One warm day in June nineteen years ago, Ajahn Amaro and Anagarika Tom (now Ajahn Karunadhammo) established Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, CA. Luang Por Pasanno arrived about six months later. The original infrastructure consisted of a small two bedroom house and a garage, which was converted to the current Dhamma hall. For several years now, it has been apparent that we have out…

Our annual winter retreat during the months of January, February, and March recently came to a close and the community is slowly re-entering the pace of our normal daily schedule and routine. The retreat was a very beneficial time for us: a chance to move into more stillness and time for reflection – deepening our contemplative practice. The theme for teachings this year was the first three establ…

Ruth Denison passed away at her center in Joshua Tree, California on February 26, 2015 (see previous article on our website for a report of Ajahn Pasanno’s visit there last autumn). Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karunadhammo are attending the memorial service for Ruth, which will be held on March 21st. This event will be live-streamed – information about Ruth, the memorial service, and how to view the e…

During the first week of September, Luang Por Pasanno and other members of the Abhayagiri community made a trip down to Southern California to visit Ruth Denison. Debbie Stamp, Amy Zhu, and Samanera Khantiko accompanied Luang Por Pasanno to Dhamma Dena in Joshua Tree, CA. (For more information about Ruth Denison and an upcoming documentary on her life and teachings, please visit www.dhammadena.com…

Beginning January 1st and continuing until March 31st, Abhayagiri will be in winter retreat. This annual time of quietude, gratefully supported by a team of lay supporters, gives Abhayagiri residents an opportunity to set aside work projects and concentrate on more formal aspects of meditation and the study of Dhamma. Short days, wet weather, and the silence of winter make this a natural time to b…

Various members of the extended Abhayagiri Community have come together to make the audio from the 2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat available online. The 29 talks given by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karunadhammo, Ajahn Ñaniko, and Debbie Stamp at the 2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat in Santa Rosa, California from November 21 to November 30 are available for online browsing (opens in new tab) and can…

The annual Forest Sangha Newsletter published by Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England is now available online. Three file sizes are available this year, to help those with slower internet connections: For a high resolution PDF (50 mb), please use this link: amaravati.org/pdf/FSN_94_highres.pdf A medium resolution PDF (14 mb) is available at this link: amaravati.org/pdf/FSN_94_mediumres.pdf A lo…

A new series of photos of the current status of the new reception hall have been posted. Check out the new photo gallery detailing how the foundation stands for Winter at: http://www.abhayagiri.org/gallery/6079091430836696833

During Ajahn Sumedho’s stay, Rik Center was at the monastery contemplating how to support the monastery with an anniversary birthday project. A number of friends of Abhayagiri who were “born on a four” (born in 1954, 1964, 1974, etc.) were interested to continue the success of the previous year’s project. Despite the enthusiasm of the “born on a four” crew, nobody knew what a suitable project woul…

Due to the change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time on November 2nd, the Abhayagiri mealtime will be 10:45 am from November 2nd onward.