Abhayagiri News

Abhayagiri Photo Album 2011

2011-12-05T17:28:19+00:00

This photo album contains the events and activities of the Abhayagiri community during 2011. All the descriptions and Dhamma quotes are in both English and Thai. The album describes the physical buildings and environment around Abhayagiri and the Pacific Hermitage, and shows the resident community practicing Dhamma in its various forms. The events include: Kathina, ordinations, visits from senior monks, alms round, Yosemite camping trip, Spirit Rock Family Retreat, Teen Weekend, Buddhist Bicycle Pilgrimage, working, attending puja, Upasika Days as well as other daily activities. We hope you enjoy this year in the life of Abhayagiri.

Abhayagiri originally created the photo album as a printed book through Blurb.com. If you would like to order a printed copy of the book from Blurb, visit the link below for more information.
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2703878
(Abhayagiri does not receive any money from a purchase through blurb.com)

December Work Day Cancellation

2011-11-18T17:01:07+00:00

There will be no community work day in December, as the community prepares to enter its winter retreat from January through the end of the March. For announcements about future work days, check the website after March.

Kathina Celebration at Abhayagiri

2011-10-01T04:33:29+00:00

On Sunday, October 16th, Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery will hold its Kathina Ceremony. Since the time of the Buddha, this annual ceremony has taken place during the month after the Vassa Retreat, which is the three-month rains retreat season (the monsoon season in Southeast Asia) for the monastic order. It is the time of the year when new robes and other requisites may be offered by the laity to the monks.

The day will commence with the meal offering promptly at 11:00 am. After the meal, the robe-offering ceremony will take place, commencing at 1:00 pm, followed by a Dhamma talk. Please feel free to join us for this special day. Please contact us if you wish to help with any of the practical aspects of the day, such as preparing the monastery for the event.

If you are interested in viewing a list of the material needs of the monastery, please see the Kathina Dana List or contact Iris Landsberg by email at Kathina2011@gmail.com or by phone at (707) 972-0760.

What Is the Kathina Ceremony?
And How Can You Get Involved?
by Jeannie Bendik

Since the earliest days of Buddhist monastic life a three-month Rains Retreat has been observed. During this time that begins with the full moon of July, the renunciants would commit to staying in one place to live and practice together. As the name suggests, the rainy season was a logical time to stop the wandering aspect of the homeless life since travel during this time was so difficult. When this practice period (also called the vassa or pansa) was over, the lay community supporting the monastery gathered to celebrate the completion of the retreat with a festival called the Kathina.

Though the monsoon season affects life less in modern times, the tradition of the Rains Retreat continues. And while summer and early autumn are the driest times in California’s Mediterranean climate, the Kathina celebration at Abhayagiri also marks the end of the Rains (or “no rains”!) Retreat. The Kathina day begins with a traditional meal offering and is followed by chanting and taking the precepts. A Dhamma talk is offered and the celebration includes gifts of supplies that are needed by the community for the coming year. A central gift is the offering of cloth for monastic robes. Traditionally the monastic robes were sewn together from bits of cloth collected from charnel grounds. At some point, a generous supporter decided to offer fresh, clean cloth for a robe, and that continues in the formal part of the Kathina ceremony. Even today, an individual (or sometimes a group) will ask to offer the Kathina cloth. Some years at Abhayagiri the cloth has been offered by the Ft. Bragg lay Sangha, in other years by long-distance supporters from Thailand, and once by the Sanghapala Board of Directors.

If you haven’t attended a Kathina celebration before, you’re in for a treat. I’ve come to think of it as the equivalent of all our lay holidays rolled into one. There is the abundance of Thanksgiving with gratitude for the completion of a long retreat and for having monastics in this country. The chance to gather together with gifts resembles the winter holidays of Hanukkah and Christmas, combined with a kind of birthday anniversary marking another year of monastic life. It’s a particularly joyous time to show appreciation for those who have gone forth into the homeless life and who provide support and inspiration to lay practitioners. It’s especially timely as fall and winter draw nearer, when visitors become less frequent and a full storeroom of supplies is so valuable.

If you are new to the Kathina celebration, you might be wondering how to join in. There are many ways to take part and greatly varying degrees of offering support. For those living near enough to attend in person, there are many tasks to be done ahead of time. The day before, you might find yourself making signs, helping put up awnings, arranging flowers or hanging prayer flags. On the day of the Kathina there are even more ways to pitch in, from directing cars for parking to receiving food, tidying bathrooms to the inevitable clean up. It’s a joy to work together with both lay and monastic community members.

If you can’t attend because of distance or calendar conflicts, you can still take part in the Kathina offering. If you enjoy shopping for a specific item that you know is needed, a Kathina “wish list” is available. Many small and medium-sized gifts can be sent by mail. You can notify a contact person when you’ve chosen what you’d like to give, and they will update the list accordingly, which helps eliminate duplication. Financial offerings are also gratefully received. Abhayagiri has many ongoing expenses. You can designate your gift for general operating costs such as medical insurance or utility bills or earmark your contribution for building projects or publications. Gifts of all sizes and kinds provide needed support and bring much happiness to both givers and recipients.

Whether you are able to come and enjoy the actual day of Kathina or can only participate “in spirit,” it is a rich experience to lend a hand, in whatever way, to the support of Abhayagiri. The monastic Sangha, as alms mendicants, exists completely through the generosity of lay supporters. In turn, the teachings offered by monastics (both by formal talks and by living example) are given freely. Their generous example helps our dana (generosity) flow out in response. It’s such a lovely circle of giving and receiving between the lay and monastic communities.

