Well-gone."

Approving of Punna’s calm and self control, the Buddha released him to go to Sunaparanta, where he later attained Arahantship.

In the second story, Ajahn illustrated how the practice of gratitude can have a cascade effect that then motivates us to act beneficently. After ordination as a monk in Thailand under Ajahn Chah, the young monk Sumedho for the first few years reveled in the solitude he enjoyed there. But as time passed, Ajahn Chah began assigning Sumedho the duty of overseeing the increasing number of Westerners who arrived at the monastery, Wat Pah Pong. This intrusion on his precious time alone launched a lengthy period of suffering induced by the same tendency to gripe and complain that we have been discussing. While he may not have descended as far as the now stereotypical infantile “I Don’t Wanna; I Don’t Hafta; You Can’t Make Me,” Sumedho’s attitude was along the lines of “I’d be happier in a cave with a python than looking after students.”

Eventually, the monk Sumedho managed to “escape” to India where he lived for a time as a wanderer. But there, the years of negative internal dialog suddenly took a new turn. He shifted his attention to just listening to this voice. Then he realized, “This complaining has been all about me; what kind of path to Nibbāna is that?” Seized by an upwelling of gratitude, he returned to Thailand, offered his life to Ajahn Chah and asked “What do you want me to do?” That question was the start of 35 years of teaching, including the establishment of Amaravati and through his student Ajahn Amaro, the existence of Abhayagiri. The power of gratitude is great, indeed!

The next Sanghapala First Tuesday Gathering will be on January 6, 2009, at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery (2304 McKinley Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703); however, because the Abhayagiri Monastics will have just begun their annual three-month winter retreat, we will once again welcome the Sildahara nuns from Amaravati as guest teachers. Ajahns Anandabodhi, Thanasanti, and Santacitta will be establishing a temporary vihara in San Francisco, where they will follow a monastic schedule. The vihara, which opens on January 9th and closes on February 27th, is located close to Ocean Beach in the Sunset District at 1632 48th Avenue, San Francisco 94122, and visitors are welcome. Visit the Saranaloka Foundation website for a complete listing of the sisters’ schedule of activities, including retreats.

Winter Retreat 2009

2008-12-22T17:52:59+00:00

From January 3 to March 31, 2009, the residents of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery will be taking a period of silent retreat. This annual time of quietude, gratefully supported by a team of lay supporters, gives Abhayagiri residents an opportunity to set aside work projects and concentrate on more formal aspects of meditation and the study of Dhamma. With short days, wetter weather, and the silence of winter, this is a natural time to be looking inward.

During these three months there will be no overnight guests accepted. (For overnight visits after the retreat please contact the monastery after April 1, 2009.) This, however, does not mean that the monastery is closed to day visitors. Day visits are still possible and the weekly Saturday night chanting, meditation, and Dhamma talk will take place as usual. The Lunar Observance night Dhamma talk and meditation vigils will also take place (see website calendar for lunar observance days). People wishing to visit the monastery to make meal offerings and offerings of requisites are also welcome.

For those people interested in listening to, or downloading Dhamma talks from the monastery website, a newly posted talk is scheduled to appear periodically throughout the retreat.

Upcoming Community Work Day

2008-12-11T17:05:49+00:00

The final Abhayagiri Community Work Day of 2008 is coming up on this Sunday, December 14. This is a monthly event which occurs on every month from April to December.

This month’s work day will focus on completing current projects and regular maintenance in preparation for our upcoming winter retreat, which commences on January 3.

Top of the task-list is finishing-off the monk’s cabin (kuti), which is being built in the forested area below the current ordination platform. We’re in the final stages now, including the last touches to the interior and exterior, and creating a walking meditation path. We also plan to do some work in the garden area over at Casa Serena (the house that accommodates female guests at the monastery), placing stones around the flower beds.

There will be other tasks that day, with both indoor and outdoor work, and of varying degrees of physicality involved. So there’s something for everyone!

The day commences at 7.30 am with the morning work meeting, during which a Dhamma reflection will be offered by one of the co-abbots. The work period begins shortly thereafter and continues until near the meal-offering which is served at 10.30 am. The afternoon work period will commence at about 1.00 pm, also with a work meeting and Dhamma reflection, and end at about 4.00 pm.

Please come and join us if you wish. There is no need to let us know you're coming—just turn-up on the day!

