Fearless Mountain Newsletter
Winter 2009 Articles
Awakened Consciousness From the Monastery From Māra’s Desk Being with Elders Kondañña Was My Teacher The Death of J. Calendar View Archive
Ajahn Pasanno, with (from left to right) Susan, Karen and Cassidy, during the Metta retreat in September.
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Since the last report from Abhayagiri, we have enjoyed a long, nearly endless summer and are now experiencing the slow yet clear shift into autumn and winter. The oak trees are changing colors, and the days are short, but as these words are written we are still having very warm weather and clear blue skies.
At the beginning of the summer we were glad to have welcomed Bhante Gunaratana (“Bhante G”) for a one-week stay—his third visit to Abhayagiri (as briefly mentioned in the last issue of Fearless Mountain). Bhante G is the highly respected teacher and abbot of Bhāvanā Society, a monastery and retreat center located in rural West Virginia. During his time here he generously offered three Dhamma talks, and we all appreciated his willingness to engage with both the resident Sangha and the broader community. Bhante G presents his depth of knowledge of the Dhamma with clarity and humor. Furthermore, he has that rare combination of being both a Buddhist scholar and a meditation master.
Towards the end of July, Ajahn Amaro co-led the Spirit Rock Family Retreat, accompanied by Ven. Ahimsako. Ajahn Amaro joined Heather Sundberg, Betsy Rose, and Julie Wester for this five-day retreat, which was attended by approximately 35 families. The theme this year was change, with the teachers and counselors once again utilizing their gifts for being able to convey a Dhamma theme and then weave it into all of the daily activities.
On August 7, Abhayagiri saw two young men go forth as anagārikas; Louis Gegenhuber and Carl Braun, bringing up the total number of monastics here to 16: 11 bhikkhus, two sāmaneras and three anagārikas. Including lay-resident Debbie Stamp this was the largest resident community we’ve ever been. Anagārika Louis was born in Taos, New Mexico and was raised in the south-west and mid-western United States. He studied Fine Arts in college and has worked as a carpenter. He arrived at Abhayagiri in Spring 2008. Anagārika Carl was born in New Jersey in 1983 and grew up in the Midwest. After three years in the Army, where he Page 2 of 5
was a linguist, and partway through a deployment to Iraq, his growing spiritual aspirations enabled him to secure a discharge. He spent a year travelling in Asia to find a compatible spiritual practice, settling on Theravadan Buddhism after staying in Thailand.
Towards the end of August the monastery hosted the annual Spirit Rock Teen Weekend—a two-night, three-day camping weekend for teens. The teens participate in the full monastic schedule, including morning meditation at 5:00 am, which they all attended! It’s always a joy for us to be able to share our lives with these young people who are sincerely interested in the Buddhadhamma.
In early September Ajahn Pasanno led a seven-day Mettā retreat, held at the Padmasambhava Peace Institute in Cazadero, California. The retreat, which was attended by 40 people, was organised by long-term Abhayagiri supporters Susan Seitz, Karen Phillips, and Cassidy Trager. Also involved were old-hands Paul Friedlander, who lent his organizational skills, and Paul Eaton who was the head cook. Soon after the retreat ended, Ajahn Pasanno travelled to Metta Forest Monastery for a six-day visit, along with a number of monastics from Abhayagiri. This is the first time he has visited there since 2002. Monks from both monasteries commented on the benefits of coming together in this way, and on their return the Abhayagiri crew were notably inspired. It is hoped that more gatherings of this nature will take place in the future.
September 27 and 28 saw the 7th Annual Buddhist Bicycle Pilgrimage, starting at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and ending here at the monastery. This two-day event covered 137 miles (and according to the organisers of the event “60,000 breaths”) and had a number of stops along the way, including the City of 10,000 Buddhas, the large Northern-tradition monastery nearby. This year’s ride had the highest number of participants ever, with approximately 90 riders and 30 support-people. The weather was excellent for cycling and everyone finished the ride without any major problems. As always, the pilgrimage was spiritually supported by members of the Abhayagiri Sangha, with Ajahn Amaro as the senior monk in Page 3 of 5
attendance.
