Friends,
Bows to you, and hoping you’re finding the path fruitful.
For this Thursday’s Eastside Insight meditation, we’re very honored to cancel it. This is so you’ll get a rare chance to hear from the Venerable Luang Por Passano (Ajahn Passano), one of the most practiced and revered Western-born monks. In particular he was the third of the Western monks who studied with Ajahn Chah, starting in about 1975.
Often I suggest that any of you do all you can to make contact with highly realized beings. This is one of those times.
I met Ajahn Passano in 1988, when he was abbot of the nearby monastery for Westerners, Wat Pah Nanachat. Way back then he impressed me by his deep continuity, his wise presence and sense of making contact, qualities which have only grown.
Luang Por Passano will be offering a dharma talk and answering questions from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, June 15 at St. Mark’s Cathedral on Capitol Hill in Seattle. In particular he’ll be speaking in Bloedel Hall, which is on the back of the building. While I’d encourage you to be there in person (I’ll be there), this will also be on Zoom and YouTube.
Here’s a Zoom link:
Zoom Link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87924444127?pwd=Q1ZIa2Z3b3lpYTVUZktjaFJtMW1lUT09
Meeting ID: 879 2444 4127 / Passcode: 305565
Zoom Link for Remote Participants
Here’s also a link from the Clear Mountain website:
https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/events/dhamma-talk-and-qa-with-luang-por-pasanno-in-person-online/
This Thursday event is just one of several events over the week, culminating in a rich “robe-offering” ceremony on Saturday, which also will official launch the creation of Clear Mountain Monastery.
https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/2023/04/03/finding-a-home-robe-offering-ceremony/
Seattle Insight Meditation Society will be offering a parallel event on Friday evening.
Below is some information from the Clear Mountain Monastery website.
Hoping you can make a few of these events!
Bows,
Steve
Dhamma Talk and Q&A with Luang Por Pasanno (In-Person & Online)
Thursday, June 15th, 6 – 8 pm at St. Mark’s Cathedral’s Bloedel Hall (enter through back of cathedral), 1245 10th Ave E. Those unable to attend in-person are also welcome to tune in via Zoom or YouTube livestream.
Join the Clear Mountain community in welcoming Luang Por Pasanno, co-founder of Abhayagiri Buddhist monastery, for an evening Dhamma teaching and Q&A. The event represents our first chance to greet and hear the wisdom of one of the root teachers of the Thai Forest Tradition in the West, and a guiding light of the current project. Ayyā Santussikā and Ayyā Cittānandā, founders of Karuna Buddhist Vihara, just come from a nearby retreat, will also be visiting, and (if not too tired from their travels) may be able to answer questions as well.
In the spirit of Dhamma, all teachings are offered completely free of charge, with nothing expected in return, though those inspired may give in-person or online. For directions and information on what to bring, see below. Those unable to attend in-person are welcome to tune in via Zoom or YouTube livestream. Welcome!
What to Bring
– A cushion to sit on if you want, though chairs will be available as well, and your love of practice!
Parking
Those driving may enter the campus at the north between the cathedral and the St. Nicholas Building – the location of the Gage Academy and Seattle Amistad School. They may then drive all the way to the back of the cathedral. Parking is free for Clear Mountain attendees even though signs in the lot indicate payment is required. If the “carriage gateway” behind the St. Nicholas building is open, participants are encouraged to park there. We encourage the use of public transportation when convenient, and the Seattle bus #49 stops at the corner of 10th Ave. and E Galer, just north of the meeting place.
Zoom Link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87924444127?pwd=Q1ZIa2Z3b3lpYTVUZktjaFJtMW1lUT09
Meeting ID: 879 2444 4127 / Passcode: 305565
Zoom Link for Remote Participants
Biographies
Luang Por Pasanno
Ajahn Pasanno took ordination in Thailand in 1974 with Venerable Phra Khru Ñāṇasirivatana as preceptor. During his first year as a monk he was taken by his teacher to meet Ajahn Chah, with whom he asked to be allowed to stay and train. One of the early residents of Wat Pah Nanachat, Ajahn Pasanno became its abbot in his ninth year. During his incumbency, Wat Pah Nanachat developed considerably, both in physical size and reputation. Spending 24 years living in Thailand, Ajahn Pasanno became a well-known and highly respected monk and Dhamma teacher. He moved to California on New Year’s Eve of 1997 to share the abbotship of Abhayagiri with Ajahn Amaro. In 2010 Ajahn Amaro accepted an invitation to serve as abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England, leaving Ajahn Pasanno to serve as sole abbot of Abhayagiri for the next eight years. In spring of 2018, Ajahn Pasanno stepped back from the role of abbot, leaving the monastery for a year-long retreat abroad. After returning from his sabbatical, Ajahn Pasanno now serves as an anchor of wisdom and guidance for the community. Abhayagiri is now under the active leadership of Ajahn Ñāṇiko, who Ajahn Pasanno requested to serve as abbot.
Ayyā Santussikā
Ayya Santussikā entered monastic life as an anagarika (eight-precept nun) in 2005, then ordained as a samaneri in 2010 and a bhikkhunī in 2012 at Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles. She has trained in large and small communities of nuns, including Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries of the Ajahn Chah tradition in England, and is one of the founders of Karuna Buddhist Vihara in Boulder Creek, CA, where she leads the community with Ayya Cittānandā.
Ayyā Cittānandā
After being inspired in 2005 by a college philosophy class, Ayya Cittānandā lived as a monastic at a small Chan monastery in Florida until moving to California, where she worked for two years while making daily visits to Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery. In 2013, she began looking for a place to ordain, spending time at numerous monasteries before taking the anagarika precepts at Karuna Buddhist Vihara in 2015, samaneri ordination in 2016, and bhikkhunī ordination in 2018.