JUNE 2006
Dear Friends,
We’re having a lovely spring here (in between rain showers) and enjoying working and sitting in the beautiful garden. We’ve had two open houses in the past month. The Abbey’s third annual Open House for Neighbors was a huge success! About 30 people came, which makes it the largest Open House for Neighbors so far. Many people from our Newport class came, as well as our neighbors down the road, and some new folks who heard about the Abbey and wanted to visit. One of our neighbors brought the newborn duckling that her friend found, who let us hold her and had a nice swim in our kitchen sink! Take a look at the pics from the visit of our friends from the Tibetan Nuns Project too.
The weather was gorgeous for our Open House for the Buddhist Community, attended by a variety of people from as far away as Ellensberg. Tracy took newcomers on a tour of the Abbey, and I gave a talk about the meaning of Dharma practice and how that relates to external objects such as statues and paintings that we find in the meditation hall.
Jan and I have done a couple of prison visits recently. One was to Monroe WA where I taught for nearly three hours to about 35 inmates, the second was to Airway Heights WA where we participated in the 12th annual Buddha Fest of the Gateless Sangha, which is one of the oldest prison Buddhist groups in the country. The Q&A and discussion times in both places were moving as we heard from people who are sincerely applying the Dharma in their lives to deal with sometimes very difficult situations. Inmates are always grateful when volunteers come and from our side, we learn a lot and appreciate meeting them.
A few days later Panchen Otrul Rinpoche and Ven. Margery arrived for a week’s stay. Rinpoche taught the “Extraordinary Aspiration of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra” aka the “King of Prayers,” which we frequently recite at the Abbey. We had a full house of guests for the teachingsabout 25 people. Everyone was very good-natured, but it brought home that we need more buildings to accommodate more guests. Rinpoche also consecrated our statues of the 16 arhats. We spent all day filling them and other statues with mantra rolls, blessed substances, incense, etc. in a peaceful meditative atmosphere. Each arhat has his own “personality” so-to-speak: some are peaceful, others fierce, illustrating that while enlightened beings all have the same realizations, their way of being in the world is different. We read the story of each arhat (many of whom were from Sravasti in ancient India) and bowed to them.
Rinpoche commented how much we had accomplished since his previous visit nearly two years ago. He spoke about the importance of having a monastic community in the West and offered his full support in helping us. After we finished chanting at the end of lunch on the last day of Rinpoche’s visit (when they were supposedly “in a hurry” to leave), Rinpoche went into meditation. We meditated together at the dining room table for a long timeso quiet and peacefuluntil Ven. Margery tapped Rinpoche on the knee reminding him that they had to leave.
Our first program for young adults, “Buddhist Practice and Community Living,” was wonderful. What a special group of young people attendedthey were very interested in the Dharma and sincere in their spiritual quest. They bonded together as a group in a remarkable way, being very open with each other and supporting each other in practice. They were also very diligent workers and had a lot of fun working in the garden, building shelves, baking banana bread, etc. Our friends Sisters Nancy and Leslie from the nearby Carmelite Hermitage stopped by for a visit during the young adult program and we had an interesting discussion about distraction in meditation and about expressing our spiritual intentions through physical movements such as bowing. Two New Zealand monastics from the Tibetan tradition and their friends also visited during this time and shared stories about their recent trip to Tibet.
The annual retreat at Cloud Mountain went well. I taught on “108 Verses on Compassion,” an inspiring text that praises Great Compassion. We got as far as verse 9 and will continue the teaching at the retreat next year, June 1-8, 2007. After attending the retreat, Ven. Lobsang Thubten from Eugene OR came to the Abbey and will be with us until early September at least. You’ll see some pics of him on the website before too long.
Jan went to the Boulder Creek Academy, a school for teens with special needs, to give two talks to their Survey of World Religions classes. Five students and two teachers then visited the Abbey later in the week, bringing plants with which they decorated the garden. Everyone had a fun-filled day learning about the Dharma and the Abbey and offering service.
Prostrations from Afar began on Vesak Day June 11 with 26 people participating. More have joined since then. People are becoming Dharma friends and supporting each other in the practice.
May the summer sun and your wisdom both shine in the world,
Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
Upcoming Events:
June 21 25: Annual Friends of Sravasti Abbey Volunteer and Board meeting at the Abbey
June 30: Ven. Chodron teaches in St. Louis MO (sponsored by the Missouri Zen Center)
July 3 - 5: Ven. Chodron teaches Jewel Heart in Cleveland (and does prison visits)
July 22 23: Family Weekend at the Abbey
Aug. 7 25: Exploring Monastic Life, at the Abbey
Sept. 1 4: Refuge Retreat at the Abbey
Sept. 9 10: Ven. Chodron teaches at Treasure Valley Dharma Friends in Boise
Sept. 17 25: Ven. Chodron teaches in Xalapa, Mexico
Dec. 13 March 15, 2007: Chenrezig retreat at the Abbey (note new dates)
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