The community has continued to be well and covid-free. Thank you for your kind support, patience and consideration over the last eighteen months.
We have taken some cautious steps towards reopening the monastery. With covid infection numbers still high, and autumn now upon us, we will continue to monitor the broader picture and may adjust how open we are from time to time.
On Saturday 31st July we had our first monthly meditation workshop and we hope that we will continue these over the next few months - see the News section for details. Booking will be necessary if you would like to come.
The Sunday evening pujas will restart on September 12th, again please see the News section for details.
We have had a few short term guests come and stay during August, however for this to work for us on a regular basis this potentially exposes the community to quite a few people at close quarters and we are not comfortable with this. So, although some short stays may be possible, we are looking for one or two more people who might like to stay for a minimum of a few weeks, and, as before, we will prioritise people who have stayed before and are known to us (or one of our other monasteries).
For those coming to offer dana, for the time being there will still be no access to the kitchen. If the weather allows we will continue to meet with people outdoors., however if the weather is poor we will invite you to come inside to the Dhamma Hall vestibule.
Anumodana and much appreciation for the generous support of many friends over recent months.
For friends and supporters wanting to know how things are working at he moment, here is a brief summary:
1. The buildings remain closed to visitors for the time being, with the exception of the Dhamma Hall vestibule just before the meal time. 2. We are pausing the reopening for short term guests coming to stay. We are currently full until the end of September, and will see in mid-September if we can resume taking any short term guests.
3.You are welcome to come to the monastery to offer dana, whether cooked food or supplies. If possible please phone us on 01404 891251 or email prior to coming. Usually one or more of the monks will be available to offer an anumodana and for a short conversation.
4. If you are looking for online resources to help support you, we suggest that a good place to start is the website of Amaravati, our main monastery: www.amaravati.org They have an extensive library of free Dhamma talks, books, guided meditations and chanting which you can download. If you would like a hard copy of a particular book, many of these are also available on request from us or from Amaravati. Amaravati are also posting videos of Dhamma talks online at: https://vimeo.com/amaravativideo
5. Some supporters who are unable to visit in person have arranged deliveries of requisites, or sent funds to enable the lay residents to either go once a fortnight to the shops, or order requisites online. If you would like to offer support in this way please see details in the Contributing section. If you would like to dedicate an offering on a particular day or for a particular reason, please let us know.
We have tested the broadband availability to us at Hartridge and with most of the network operators we lie on the edge of reasonable internet reception. In practice this means that most of the time we have adequate broadband for receiving data, but that the performance when sending data is intermittent or poor, and this particularly applies inside the Dhamma Hall and cottage. We have therefore dropped the idea of live streaming of events such as talks. However, we have occasionally, on request from external groups, led live meditation classes, and will consider any requests.
Both Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries are live streaming Dhamma talks on a regular basis: www.amaravati.org www.cittaviveka.org
Thank you for your support and understanding. May all beings be well. May all beings be at peace.
