Fearless Mountain Newsletter
Fall 2002 Articles
From The Monastery Go Forth, Young Man Tradition Welcome to the Homeless Clan Building Committee From Blessing to Commitment Sanghapala Foundation A Day in the Life Calendar View Archive
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If you are interested in helping with Casa Serena's mortgage, please contact Larry Restel, the Sanghapala treasurer, at 707-485-9129 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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The Abhayagiri community lost a dear friend in May when our neighbor Mary Curran died of cancer (see " From the Monastery"). Long a generous supporter, Mary left a final gift to the monastery-Casa Serena, her house, and thirty acres of land adjoining the Abhayagiri property.
Many monastery visitors and residents had the good fortune over the years to meet Mary and her husband, Peter La Riviere, who preceded her in death by two years. Mary and Peter were longtime supporters of both Christian and Buddhist monastics. They had a long-term friendship with Ajahn Maha Prasert from Wat Buddhanusorn in Fremont and had helped Bhante Dhammavara, a venerable old Cambodian monk, until he passed away at 110 years of age. They also had a close friendship with the former abbot of Mt. Tabor Monastery, Archimandrite Boniface. Mary herself was a Roman Catholic nun for twenty years until the age of forty. She and Peter had a special interest in supporting women's practice and befriended many of the nuns and laywomen at Abhayagiri.When offering the land, Mary said she hoped it could be a place for nuns and women to practice, and the monks' and nuns' sanghas are currently considering ways this might be done. "This gift came as a surprise, as Mary's illness and death came quite suddenly," said Abhayagiri co-abbot Ajahn Pasanno. "We are grateful, and are giving careful Page 2 of 2
consideration to the best ways to respond. The long-term steps will take some time to determine."
"The nuns, too, are grateful," said Ajahn Sundara, a senior nun in the Amaravati community. "It is not yet clear how this gift can best be used and honored," she and Ajahn Jitindriya explained. "Several of the senior Amaravati nuns, for example, are currently living apart from the main community, engaged in more solitary practice, or traveling on pilgrimage in the near future."
So there is not such a great availability of experienced nuns at the moment. In addition, a large portion of the nuns' community in England are junior nuns and anagarikas, so we want to be sure they are well-supported, too." So far Ajahn Sundara and Ajahn Jitindriya have spent the Rains Retreat, or vassa, from July 25 to October 21, on the land. Ajahn Sundara and Ajahn Thanasanti will be in residence for the winter retreat period and into the spring.
Meanwhile, lay friends are welcome to help support the new offering. In the coming months, for example, there will be opportunities to help with maintenance, gardening, cleaning, and other work. There is also the not-insubstantial matter of a $270,000 mortgage. Mary had refinanced the mortgage just before her death, and the mortgage company has asked that the assumed loan be repaid in a greatly accelerated manner, approximately two years. Because of Sanghapala Foundation's (the monastery's steward organization) normally strict policy of not taking on debt, the board of directors has decided to take on the challenge of accepting the property and repaying this loan within that two-year period. If that kind of financial support is forthcoming from the lay community, paying off the loan within that time period would greatly reduce the need to use donations to pay the interest, which is substantial.
"We were touched by Mary's kindness in making this offering, and we trust the needed support for this new place will come," said Sanghapala president Jeannie Bendik. "In a spirit of generosity, we are pleased that the lay community has the opportunity to support such a wonderful thing."
