Three Jewels

On September 25, 2022 a lay teacher and dear friend of Abhayagiri, Cindy “Mettika” Hoffman passed away. Before the pandemic, the monks visited regularly to teach at Mettika’s Three Jewels Dhamma Hall in Fort Bragg. Mettika spent her final weeks at a care facility in the nearby town of Ukiah, which allowed the monastic community to visit her many times. Mettika’s life and her peacefulness during her final weeks were an inspiration to the Abhayagiri community. Mettika has left the Three Jewels property including its lovely Dhamma Hall to the Abhayagiri sangha allowing the possibility of a small branch monastery in Fort Bragg.

Now that the Abhayagiri monastics have inherited the property, Ajahn Kassapo, Ajahn Thitapañño and Upāsika Kevin are currently residing at Three Jewels and will be there at least through the vassa period of August, September and October.

Monday evening at the Three Jewels Dhamma Hall:
There is currently a Monday evening program every Monday. Ajahn Kassapo and Ajahn Thitapañño are usually both present for that. Visiting ajahns from Abhayagiri will be announced on this page and via the Three Jewels email list.

The schedule for Monday evenings is:

5:30pm - Tea time in the Dhamma Hall - An opportunity for informal conversation and questions and answers with monks and other practitioners

7pm - Thirty minutes of meditation, offering of Dhamma reflections and an opportunity for questions and comments

All are welcome to participate in the tea time and/or the evening program beginning at 7pm.

September 25 - Monday in Remembrance of Mettika
The program on September 25 will be in honor of Mettika as it coincides with the one year anniversary of her passing away. We are pleased to announce that monastics and laity from Abhayagiri will be joining Three Jewels for this special occasion. The visitors include Luang Por Pasanno, Abhayagiri’s Guiding Elder.

Update: The monks visiting from Abhayagiri will arrive in the afternoon on Monday in time for the tea time at 5:30pm. At least some of the visiting monks will be present for alms round and the meal at 11am on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

Evening Chanting and Meditation at 7pm
The standard daily schedule is to have evening chanting and silent meditation from 7pm to 8pm in the Three Jewels Dhamma Hall.

Meal
The meal is at 11am on Mon., Tues. Wed., Thurs., Sat. and Sunday. Please feel free to join us. If you would like to simply drop off an offering, it may be helpful to know that there is usually one person in the kitchen between 9:45am and 11am. If you are making an offering for the meal, it can be helpful if you call the day before and let us know, but you are also welcome to just turn up unannounced.

On Fridays, there is not a public meal offering at Three Jewels.

If you have any questions about Three Jewels including the meal please use the below Abhayagiri Contact page and clearly state in your message that you are asking about Three Jewels. Or you can call the Three Jewels phone at (707) 813-0842. The phone is usually on between 7am and 8:15am . You can also use this contact form to request to be added to the Three Jewels email list.

https://www.abhayagiri.org/contact/other

Alms round schedule
The usual schedule for alms round is:
Tues., Wed., Thurs. and Saturday - the central Fort Bragg area between 8:45am and 10:15am
Friday - one of the local areas such as Cleone, Mendocino or Westport
Sundays and Mondays - the neighborhood north of Pudding Creek between 8:30am and 9:30am
Note: This is the usual schedule for alms round but there will be variations. If you would like to make sure that you meet the monks on a particular morning, please call Three Jewels the day before or during the morning between 7am and 8:15am.

Sutta Discussion Group
Every Tuesday at 5:30pm there will be a sutta discussion group in the Three Jewels Dhamma Hall. The current sutta discussion book is Noble Truths, Noble Path by Bhikkhu Bodhi. The reading for each day will be posted here by Thursday night. All are welcome to join for any of the sutta discussions. The readings for the next discussions are: Sept. 26: Sutta 4 through Sutta 11 of Chapter 3. Oct. 3: Sutta 12 through the end of the chapter. Note: There is not a discussion group on Sept. 19.

Community Work Days
Sunday, September 17 is the next Community Work day. Anyone who would like to help out with outdoor or maintenance work at Three Jewels, please feel free to join us. It is suggested for volunteers to arrive in time for the Sunday meal offering at 11am and then help out after the meal for as long as one wishes, but volunteers can also arrive and depart at any time that is convenient. There is also an ongoing project to repaint various rooms inside Three Jewels. If you would like to help with this, please let us know.

Contact
You may contact Three Jewels at this phone number: (707) 813-0842. Or you may use this Abhayagiri contact form to contact Three Jewels if you clearly state that your message is for Three Jewels:
https://www.abhayagiri.org/contact/other

Directions to Three Jewels
Three Jewels is located at 31791 Johnson Lane, Fort Bragg, CA 95437. It is located on the north end of Fort Bragg. It lies east of Highway 1, which is named Main Street inside the town. The following directions assume that you are on Highway 1/Main Street.

Turn onto Pudding Creek Road, which is opposite a beach and trestle bridge on the ocean. You will be heading east (away from the ocean). Pudding Creek runs alongside the road on your right.
Proceed 1 mile, continuing past the stop sign at John Hyman Road.
Turn left (north) onto Petaluma Avenue. Take it easy! Though paved, tree roots have created unmarked speed bumps along this stretch. Be prepared to navigate them by changing lanes. Proceed about ¼ mile to the intersection with Johnson Lane.
Turn right (east) onto Johnson Lane. After a few hundred feet you will arrive at 31791 on the right (south) side marked with the Three Jewels sign.
Turn right into the driveway and park.

Walk down the path on the right (west) end of the building as you face it rather than through the gate. The entrance to the Meditation Hall is the righthand wing of the building, the end opposite from the garage.

Support
If you wish to support Three Jewels, there are a variety of ways to do so. These include volunteering to help maintain the property, helping with transportation or calling to see if there are any donations that would be useful. If you would like more information on supporting Three Jewels, please call the Three Jewels phone at (707) 813-0842 and leave a message if no one answers. The phone is usually on between 7am and 8:15am.

Three Jewels is part of Abhayagiri and is supported by Abhayagiri’s steward, the Sanghapala Foundation. This page provides information on ways to make a donation to the Sanghapala Foundation:
https://www.abhayagiri.org/support/donations