Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
Rugged Interdependencytics around, and enough stability in the community, to allow us to begin lookingfor land in California. On the morning of June the 1 st we got the call to let us knowabout the offer. It all fitted very well.On several occasions, Master Hua had made a point of stating that it had beenthe dream of his life “to bring the Northern and Southern traditions of Buddhismback together again.” His offering was one of openhearted ecumenical friendship,and it enabled the two communities to be physically close and to relate in an atmosphereof mutual respect and harmony.In choosing a name for the Monastery it seemed appropriate to reflect on thekindness of this offering and the spirit in which it was intended. It also seemedimportant to use a name in the Pāli language, to confirm the sense of allegianceto the Theravāda tradition. The name that was finally settled upon, “Abhayagiri,”means “Fearless Mountain.” The original Abhayagiri Monastery was in ancient SriLanka, at Anuradhapura. That Monastery was most notable for welcoming practitionersand teachers from many different Buddhist traditions. They lived thereamicably alongside one another, distinct in their particular practices but not separateas communities. During the 4 th Century CE Abhayagiri housed some 5,000monks, according to the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien, who visited there at that time.Now that it has been developed for a few years, Abhayagiri Monastery inCalifornia is a center of teaching and practice for people in monastic or lay life.Its heart is a community of monks (bhikkhus), novices (sāmaneras), and postulants(anagarikas) pursuing a life of meditative reflection. Frequently monastics fromother branches of this global community come and stay for periods of time. Thosewishing to join the Sangha initially make a commitment as an anagarika for oneyear, during which time they can train in the monastic life and consider a longercommitment. After another year as a sāmanera, those who decide to continue withthe training may be accepted into the Sangha of fully ordained monks. Shorter,temporary ordinations as an anagarika are also possible.The Sangha lives according to the Vinaya, a code of monastic discipline establishedby the Buddha. In accordance with this discipline, the monastics arealms-mendicants, living lives of celibacy and frugality. Above all, this training isa means of living reflectively and a guide to keeping one’s needs to a minimum: aset of robes, an alms bowl, one meal a day, medicine when ill, and a sheltered placefor meditation and rest.The Vinaya creates a firm bond between the Sangha and the general public. Onereason for this is that without the daily offering of alms food, and the long-termsupport of ordinary people, the Sangha cannot survive. Obviously, the necessarysupport will only be forthcoming if the Sangha provides an example that is worthyof support. This relationship creates a framework within which generosity, compassionand mutual encouragement can grow.Dependence upon others encourages monastics to live in faith and to be contentwith a humble standard of living. For those who support the Sangha, this opportunityto give provides occasions for generosity and a joyful and direct participationin the spiritual life. In return the Sangha offers people spiritual guidance by verbal
Rugged Interdependencyteachings and by its living presence. Many of these themes are explored in the talkRugged Interdependency, included in the latter part of this book.Although Abhayagiri Monastery is not a retreat or meditation center, peopleare welcome to visit, or to arrange a stay as a guest and to share the lifestyle of themonastic community for a time. The community’s meditation and work providesvisitors with living examples of the Buddhist path. Guests can stay up to a week –longer stays are possible with the agreement of the community. Such visits can givelay practitioners the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Buddhism andof themselves in an environment that encourages peaceful reflection.Abhayagiri Monastery was the first Monastery in the United States to be establishedby followers of Ajahn Chah. After the first six months Ajahn Pasanno camefrom Thailand and joined me to guide the Monastery as co-abbot. We had begun(on June the 1 st 1996) with myself, one other monk (Ajahn Visuddhi) and a one-dayoldanagarika (Tom DeMaria). Those earliest days were an understandable rushof new experiences – both good and bad, predictably – but all was held in a firmembrace of Dhamma practice.During the many years I had lived as a monk in England, I had heardAjahn Sumedho recount repeatedly the way in which he had worked with his mindwhen he had first arrived from Thailand, in 1977: “Every time that I thought, ‘Ihave to bring the Dhamma to the West,’ or ‘All these people are looking to me astheir teacher and I mustn’t let them down,’ or ‘It’s up to me to preserve the purebhikkhu life in the West and to make sure it never gets corrupted,’ then I wouldsuffer tremendously. Instantaneously! But if I just thought, ‘People have invited mehere to live and practice the Dhamma, moment by moment,’ then I would immediatelyfeel ease and joy – ‘How wonderful! That’s what I love to do and I can dothat anywhere.’ It was not a problem.”So I took my lead from that and determined to do the same: simply to practicethe Dhamma and if the Monastery and the Teaching flourished, so be it. And if itall collapsed and fizzled, so be it – the practice would be the same. Over the yearsthis advice has served very well.The three-month travelogue, entitled Golden Highways Revisited, comes froma period a couple of years after the foundation of the Monastery. It was at theend of the time when I accepted all the invitations from around the country thatcould practicably be squeezed into the calendar. As it happened, the travels ofthat spring and early summer encompassed virtually every group, center andMonastery that we had been connected with in the USA., as well as a side trip toan ordination in England, plus a visit to my alma mater there – thankfully the calendarhas never been quite so packed before or since. It also occurred just a fewweeks after Jack Kornfield had put forth the suggestion – to the teachers and Boardof IMS, friends and supporters of ours in Massachusetts and to the monastic communityat Abhayagiri – that a Monastery similar to Abhayagiri should be foundedat or close to IMS.One might well wonder why, with a schedule already so brim-full, one wouldhave wished to load it further with the burden of keeping a journal along the way.