Anyone wishing to stay overnight at the monastery should contact the Guest Monk using our contact form on the Abhayagiri website at http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/contact/C72

With good wishes,

The Sangha at Abhayagiri

The Passing of Another Close Friend

2008-12-02T00:43:28+00:00

On Tuesday, November 18, Kondañña (Barry Kapke) died from colon cancer. He was one of the early monastery supporters and was instrumental in creating both the Upāsikā Program and the original Abhayagiri website. Kondañña was also the creator of one of the first Dhamma websites in 1991, originally called DharmaNet International, and he was an Abhayagiri lay minister, having completed the CALM Program (Community of Abhayagiri Lay Ministers) training.

A memorial celebrating Kondañña’s life also is scheduled to take place on December 7 at Abhayagiri, where a small shrine has been created in the forest (see associtaed article at http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/article/1644/). We wish to express our appreciation for Kondañña's contributions to of our community over these past many years—he will be greatly missed.

Upasika Day and Death Memorials

2008-11-25T18:08:32+00:00

We hope you can join us at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery for the December 7 Upasika Day, a day of community, Dhamma study, meditation, and renewal.

December 7 we will also hold memorials for two long-time friends of Abhayagiri who passed away in November. J., who lived on the mountain nearby, passed away November 10. Kondañña, who lived in San Francisco, passed away November 18. Our remembrance of J. and Kondañña will include paritta chanting and the creation of two shrines in the forest.

Fittingly as we remember these two friends who offered so much to the community, our theme of the day will be Practice in a personal context: Generosity. This session will include teachings on the practice of generosity, exploring the many different forms it can take in our daily lives and interactions with others. We will touch on amisadana (material offerings); abhayadana (the offering of fearlessness/safety, mostly via keeping the precepts); and Dhammadana (the offering of Dhamma).

Please note that the schedule for the day (below) will be slightly different than usual to allow time for the memorial ceremonies.

Here are the readings for the next Upasika Day. Printed copies of the readings will be available at the monastery December 7.

A 5.31 –– "The Benefits of Almsgiving," Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, by Nyanaponika Thera & Bhikkhu Bodhi, p 133; http://books.google.com/books

A 5.148 –– Sappurisadana Sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.148.than.html

A 8.39 –– Abhisanda Sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.039.than.html

A 9.20 –– Velama Sutta, Life of the Buddha, by Bhikkhu Nyanamoli, p 230;http://books.google.com/books

S 3.20 –– Aputtaka Sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn03/sn03.020.than.html

S 41.10 –– Gilana Sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn41/sn41.010.than.html

Iti 26 –– Giving http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.1.024-027.irel.html#iti-026

M 142.13 –– "For I call ‘a pure offering’ that with which the giver is purified and the receiver also. And how does that take place? It takes place, when the giver is pure in life and noble in heart, and the receiver is pure in life and noble in heart; and when that is the case the giver of the offering is purified and the receiver also."

Upasika Day Schedule:
10:30 a.m. (sharp) Meal Offering (please bring a dish to share)
12:30-2:00 Memorials
2-5 p.m. Study/Practice Session
5:30 p.m. Tea (optional)

We hope you will join us for the daily meal, beginning at 10:30 a.m. It's customary to bring a dish to offer to the monastics and to share with others. Our material support of the monastery community is
an important aspect or our role as upasikas (literally, "those who sit close by"), and our generous offerings of food are a tangible means of extending this support.

This is the final Upasika Day for 2008. The monastic community will begin its annual three-month winter retreat January 2. The Upasika Program will resume inn April, 2009.

Attendance at Upasika Days is open both to those who have made a formal commitment to the program and those who may simply wish to attend for the day. All are welcome. Please spread the word among those who may be interested.

For directions on getting to the monastery, please visit http://www.abhayagiri.org. And if you'd like to carpool, please feel free to utilize the "upasika@yahoogroups.com" email group as a means of contacting others planning to attend.

We hope to see you on December 7.

Your Life Is Your Teacher: Working with Uncertainty

2008-11-19T01:12:22+00:00

All thoughts were on the presidential election whose outcome during the 5:00 pm informal tea that began the November 4th Sanghapala First Tuesday Gathering in Berkeley was both uncertain and provoking much anxiety. By the time the formal part of the evening began at 7:30 pm, it seemed highly likely to those who had just returned from rushing to their cars during the break to hear the election results that the Democrats were on their way to victory. As we drove home at the end of the evening, the verdict of the people was all but certain, according to the analysts. Accompanied by Ajahns Pasanno, Sudanto, and Karunadhammo, Ajahn Amaro used the election uncertainty and the apprehension surrounding it as the occasion to look at the benefits of using these and related mind states as a teaching tool, in contrast to our tendency to seek relief from them.

