This last Sunday our family group had the chance to take a field trip to the town of Wendell, the hilltown where Tahn Pamutto and company spent the summer months living in a tent and walking almsround. There the topic of the day, the parami of Nekkhamma or Renunciation, was made real by seeing different […]
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Following on from our talk in recent weeks of goals, character development, and the bases of power, it was surprising to receive a request to devote our Tuesday evening study group to a continuing look at the iddhipāda. We cracked open the Samyutta Nikaya (Discourses Connected by Topic) and looked at the chapter devoted to
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The focus for today’s family gathering was very timely – Mettā. Not only as a perfection of character, but also as a life skill, it’s hard to find a buddhist teaching as fundamental as Goodwill. But explaining this skillful emotion or it’s underpinning is deceptively hard. The reason for this is that while we often
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In this Uposatha reflection, Tahn Pamutto discusses how getting a vision of the reason we practice and what we would like to develop can serve as a foundation for the work we actually do in cultivating the eightfold path. He also discusses the list of four known as the iddhipāda, which are factors we can
One of the joys of being stably in one spot as well as amidst a community of buddhist practitioners is the ability to have programs suitable for participants of all ages. In Shelburne we had the first of our planned weekly family gathering today. The theme was ‘Developing Paramī’. We had the chance to contemplate
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We have just finished our daylong retreat, “Recollection of Death”. The recordings are available on the ‘Innovative Dhamma’ YouTube channel. We appreciate the great turnout and participation both online and in-person!
The other day we were getting a ride from a friend when the topic of tomorrow’s online retreat came up, “Recollection of Death”. It starts at 6am EDT on Zoom and will run through the day. It’s easy for monastics to forget the sturdy taboo around this subject, as this is something that’s the bread
Autumn is now fully upon us, and we are quickly approaching the Kattika full moon of October. This moon is particularly significant for monastics. It marks the end of our three month rains retreat, a time when we commit to live in a shelter, often communally with the same group. Before this moon preparations are
MOVIE: CHANTING MOVIE: CHANTING Tahn Tanakaro and Bhante Sumano began their journey in Empty Cloud monastery last year, but even though they found themselves ordaining in Wat Thai Thavorn, wherever a monk is ordained in the Theravada world the procedure is exactly the same. It has all been laid out in the
Look Inside an Ordination Read More »
There is no distinction to be found in the world of having. No matter how much you have, you could always have more. No matter how many people you exceed in wealth there will always be those who are wealthier. If not now, then previously, or in the future, for wealth does not stay in
