portland friends of the dhamma could use your help: a chance to make some merit and give to a worthy cause

Calling all kalayana-mittas! Portland Friends of the Dhamma (PFoD) is at a critical juncture in their 13-year history and needs all the support they can get.

For those who may be unfamiliar with PFoD, it's a nonprofit lay-group/Buddhist centre affiliated with Abhayagiri Monastery and the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah located in Portland, Oregon. They hosts a number of regular, weekly sitting and study groups, and act as a venue for visiting monastics to teach. PFoD was also instrumental in helping to establish the Pacific Hermitage. Since it's inception, PFoD has been a growing beacon of Dhamma in the Pacific Northwest, operating largely on a shoe-string budget.

Recently, however, PFoD had to move out of their long-time location because the building they've been renting space in for the last 8 years was sold. Currently, they're renting out space at the Dharma Rain Zen Center (DRZC). Unfortunately, this building is also being sold as the Zen Center is going to be moving into a newly constructed building at the beginning of 2014, and it seems there's already a prospective buyer (a neighbor) eager to swoop it up as we speak. The board of directors just wants it sold ASAP; but the abbot, Kyogen Carlson, would really like PFoD to purchase the property and keep it a dharma centre and is willing to fight to try and get the board to sell the property to the PFoD community. And PFoD does need a new (and more permanent) home. It seems like a match made in heaven. The only problem is, PFoD doesn't quite have the financial backing to attempt to make an offer or apply for mortgage at this point.

The PFoD community has been discussing the idea of purchasing the building for the last few weeks now, and with the news that another buyer is already in the running, they've decided that while it's a long shot, they shouldn't let this potential opportunity go by without at least making an attempt. As it stands, they have an extremely short window to raise enough monthly commitments (kind of like public radio's 'sustaining circle') and donations to go to the DRZC's board, make an offer, and try to make this beautiful space their new home.

To help them achieve this goal, they held a special daylong event today, attended by Ajahn Pasanno and the Pacific Hermitage monastics, to act as a kind of benefit and/or fundraiser to help solidify the level of financial support needed for PFoD events and to see if they can really make this seemingly perfect facility their new home. They've already got about 50% of what they estimate they'd need a month to make this work, as well as a few sizable contributions towards a down payment if they make it past the first hurdle, but they could use a lot more help. Obviously, this is mainly directed towards anyone in or near the Portland area who personally benefits (or could benefit) from having a space to practice in and a community to practice with; but I'm sure any support would be appreciated immensely.

If anyone reading this happens to feel inspired to donate anything they can, no matter how little, towards this cause, or would like more information about the specifics (e.g., finances, estimates, etc.), I urge you to contact PFoD ASAP.

upasika renewal trip

Our caravan to Abhayagiri for the Upasika Renewal Day left around 4:45am Friday morning, a motley crew from all over the Pacific Northwest gathered together for this special occasion. Irv, the driver of our car, for example, was from Pullman, Washington, and had driven to Portland the day before. We all met at the old Portland Friends of the Dhamma hall, organized our luggage and seating arrangements, and began the twelve hour journey to Abhayagiri before the sun started its own daily migration across the sky.

We made a brief stop near Eugene early on to grab some coffee, tea, and water at one the innumerable Starbucks that dot the universe, like some kind of ley line nexus points tying together all things, and then hurried towards the California border, eager to meet up with two monks on tudong in time to offer their daily meal, which has to be eaten before midday. Along the way, we passed the time by discussing everything from Dhamma to archaeology, anthropology, ecology, and the conditionality underlying geopolitics.

Close to 11:30am, we arrived at the Mystic Forest RV Park in Kalamth, California, just in time to offer the meal to the two tudong monks walking from Abhayagiri to the Pacific Hermitage in White Salmon, Washington, as well as the three that were driving down to Abhayagiri with us.

Afterwards, the group paid for their campsite for another night, Denise, the event organizer, arranged their meal the following day at the nearby Forest Cafe, and we all took a short hike to Hidden Beach to enjoy the beautiful landscape and fresh ocean air before saying goodbye to Ajahn Naniko and Tan Thitabho and continuing on to Abhayagiri. We arrived at Abhayagiri just as the sun was setting in Redwood Valley, paid our respects to Ajahn Pasanno, and settled in for the night.

