News Updates, Page 11

Staffing the Winter Retreat 2019

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Tisarana Buddhist Monastery is looking for sincere, mature Dhamma practitioners to volunteer as staff for part or all of our upcoming Winter Retreat (Jan 01 – Mar 31).

The crew for the retreat usually consists of 5-6 people who run the critical functions of the monastery on a shared rotating basis of daily chores interspersed with regular time off. Crew members should expect to work between 2-4 hours daily, with occasional longer work days as circumstances require.

General tasks

Potential candidates should be willing and able to perform all duties of the retreat. These include –

• Cooking: being head cook
• Cooking: being assistant cook
• Domestic chores: Vacuuming, laundry, dish-washing, cleaning bathrooms, etc.
• Winter chores: Shoveling snow

Specialty roles

• Office: Responding to urgent messages, paperwork / bills
• Maintenance: Responding to plumbing, electrical, structural emergencies and routines. Operating the tractor with snowblower.

Responsibilities will also include attending all morning and evening pujas and upholding the Eight Precepts.

In return the Winter Retreat staffers will receive an opportunity to practise the Dhamma in a quiet, beautiful and inspiring monastic setting and gain the satisfaction and merit of providing support for monastics and fellow crew members undertaking this period of more intense practise.… Read the rest

Two weeks ago, the monks from Tisarana Buddhist Monastery have started alms rounds in the Barrhaven suburban neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario.

Alms Round 2018

6 photos

The above photos were from Sunday, August 12, 2018.

For over 2,600 years, Buddhist monastics have traditionally went on daily alms round (piṇḍapāta) to collect food. The Buddha established this practice to allow his monastic disciples to obtain their daily sustenance through the generosity of lay people. The tradition continues in many traditional Buddhist countries such as Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka. The forest masters of Thailand, include Ajahn Chah, made alms round a centerpiece of the daily monastic schedule.

Since the late ’70s, as monasteries in the Ajahn Chah tradition became established in the west. There was strong interest in keeping the alms round tradition alive. In many ways, maintaining this alms round tradition in new cultures has been successful. For example, the monks at the Pacific Hermitage, located in southern Washington, go on alms every day to the nearby town of White Salmon. The monks at Temple Forest Monastery, located in New Hampshire, go on alms round twice per week and the monks at Abhayagiri, located in northern California, go on alms round once per week.… Read the rest

On August 18, 2018, Steve Saslav, the former Ajahn Santacitto, passed away. The Tisarana community would like to extends its thoughts and good wishes to everybody that knew him, including his family, friends and fellow practitioners.

From Ajahn Amaro and the Amaravati Community:

On the morning of Saturday the 18th of August, 2018, Steve Saslav, the former Ajahn Santacitto, passed away peacefully in his home in Chichester. He was one of the very first Western monks to train with Ajahn Chah, having first taken robes in 1971. He was part of the founding monastic group of Amaravati in the ‘80s and was the very first Amaravati Librarian. The last years of his monastic life were spent as the abbot of Hartridge Buddhist Monastery, in Devon.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May of last year and dealt with its relentless progress with great patience and good-heartedness right until the very end, attending at least three retreats at Amaravati during these final months, including a 10-day one in June of this year.

– https://www.amaravati.org/funeral-at-amaravati-for-stephen-santacitto-saslav/… Read the rest

Tisarana Monastery is happy to announce that the purchasing of the new property at 548 Pike Lake Rt. 17A is complete. The agreement was finalized on June 15, 2018. As we shared last February, the bordering property includes 59 acres of forest similar to Tisarana and has a small stretch of access to Pike Lake.

The costs of the property were donated by disciples of Luang Por Ganhah of Wat Pah Subthawee Dhammaram in Thailand, as well as disciples of Ajahn Ñānadhammo of Wat Pah Rattanawan in Thailand. Several others also made generous donations to make this purchase possible. From the Saṅgha and the extended lay community at Tisarana, we offer our sincere gratitude for this maha-dāna.

The following photos were taken during a blessing ceremony with the Tisarana community in early July 2018, shortly following Luang Por Viradhammo’s return from his travels to the west coast.

Anumodana for all those who helped in this acquisition of this beautiful property.… Read the rest