Aranya Bodhi Awakening Forest Hermitage

Inspired by the Theravada forest traditions, Aranya Bodhi Hermitage is a rustic, off-grid Buddhist women's monastic hermitage on 100+ acres of mountain forest and meadows on the Northern California Sonoma Coast. Aranya Bodhi is the monastic hermitage project of Dhammadharini support foundation, a religious non-profit organization in the State of California. Contact the hermitage at awakeningforest@gmail.com. Learn more at: dhammadharini.net > About > Aranya Bodhi.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

A Chance to Help

Dear Friends,

Having stayed with us for seven months, our lay steward Gwyn, who had been helping us with errands, recently departed. Due to the remote nature of Aranya Bodhi we are not visited daily and nuns rely on help for certain errands. There is an ongoing and regular opportunity for help to be offered regarding driving, and filling our propane and gasoline tanks. If you can help please contact awakening forest@gmail.com

Thank you,

Nibbida, Samaneri

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The Cost of Retreats

Dana: Supporting One Another in Mutual Trust and Generosity

The Awakening Forest Hermitage operates entirely on the ancient principle and practice of Dana.

Dana may be translated as the spiritual, religious or liberating practice of charity, generosity or giving. In Theravadan Buddhism Dana is amongst the three fundamental practices to be cultivated which are: Dana (giving), Sila (moral virtue) and Bhavana (meditation/mental cultivation). These practices form a solid and healthy basis for mental calm and tranquility together with deeper insight (vipassana) and meditative concentration or absorption known as samadhi and jhana.

Dana is also one of the paramis or paramitas, the transcendental perfections cultivated by the Buddha himself and all enlightening beings. As the mental quality of dana is one of unselfishness and release, as a practice it is directly counter to the spiritual poisons of greed, attachment, selfishness and clinging. Thus, the mental state involved in dana and the actions that arise from it are closely related to release, liberation and the freeing of the heart, Citta Vimutti.

In practical terms, dana is a grassroots method of simply and without much fuss allowing anyone and everyone to be able to contribute as much as they are able, whenever they are able to the teachers, counsellors and the maintence of places of spiritual teaching and practice. Thus providing that the priceless Dhamma be freely available to all at any time, irregardless of contemporary finanacial ability.

Rather than taking from one another, we live in mutual generosity, loving supportiveness and freedom.

Conference Statement from the Monastic Men and Women of Gethsemani III

We live in a time of environmental crisis and calamity, but also in a time when more and more people are coming together to respond to the suffering of the world. Our monastic interreligious dialogue has brought us to a new awareness of the social and spiritual relevance of ancient monastic traditions that have been sustained for millennia by Buddhist and Catholic communities.

Together we celebrate our common monastic values of reverence for the sacredness of all things, contemplation, humility, simplicity, compassion and generosity. These virtues contribute to a life of nonviolence, balance, and contentment with sufficiency.

We recognize greed and apathy as the poisons at the heart of ecological damage and unbridled materialism. Throughout the centuries, monastic life has inspired generous personal, social and spiritual effort for the good of others. We give and receive in the spirit of gratitude.

We acknowledge our complicity in damaging the environment and will make a sincere and sustained effort to reduce our negative impact on the planet. We are committed to take more mindful, universal responsibility for the way we use and manage the earth’s resources. We resolve to develop our hearts and minds in ways that will contribute to a sustainable and hopeful future for our planet. We renew our commitment to the sacredness of the earth, relating to it as a community, not a commodity.

May our love for all beings and this world sustain our efforts and may our earth be revitalized. This is our prayer and commitment.

a few words on the Thai Forest Tradition

exerpted from the biography of the Venerable Ajahn Tate Khantipalo by Thanissaro Bhikkhu:

Since the time of the Buddha, more than two thousand five hundred years ago, monks have retreated into the depths of the forests, mountains and caves, seeking physical isolation to aid them in the development of meditation and realization of Dhamma, the truth of the Buddha's Teaching. Whether in solitude or in small groups, such monks live a life of simplicity, austerity and determined effort and have included some of the greatest meditation masters since the Buddha himself. Far from cities and towns, willing to put up with the rigours and hardships of living in the wild for the opportunity to learn from nature, and uninterested in worldly fame or recognition, these forest monks often remain unknown, their life stories lost among the jungle thickets and mountain tops.