In his Dhamma talk, Ajahn Amaro went straight to the core of the matter, referring to the state of not knowing (whether it’s the election result or something else) as a troublesome state. Our tendency in the face of doubt is to escape to a state of certainty, which then fills up the space left by doubt. For example, in the face of uncertainty, the mind may sink into dredging up stories about all the ways things can go wrong, which leads to anxiety and fear. When this happens, sometimes even a threat, though menacing, is certain and therefore can be more comfortable than not knowing. Another way to wrestle with uncertainty is to make plans for all the outcomes we can envision, whether it’s our love lives or our retreat lives. Still another is to generate lists of things to do, which impart a sense of tangibility. Such strategies are very common behaviors in humans.

Ajahn Amaro repeated a story from Ajahn Chah about the monks in Thailand who spent nights meditating alone in the forests, which were populated with large animals like tigers that the monks feared were more than willing to take an easy meal where they found it. One can easily imagine the anxiety levels rising when the nighttime forest sounds began, all the more when it was so dark that nothing could be seen. One coping strategy was to take a light inside the mosquito netting in which they sat. While the light illuminated nothing farther away than the netting, which would by itself be no barrier to a prowling tiger, nonetheless there was an illusion of safety and security.

Fortunately, the Buddha’s teachings include ways to work with doubt and uncertainty that are more fruitful in the long run (that is, after a sufficient period of assiduous practice), if not immediately on the first try. In fact, most of us already have been introduced to these tools, beginning with reflection on the Three Marks of Existence (impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and no inherent self-existence), which we use as aids for studying the mind. Studying the mind with some objectivity, of course, requires the ability to step out of our mental and emotional lives and look at them from a bit of a distance as an observer rather than a victim, a skill that in my experience takes some practice. In this way, our lives become our teachers as we progress in the ability to look at, in this case, negative experiences arising out of uncertainty as in fact our friends that provide support to our spiritual endeavors.

During tea-time, for example, in answer to a question about how to hold anxiety arising out of the election uncertainty, Ajahn Amaro noted that the worst thing is to get caught in mental scenarios. Instead, it is far more fruitful to focus on the physical sensation associated with anxiety, which often enough is “not really that bad.” This is a way of being in the present moment. At this point, Ajahn Pasanno added that, when this focus is attained, one can then move to relaxing around it, gradually loosening layer by layer. It is easier to do this for physical sensation than for thoughts and emotions.

Ajahn Amaro pointed out that the Buddha attributed the negative feelings arising out of uncertainty to our ingrained source of “self,” which then wants to fix the feelings. The alternative is to regard the feelings as objects for investigation rather than somehow “ours.” Then the dropping of self-investment in the feelings reduces the sense of threat. Just as we are challenged to recall and turn toward old age, sickness, and death rather than fleeing or suppressing these messengers, so we are counseled to turn toward uncertainty. When we are able to do this, a feeling of liberation arises.

In the end, we are confronted yet again with the inexorable fact of change in both the physical and psychological worlds. If we notice that change is intrinsic to everything, then sooner or later we understand that no single thing can make us permanently happy, though in the midst of a pleasant experience, this understanding may not immediately come to mind. One way to work with pleasant experiences, mentioned by Ajahn Amaro during tea-time, is to take them to their logical conclusion. “If I just got this, I’d never want anything else ever again.” At this point, the fantasy collapses as we realize “Yeah, right! Not in this lifetime!”

The Buddha mind of awareness is comfortable in the midst of an uncertainty in which not only does everything change, but one cannot even say at any instant exactly what something is. If one takes a clock apart, it is no longer a clock, although all the pieces remain. So, asked Ajahn, where does the “clockness” come from? What is it? Applying the same question to our sense of self, we are left with the realization that our self identity is nothing more than a convenient convention, because we cannot in fact ever actually locate the selfness.