After the end of the rains retreat (vassa), on October 19, the Kathina ceremony was held at Abhayagiri. It was a joyous day, attended by approximately 250 people from as far away as Thailand and the east coast of the United States. The weather was “perfect” and people from diverse walks of life came together and parted in harmony having been enriched by the events of the day. One week later Sāmanera Kaccāna formally requested the Upasampada, or bhikkhu ordination. Rev. Heng Sure, abbot of Berkeley Buddhist Monastery and Abhayagiri friend, offered the Dhamma talk on that occasion. Only four days later, on Thursday, October 30, Sāmaneras Subharo, Dhammavaro and Suvaco—three novices from Sītavana (Birken Forest Monastery in B.C. Canada) had their Upasampada. Ajahn Pasanno was the upajjhaya, or preceptor, for both of these ordination ceremonies. Sītavana’s abbot, Ajahn Sona, attended the October 30 ceremony. Ven. Pavaro, the “second monk” at Sītavana, travelled here on November 1 for a one-month stay—his first time at Abhayagiri. Monastery residents and visitors have been delighted to have more contact with our closest branch monastery (a mere 1010 miles to the north!). Late October also saw another change in the Abhayagiri Sangha when Ven. Sampajāno left for Thailand to spend his third year as a bhikkhu at Wat Pah Nanachat and associated monasteries. We wish him well during his time away.
The annual Thanksgiving Retreat, was held at the Angela Center in Santa Rosa again this year, and was led by Ajahn Amaro. Abhayagiri residents Ajahn Yatiko and Debbie Stamp both offered Dhamma reflections, as did Mary Paffard, a Yoga Mendocino teacher who also offered yoga sessions during the retreat.
Abhayagiri has recently witnessed the deaths of two members of the lay-community. On Monday, November 10, close friend and neighbor, J., died after a year-long period of treatment for cancer. Almost anyone who visited Abhayagiri since the summer of 2002 would have met J. He lived on the mountainside across the road from the monastery and generously dedicated his time to coming here and helping us with the upkeep and Page 4 of 5
development of the monastery. During the past few years J. derived great pleasure from creating and tending a vegetable garden up at Dennis Crean’s house, which is nearby where he was living. 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.
On November 20 the first of two memorials for J. was held. Between 15 and 20 friends of J. gathered at the monastery to offer the meal. In the early afternoon we held the first part of the memorial in the Dhamma Hall, with auspicious chanting and recollections of J. and his time here. We then went across the valley to J.’s mountainside hermitage. For most of us it was the first time that we had seen where he had been living in his small tent nestled beneath a grove of redwood trees with a meditation platform and shrine. More chanting was done and flowers placed on J.’s shrine, along with a portion of his ashes. The second memorial took place on December 7, when another portion of J.’s ashes were placed at a shrine in the monastery forest where he spent a great deal of time during his early years here.
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 Upasika Program and the original Abhayagiri website. He was also the creator of one of the first Dhamma websites in 1991, originally called DharmaNet International, and he was also an Abhayagiri lay minister, having completed the CALM Program (Community of Abhayagiri Lay Ministers) training. A memorial celebrating Kondañña’s life also took place on December 7 at Abhayagiri, and similar to J., a small shrine was created in the forest. We wish to express our appreciation for both of these members of our community—they will be greatly missed.
Ajahn Pasanno travelled to Portland, Oregon is mid-November for a five-day visit, accompanied by Ven. Thitābho. The visit was hosted Page 5 of 5
by Portland Friends of the Dhamma and included a daylong retreat on the theme of Mettā (loving kindness). At the beginning of December Ajahn Pasanno left for Thailand for a one-month stay, during which time he plans to offer Dhamma teachings as well as to reconnect with fellow monastics and lay-supporters. Also in early December, Ajahn Sudanto travelled to Canada to spend the next few months at Sītavana Monastery. He is scheduled to return to Abhayagiri in mid-April for two months before going back to Sītavana for the rains retreat, which commences in early-July. December will also see us finishing off work projects as we wind down in preparation for the annual winter retreat, which commences on January 3. The two new kutis (cabins) being built this year are nearly completed. One is a larger kuti, with a bathroom, which is suitable for visiting elders (where Ajahn Sona stayed during his recent visit). The other kuti is of a more standard size and is located in the forest below the ordination platform.
In April 2009 we plan to commence construction on a new building which will be situated higher up on the mountainside, in a meadow overlooking the valley. This building will be the Monks’ Utility Building, which will include showers, laundry and dying facilities, a sewing room, an office, and meeting rooms. As with all of the more recent building-projects here, this new structure will be built by Madlem Construction of Redwood Valley.
