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Abhayagiri celebrated its tenth anniversary this summer with a two-day extravaganza. Activities included tours, talks, photo displays, delicious meals, and the premier of the documentary film Fearless Mountain by Ukiah filmmakers Tony and Andrew Anthony. Guests arrived from near and far to join the festivities and to reminisce and tell stories from the monastery’s first ten years. Included here are a few photos, old and new, and reflections from three long-time monastery supporters.

I made my first trip from Portland, Oregon, to Abhayagiri Monastery in 1997, one year after they landed in Redwood Valley. The parking lot fit only a few cars and butted up against a small ranch-style house where most of the daily events took place. We noticed the converted double-car garage/shrine room just to our left. Rustic, dusty and small (if not downright cramped) were the abodes; kind, polite and humorous were the residents.
Nine years have passed since my first visit. When I arrived for the tenth anniversary with a few of my Portland friends, we parked in the huge “upper” parking lot and jaunted down the hill. Just beyond the bell tower are beautiful structures sprawling near the freshly painted ranch house that now serves as a large professional kitchen. The next morning we wandered the premises. Modern, spotless and expansive were the abodes; kind, polite and humorous were the residents. —Mary Sakula Reinard


So many hands and bodies and voices built this monastery. Sanghapala Foundation planted a seed and Abhayagiri is the fruition. In the months and years before it existed physically, it lived in our hearts. We dreamed a dream of a monastery in Northern California. It was like a ship far out at sea, whose details were fuzzy, whose shape shifted constantly in our minds—but not so much in our hearts. I don’t think I’ve ever lived my way into a dream before. It is breathtaking to have seen the process of creating this physical reality, which is so beautiful, so much better than my dream of it. —Susan Barber


You won’t find anything like Amaravati Page 2 of 2

in the States,” Ven. Attapemo told me shortly before I was leaving London to return to America for good in 1993. I didn’t believe him at the time, but after a couple of years living in Phoenix, Arizona, I came to understand all too well the truth of his words. I was soon overjoyed to learn that a sister monastery to Amaravati was going to be established in Northern California. One hot July day in 1996 my husband and I paid Abhayagiri a visit. I took to the place immediately. It was unpretentious, a little run down, and rather inaccessible. It would require the clear vision and dedication that had turned Amaravati into such a vibrant place of spiritual practice, and I knew that this would happen (perhaps even sooner than I could have imagined!). At that time, as far as I remember, there were only two monks in residence, planting the seeds of Dhamma in Northern California. Just look at how those seeds have sprouted! —Dee Cope