Pacific Hermitage, Abhayagiri’s first branch monastery, officially opened on July 11 as Ajahn Sudanto, Tan Cāgānando, and Tan Thitābho took up residence there.

The Hermitage rests on five acres of leased property high in the hills above the riverside communities of White Salmon and Bingen on the Washington side of the scenic Columbia River Gorge. Central to the partially forested property is the single-story, three-bedroom log house. The bright red metal roof complements the deep brown logs. The spacious vaulted living room serves well as the shrine room. Covered walkways front and back seem ready-made for walking meditation during inclement weather. One meditation cabin is now in place on the land, with one or two more in the plans. From its inception, Pacific Hermitage has been a sublime example of a lay community’s support of the monastic Sangha and of bringing the Dhamma to a specific region.

To have monks from Abhayagiri close by to offer teachings and inspiration in the greater Portland area has been a long-held vision of Sakula (Mary Reinard), spiritual director of Portland Friends of the Dhamma. Sakula, who for many years has had Ajahn Pasanno as her spiritual mentor, has had a long association with Abhayagiri.

Although the Hermitage fulfills a dream of hers, Sakula has stayed carefully and intentionally in the background of the developments that have made it possible. Instead, she has entrusted others in the Friends of the Dhamma community—and there are many—to take on the numerous responsibilities of bringing the Hermitage to fruition.

“A lot of very mature practitioners have helped make this possible,” said Carole Melkonian, another Friends of the Dhamma member with long ties to Abhayagiri. But Carole credited Sakula’s ability to foster harmony among and within the various groups who meet at the Friends of the Dhamma center in Southeast Portland as being of central importance. “Sakula’s love of the Dhamma and her relationship with the Abhayagiri monks have helped create the conditions to allow our sangha to grow.”

Establishing a monastery like Abhayagiri is no small thing, nor is establishing a branch monastery like Pacific Hermitage. Since Page 2 of 6

Theravāda monks of the Thai forest tradition are supported entirely by the community in which they live, the Abhayagiri monastic community needed to be sure there would be sufficient local support before making a commitment to branching out. In the early summer of 2007, preparations got underway to accommodate two monks, Ajahns Sudanto and Karunadhammo, in Oregon for Vassa, the annual Rains Retreat from July through October.

Planning for what is now known as “The 2007 Summer Hermitage” began a year earlier with the establishment of Sanghata, a committee of Friends of the Dhamma formed specifically to explore the possibility of Abhayagiri opening a branch monastery in the area.

For several weeks that summer, a number of volunteers from Portland made many trips to Mosier, Oregon (just south and east of Pacific Hermitage) to create tent platforms and walking paths and make other preparations on the property owned by some friends of the monastic community. The terrain of the Mosier property is no less steep and rugged than you might find at Abhayagiri. Also in common with Fearless Mountain was poison oak.

For Greg Satir, Sanghata chair at the time, the Summer Hermitage was “an immersion in the monastic experience. I got to see for myself the benefit of that level of contact with the monks and how it affected my level of happiness,” he said.

The Summer Hermitage ended in October with a meal offering and ceremony presided over by Ajahn Pasanno and including a few other Abhayagiri monks and three dozen or so supporters from Portland and the surrounding area. After the ceremony, the monks returned home and Sanghata, its goal seemingly accomplished, briefly disbanded.

Months later, Greg and others began to wonder, “What’s next?” With renewed vigor and determination, the group reconvened and initiated serious discussions between Sanghata and Abhayagiri.

It’s one thing to support two monks on borrowed land for three months, but what about long-term support? Would there be enough dedication to sustain—both financially and materially—a small monastery indefinitely? Another major point of concern for Abhayagiri was the process through which Sanghata functioned. Clarity, consensus, and Page 3 of 6

harmony were imperative. Sanghata made extraordinary efforts to maintain these qualities of operation.

In May of 2009, Ajahn Liem—accompanied by several other monks from Wat Nong Pah Pong, where he is the successor abbot to Ajahn Chah, and monks from Abhayagiri—paid a visit to Portland. As well as being an auspicious coincidence, this meeting gave those experienced Elders the chance to meet the people who wished to have a branch of the Ajahn Chah monastic community in their midst and to see if they knew what they were taking on.

A few weeks later, during the Upāsika Renewal weekend at Abhayagiri, several of the monks and those members of Sanghata who were able to attend the ceremony had a meeting. The good news for Sanghata was that the Abhayagiri community had agreed that it was time to move ahead with concrete plans to establish a branch monastery in the Pacific Northwest. Ajahn Sudanto, who was later asked to help establish the Hermitage and to take on the responsibilities of being senior monk, began to act as the liaison between the monastery and Sanghata.

Sanghata took up its charge with unbounded energy and enthusiasm. Scott Benge assumed the chair in September of 2009, and vice-chair John Hines took on the daunting role of coordinating the land search and organizing the mounds of property data that quickly accumulated. After all, a suitable property was the first necessity.

The Pacific Northwest has two climates. West of the Cascade Range, the weather is mild but damp. East of the mountains it is dryer, but winters are significantly colder. The monks chose cold and dry over mild and damp, so the search was focused on the eastern flanks of the mountains on either side of the Columbia River.

