REMINDER: 4th of July Volunteers Weekend at Aranya Bodhi Hermitage
Dhammadharini
Thank you for this wonderful invitation, Ayya Sobhana. Offering service at the Hermitage is such a rich, joyous, and beneficial activity, and I always leave feeling like I am the one who really received the gift!I’d like to let the community know about the specific opportunity to join in our Sangha Service Weekend at the Hermitage, which will be July 3-5 this year. What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than in contemplating true freedom and liberation from suffering in the company of beloved community?We will be engaged in various maintenance, kitchen, construction, and other projects, with opportunities to offer service for people at every level of ability and expertise. There will be time for meditation and practice with the bhikkhunis, as well as connecting with sangha in the stunning outdoor beauty and fresh air. Most of us will camp out, although there may be limited availability for accommodations in one of the kutis. Kids are welcome as well.Please contact me with any questions or to confirm participation:Thank you, and be well.~ LuluFrom: Ayya Sobhana <bhikkhun...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Ayya Sobhana <bhikkhun...@gmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 10:20 PM
To: <dhamma...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [dhammadharini] Visiting Aranya Bodhi Hermitage in 2015Dear friends,
This summer is a good time to join the Aranya Bodhi Hermitage for a residential visit of a month or longer, including periods of service and times for personal practice.
Aranya Bodhi is a forest meditation hermitage located among the forest redwoods and high meadows of the California Sonoma Coast. It is offered for monastic women, monastic life aspirants, and allies of the re-born women’s monastic sangha ... who wish to experience the Theravada bhikkhuni form of practice in the forest tradition ... who have experienced the transformative power of Vipassana meditation ... and who love the forest and practicing in nature.
Visitors to Aranya Bodhi over the past year have noted the large and small improvements to our physical setting. Gone now are the old trailers that were so difficult to keep clean, dry and safe. They have been replaced by new buildings of standard construction, that have taken us safely through a rainy winter season. The challenge of mold, mildew, rain and rodents that marked our first few years are well resolved with these new and easy to maintain structures.
There is pure potable water on-tap, expanded solar electric capacity, and kitchen and shower facilities that look and feel like an ordinary home in town … except that one can step out the door and be in the deep silence of a magnificent forest.
All this progress with the physical set-up has allowed us to pause on construction projects, leaving our daily life more balanced and quiet. The time available for supported personal retreat is gradually increasing. Besides our daily formal practice, there are monthly new moon day-long retreats; alms round in Sebastopol twice a month. For fun and inspiration, a few of us are creating a Dhammapada study guide, translating analyzing and reflecting on one verse per day.
There is regular inter-visitation with the Dhammadharini Vihara in Santa Rosa, and many visitors find it fruitful to spend time in service, practice and training at both places.
For information about visiting Aranya Bodhi, please start here.
For information about stewardship opportunities at Dhammadharini Vihara in Santa Rosa, please start here.
Thank you for passing this announcement to others who may be interested.
Blessing the Sangha Kuti
New Kitchen
Meditation