The revival of the forest tradition in Thailand during the last century was a grassroots movement to return to the lifestyle and training that was practiced in the time of the Buddha. Some monks abandoned the busy village and town monasteries for the peace and quiet of the forest. They followed the Vinaya Rule more strictly, emphasizing the importance of every detail. Such monks lived without money, living frugally on whatever was offered and patiently enduring when necessities were scarce. They integrated the extra austere practices (tudong) recommended by the Buddha into their lifestyle. For example, eating only one meal a day from their alms bowl, wearing robes made from discarded cloth, and living in the forest or in cemeteries — often using a krot (a 'tent-umbrella' with mosquito net) for shelter. These forest monks would often wander barefoot through the sparsely settled regions — Thailand's previously small population was scattered over quite a large country — seeking places conducive to meditation.

The very heart of the forest tradition is the development of meditation. By cultivating deep states of tranquillity and systematically investigating the body and mind, insight can arise into the true nature of existence. The forest masters were noted for their creativity in overcoming the problems, hindrances and defilements of the mind, and for their daring determination to realize Nibbana, enlightenment, the fulfillment of the spiritual path taught by the Buddha.

from the Verses of the first Buddhist Women & Men - aka the Psalms of the Sisters and the Brethren

"I used to worship fire,
the sun, the moon,
and the gods.
I bathed at fords,
took many vows,
shaved half my head,
slept on the ground,
and didn't eat after dark.

"Other times,
I loved makeup and jewelry,
baths and perfumes,
just serving my body
obsessed with sensuality.

"Then faith came.
I took up the homeless life.
Seeing the body as it really is,
desires have been rooted out.

"Coming to birth is ended
and my cravings as well.
Untied from all that binds
my heart is at peace."

(~Nanduttara Bhikkhuni, from the Therigatha)

"Coming out from my day's abiding
on Vulture Peak
I saw
on the bank of the river an elephant
emerging from its plunge.

"A man holding a hook, requested:
'give me your foot.'
The elephant extended its foot.
And the man got up on the elephant.

"Seeing what was untrained
now tamed,
brought under human control,
with that
I centered my mind ~
why i'd gone to the woods in the first place.

(~Dantika and the Elephant, from the Therigatha)

"Homage to you Buddha,
best of all creatures,
who set me and many others
free from pain.

"All pain is understood,
the cause, the craving is dried up,
the Noble Eightfold Way unfolds,
I have reached the state where everything stops.

"I have been
mother,
son,
father,
brother,
grandmother;
knowing nothing of the truth
i journyed on.

"But i have seen the Blessed One;
this is my last body;
and i will not go
from birth to birth again."

(~ Mahapajapati Gotami Theri, Founding Mother of the Bhikkhuni Sangha)

"When i lived in a house
I heard a monk's words
and saw in those words
Nirvana
the unchanging state.

"I am the one
who left son and daughter,
money and grain,
cut off my hair,
and set out into homelessness.

"Under training
on the straight way,
desire and hatred fell away,
along with the obsessions
of the mind
that combine with them.

"After my ordination,
i remembered
i had been born before.
The eye of heaven became clear.

"The elements of the body and mind
i saw as other,
born from a cause,
subject to decay.
I have given up obsessions
of the mind.
I am quenched and cool."

(~Sakula Theri, Foremost of the those bhikkhunis with the Divine Eye, Therigatha)

Where some are exhausted
climbing the mountain,
there the Awakened One's heir —
mindful, alert,
buoyed by his psychic power —
Kassapa climbs.

Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
having abandoned terror & fear.

Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
unbound
among those who burn.

Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
free of fermentation,
his duty done.

Spread with garlands of vines,
places delighting the mind,
resounding with elephants,
appealing:
those rocky crags refresh me.

The color of blue-dark clouds,
glistening,
cooled with the waters
of clear-flowing streams
covered with ladybugs:
those rocky crags refresh me.

Like the peaks of blue-dark clouds,
like excellent peaked-roof buildings,
resounding with tuskers,
appealing:
those rocky crags refresh me.

Their lovely surfaces wet with rain,
mountains frequented by seers
& echoing with peacocks:
those rocky crags refresh me.
This is enough for me —
desiring to do jhana,
resolute, mindful;
enough for me —
desiring the goal, resolute,
a monk;
enough for me —
desiring comfort, resolute,
in training;
enough for me —
desiring my duty, resolute,
Such.

Flax-flower blue, like the sky
covered over with clouds;
filled with flocks
of various birds:
those rocky crags refresh me.

Uncrowded
by householders,
frequented
by herds of deer
filled with flocks
of various birds:
those rocky crags refresh me.

With clear waters
& massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys & deer,
covered with moss & water weeds:
those rocky crags refresh me...

