We have had the good fortune to host Ajahn Vajiro, a 40-vassa English monk and the abbot of Mosteiro Budista Sumedhārāma, Portugal, for a week’s stay here at Tisarana.
This Saturday, 06 April 2019, Ajahn Vajiro will be offering the Dhamma talk for our regular Saturday program. The program starts at 1:30Pm in the Tisarana Dhamma hall. All are welcome!
As Tisarana has grown and become more popular we have noticed an increase in sincere guests who never get to properly understand the monastery or how it works. We think this is because there’s so much going on during the “work year”, and we haven’t set ourselves up to properly orient guests who may have very little prior exposure to monastic traditions.
To address that issue we are implementing a new 3-day training program for new guests. We have cleverly named this the “New Guest Orientation Weekend“. Catchy, eh?
The schedule for these trainings can be seen on our Calendar. The first one is scheduled for next weekend, starting 05 April.
The program is meant to thoroughly orient new guests to every important aspect of Tisarana, our lineage from Ajahn Chah, key monastic regulations, the economic, social, and spiritual functions of the monastery, along with such practicalities such as how to bow properly, or where to sit in the Sala, or where are the good hiking trails. The program will be delivered by our own resident community, including our main steward, Niraso, along with the guest monk, the senior monks, and the junior monastics.… Read the rest
Ajahn Pavaro distinguishes identifying with an emotion versus being aware of it. He gives the contemplations of the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, the devas, contemplating virtuous qualities and acts of generosity as strategies to uplift the heart. (Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 27 October 2018. Duration 47:07)… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo speaks with guests on being aware of feeling with compassion and to be with things as they are & not to replace or analyze. He also speaks to the importance of renunciation to witness change and its peace vs. seeking something to satisfy desire. (Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 19 October 2018. Duration 1:29:35)… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo explores how practises such as metta bhavana and wise reflection can be used to create skillful pathways in a mind preoccupied with anger. In asking a question that doesn’t require an answer at just the right moment, he points a way to awakening the mind and being freed from preoccupation. (Talk recorded at the Tisarana on 9 September 2018. Duration 34:16)… Read the rest
Ajahn Pavaro has a tea time conversation with guests, and explains that if meditators lay down the conditions of dana (generosity), sila (moral precepts) and bhavana (mental cultivation), wisdom will arise. Meditators require different types of encouragement, which is not always based on meditation technique. (Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 1 August 2018. Duration 57:23)… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo shares that to “do” dying well we need to reflect on how we have lived our life. He speaks about keeping precepts as a way of giving fearlessness to others and preventing remorse. (Talk recorded in Ottawa on 13 July 2018. Duration 31:10)… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo, during Tisarana’s Kathina in 2018, reflects that the one thing we can count on in life is that: life will be disappointing. But even knowing that, when we don’t get what we want, we suffer. And when we get what we don’t want, we suffer. You can think about it, and feel resentful, and blame. That’s dukkha, that’s attachment. Or you can awaken and say: “Oh. This is a feeling of getting something that I don’t want.” And if you hold that feeling, if you hold that awareness, then that mood can’t dominate, can’t take control over your mind. (Talk recorded at the Stanleyville Hall on 28 October 2018. Duration 30:58)… Read the rest
Ajahn Pavaro speaks with guests at tea time on the triggers and process of becoming a monk. He also touches on the foundations of practice including kammatana and how spiritual qualities depend on and develop each other. (Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 27 August 2018. Duration 52:53)… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo answers questions from Tisarana’s resident community concerning rebirth in contrast with not being reborn, on the different settings available for Buddhist practice, and on how to use Right Understanding to find a balance between being too tense and too relaxed in meditation. (Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 12 September 2018. Duration 51:36)… Read the rest