Saturday began at 4am for Shad, one of the drivers, and I. We'd been offered a room at a guest house across from Abhayagiri that was about a ten minute drive up a rather rugged slope, and so wanted to make sure we weren't late for morning puja, which started at 5am. We chanted both the traditional Pali and the English translation, and then we meditated as the sun rose. Morning puja was followed by a short work period and a light breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, both of which were heavenly.

My heavenly bliss was soon interrupted by the main work period, however, and I was sent to rake one of the many winding paths that weave their way through forested property that makes up Abhayagiri, mindfully avoiding the copious amounts of poison oak that also help to make up the monastery grounds. The work wasn't unrewarding, though. Many of the paths offered their natural beauty and a sense of tranquility in return. We worked our way down towards the main house, making sure to finish in time to clean up before the start of the Upasika Day events.

By 10:30am, the meditation hall was filled with people, both lay and ordained. Upasika Day commenced with those of us taking the precepts with Ajahn Pasanno for the first coming up one by one with a traditional offering of candles, incense, and flowers, bowing three times, and requesting to take the three refuges and five precepts. Then we all took the refuges and precepts as a group, chanting in both the traditional Pali and the English translation that we undertake the training rules to refrain from taking the life of any living being, refrain from taking that which is not given, refraining from sexual misconduct, and refraining from indulging in drink and drugs that lead to carelessness.

Lunch followed. After the meal offering, Ajahn Pasanno and a number of his senior students spent the rest of the day explaining many of the monastic rules and ceremonies, not only to help educate the laity about monastic life in general, but also to help relate how some of these practices can be incorporated into our lay practice. Talking about the ins and outs of monastic life was inspiring; it filled some of us with a sense of longing. I couldn't help fantasizing about what it must be like in being robes and surrounded by such skilled and dedicated monastics. At 7:30pm, after the informal tea period, Ajahn Sudanto led the evening puja and gave a Dhamma talk on the importance of spiritual friendship (kalyana-mitta) as a source of support on the path.

Sunday was slightly different since it was Wan Phra or 'Monk Day,' which is kind of like the Thai Buddhist equivalent of a sabbath day. There was no morning puja, so we all met up just before breakfast around 6:30-7:00am. Many of the monks went on alms round in the traditional style, some being dropped off in town while others simply walked along Tomki Road, with people placing food offerings into their bowls, while the lay people did their best to help out around the monastery. Since everything seemed to be taken care of, and I was mostly just getting in everybody else's way, I decided to hike the two-and-a-half mile Cool Oaks trail that wraps around the monastery grounds, arriving back as the monks were returning from their alms round.

After the meal, the monks began to prepare for the ordination ceremony taking place at 4pm as the laity cleaned up from lunch, filling the remaining time however they felt the most appropriate. I spent most of it talking with Irv and Shad, checking out some of the books in the main house, and sitting in the meditation hall. Around 2:30pm, I started up the Cool Oaks trail, taking the long way around to the ordination platform. Others took the shorter route, or else caught a ride up the relatively steep mountainside.

Tan Sudhiro's ordination ceremony lasted about two hours, all throughout which Ajahn Pasanno explained what was happening in detail as he acted as preceptor. The ceremony seemed especially auspicious as it had a full quorum of ten monks — double the number of monks needed to perform it outside of the Ganges valley (ten vs. five), illustrating the growing strength of Buddhism in the West — was attended by three senior monks and seven novices from the City of 10,000 Buddhas, and was performed on Father's Day/the 18th Anniversary of Venerable Master Hua's Entering Nirvana. I was happy for Tan Sudhiro and jealous at the same time.

The night ended with a quick clean-up of the ordination area and an informal tea period. The Pacific Hermitage monks took this time to catch up with some of the monks from Abhayagiri, while the group from Portland and some of the other upasikas took the opportunity to spend time with Ajahn Pasanno in the meditation hall, talking and asking questions about the practice. At the end of the night, we paid respects to Ajahn Pasanno and took leave, which is traditionally done in the monastic community by ceremony of Asking for Forgiveness (although we did this informally).

Monday began much like Friday and Saturday, at 4:00am before the first rays of dawn. We all congregated at the main house, packed the cars, and commenced the long drive back to Portland just before 5am. Along the way, we stopped to eat at the Forest Cafe, and then took short a break at the half-mile Stout Memorial Grove trail in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park to stretch our legs, the trees as amazing and wonderful as the last three days. We arrived at the rendezvous point near Shad's just after 7:00pm, and said our final farewells as the group disbanded and we went our separate ways.