Quiet MonasteryAnd how things change. As of Monday venerable Kusalacitto will be the only, thus senior, monk at Bodhinyanarama. See details next item. The schedule will remain more or less unchanged. It is a blessing that we have as many monks as we do and that venerable is willing to take the lead. Just so you know in case you are thinking to bring dana to the monastery. We will be back to 4 monks on the 16th.
Off & AwayWe are generally thinking to have monks spending time in the different monasteries and Ajahn Dta left early this morning for Melbourne. A visit by Luang Por Liam to Bodhivana Monastery has been the main impetus. The plan has been in mind for quite a while but it was a very tight convergence of the necessary factors with his visa only being approved yesterday and the ticket arriving last night. Whew!
Bhikkhus Kusalo, Thanavaro and Phasuko will travel with Pat and Daniel to Karamea early Monday morning for 11 days of tudong. The word is Thai, from the Pali ‘dhutanga’ which refers to 13 renunciate practices some of which are taken up when living ‘in the wild.’ How wild? That is yet to be seen. There will be photos.
Stupa UpdateWe celebrated Magha Puja on Sunday and about 200 people joined us for that. About half left after the meal and the remainder gathered at the stupa to take part in the final placing of the moonstone. view photos The weather has been quite rough but we were blessed with just a wide enough window of sunshine to see the ceremony complete. This brings the stupa forecourt to completion. Work on the second phase of the stupa renovation, the west-side, will begin in a few weeks.
Stillness FlowingWe have received limited copies of the new English biography on the life and teachings of Luang Por Chah by Ajahn Jayasaro. This is a translation of the 1993 Thai biography of Luang Por Chah entitled Upalamani also by Ajahn Jayasaro. As well as the details of Luang Por’s life it includes anecdotes and reminiscences of many of his disciples. There is also a digital version available here
Bookkeeper/Accountant NeededWe have been gradually refining our financial systems over the last year or more. A large part of this has been as a result of moving our operations into the cloud. Lindsay is now our office manager and having him living here is a real bonus in terms of continuity. It would be very helpful if he had the support of an experienced finance person. Much work can be done remotely but some time at the monastery would be necessary.