Taking it all in, we see ourselves floating in a vast sea of unpredictability, even if we are in a monastery. Coming to our aid is the fact that behind the ego clinging to anything smacking of some certainty, there is a quality of heart that sees this search as a source of suffering, not a cure. So, the heart relaxes, a sense of ease arises, and we are open to the way things are, attuned to the moment, and able to adapt to change. Of course, to live in this way is very demanding. To dethrone the tyrannical ego, suggested Ajahn, we can instead treat it as a once powerful political leader who has lost power and is sent off to end his or her days in a nice bungalow on the beach with a glorious title but no power.

Having dispatched the tyrant, a sense of trust and belonging replaces fear. We need neither a plan nor an insurance policy to keep us safe because we can make choices from a place of wisdom. We can find security in something more profound than certainty; namely, the freedom that comes from accepting change.

The next Sanghapala First Tuesday Gathering will be on December 2, 2008, at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery (2304 McKinley Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703).

Memorial services for J.

2008-11-17T22:48:26+00:00

As you know, our friend J. passed away this past Monday after a nearly year-long battle with cancer. The end came more quickly than expected, as J. had lost a lot of weight and was unable to fight off a case of pneumonia. He was hospitalized in Ukiah for his final three days, and monks and lay friends from the monastery community were with him around the clock. J. was a solitary person, and we are unaware of any family.

J.'s body was cremated on Thursday, and two memorial services are planned for the near future. The first will be held on Thursday, November 20, at Abhayagiri Monastery. The meal will be offered at 10:30 am in honor of J. Afterwards, there will be a ceremonial dismantling of J.'s camp in the woods and the placing of a portion of his ashes upon the shrine he built at his camp as well as the scattering of ashes in "J.'s Garden," the vegetable garden he lovingly tended for the last three seasons.

A second memorial service will be held on Sunday, December 7, at 9 am, also at Abhayagiri Monastery. The service will include chanting and the placing of a portion of his remains on a new memorial shrine to be established in the forest at Abhayagiri. Friends are also welcome to place flowers or other mementos on this small outdoor shrine. Following the ceremony will be the meal offering at 10:30 am. In the afternoon is the regularly scheduled Upasika Day, with the program beginning at 1 pm. (For more on the program, visit Upasika Program)

All of J.'s friends are invited to attend either or both of these memorial services. And please pass along this information to others who may not have already heard.

Kind regards,
Dennis Crean

Monastery Friend Dies

2008-11-11T21:31:54+00:00

On Monday, November 10, 2008 Abhayagiri’s close friend and neighbor, J., died after a year-long period of treatment for cancer.

Almost anyone who has visited Abhayagiri since the summer of 2002 would have met J. He lived on the mountainside across the road from the monastery and dedicated his time to coming here and helping us with the upkeep and development of Abhayagiri. He had skill in a wide variety of practical things, from cooking to gardening; forestry work to building steps… the list is nearly endless.

During the past few years J. derived great pleasure from creating and tending a vegetable garden up at Dennis Crean’s house. J. would use the food compost from the monastery to feed and nourish the garden, and then bring back copious amounts of vegetables to feed and nourish the Abhayagiri community!

J. first discovered that he had cancer during the summer of 2007. He underwent surgery in early 2008 and recovered well. During this past summer he developed a secondary tumor which was of an aggressive nature and inoperable. He became very weak and on Friday, November 7th, while in the nearby town of Ukiah for a scheduled doctor’s appointment, he needed to be admitted to the hospital. During those few short days in the hospital J. was assisted and kept company by many Abhayagiri Sangha members, both ordained and lay, until his body quietly and peacefully died.

Abhayagiri Monastery feels an enormous amount of gratitude for having had J.’s presence here for so many years—he will be missed. Dennis Crean, who spent much of the last days of J.’s life with him, wrote an email to close friends just hours after J. passed away. Dennis has kindly allowed us to include that email, the text of which is included below.

Friends,

I just got home after nearly 24 hours at the hospital. It's been a long day for many of us.

I'm sad to report that today was J.'s last. He passed away peacefully at 6 p.m., surrounded by his friends.

Last night turned out to be fairly uneventful for J. under the circumstances. Four of us sat with him throughout the night. He surpassed everyone's expectations and continued to breathe steadily, albeit with a few rough patches, on into the morning. He seemed to be comfortable and didn't show signs of real pain or distress. Probably the worst part was a fever that reached 103.6 degrees. The very kind nursing staff helped reduce the fever with ice packs and showed up every few hours to wash him and change his position.