(~Maha Kassapa Thera, Theragatha 18 exerpt)

the Buddha's Teaching on Forest Dwelling and Wilderness Abodes

from the Anapanasati Sutta ~ the Teaching on Mindfulness of Breathing ~ Majjhima Nikaya, translated by Bhikkhu Nyanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi

"...And how, bhikkhus, is mindfulness of breathing developed and cultivated, so that it is of great fruit and great benefit?

"Here a bhikkhu, gone to the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, and established mindfulness in front of him, ever mindful he breathes in, ever mindful he breathes out..."

from the Dhammapada ~ Arahantavagga 98-99 ~ translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"In village or wilds,
valley, plateau:
that place is delightful
where arahants dwell.

"Delightful wilds
where the crowds don't delight,
those free from passion
delight,
for they're not searching
for sensual pleasures."

Arannika Sutta - the Wilderness Dweller - Anguttara Nikaya: 4.259, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu [edited]

"Endowed with four qualities, a monastic is fit to stay in isolated forest & wilderness dwellings. Which four? [He is endowed] with thoughts of renunciation, with thoughts of non-ill will, with thoughts of harmlessness, and he is a discerning person, not dull, not a driveller. Endowed with these four qualities, a monastic is fit to stay in isolated forest & wilderness dwellings."

The Jina Sutta - Old - Samyutta Nikaya 16.5, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"...Kassapa, what compelling reason do you see that you for a long time have lived in the wilderness and have extolled living in the wilderness... that you have kept your persistence aroused and have extolled having persistence aroused?"

"Lord, I see two compelling reasons that for a long time I have lived in the wilderness and have extolled living in the wilderness... that I have kept my persistence aroused and have extolled having persistence aroused: seeing a pleasant abiding for myself in the here & now, and feeling sympathy for later generations: 'Perhaps later generations will take it as an example: "It seems that the disciples of the Awakened One and those who awakened after him lived for a long time in the wilderness and extolled living in the wilderness; were almsgoers and extolled being almsgoers; wore cast off rags and extolled wearing cast off rags; wore only one set of the triple robe and extolled wearing only one set of the triple robe; were modest and extolled being modest; were content and extolled being content; were reclusive and extolled being reclusive; were unentangled and extolled being unentangled; kept their persistence aroused and extolled having persistence aroused."'"

"Good, Kassapa. Very good. It seems that you are one who practices for the happiness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the welfare, benefit, & happiness of beings human & divine. So continue wearing your robes of cast off hemp cloth, go for alms, and live in the wilderness."

Aranna Sutta ~ The Wilderness ~ Samyutta Nikaya 1.10, translated by John D Ireland

Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying near Savatthi, at the Jeta Grove in Anathapindika's monastery. Now when night was passing a certain devataa, lighting up the whole Jeta Grove with her surpassing beauty, approached the Lord. Having drawn near and prostrated herself she stood to one side.

Standing there the devataa said:

Those living in the forest,
Peaceful and calm, of pure life,
Eating but one meal a day:
How is it they appear so radiant?

The Lord replied:

They sorrow not for what is past,
They have no longing for the future,
The present is sufficient for them:
Hence it is they appear so radiant.

By having longing for the future,
By sorrowing over what is past,
By this fools are withered up
As a cut down tender reed.

Participating in the Awakening Forest Hermitage Project

Aranya Bodhi Awakening Forest Hermitage
is the monastic hermitage/retreat project of Dhammadharini, a religious non-profit organization with 501(c)3 Federal and State of California tax-exempt status .

All activities at Aranya Bodhi are supported entirely by the generosity of friends. There is never any charge for any of the teachings, programs, retreat time and space or any of the other activities there.

Theravadan Buddhist monastics who live by the traditional Vinaya as taught by the Buddha use and keep no money, do not engage in commercial transactions and do not own goods other than their four basic monastic requisites which include a set of robes, almsfood, lodging and medicine in times of sickness. All of their labors and activities are offered charitably and freely in their practice of generosity.

If you are interested in participating in or supporting the existence or development of the Awakening Forest Hermitage, please contact Ayya Sobhana at: awakeningforest@gmail.com or phone and leave a message at: (707) 583-9522, or Skype "Aranya_Bodhi".

Tax exempt donations for the Awakening Forest Hermitage may be made out to "Dhammadharini" and posted to:

Dhammadharini Support Foundation
6791 Sturtevant Drive
Penngrove CA 94951

Please make a note in the memo column of your check: "for Aranya Bodhi" or "for Awakening Forest Hermitage"

Secure, online donations can also be made for the hermitage project via DHAMMADHARINI SUPPORT FOUNDATION through Network for Good here:

https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=371518402

Aranya Bodhi Awakening Forest Hermitage

Sunday, December 04, 2011

A Chance to Help

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