NY RetreatWe had 27 retreatants in residence with several people coming for the day. We had more than double that number on new year’s eve, meditating until midnight with a few simple rituals to farewell the old and welcome the new. The theme of ‘The End of the World’ was well explored; as a teaching, in discussion, in ritual and, most importantly, in practice. Lots of happy campers 🙂 We are reviewing retreats for 2018 and considering alternative formats. More details to come.
The 1st of the MonthThis Saturday, 3rd Feb., Meditation Workshop, 1-5pm.
Monday, 5th Feb., City Meditation, Quaker House, Moncrieff St., 6-7.30pm
Stupa UpdateOur assorted goodies from Sri Lanka arrived in Wellington on the 17th Jan. We are still processing customs and the like but with luck they will be here in a few days. The current plan is to use an agricultural machine to lift and deliver the stones up to the stupa. Until we have a delivery date it is difficult to set a date for the installation ceremony. Tentatively it will be Sunday the 25th of February; we will also celebrate Magha Puja on this day. More details later.
Also the reclining buddha rupa in Thailand is all but finished view photos and most likely we will ship this before the terracotta mural is complete. We have engaged an artist for the mural and work should start in June. Will this be in time to be installed in time for the dedication ceremony – Sunday, December 2nd 2018? We hope so.
Luang Por ViradhammoWe have dates for his visit and while it is a good way off you can keep this time frame in mind. He will be in NZ from Nov. 6th until Dec. 5th. Arriving in Auckland he will head this way on the 15th and return to Ak. on the 3rd. We will be inviting several senior monks for the stupa ceremony on the 2nd and hope to spend a day listening to dhamma, offering blessings and dedicating merits for the welfare of all beings.
Sangha MovesThis year looks like being a busy year for sangha. Our first cycle of resident hermits is 2/3 complete. Venerable Kusalacitto and Ajahn Dta have finished their respective self-retreats and Venerable Phasuko has started his. Ajahn Dta will be heading to Melbourne for a visit. There will be monk exchanges of a month each between Dhammagiri, Brisbane, and Wat Buddha Dhamma, Sydney. Ajahn Cunda will be here for 6 weeks in April. Ajahn Apiwat should be here in ¿June? for a year which means we will be 5 monks for vassa. And Ajahn Viradhammo in November. One or two others on the ‘maybe’ list. With more monks we are evolving several plans for tudongs (walk-abouts). It is great to see the monastery developing a growing interest from bhikkhus.