On April 14, 15 and 16, Abhayagiri will be having ceremonies to consecrate the Buddha image in our new meditation hall, and everyone is welcome to come and join in with us. Although it is not the grand opening which we will have when the building and grounds are completely finished (hopefully within a year), this building has been a construction site for a very long time, and we feel that it would…
Temporary Occupancy for Reception Hall; Phase 4 to Begin We are happy to announce that on Tuesday, March 14th, we called for an inspection of the Reception Hall building. The county inspector passed the building and gave us a temporary occupancy permit. This permit allows us to start using the building immediately. There are still a few days worth of cabinetry, tiling, and carpentry work, as well…
The annual winter retreat begins on January 2, 2017 and lasts for three months, ending on April 1st. During this time, the resident community takes time to engage in more formal meditation practice following a changing schedule of group or individual practice. During these three months there will be no overnight guests accepted. (For overnight visits after the retreat please contact the monastery…
During our winter retreat we have been doing daily readings. This year we have been focusing on teachings from Ajahn Chah. Recently Ajahn Karunadhammo was reading from Everything Arises, Everything Falls Away: Teachings on Impermanence and the End of Suffering by Ajahn Chah. During part of the reading, it reminded us of a few videos we made during a trip to Yosemite National Park. So, here is a vi…
UPDATE We received word that Luang Por Pasanno’s talk on Christmas eve had audio problems. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. However, there will be talks by other Ajahns to be broadcasted everyday up until New Years on the Wat Nong Pah Pong Youtube channel. This also includes a scheduled talk by Abhayagiri’s Ajahn Ñāniko to be given sometime on New Years eve. https://www.you…
On Sunday, December 11, 2016, Abhayagiri will be hosting the last Upasika Day of 2016. All are welcome. The event will be live streamed and you can also participate online by going to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onlshJhImrM. The live stream is scheduled to begin at 1 pm. The theme for the day will be Devotion and Ritual: The Art of Being Human. Ajahn Jotipalo and senior Abhayagiri monastics ha…
On November 7, 2016, in the presence of the Abhayagiri community and Ajahn Tiradhammo, who was visiting the monastery at that time, three ordinations took place at Abhayagiri. The former Ven. Kyung Bon went forth as Sāmaṇera Sampanno, taking robes as a novice with Luang Por Pasanno as his preceptor. Going forth as a sāmaṇera is training for taking upasaṃpadā, full ordination as a bhikkhu. Also on…
On Sunday, October 23, over 400 people attended Abhayagiri’s annual Kaṭhina celebration–the largest gathering ever. The Kaṭhina offering was held in the soon-to-be-completed new Dhamma Hall. Abbots from the other North American monasteries in our tradition attended including Ajahn Vīradhammo from Tisarana Monastery, Ajahn Sona from Birken Monastery, Ajahn Jayanto from Temple Forest Monastery and A…
Each year since the time of the Buddha, at the end of the three-month Rains Retreat, the lay community around every Buddhist monastery has gathered to celebrate the completion of the retreat and to offer to the monastic community gifts of cloth and supplies that will be useful for the coming year. The cloth is then cut, sewn and dyed by the monks to make a robe on that day to offer to one of the S…
On September 14, 2016, the resident Abhayagiri Community, guests, and neighbors joined together to move the 3,000 pound sandstone Buddha image into the new Reception Hall. Click here to view a video of this inspiring joint effort. We’ve also posted a photo gallery of the event. Update October 3, 2016 During the recent construction of the Dhamma Hall, a photographer named Bob Dass stopped by take s…