The same scenario unfolded for much of Monday. His fever was down. His pulse gradually weakened by the afternoon, and his breathing became much shallower. Several other community members spent good chunks of time with J., and there were several chanting sessions for him. He received a lovely bouquet (thanks, Gabiya!). Around 5:30 p.m. and in anticipation of heading back to the monastery after 2 days or so at the hospital, Ajahn Pasanno led some Paritta chanting for J. There were about 8 of us present with him. J.'s breaths become noticeably less frequent during this time. After the chanting ended, a nurse was unable to measure his blood pressure because it was too low.

As we discussed plans for spending another night at the hospital, we thought that J., being the private fellow he is, might actually like a short bit of time to himself. He'd not been alone for a few days. So a couple of us told him we would all leave the room for a while to give him some space. (Although he remained unconscious throughout the entire day, we figured he could hear us on some level). Ajahn Pasanno re-entered the room only a couple of minutes later, but within even that short span, J. had already seized on his moment of solitude and breathed his last breath. It was 6 p.m.

For the next half hour we sat quietly with J.'s body and did some more chanting. We then notified the nurse and doctor, who declared him deceased. The hospital staff had already agreed to allow us time to clean and dress him and to offer funeral chants. We slipped him into his jeans and flannel shirt. We put on his "trademark" round wire-rim glasses, his amulets, and his mala beads. More community members arrived from Abhayagiri, as did a few other local lay friends. We chanted for J. and spent some time with his body. At around 8:30 it was taken to a nearby crematorium. Once those folks sort out all the paperwork with the county officials, we'll be notified of the cremation time, although there will likely be only a couple of hours notice.

While no details have yet been set, there will surely be some sort of memorial service for J. at Abhayagiri. We'll be sure to post more information once it becomes available.

Thanks for all your kind words and moral support from out in the wider world. I'm sure J. was just as touched by the generosity shown to him by all of his friends as we have been by his own generosity to us over the nearly seven years he's been in our midst. Personally, I was very inspired by the love shown to J. by the monastery folks (ordained and lay supporters), and I truly felt the warmth that results when a community gathers to care for one of its own in his time of vulnerability.

Kind regards,
Dennis

Free as the Open Air

2008-11-04T20:29:07+00:00

Our monastic Sangha had the privilege to welcome new members to the community this previous week. Samanera Kaccana undertook the bhikkhus' precepts on Sunday, October 26, while only three days later Samaneras Subharo, Dhammavaro and Suvaco also entered the bhikkhu sangha. These three novices travelled by car to Abhayagri all the way from Birken Forest Monastery, up in British Columbia, Canada. Never before had Abhayagiri had so many monk ordinations in the same week. I was fortunate enough to attend both of the ordinations, so I will take this opportunity to share some of my thoughts and impressions from the first of these ordinations, Samanera Kaccana's.

Samanera Kaccana is a 31 year old who lived in California for over ten years before arriving at Abhayagiri. As with all the novices who ordain here, he first trained as an anagarika for a year and then was under the novice precepts also for a year, training for the time when he would be ordained as a monk. As a layman, Kaccana excelled in the academic world, obtaining a Ph. D. for his research into potential applications of low-field MRI at UC Berkeley.

His ordination was to take place at 4:00 pm at the open air Dhamma platform. In the morning, several monks helped to prepare the space – placing a variety of flowers on the shrine, laying out the mats, and setting out chairs for the visiting laypeople who were expected to attend.

The Dhamma platform was set up beautifully. Unadorned, without the flowers and candles, it has a stark sobriety to it. The Buddha image is a life sized one, made of bronze with a dark copper finish and housed in an open walled, wooden roofed section of the west side of the platform. He is seated cross legged, holding his hands in the Dhammacakka mudra, the mudra symbolizing the setting rolling of the Wheel of Dhamma, with his eyes serenely downcast. The image is soothing and inspiring, yet serious and powerful. We placed flowers, candles and an incense holder on the shrine, which all helped soften and brighten the ambience. This Buddha image is especially fitted to be overlooking an ordination ceremony.

By 4:00 pm the monks had assembled together and had taken their assigned seats. We had a special guest joining us, the Venerable Heng Sure from the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery in California. He is an original disciple of the most Venerable Master Hua, founder of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas here in Ukiah. A westerner perhaps a bit over 50, he was dressed in a flowing tan colored robe, with a pale-yellow shoulder wrap. He sat at the front of the platform, right near the shrine next to Ajahn Pasanno. Venerable Heng Sure has been a monk for over 30 years, and is a close friend of the Abhayagiri community.