I recall a story of several medieval craftsmen working on an enormous church. When asked what each was doing, the first answered that he was building a wall in the nave. Another replied that he was carving a panel for a side door. The wisest worker responded, “I am building a cathedral.” No matter how we give or whether it’s in person or from a distance, we too are “building a monastery.” Please join us in whatever way you can as we celebrate the end of the Rains Retreat, this year on October 16, 2011.

Monastic Retreat 2011 (Registration Closed)

2011-08-23T17:14:46+00:00

The retreat is now full and registration is closed.

Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California and the Sanghapala Foundation invite you to join Ajahn Pasanno and the Abhayagiri Community for a 10-day retreat over the Thanksgiving holiday. We will create a monastery environment during our time together, and we offer you this opportunity to explore the Dhamma in a setting that differs somewhat from a typical meditation retreat. We will all live the monastery life, following the Eight Precepts, taking only what is offered, and attempting to reflect on our every activity as part of our practice. This will include noble silence, morning and evening chanting, sitting and walking meditation, a work period, and daily Dhamma talks and teachings.

The retreat will be held from Friday afternoon, November 18, through midday Sunday, November 27, 2011, in the Ursula Hall at the Angela Center in Santa Rosa, California. The closest airports are Santa Rosa, Oakland and San Francisco, with shuttles available to Santa Rosa. Because of the length of this retreat and the adherence to the Eight Precepts, you must previously have sat at least one five-day meditation retreat. Retreatants are requested to attend the entire retreat, from the opening taking of the Precepts on Friday evening to the closing ceremony on Sunday morning.

The facility is wheelchair accessible. We are unable to accommodate any special dietary or environmental needs. We will eat a light breakfast and, in keeping with this monastic tradition, the daily meal (vegetarian) is eaten before noon; there is no evening meal. Incense and candles are used at the morning and evening chanting periods.

August Community Work Day

2011-07-29T16:28:44+00:00

For this month of August the community work day is cancelled as it falls on the Uposatha day.

July Community Work Day

2011-06-16T16:28:30+00:00

The next community work day is Sunday, July 10 . Following the usual Community Work Day format, we will have two work periods, and you are very welcome to come and help out with either one or both of them. The first period is from 7:30 am to 11:00 am, then we break for the meal, and resume the activities from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Folks are then welcome to stay for our teatime if they wish.

Community work days are an opportunity to help us build and maintain the monastery, and are a much appreciated offering of service as well as an opportunity to spend more informal time with the monastic community.

June Community Work Day

2011-05-26T16:28:28+00:00

The next community work day is Sunday, June 12 . Following the usual Community Work Day format, we will have two work periods, and you are very welcome to come and help out with either one or both of them. The first period is from 7:30 am to 11:00 am, then we break for the meal, and resume the activities from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Folks are then welcome to stay for our teatime if they wish.

Community work days are an opportunity to help us build and maintain the monastery, and are a much appreciated offering of service as well as an opportunity to spend more informal time with the monastic community.

April 17 Upasika Day

2011-04-12T20:03:56+00:00

Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery will continue with the Upasika Days with a day of community, Dhamma study, and meditation. The Upasika Program exists to provide an opportunity for lay women and men (upasikas/upasakas) to deepen their practice and their relationship to the monastery.

The theme of the April 17, 2011 Upasika day is Devotion and Ritual: Elements of Puja. We will explore the meaning, value, objects and mechanics of the shrine room, making offerings and requests, and gestures of respect.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

10:30 am - Refuges and Precepts
11:00 am - Meal offering (bring a dish to share)
1:00 pm - Meditation, teachings & discussion
4:30 pm - Tea with monastics

More information about the upasika program. For directions to the monastery visit the Directions page within this website.

Winter Retreat 2011

2010-12-31T11:59:38+00:00

From January 2 to March 31, 2011, the residents of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery will be taking a period of silent 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. With short days, wetter weather, and the silence of winter, this is a natural time to be looking inward.

During these three months there will be no overnight guests accepted. (For overnight visits after the retreat please contact the monastery after April 1, 2011.) This, however, does not mean that the monastery is closed to day visitors. Day visits are still possible and the weekly Saturday night chanting, meditation, and Dhamma talk will take place as usual. The Lunar Observance night Dhamma talk and meditation vigils will also take place (see website calendar for lunar observance days). People wishing to visit the monastery to make meal offerings and bring offerings of requisites are also welcome.

For those people interested in listening to, or downloading Dhamma talks from the monastery website, we plan on posting new talks regularly throughout the retreat.

December 5 Upasika Day

2010-11-28T17:08:53+00:00

Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery will continue with the Upasika Days with a day of community, Dhamma study, and meditation. The Upasika Program exists to provide an opportunity for lay women and men (upasikas/upasakas) to deepen their practice and their relationship to the monastery.

The theme of the December 5, 2010 Upasika day is Practice in the Broader World: Forgiveness & Reconciliation. The reading, Reconciliation, Right & Wrong by Thanissaro Bhikkhu is available online at www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/reconciliation.html.

The schedule for Upasika days has changed as of June 6, with the refuges and precepts ceremony occurring before the meal:

10:30 am - Refuges and Precepts
11:00 am - Meal offering (bring a dish to share)
1:00 pm - Meditation, teachings & discussion
4:00 pm - Tea with the monastics

More information about the upasika program. If you have questions, please contact Mettika at . For directions to the monastery visit the Directions page within this website.