Abhayagiri Anniversary event, Jun. 4, 2016
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California and online
12 sessions, 46 excerpts, 1:51:53 total duration
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Many people gathered at Abhayagiri on June 4, 2016, to meet old friends, celebrate and share reflections. Some sessions are not currently included pending teacher consent.
External websiteSession 1: Opening Remarks by Ajahn Pasanno
Session 2: Agenda
Session 7: Reflections by Marc Lieberman
Session 8: Reflections by Susan Barber
Session 9: Reflections by Fred Kral
Session 10: Reflections by Noel Brewer
Session 11: Reflections by Peter Mayland
Session 12: Reflections by Mark Sponseller
Session 13: Reflections by Debbie Stamp
Session 14: Reflections by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo
Session 15: Reflections by Ajahn Amaro
Session 16: Closing Remarks by Ajahn Pasanno
1. [0:00] Quote: “This is what heat is like.” [Weather] [Abhayagiri]
2. [0:30] Story: Ajahn Pasanno attends Dharma Master Heng Lyu’s ordination. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ordination] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Weather]
3. [2:38] Background of the 20th Anniversary celebration. [Abhayagiri]
4. [10:23] Quote: “A monastery isn’t the buildings or the land, but it’s the people.” [Monasteries] [Community] // [Theravāda] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah]
5. [12:03] Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first impressions of Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Pong] // [Temporary ordination] [Ajahn Chah] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Lunar observance days]
6. [16:31] Recollections: Ajahn Pasanno’s motivations for moving to Abhayagiri; twenty years went by quick. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] // [Western Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Ajahn Amaro] [Community]
7. [19:25] Chanting: Explanation of paritta chanting. [Chanting] [Protective chants] // [Three Refuges] [Goodwill]
1. [0:00] Story: Abhayagiri’s neighbors and origins of the Abhayagiri property. [Abhayagiri] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Lodging] [Christianity]
2. [3:12] Ajahn Pasanno expresses gratitude to the Saṅghapāla board members. [Abhayagiri] [Saṅghapāla] [Gratitude]
3. [4:42] Reading: Reflections from Reverend Heng Sure. [Abhayagiri] // [Pacific Hermitage] [Communal harmony] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Almsround]
1. [1:15] Recollection: How I came to Buddhism and the beginnings of the Saṅghapāla Foundation. // [Taungpulu Sayadaw] [Temporary ordination] [Vinaya] [Jack Kornfield] [Joseph Goldstein] [Insight Meditation Society] [Ajahn Anando] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro]
1. [0:20] Story: Coming to Buddhism through the AIDS crisis. [Sickness] [Death] // [Gratitude] [Stephen Levine] [Spirit Rock] [Christianity]
2. [3:57] Story: Offering food to monks and board members; joining the Saṅghapāla Foundation. [Food] // [Ajahn Sumedho]
3. [6:45] Story: The first seven years of the Saṅghapāla Foundation. // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Meditation retreats] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Sundarā] [Community] [Christianity] [Gratitude]
1. [2:09] Story: Meeting Buddhism in Thailand and becoming a Saṅghapāla board member. [Culture/Thailand] // [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation retreats] [Dhammapala] [Ajahn Amaro]
2. [6:38] Story: Saṅghapāla Foundation and the beginnings of Abhayagiri Monastery. [Abhayagiri] // [Monastery organizational structure]
1. [0:40] Story: Meeting Buddhism in Thailand and San Francisco. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keuan]
Quote: “At that time, Saṅghapāla board members were selected among the three people who would regularly attend sittings, so if you attended more than two sittings, you were basically a board member.”
2. [4:05] Story: Accepting donations for the purchase of Abhayagiri’s land; resolving a conflict on the board. [Abhayagiri] [Generosity] [Conflict] // [Media] [Ajahn Amaro] [Vinaya]
Vinaya: Bhikkhu Adhikaraṇasamatha 7: Covering over as with grass; discussion in The Buddhist Monastic Code.
3. [6:39] Reflections on the growth of Abhayagiri. [Community] [Abhayagiri] [Gratitude] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
1. [1:09] Reflection: It takes a global village to create a monastery. [Saṅghapāla] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Generosity]
2. [2:09] Reflections on Buddhism and psychotherapy. [Western psychology] [Cessation of Suffering]
3. [3:07] Reflection: I am loved by many people at Abhayagiri. [Goodwill] [Spiritual friendship]
Sutta: SN 45.2: Half of the Holy Life.