Next to Venerable Heng Sure sat Ajahn Pasanno, the official preceptor for Samanera Kaccana. Seated in front of these two, were the remaining group of monks, lined up in parallel rows on both sides of the preceptor, with a space between the two rows wide enough to allow the novice to come forth into the Sangha and for the ceremony to be performed.

For a Buddhist ordination to be valid in the Theravada tradition, the Buddha required that ten monks had to be present to serve as witnesses to the procedure. But as the teachings spread further afield from the original Middle Country in North-East India, he made an allowance for the Sangha to conduct the procedure with only five bhikkhus. While Redwood Valley California would certainly count as an “outlying area further afield”, we're fortunate enough to have over ten bhikkhus who could participate in the ceremony. In all there were 12 bhikkhus present.

By the time 4:00 rolled around, the sun had dropped low enough to begin cooling the forest. It filtered through the leaves and lit up the forest floor and the Dhamma platform in patches. With the monks kneeling and with hands in añjali, Ajahn Pasanno lit the candles and incense, and we all bowed three times to pay respects the the Triple Gem. The ceremony began.

First the monks chanted the parittas, a set of auspicious chants that are often used to bless an activity. Ajahn Amaro took the microphone, and chanted in solo an exquisite invitation to the devas and all forces of goodness to come, listen and rejoice in what is about to take place. After he was done, all the monks joined together and chanted rhythmically, hypnotically, those ancient verses composed to praise the Triple Gem, and to recall to mind the teachings of the Buddha.

When that was done, the ceremony proper began with the aspirant retaking his novice precepts as a way of clarifying his current status before asking that the Sangha grant him the higher ordination. There are two “kammavaca bhikkhus” - monks who are designated to formally announce to the Sangha that this particular novice has requested the higher ordination, and with the Sangha's approval, they will question the candidate publicly about his qualifications. For today's ceremony, the kammavaca bhikkhus were Ajahns Amaro and Sudanto.

There is a lot of chanting in this ceremony, both from the candidate and from the kammavaca bhikkhus. The chanting is done in Pali, the original language that the Buddha spoke. Far from giving the ceremony a sense of empty, outdated formality, it lent to the ceremony a gravity and authority, a sense that we were taking part in an ancient tradition. This very ceremony has been passed on from teacher to pupil and on to his pupil, and so on, all the way through 2500 years.

There are about a dozen questions that are asked of candidate, and are all answered "yes" or "no." They clarify definitively whether or not this novice is eligible. A few or the questions are “Are you free from debt?”, “Do you have your parents permission?”, “Are you a full 20 years of age?”, “What is your name?” and “Who is your preceptor?”

The scriptures explain that in ancient times there was a monk who, being shy and bashful, was so nervous when questioned before the Sangha that he was unable to answer the questions properly. So the kammavaca bhikkhus and the aspirant are first to stand outside the boundary of the seated monks, and do a preliminary questioning. Then, if all goes well, the kammavaca monks return to the seated assembly and call in the novice to enter into the Sangha's midst.

Before the official questioning begins, the preceptor will check to make sure that the novice has his bowl and robes – the primary possessions of a bhikkhu. These requisites are of special significance to a monk, being symbolic of his renunciation. In the suttas, the Buddha often praises the bhikkhu who goes off to wander through the forests and villages with nothing but his bowl and robes, likening him beautifully to a bird that flies from place to place burdened by nothing but his wings.

So Ajahn Pasanno reached forward and touched Samanera Kaccana's three robes and bowl in turn, saying in Pali: “Ayam sangathi (this is your outer robe)”, to which Kaccana replied: “Ama Bhante (yes, Venerable Sir)”, and so on with his bowl and other two robes. All the while, Ajahn Pasanno was giving a running commentary for the sake of the visiting laypeople, explaining the significance of the words he was saying and the purpose of them.

