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Covid 19 / Coronavirus Update

Functioning guidelines with regard to COVID 19 / Coronavirus

In keeping with Health Canada guidelines detailed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, we request our community to follow guidelines below until further notice. We will update you when conditions change, but until you hear from us, please note the following:

Events:

All pubilc events at Tisarana have been cancelled until further notice.

  • All pujas will be restricted to the resident community
  • Saturday afternoon public meditation sessions will not recommence until further notice
  • All New Guest Orientation events have been cancelled for the time being
  • The Sala is not open to non-residents for meditation or gatherings

Overnight guests:

Until further notice we will not be open for overnight guests. If you have made a booking to stay with us after April 1, 2020, we will email you a letter of cancellation.

The booking form will not be available online until Health Canada lifts restrictions on public gatherings.

Dana & Food:

The kitchen is a high-risk area for the spread of infection and disease. We request that

  • All groceries and food be dropped off at the designated drop-off table, just outside the front entrace.
  • The kitchen area will be restricted for the use of residents only
  • Once you have dropped off your dana, it will be offered to the sangha by the residents
  • The Anumodana will be chanted daily but given the size of our hall, proper social distancing can not be practiced.
… Read the rest

Update from Luang Por Viradhammo on his visit to Asia

Dear friends,

I’m back from Asia and thought I’d send you my New Year greetings and share news of the past few weeks before settling in to our winter retreat. With the beginning of a new year and a new decade, I wish you much peace, health and contentment for the times ahead. May silence, stillness and wisdom be our guides as we traverse the path of Dhamma to reach ultimate happiness and the unconditioned.

My entire visit was extremely fulfilling in many ways. Meeting Dhamma friends and mentors in Asia, travelling with friends from Canada and teaching retreats in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia were highly inspiring and uplifting. Observing the commitment, generosity and care of so many people was bearing witness to Dhamma manifesting in daily life. Friends in Asia have been so supportive of our Dhamma Hall project that their generosity has resulted in an advance to the start date. Stay tuned for an update on our website.

My first port of call was Tokyo in response to an invitation from a friend who worked at the Royal Thai Embassy there. Japanese woodworking is in a class of its own and in many ways, quite unparalleled. This old woodworker was in joinery heaven.… Read the rest

Venerable Ruciro

Ruciro Bhikkhu was born near London, UK, in 1978. He started working as a Physiotherapist in a hospital in 2003, and this coincided with him beginning Buddhist meditation practice. In 2012, he ordained as an Anagarika at Amaravati Buddhist monastery in the UK, and ordained as a Bhikkhu in 2014, with Ajahn Amaro as preceptor. He was very inspired by Luang Por Viradhammo, who led a retreat at Amaravati, and therefore starting from November 2019 plans to live at Tisarana monastery for at least one year.… Read the rest

Anagarika Gabriel

Gabriel (formerly William) was born in Québec city and grew up in the suburbs around Montreal. After having finished high school, his spiritual search took him to the roads and forests of Canada. On that journey someone gave him a pamphlet describing the Goenka retreat. He went and ended up spending almost a year there. There, he read about the Buddha’s life and heard of Tisarana which inspired him to go forth and live a life of simplicity and renunciation. He took the Anagarika precepts on May 18 2019.… Read the rest

Samanera Vipassi

Samanera Vipassi (formerly William Merring) was born in Hastings, Michigan, in 1999. In his mid-teens, he became interested in spirituality and meditation, which eventually led him to Buddhist teachings. An important part of Williams journey was traveling to Hamilton, ON, to go through a meditation course under the guidance of the venerable Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu. As he learned more about Buddhism and practiced meditation, the more interested he became in the monastic life, which he felt was his path in life. After a few visits to Tisarana and serving the winter retreat, William requested for training and joined the community as an Anagarika on May 14th, 2018. He received Samanera precepts on July 20th, 2019.
… Read the rest

Venerable Sirimedho

Sirimedho Bhikkhu (formerly Peter Pauls) was born in Ontario to a Mennonite family and raised in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. After returning to Ontario, his spiritual search took him on a pilgrimage to India and a couple of long retreats at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS). This culminated in a strong desire to ordain. Unfortunately, during this time he became ill with chronic Lyme disease. After many years, during which he visited Tisarana regularly, he recovered well enough to pursue ordination. He took on Anigarika precepts at Tisarana on January 5th 2017, ordained as a Samanera (novice) on December 15, 2017 in Chennai, India and was accepted in to the Bhikkhu Sangha on September 16, 2018  with Luang Por Viradhammo as Preceptor.… Read the rest

Venerable Amarasiri

Amarasiri Bhikkhu (formerly Siddarth Deepak) was born and raised in Chennai, India. His education and career led him to live in many parts of the world. Venerable Amarasiri moved to Toronto in 2009 and attended a Vipassana retreat in the Goenka Tradition where he was inspired by the teachings and practice of Theravada Buddhism. On his very first visit to Tisarana, his interaction with Ajahn Viradhammo impacted Ven. Amarasiri to commit to Theravadin Monastic life. He subsequently took Anagarika precepts on the 29th of November 2016, Samanera Precepts on 20th September 2017 and was accepted into the Bhikkhu Sangha on September 16, 2018, with Luang Por Viradhammo as Preceptor.… Read the rest

Venerable Khemako

Venerable Khemako was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1959 into a large Catholic family and received his education from priests and nuns at the local Church-run schools. His long-standing interest in the core questions of philosophy and religion led him to begin lay Buddhist practice in 1997.  Eventually he abandoned a career in Silicon Valley and found his way into the order of monks, ordaining as a Bhikkhu on June 2, 2012 with Ajahn Pasanno as preceptor, at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California. In June of 2014 Ven. Khemako moved to Tisarana.… Read the rest

Ajahn Vīradhammo: Abbot of Tisarana

Ajahn (formerly Vitauts Akers), was born in Germany, 1947, to Latvian refugee parents. They moved to Toronto when he was four years old. Around 1969, while living in India, he encountered Buddhism, meeting the late Sāmanera Bodhesako, who introduced him to the teachings of the Buddha. He eventually travelled to Thailand to become a novice at Wat Mahathat in 1973 and took bhikkhu ordination the following year at Wat Pah Pong with Ajahn Chah. He was one of the first residents at Wat Pah Nanachat, the international monastery in north-east Thailand. Having spent four years in Thailand, he went back to Canada to visit his family in 1977. Instead of returning to Thailand, he was asked by Ajahn Chah to join Ajahn Sumedho at the Hampstead Vihāra in London. Later, he was involved in the establishment of both the Chithurst and Harnham monasteries in the UK. In 1985, invited by the Wellington Theravāda Buddhist Association, he moved to New Zealand, accompanied by Venerable Thanavaro, where he lived for 10 years, setting up Bodhinyānārāma monastery. In 1995 he came to the UK to assist Ajahn Sumedho at Amarāvati and stayed for four years before returning to New Zealand, where he lived until 2002.… Read the rest