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CANCELLATION – LPV’s 75th birthday celebrations, May 15th 2022 at Civitan Hall.

We regret to announce that our May 15th public gathering to celebrate Visakha Puja and Luang Por Viradhammo’s 75th birthday has been CANCELLED.

Most of the residents at Tisarana have tested positive for Covid-19 and are self-isolating. Fortunately, the symptoms are generally proving to be quite mild. Nevertheless, we have decided it is prudent to cancel the gathering based on the several considerations:

Rising numbers in the GTA and Ottawa areas
Health and safety of all attendees
Risk of reinfection to residents.

We thank you for your patience and cooperation as we act in the best interests of our community and society.… Read the rest

Covid 19 protocols are back in effect.

Dear friends & supporters,

Unfortunately, some of our community members have tested +ve for Covid 19 this morning. The good news is that their symptoms are not too bad and as we’ve been told, this variant is more communicable than harmful.

In order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our residents as well as our larger community, we have cancelled all overnight guest visits until further notice. Day visitors are requested to remain outdoors as we would like to restrict entry into the house.

We’d gratefully receive dana at the table outside the front door as we used to in the past. At the moment, we have only one resident who can enter the kitchen, cook and handle food for the residents.

Once everyone tests -ve and the required amount of time has passed, we will reopen to overnight visitors and restart the New Guest Orientations. Please note that the Orientation Weekend scheduled for May 6th has now been cancelled.

As always, we thank you for your patience, understanding, support and friendship.… Read the rest

Luang Por Viradhammo’s 75th birthday celebrations

Dear friends & supporters of Tisarana,

You are cordially invited to join us as we celebrate Luang Por Viradhammo’s 75^th birthday on Sunday, May 15^th, 2022 at the Civitan Hall in Perth, ON, which serendipitously coincides with Visākha Pūjā.

This will be one of our larger gatherings after a long break due to Covid as we celebrate Luang Por Viradhammo’s 75^th birthday and as we honour his long-standing service as an Elder of the Ajahn Chah Sangha. This year’s Vassāvāsa (Rains Retreat) will mark the completion of his 49 years as a Bhikkhu and a full five decades in robes as he was a Sāmanera a year prior to his ordination.

We will be delighted if you could join us as we pay homage, conveying our love and respect for Luang Por Viradhammo’s decades of selflessness, Dhamma teaching and spiritual friendship.

While we hope that this celebration would be festive, the safety and health of all those gathered are of primary importance. The event will be held indoors with ample space for distancing. We request that participants keep their masks on for the duration of the event and while indoors. Free parking is also available on the premises.… Read the rest

OBS Zoom events April 22 & 23, 2021.

Hello, we’d like to pass along information from the OBS regarding their upcoming events. These have been posted in our teaching events calendar along with the zoom links. In case you’ve missed that, please see below.

The OBS has a large capacity for these two meetings, so please feel free to join in. All other details are available on their website.

Friday Evening Meeting with Ajahn Viradhammo
April 22, 7:30 – 9:30PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86534353039?pwd=Y3NaVUVFZmQ0ZE41UGhQN1I3NlVXdz09

Meeting ID: 865 3435 3039
Passcode: 851585
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/klAERrksD

Saturday Day of Mindfulness with Ajahn Viradhammo
April 23, 8:45 AM – 3:00 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85252958778?pwd=VFNzNmpQS2VWNHFEV2cxYUhXd1B4UT09

Meeting ID: 852 5295 8778
Passcode: 130711
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdivsxfzwr

… Read the rest

New Guest Orientation Weekends 2022

We are delighted to announce the resumption of our New Guest Orientation Weekends. This is a great opportunity to welcome new guests for an overnight visit and to experience life at Tisarana.

Please refer to dates on our calendar.

Please note that those registering are required to attend for the full duration – arriving on a Friday afternoon and departing on the following Monday morning. … Read the rest

2022 Winter Retreat

The Canada geese have now been back in our marsh for a couple of weeks. No matter the actual calendar date, this is the sign we await to mark the beginning of Spring and, with it, the nearing of the Winter retreat’s end. Today we had a pair of new visitors at mealtime, marking another change, another ‘year,’ when the Tisarana community shifts into its more active mode.