At this stage, Ajahn Pasanno gave a talk on the four requisites of a monk. The four requisites, he explained, are what the Buddha allowed as the bhikkhu's minimum standard, something that we use as a reflection and an example of what we strive to be content with. The first is discarded robe cloth. (In the Buddha's days, this referred to cloth that was used to wrap dead bodies in and could be freely picked up in charnel grounds). The second is food gathered from wandering for alms. The third is the root of a tree for shelter, and the fourth is easily acquired natural medicine (which in the Buddha's days, was fermented urine, considered to be medicinal and freely obtainable). Ajahn Pasanno explained that, of course, the Buddha allowed us to accept what is offered, whether they be requisites fine or coarse, but we should reflect on these four requisites and remember that that is what our standard is. This is a very helpful reflection for us to develop contentment with whatever it is we are offered, or wherever it is that we must stay.

Having given this talk to the novice Kaccana, the kammavaca monks were now ready to question him officially. One on each side of the preceptor, they solemnly began chanting in perfect unison words that, to the uninitiated, may have been incomprehensible, but which were rich with significance and beauty to the one who can follow.

They informed the monks that Kaccana was seeking higher ordination and will now be questioned in front of the Sangha. Once they had completed the questioning, they announced that Kaccana has requested the higher ordination, and that he has been questioned, that he has passed the questioning and that if any monk objects to his ordination, they should speak now. This chanting part is repeated three times, to make sure that there are no objections. Meanwhile, there is a monk checking that the Pali chanting of the kammavaca is perfectly correct, for any mistakes might invalidate the ordination. Finally, there is the announcement: Kaccana has requested the ordination, he has passed the questioning, and the Sangha is in agreement. He is now a monk. The entire Sangha at this point lets out a celebratory “sadhu!”, meaning “it is excellent!”

The venerable Kaccana was then told by Ajahn Pasanno to sit comfortably. Ajahn Pasanno still had a duty to do as the preceptor, and that is to review the four requisites and to make clear the “four things never to be done by a bhikkhu”. The four requisites were briefly gone over (having been explained previously), and the four things never to be done were explained in more depth. These four things constitute the most serious offenses that a monk can commit, and upon committing any of them, he is immediately no longer a bhikkhu. Even though he might still wear the robe and try to pass himself off as such, in truth, kammically we may say, he is a layperson. He is, as Ajahn Pasanno chanted “no longer a samana (lit: seeker of peace), no longer a son of the Sakyan (an epithet for the Buddha)”. These four things are 1) having sexual intercourse 2) stealing 3) murdering a human being and 4) consciously lying about one's spiritual attainments or psychic abilities. It is very important that a bhikkhu understands clearly these four offenses. All other offenses can be rehabilitated, either through confession, or, if more serious, through an act of probation. These four offenses however can not.

Up to this point, the ceremony felt solemn and gracefully serious. Ajahn Pasanno had done a wonderful job in explaining the rituals to the laity, without sacrificing the ritualistic mood of the ordination and the sense that this was about an initiation into a new way of life for Novice Kaccana.

But we finished on a slightly different note. Venerable Heng Sure was asked to give some reflections to bring the ceremony to a close. His style was relaxed and fluid. Even his “Namo tassa...” before the talk had a musical hint to it and mirrored the overall mood of his reflections. He told a number of interesting and amusing stories, all inspiring in one way or another. One that sticks out in my mind was about how his brother had invited him once to come and visit him at work. Fascinatingly, his brother worked at the Pentagon, and Venerable Heng Sure was uncertain how he would be received by the workers at the nation's defense headquarters. Would he be let in the door? Would he be taken seriously? How would it go?

Apparently, he arrived at the Pentagon, and as he passed through security he found people treating him with great respect. He would walk down the hallway, and as a guard or soldier was walking the other way, the guard or soldier would stand to one side and and salute as the Venerable Heng Sure passed. It was as though, Venerable Heng Sure explained, there was a recognition and respect for the discipline involved in the robes, and some kind of respect for the virtue that was contained within that discipline. The power of virtue and discipline, he explained, is something that is communicated to others automatically, simply through us being committed to it.

And so the ceremony concluded. The monks offered some chanting to Venerable Kaccana, as a way of blessing him and congratulating him on this noble step. I found myself absorbed into the sound of the ancient chants, feeling my voice meld into one with the others; grateful for this opportunity we have to be monks, and delighted to have another one join us in this effort to walk in the footsteps of the Buddha.

Three days later, there was another ordination ceremony, this time involving the three novices from Birken Forest Monastery. These are beautiful ceremonies, worth seeing, worth trying to understand their meaning, worth trying to understand the intention that would make one ordain in the first place. Much could be written on that topic, but that will have to be saved for another article.