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<strong>Rugged</strong> <strong>Interdependency</strong>teachings and by its living presence. Many of these themes are explored in the talk<strong>Rugged</strong> <strong>Interdependency</strong>, included in the latter part of this book.Although Abhayagiri <strong>Monastery</strong> is not a retreat or meditation center, peopleare welcome to visit, or to arrange a stay as a guest and to share the lifestyle of themonastic community for a time. The community’s meditation and work providesvisitors with living examples of the <strong>Buddhist</strong> path. Guests can stay up to a week –longer stays are possible with the agreement of the community. Such visits can givelay practitioners the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Buddhism andof themselves in an environment that encourages peaceful reflection.Abhayagiri <strong>Monastery</strong> was the first <strong>Monastery</strong> in the United States to be establishedby followers of Ajahn Chah. After the first six months Ajahn Pasanno camefrom Thailand and joined me to guide the <strong>Monastery</strong> as co-abbot. We had begun(on June the 1 st 1996) with myself, one other monk (Ajahn Visuddhi) and a one-dayoldanagarika (Tom DeMaria). Those earliest days were an understandable rushof new experiences – both good and bad, predictably – but all was held in a firmembrace of Dhamma practice.During the many years I had lived as a monk in England, I had heardAjahn Sumedho recount repeatedly the way in which he had worked with his mindwhen he had first arrived from Thailand, in 1977: “Every time that I thought, ‘Ihave to bring the Dhamma to the West,’ or ‘All these people are looking to me astheir teacher and I mustn’t let them down,’ or ‘It’s up to me to preserve the purebhikkhu life in the West and to make sure it never gets corrupted,’ then I wouldsuffer tremendously. Instantaneously! But if I just thought, ‘People have invited mehere to live and practice the Dhamma, moment by moment,’ then I would immediatelyfeel ease and joy – ‘How wonderful! That’s what I love to do and I can dothat anywhere.’ It was not a problem.”So I took my lead from that and determined to do the same: simply to practicethe Dhamma and if the <strong>Monastery</strong> and the Teaching flourished, so be it. And if itall collapsed and fizzled, so be it – the practice would be the same. Over the yearsthis advice has served very well.The three-month travelogue, entitled Golden Highways Revisited, comes froma period a couple of years after the foundation of the <strong>Monastery</strong>. It was at theend of the time when I accepted all the invitations from around the country thatcould practicably be squeezed into the calendar. As it happened, the travels ofthat spring and early summer encompassed virtually every group, center and<strong>Monastery</strong> that we had been connected with in the USA., as well as a side trip toan ordination in England, plus a visit to my alma mater there – thankfully the calendarhas never been quite so packed before or since. It also occurred just a fewweeks after Jack Kornfield had put forth the suggestion – to the teachers and Boardof IMS, friends and supporters of ours in Massachusetts and to the monastic communityat Abhayagiri – that a <strong>Monastery</strong> similar to Abhayagiri should be foundedat or close to IMS.One might well wonder why, with a schedule already so brim-full, one wouldhave wished to load it further with the burden of keeping a journal along the way.