APRIL 2005 UPDATE
Dear Friends,
Please join us in rejoicing at the completion of the Abbey's first three-month retreat. The seven
Fire Puja Altar
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Vajrasattva retreatants-Kathleen, Kevin, Nanc, Flora, Aida, Lupita, and Miles-plus Susan and Nerea who served the retreat, and I, who did private retreat in the cabin, concluded retreat with a fire puja on April 1 and Guru Puja on April 2. It was a time of joy for us, not only because we benefited so much on a personal level from doing retreat, but also because it marked a big step in fulfilling the spiritual goals of the Abbey.
For those of us who worked for months beforehand to finish the meditation hall, turn the workshop into a dorm, and remodel the downstairs, and for you, our kind donors due to whose generosity the Abbey has come into being, the retreat was the culmination of joyous effort, good wishes, and generosity. Through the ripple effect, the goodness created will spread through society and the world. Each winter there will be a three-month retreat at the abbey, so those of you who would like to participate in or serve a future retreat can begin to prepare now.
Even Achala and Manjushri, our two cats, were affected by the retreat. Some of you know Achala-the cat that doesn't like to sit in your lap and who bites or hisses if you try to pet him. Well, during the retreat he began to sit in our laps, let us pet him, and purred! If Vajrasattva can transform this cat, the rest of us aren't hopeless!
Each week during the retreat, we met together for Q&A and teachings, which have been posted on the web. The quality of the discussion and of people's insights was remarkable; retreat was a profound experience for everyone involved. Having time to reflect on the Buddha's teachings with the support of a loving group is a rare and precious experience. The group was harmonious, the retreatants being very caring of each other. Practicing in such a supportive community environment has been our dream for those coming to the Abbey.
Over fifty people (seventeen of them prisoners) participated in the retreat from afar by doing at least one session of Vajrasattva each day. We felt close to you and rejoiced in your practice. At the conclusion of the retreat, these people and the retreatants offered a beautiful painting of Vajrasattva to the Abbey, which now graces our meditation hall. The prisoners' letters to us during the retreat were extremely moving. Their self-honesty and their enthusiasm to practice in a noisy and difficult environment boosted the retreatants' motivation. Some excerpts from their letters will be put on the website.
During break times, the retreatants read, walked in the forest, did yoga and shiatsu, and transcribed the Q&A sessions. Once the weather became warmer, some of us begun to clear last year's dead plants from the garden. I really enjoying doing that-it's like a purification of sorts, throwing out all the dead debris and discovering underneath it the green buds and sprouts of new plants. The first flowers of the year-tiny, delicate snowbells-have bloomed. Lilac and purple crocuses have magically appeared from nowhere, and buds are on the lilac bushes and various trees.
One morning during breakfast, we looked out the window and in the upper meadow were four or five elk and in the lower meadow three or four deer. I later walked up to the upper meadow and a couple of elk were still there. They're enormous! They looked at me for some moments and then trotted into the forest. The next day we saw another elk silhouetted against the morning sky. He looked at us and then went back to munching the new grass. Nanc spotted a young male moose in the forest-the first moose we've seen on the land. And one morning, several turkeys were chasing each other just outside the kitchen window. It was mating season and a male turkey had his feathers fanned out (he thought he was a gorgeous peacock, but no such luck) and was chasing the other turkeys. We burst into laughter, because all of us felt that our minds were sometimes like the turkeys-making a lot of noise running here and there.
Near the end of the retreat we took a long walk in the forest as a group and went part way up Mt. Tara (our name for Mt. Pisgah, the mountain is behind the Abbey). On the night of the final full moon of the retreat, we walked to the upper meadow and gazed at the forests across the valley and at the full moon. The meadow was still and silent, so peaceful, like our minds after retreat.
We were delighted that Hwee Leng, one of the founders of Friends of Sravasti Abbey in Singapore
Hwee Leng
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visited the Abbey in early April. Now that the retreat has ended, we welcome visitors. Please contact
to plan your visit.
In April, I traveled to the East Coast to speak at a conference on Women Practicing Buddhism at Smith College, and to give talks at Harvard and Kurukulla Center. I also had a lovely visit with the nuns at Mount St. Mary's Trappistine Nunnery, who, much to my surprise, asked me to give a talk. What a joy it was to share thoughts on equanimity and compassion with sisters who practiced their own spiritual tradition deeply. At Harvard, there was the opportunity to discuss mind and brain with Dr. Dan Gilbert and to speak to a group of students who did prison work as well as give a talk to the Buddhist society.
In August, the Abbey will hold a program for those interested in monastic life. Those newly ordained, those aspiring to ordain, and those wanting to learn more about ordination are welcome. More information about this will be on the website shortly. (Meanwhile, check out our page on monastic life)
Through the positive potential created by those doing retreat, those serving it, and the benefactors, may all of us open our hearts in kindness and compassion to all beings.
Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
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