Kathina Season Celebration:What a glorious day it was. We had a sangha of nine bhikkus representing seven nationalities and about 300 people, all to take part in the robe offering to celebrate the end of vassa. There were dhamma talks in Thai, Sinhalese and English and a variety of rituals and activities to include everyone. The event closed with blessings and a buddha for everyone. The weather was kind and everything went very smoothly. Thanks to you all. view photos
Roger:Some of you may know Roger ? from his frequent visits from his home at the bottom of Rakau Grove to the monastery. He recently passed away while on holiday in the Caribbean. He died peacefully in his sleep on a cruise ship near St Lucia Island on his way to travel up the Amazon. Roger did a lot of work in the library, on the various tracks around the monastery and regularly attended pujas and meditation sessions. His good humour, extensive knowledge and love of dhamma will be missed. The funeral will be on Monday the 26th at his son’s home. Contact the monastery if you wish to attend.
New Year Retreat:This will begin on Friday the 4th of January and finish on Sunday the 13th. Accommodation arrangements will be as for previous retreats – a bit limited with some sharing required. For those of you not able to take the time to stay at the monastery you can come and join in with any part of the schedule. Depending on bookings accommodation may be available for just a day or two but preference will be given to those who stay the full time. More details later.
Fire Extinguishers:Our annual fire check up shows that about twenty of our fire extinguishers are out of date and need replacing. Mostly they are 1kg dry powder. The fires of greed, hatred and delusion certainly need putting out. Hopefully our buildings don’t but it would be nice to be prepared if they do.