Today Pamutto Bhikkhu, Bhante Sumano, and Tahn Tānakāro were at Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Their friend and neighbor Christopher Queen, a former director of the center, helped with transport.
A highlight of the visit was a chance to go for a walk with resident scholar monk Bhikkhu Anālayo. Bhante was very generous with his time, as he meets with few people and only had one opening this month. Still, the sense of enjoying the company of fellow monastics was palpable.
Bhante walked and along the country lanes with the Upavana monastics and talked for an hour, answering questions and asking some of his own. It was a great meeting of practitioners, with much mettā, delight in Bhante’s unparalleled seclusion and ability to practice at BCBS, and even an impressive impromptu joint recitation of SN 12.15 which by chance everyone had memorized!
Lunch was generously provided by staff members, several of whom are familiar with Tahn Pamutto from his previous incarnation as a monk who would wander unannounced out of the forest.
BCBS has been shuttered since the beginning of the pandemic but was more prepared than most centers to operate online courses and is doing well. It is poised to resume in-person courses very soon, many of which are already fully booked by practitioners who have been eagerly waiting its reopening.
BCBS, IMS, and the Forest Refuge are an invaluable Dhamma resource for the area!