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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

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

… Read the rest

Important information for Canadian donations, Financial Year 2021

Dear donors, supporters & friends,

As the calendar year comes to a close, it’s time for us to close our books of accounts and start the process of issuing tax receipts for Canadian donors.

If you are a resident of Canada or if you file taxes in Canada, you are eligible to receive a tax deductible receipt from Tisarana for any donations (cash or in-kind) you may have made in the Financial Year 2021.

Please note that we have received many donations (physically at the monastery and online) which have insufficient donor details. If you have made a donation to Tisarana and feel that you have not communicated your contact details, please email us your official name and full postal address (complete with postal code) to taxreceipts.tisarana@gmail.com. We will then issue tax receipts early next year to that same email address.

Additionally, please note that any online domestic donations received after 5 PM on 31st Dec 2021 will be accounted for in our 2022 books. This means that for any donations received by us via Wire Transfer, PayPal or Interac eTransfer after 5 PM on 31st Dec, 2021, those donors can expect to receive tax receipts in early 2023.

We are extremely grateful for your continued generosity, warmth and support.… Read the rest

In My Teacher’s Footsteps

The podcast, Where Are You Going, has a new audio Buddhist pilgrimage book which you can listen to in weekly instalments. Over this winter Nick Scott will be reading In My Teacher’s Footsteps, the account of how Ajahn Amaro, he and four others followed Luang Poh Sumedho to Mount Kailash in Tibet.

You can start listening here: https://whereareyougoing.podbean.com/

No pilgrimage is harder or more ancient than the journey up and over the Himalayan defile to circle Mount Kailash in Tibet. Ajahn Sumedho wanted to do it as a young American in 1950’s California, but only got the opportunity when he was a famous Buddhist monk, aged 60. Nick Scott trained him in European mountains and here recounts his teacher’s attempts, the dire results, and Nick’s own subsequent pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain, with Ajahn Amaro, which nearly killed him. This is a book about adversity, how to face it and what can be gained. But it’s more than that. It’s about the whole journey: life and how to use it, and its difficulties, to find freedom from suffering.… Read the rest

2021 Kathina Announcement

This year’s monastic Rains Retreat, marking another ‘year in the robes’ for Bhikkhus at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery, will end on October 21st. Traditionally, what follows is a month-long period during which a ‘Kathina cloth’ may be offered by lay supporters. This has long been a beloved event in Buddhist cultures, one arranged in advance by the donors. On the day it is offered, some of this cloth is dyed and sewn by the resident Sangha, and presented to one of the monks before the following dawn.

For many reasons – both ancient and altogether contemporary – Kathina is a truly auspicious day of the annual monastic calendar, and one in which gratitude and blessings abound.

This year’s Kathina is being offered by the Royal Thai Embassy, Ottawa, on October 31st.

Covid protocols currently in place for outdoor public gatherings are restricted to 25 people. Therefore our formal Kathina ceremony on the 31st  will be restricted to the Embassy staff and their families. 

However, in what remains of the Kathina month (until Nov 21, 2021), groups of 25 people or less are invited to join the Tisarana community for the meal and to make offerings if they wish. Those seeking to do so are requested to please email the Tisarana Office in advance, to ensure that groups don’t exceed the maximum number.… Read the rest

OBS Retreat 2021 | day 04 Session 01 | Luang Por Viradhammo

The session begins with a reflection on how to bring spirituality into the mundane. Luang Por reflects on Ajahn Chah’s teachings. Which somehow brought the spiritual into the mundane.
This is followed by a guided meditation.
For more teachings, please visit : https://tisarana.ca/teachings-audio/

… Read the rest

OBS Retreat 2021 | Day 03 Session 01 | Luang Por Viradhammo

The session begins with a reflection followed by a guided meditation. Luang Por reflects on Dukkha or suffering. He makes the distinction between the unavoidable Dukkha that comes from existing in a conditioned realm, and the dukkha that comes from mental proliferation. He references the 2nd noble truth, or to know Dukkha. The crux of the teaching is to go beyond Dukkha, to go beyond the conditioned. To the unconditioned or the end of Dukkha.

For more teachings, please visit : https://tisarana.ca/teachings-audio/

… Read the rest

Zoom Pa Bah Ceremony | Luang Por Viradhammo | 08 Oct 21

This session covers a zoom Pa-Bah ceremony, or the offering of cloth ceremony.
The session begins with the Pa Bah. This is followed by a Dharma talk, where Luang Por speaks of “Paths”. As we develop our practice we cultivate paths, through positive and negative outcomes, the path becomes refined through a process of discernment. One important factor on the path, is that of the spiritual friend. Or Kalyanamitta.
Luang Por references the Sigalovada Sutta (https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.31.0.nara.html).
as a guide to becoming and recognising the Spiritual friend (Kalayanmitta).

For more teachings, please visit : https://tisarana.ca/teachings-audio/

… Read the rest

OBS Retreat 2021 | Day 02 Session 04 | Luang Por Viradhammo

In this Dhamma talk, Luang Por speaks of Bhakti or devotion. Devotion as a practice that is about the opening of the heart. Practising Metta, as acceptance rather than as a “prayer”. Each may have its place. But in this instance, Metta as open acceptance of the pleasant and the unpleasant without resistance, or craving. Meditation practice that is centred around the heart.

For more teachings, please visit : https://tisarana.ca/teachings-audio/

… Read the rest