Before doing so, some reflections on the past three months. Along with our long-term Stewards (Niraso, Karano, Michelle), this year we had a harmonious group of full- or nearly full-time retreatants (Viboon, Teri, Tid James, Curtis) to assist in the normal kitchen and cleaning duties as well as the seasonal snow clearing. Anagarikas Aidan and Daniel also served in the kitchen as well as in their functions as monastics-in-training. Tan Amarasiri led regular chanting sessions and Dhamma instruction (in addition to various office and accounting duties). Ajahn Pavaro offered several diversionary slide shows of Asian sites and pilgrimages. In addition to leading the community in the three hour period of meditation observed for three weeks each month, Luang Por Viradhammo set daily tone with a reading from Ajahn Jayasaro’s inspiring biography of Luang Por Chah.… Read the rest

April is Old Friends month & New Guest Orientations to Resume in May 2022

With the arrival of Spring and loosening of Covid restrictions, we are delighted to welcome back our old friends and supporters for overnight visits. Supporters and friends of long-standing are invited to visit us by filling in a Guest Booking form. The Office will get back to you shortly.

With the mandates around Covid relaxing, the monastery will be able to resume our orientations for people seeking their first overnight visit. These typically take place on one weekend per month through to December.

If you wish to be a first-time overnight guest at Tisarana, more information is available in the “New Guest Orientation Training” section under Visiting/Guest Information. The first weekend Orientation for the year 2022 will be scheduled for May. Dates for this session will be posted around 25th of April 2022. We thank you for your patience and understanding. … Read the rest

End of Year Reflections (2021) by Ajahn Pavaro

Another round of seasons at Tisarana. The quiet, open space of the previous winter retreat is long past; subsequent seasons have been filled with regular pujas and Sangha gatherings, daily chores, needed kuti repairs, cabinetry, and numerous planning meetings for our prospective Dhamma Hall. Especially since mid-August (when a public ceremony marked the Hall’s formal site clearing) more folks have arrived for visits. It’s been a pleasure to see people’s full faces again and to share in their appreciation for rejoining the Tisarana Sangha, and one another, in person.

Now it’s December 25th. My day has begun by sitting with the community, as Luang Por Viradhammo leads a meditation session, and responds to questions over Zoom from students in distant Singapore. While listening to Luang Por, from time to time my awareness gathers elsewhere. The theme of my delinquent morning attention? Ingmar Bergman’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Watching the film in lay life for many years on Boxing Day has rendered it, seemingly indelibly, into the mood of the season for me. After all, this is a season redolent with perception and memory, even within our rich Buddhist environment. (As further demonstrations, a festive little tree stands near the food-offering area; today’s meal will include shortbread and fruit cake.)… Read the rest

Omicron variant – New protocols at Tisarana.

In response to Ontario Health guidelines and due to rising numbers of cases of the Omicron variant in the GTA, Ottawa and Kingston areas, we have decided not to accept any day visitors or overnight guests until further notice.

Please note that this will not affect those already booked to stay with us and neither will this impact the Winter Retreat crew.

For those with confirmed stays, we request that they email the office copies of -ve Covid Test results taken within 24 hrs of arrival as well as their Enhanced Vaccination Certificates.

All danas will be received at the table outside the front door or you may contact the kitchen steward to book and offer dana remotely. For the dana events currently scheduled, we are restricting 5 guests in the sala.

These protocols will remain in effect until January 4th, which is the beginning of our Winter Retreat. All going well, we will resume New Guest Orientations and regular day visits from April 2022.

As we try to keep our communities safe and follow Health Canada/Ontario Health guidelines, we thank you for your patience and understanding.… Read the rest

Timeless Knowing – An Online ‘BUDDHAMAS’ meditation retreat with Luang Por Viradhammo

All are invited to attend another online retreat offered by Luang Por Viradhammo this holiday season, organised by our Dhamma Friends in Asia.

Date: 24 – 26 Dec 2021
Register Now: https://tinyurl.com/LPV-Retreat-2021
Closing Date: 18 Dec (Sat), 6pm (Singapore GMT+8)

:: Retreat Handbook with Programme ::
Please visit BDF website https://www.buddhadhammafoundation.com/lpv-buddhamas-2021 for details.

:: Enquiries ::
For enquiries, please email us at ndr.activity@gmail.com

This online retreat is jointly organised by BuddhaDhamma Foundation and NDR – Nibbana Dhamma Rakkha 护法苑