4. [3:57] Reflection: “No BS that I can note.” [Truth] [Spiritual traditions]
Reference: The Four Noble Truths by Ajahn Sumedho.
5. [4:24] Story: The monastery comes to our doorstep.
1. [1:15] Story: The first anagārika ordained on Abhayagiri property returns. [Abhayagiri] [Postulants] // [Spirit Rock] [Ajahn Amaro] [Lodging] [Gratitude] [Meditation]
1. [0:59] Story: A life-changing Dhamma talk. [Hearing the true Dhamma] // [Amaravati] [Chithurst] [Generosity] [Gratitude]
2. [1:57] Story: Inviting monks to California to start a monastery. [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Generosity] [Saṅghapāla] // [Views] [Ajahn Amaro] [Faith]
3. [4:10] Story: Ajahn Sucitto’s explanation of saṅghakamma redefines the focus of Saṅghapāla Foundation. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Vinaya] [Saṅghapāla] // [Ajahn Amaro]
4. [5:27] Reflection: The best investment I ever made. [Commerce/economics] [Abhayagiri] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] // [Spirit Rock] [Saṅghapāla] [Ajahn Amaro] [Gratitude]
1. [0:00] Ajahn Pasanno introduces Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] // [Abhayagiri] [Ordination]
2. [1:31] Reflection: What we take with us. [Ageing] [Death] [Memory] // [Gratitude] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Abhayagiri] [Goodwill]
1. [1:57] Gratitude to Joseph Kappel. [Ajahn Amaro] [Joseph Kappel] [Gratitude] // [Wat Pah Nanachat]
2. [3:22] Reflection: The qualities of the heart are what really matters. [Skillful qualities] // [Memory] [Impermanence]
Quote: “This is a broken glass.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
3. [5:37] Story: Ajahn Amaro hears of Master Hsuan Hua through Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Amaro] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Chithurst] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]
Quote: “I always thought I would never meet anyone else like Luang Por Chah, but I just met another one.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Chah]
4. [6:50] Story: Ajahn Sumedho asks Ajahn Amaro to go to California. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Elders' Council] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Ordination] [Jack Kornfield]
5. [10:42] Recollection: The virtual monastery in San Francisco. [Saṅghapāla] // [Ajahn Amaro]
6. [11:45] Recollection: Ajahn Sumedho delays the opening of a San Francisco vihara in 1992. [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Ajahn Chah] [Disrobing]
7. [12:55] Story: Master Hua offers land to Ajahn Sumedho the day after the Elders’ Council approves a land search. [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Elders' Council] [Abhayagiri ] // [Saṅghapāla] [Gratitude] [Amaravati] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Viradhammo] [Sickness]
Quote: “It had been the dream of my life to bring the Northern and Southern Traditions together again, and I never thought I was going to be able to do it until I met Sumedho.” — Master Hsuan Hua. [Mahāyāna] [Theravāda] [Communal harmony]
8. [18:39] Testing times: Saṅghapāla Foundation scrambles to purchase the plot of land adjacent to Master Hsuan Hua’s gift. [Saṅghapāla] [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Faith]
9. [23:20] Story: Moving onto the Abhayagiri land. [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Amaro] [Saṅghapāla] [Gratitude]
10. [25:18] Reflection: Abhayagiri 20 years later. [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Amaravati]
11. [26:26] Recollection: Origins of the Abhayagiri co-abbotship. [Abbot] [Abhayagiri] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Three Conditions Monastery] [Jealousy] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Leadership]
Quote: “You can’t have two tigers living in the same cave.” — Ajahn Mahā Prasert. [Culture/Thailand]
12. [30:02] Recollection: The connection with Ajahn Mahā Prasert and Casa Serena. [Abhayagiri] // [Gratitude]
13. [33:03] Reflection: The world of things we leave behind, but the qualities of the heart are the abiding refuge. [Relinquishment] [Skillful qualities] // [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] [Faith] [Simplicity] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
1. [2:16] Chanting: The Sharing of Blessings (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 33). [Merit]
2. [4:56] Chanting: Closing Homage (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 16). [Three Refuges]