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Using One’s Time

On the last day of the Vassa, Ajahn Viradhammo reflects on the goodness of the Tisarana community. As he will be away during the first part of the 2019 Winter Retreat, he also shares encouragement and suggestions on how they can best make use of their time during the retreat.

(Talk recorded at Tisarana on 24 October 2018. Duration 44:01)Read the rest

Bhikkhu Ordination of Amarasiri & Sirimedho – Part 3: Acceptance

On September 16, 2016 at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery, Venerable Amarasiri and Venerable Sirimedho took Bhikkhu Ordination (Upasampadā) under Luang Por Vīradhammo as Preceptor, and Ajahn Pavaro and Tan Khemako as Chanting Ācariyas.

This is part 3 of 3. Event recorded at Tisarana on 16 September 2018. Duration 31:32.

If you have trouble viewing the video, or for more information, please go to https://files.tisarana.ca/amarasiri_sirimedho_ordination/.… Read the rest

Be the Vase

Tea time at Tisarana finds Ajahn Viradhammo answering questions about dealing with contraction and sense restraint in the outside world after spending time living in the security of a monastic environment, on dealing with fear as an object by changing the attention at the sense doors, and on contemplating the Four Noble Truths as a way to transcend suffering.

(Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 15 August 2018. Duration 50:30)Read the rest

Kathina 2018 Location Reminder

This year’s Kathina ceremony will be starting at around 10AM this coming Sunday, October 28, 2018.

The event will not be held at the monastery. Instead, Tisarana’s Kathina will be held at the Stanleyville Hall across the street from the St. Bridget Church in Stanleyville. The address is 844 Stanley Rd, Stanleyville, ON K0G 1K0.


The doors will open at 9AM and the preliminary ceremonies will began at 10:30AM, followed by a meal offering and blessing. At 1PM, the Kathina offering ceremony will take place followed by a Dhamma reflection. Please come early if you have any food offerings.

For more information about this year’s Kathina, including its history, please see our previous news posting.… Read the rest

Bhikkhu Ordination of Amarasiri & Sirimedho – Part 2: Going Forth & Request

On September 16, 2016 at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery, Venerable Amarasiri and Venerable Sirimedho took Bhikkhu Ordination (Upasampadā) under Luang Por Vīradhammo as Preceptor, and Ajahn Pavaro and Tan Khemako as Chanting Ācariyas.

This is part 2 of 3. Event recorded at Tisarana on 16 September 2018. Duration 19:44.

If you have trouble viewing the video, or for more information, please go to https://files.tisarana.ca/amarasiri_sirimedho_ordination/.… Read the rest

A True Refuge

Awareness can be understood as an objective state of mind that simply knows things as they are. Ajahn Viradhammo stresses how to recognize, in our day to day life, that our experiences (of pleasure, pain, various moods) are constantly changing. But if we look deeper at the awareness behind it all, we can see that awareness is unchanging. It becomes a center grounding point, a true refuge.

(Talk recorded at Tisarana on 1 September 2018. Duration 28:43)Read the rest

Bhikkhu Ordination of Amarasiri & Sirimedho – Part 1: Introduction & Parittas

On September 16, 2016 at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery, Venerable Amarasiri and Venerable Sirimedho took Bhikkhu Ordination (Upasampadā) under Luang Por Vīradhammo as Preceptor, and Ajahn Pavaro and Tan Khemako as Chanting Ācariyas.

This is part 1 of 3. Event recorded at Tisarana on 16 September 2018. Duration 35:05.

If you have trouble viewing the video, or for more information, please go to https://files.tisarana.ca/amarasiri_sirimedho_ordination/.… Read the rest

All Salads Taste the Same

Ajahn Viradhammo answers questions from Tisarana’s resident community at tea time. He compares the need for jhana and the role of samma samadhi, the difference between ultimate reality and present moment awareness, how to train with distracting thoughts by using contact at the sense doors, and on how an attachment to things going well conditions the perception of things not going well.

(Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 2 August 2018. Duration 1:03:30)Read the rest

Kathina – Sunday, October 28, 2018

The Tisarana community will be celebrating this year’s Kathina ceremony on Sunday, October 28th starting at 10:30am. The event will be held at the Stanleyville Hall across the street from the St. Bridget Church in Stanleyville, which is only 5 minutes from Tisarana Monastery. The address is 844 Stanley Rd, Stanleyville, ON K0G 1K0. Everybody is welcome to participate in this auspicious occasion.

The Kathina ceremony is a 2,500-year-old tradition celebrated across Buddhist monasteries around the world. Following the end of three-months rains retreat period, the Buddha allowed for the lay community to make offerings of cloth and other requests to the Bhikkhu Sangha. The word “Kaṭhina” refers to the frame on which cloth is attached to while sewing robes. Cloth offered on Kathina will be used that day to produce a robe that will then be offered to one of the monks. The Kathina ceremony signifies and celebrates the deep relationships between the lay and monastic communities.

The doors will open at 9AM and the preliminary ceremonies will began at 10:30AM, followed by a meal offering and blessing. At 1PM, the Kathina offering ceremony will take place followed by a Dhamma reflection. This year’s Kathina offering is sponsored by a group of Ottawa Buddhist families and friends.… Read the rest

Awakening the Mind with Metta

Ajahn Viradhammo has tea with the community and reflects the true quality of Theravada Buddhism: “Reflective as opposed to an absolute teaching”. Furthermore, he goes on to give another perspective of Metta which can sometimes be wrongly described as “emotional”. He describes instead Metta as a factor for enlightenment, a “fundamental component of the awakened mind”. There is the Metta which we practice thinking of our families, our friends, our community and wishing them well, wishing them happiness. This is done from the perspective of “you and I”. However, here, Ajahn Viradhammo describes Metta as a universal acceptance of things as they are: “It all belongs”.

(Q&A recorded at Tisarana on 28 May 2018. Duration 1:07:08)Read the rest