Another criterion for the Hermitage was its proximity to heavily populated areas. The monks didn’t want to be too close to the Portland metropolitan area, but they didn’t want to be so far away that it would be a travel hardship for others. The purpose of a hermitage is to provide a forested place of seclusion for extended Page 4 of 6

periods of retreat for the monks. Abhayagiri can be a busy place with many visitors, events, training of novices, and ordinations. Unlike Abhayagiri the Hermitage will not principally be a place for monastic training; there will be no overnight accommodations for guests, nor will it be a place where retreats are conducted for the lay community. Rather, visitors will always be welcome there during meal times, and the senior monk will be happy to be available then, as this is traditionally when people who have come to visit the monastery take the opportunity to meet the teacher and to ask any Dhamma questions they might have.

These arrangements have all been established to help sustain the qualities of seclusion and quietude that are seen as essential to the aim of the Hermitage. As the natural adjunct to this set-up at the Hermitage, Ajahn Sudanto has generously committed to coming into Portland for one weekend every month; during these stays in town he will lead a meditation daylong for the lay community and will be available to offer other teachings at the Portland Friends of the Dhamma center.

If being a distance from heavily populated areas was a major criterion, being completely isolated was not. Because the Buddha made clear the importance of interdependence between the monastic Sangha and the lay community, the monks wanted to be close enough to a town which they could, at least occasionally, walk to for alms.

Through the land-search process, Sanghata and other enthusiastic community members made many supportive contacts in the region. Friends of the Dhamma found this encouraging because it increased the probability that support for the Hermitage would be region-wide rather than just from within the Portland community.

This is proving to be the case, according to Carole Melkonian, Hermitage meal-dana coordinator: “People are coming forth from the White Salmon area to help, even without a lot of publicity,” she said. “That has given me a lot of hope” for a broad base of support.

A significant factor in the decision-making process was whether to buy or lease a property. Sanghata had about Page 5 of 6

$25,000 in seed money (thanks largely to a single donor), but it was not enough for an outright purchase of land. Even though large parcels of land were available at relatively low prices, they were remote and undeveloped. Both factors would combine to increase the start-up costs. Therefore, renting or leasing a smaller, developed property for the relatively short term had always been a consideration.

The goal, then, was to have a place ready to move into by early July 2010, in order for the monks to be able to settle in by the start of the Rains Retreat, on July 27. As time passed and no suitable property had been found, it looked as though the window of opportunity was closing. Although there was a backup plan to have the monks reoccupy the Mosier property (site of the 2007 Summer Hermitage) for the Rains, it was not ideal. Although it would afford a few more months to continue searching for the right spot, it meant that occupancy—with perhaps weeks of preparation—would not begin until fall or later.

However, just before needing to make a Plan-B decision, the “Tunnel Road” property caught the attention of the land-search team. They took a look and sent Ajahn Sudanto some photographs and a description of the property, and it was agreed to carry on with Plan A. On April 30, Scott Benge signed the lease and picked up the keys for what would become Pacific Hermitage.

Since officially taking on the property, activities in Portland took off in two related directions. Of course, there was the preparation of the property. Even though the house was in reasonably good condition and well suited to the purpose, there were the usual minor details—scrubbing, painting, window-washing, and laying waste to the field of dandelions that surrounded the house, for example. Unusual to the occupancy of a house by ordinary folk, however, was the purchase and construction of a kuti, or monk’s hut. Even though the house has three bedrooms, Ajahn Sudanto wished to use one of them to serve as a library and office space. What’s more, Page 6 of 6

the ideal situation is where each monk has his own well-separated living quarters.

Of course Sanghata applied its typical thorough-ness and thoughtfulness to the purchase and construction of some cabins, while keeping three questions in mind. Does it meet legal requirements yet not need the otherwise necessary building permits? Will it be of good quality and well-enough insulated to keep maintenance and heating costs to a minimum? Will it be portable? The committee chose a company whose prefabricated units could be modified to allow for disassembly. After all, the Tunnel Road property is only temporary. An ongoing quest for a more suitable location continues.

Sanghata’s other avenue of activity concerned the process whereby the committee would officially and legally separate from Portland Friends of the Dhamma. It is now incorporated in its own right in Oregon as the Sanghata Foundation.

Not only did Sanghata separate from Friends of the Dhamma through its incorporation, it is also making an appropriate 180-degree turn in its role and relationship with Abhayagiri. What began as “our” project to bring monks to the region for “our” benefit has transitioned into a gift decisively given to the monastic Sangha for the benefit of the monks of Abhayagiri and the purpose of dedicated practice. It’s a gift to be let go of, just as any other gift is let go of.

However, Sanghata was not unprepared for this transition. Early in the process, Ajahn Amaro made it clear that, even though the Portland community would carry the load of responsibility of bringing a hermitage to the region, the day would come when the load of responsibility would need to shift to Abhayagiri. Sanghata’s role would then accordingly change, steadily but distinctly, from that of patron to that of steward.

Such stewardship of the Hermitage will involve many things. Among them are meal offerings and other acts of generosity and support, be they of time, materials, monetary contributions, or land. For more information about how you can help sustain and support Pacific Hermitage through your generosity, should that be something you wish to do, visit hermitage.abhayagiri.org.