It’s the Full Moon, and tonight we’ll be having our regular biweekly Uposatha program starting at 8pm EST.
Tahn Pamutto will be giving a reflection tonight entitled, “The Mind’s Ideal”. Conversation both in the weekly teatime session and the family group this week has centered around what we really want to get from spiritual practice and how we can go about it. Tonight we’ll consider the four iddhipada, and how our more mundane goals don’t necessarily contradict the eightfold path if we consider mental training as a whole.
Tahn Pamutto is back in the MA area, and the Upavana site and Facebook are likely to see more use after gathering a bit of dust over holidays. He’ll be settling down in a new space in Shelburne, MA, for the near future – more on that in the coming days.
Tonight, the weekly Tea & Meditation begins at 7pm EST as usual – all are welcome. Coming up this Sunday is the New Moon Uposatha. Both events are broadcast via ZOOM (see upavana.org for details)
The biweekly Uposatha program will be hosted tonight from NYC and broadcast online through Zoom. Tahn Pamutto will be joined by Tan Santi for a discussion on the topic of “Spiritual Growth”. A fundamental difference between Eastern and Western philosophy is the idea of growth – that our character can be developed and honed towards a particular end. This is even more the case in Buddhism as we have a very clear goal for our development: Nibbāna, the perfect peace of a calm and pure heart.
Once we’ve established there is a goal and we understand where we are in relationship to that goal, it becomes possible to foresee both supports and obstacles to our success. A whole world of possibilities for growth and learning open up before us. Tonight we hope to share in the exploration of these possibilities and what it means to be moving forward and growing in the spiritual life.
In half an hour, our regular Wednesday program begins with an hour of informal tea and dhamma conversation on Zoom form 7pm-8pm EST. At 8pm we will begin our evening group meditation – a 45 minute sitting with opening guidance from Tahn Pamutto.
Tonight is the New Moon, and our regular uposatha gathering will be starting at 8pm EST via zoom with a meditation, followed by precepts and a dhamma reflection by Tahn Pamutto.
Find out more: https://upavana.org/events/online-uposatha-234-146-469-442-612-253/
This coming week, we’ll be experimenting with a new program: a “soft” or “working” retreat. Basically, this means we’ll be practicing together in the morning and evening, and developing a theme through the week. Morning session is at 6am-7am, and evening session is at 7-8pm. We’ll go Monday to Friday, with the extra session on Wednesday night including a chance for discussion. They will be on Zoom and recorded to the Innovative Dhamma YouTube channel.
The theme is Mettā, or Goodwill. Many of us already know about the benefits of practicing Mettā but there are so many good contemplations for its development, it can really pay off to set some time aside to just focus on it.
Mettā is most beneficial when we manage to take it with us off the cushion and into the rest of our daily lives. If you have the chance, come join the Zoom session or integrate the one-hour recordings into your day and see if it helps remind you to open your heart at the right moment.
Feel free to join us tonight at 7 pm EDT for an informal tea-time dhamma chat followed by group meditation at 8pm.
Tomorrow night is the New Moon, with the biweekly Uposatha program starting at 8pm EDT with meditation, Refuges and Precepts at 8:45, a dhamma reflection from Tahn Pamutto at 9pm, and informal sitting/walking meditation until midnight!
Find more info at https://upavana.org in the Programs section. Both programs will be online hosted with Zoom meetings:
This Wednesday will be the Pavāraṇa Uposatha, the final Full Moon marking the end of the rains retreat. ‘Tea with Tahn’ will be cancelled in favor of our regular uposatha gathering, both In Person in the town of Wendell and Online via Zoom.
The program begins at 8pm EST with a 45 minute meditation. Then Refuges and Precepts will be given. Bhante Sumano, now fully ordained as a bhikkhu, will be offering the evening dhamma reflection at 9pm.
The ‘Kathina’ season is a particularly busy time for Buddhist monastics. After having spent three months in one location for the monsoon season, there is now a flurry of activity as travel resumes. Each monastery where monks have resided has the opportunity to hold a kathina festival, and it’s not uncommon for monks and laypeople alike to travel from one kathina to the next to interact with each temple and community.
The season of kathina hasn’t even arrived yet, and already the monastics are beginning to network and connect with the other communities of the Pioneer Valley. After months of seclusion extra potent because of COVID, the three Upavana monastics got the chance to walk to and visit the community at the New England Peace Pagoda and join in their morning puja ceremonies.
On Sunday, Tahn Pamutto, Sumano, and Tānakāro joined the Cambodian community at Wat Kiryvongsabopharam, in Leverett, in memory of their abbot for fifteen years who passed away June 21st this year. Dakun Phaep ‘Tejapañño’ came from Cambodia to run the temple, often being the only resident for long stretches. It was here that Tahn Pamutto met him in 2015, and over the years he was always kind and hospitable to his fellow forest monk. Often the language barrier was insurmountable, and they seemed to share more Pāli than either English or Khmer. But not being able to communicate was never an obstacle to sharing mettā and enthusiasm for dhamma.
The Wat Kiry sangha was very gracious to be joined by their American brothers in the holy life. Two monks are now at the monastery full time.
