Sunday, October 14th - Upāsikā Day: Remembering the October 2017 Fires: Dhamma Perspectives and Tools For Healing

We hope you can join us at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery for the next Upasika Day on Sunday, October 14, a day of community, Dhamma study, meditation, and renewal.

This will be both part of the regular Upasika Day program, and a special day. Abhayagiri has accepted a request from the Mendocino-Rebuilding Our Community team of the Community Foundation of Mendocino County to participate in a week-long series of events dedicated to remembering and healing from the October, 2017 Redwood Complex fires. Our theme and topic for the day will be Practice in a Global Context - Remembering the October, 2017 Fires: Dhamma Perspectives and Tools for Healing. Ajahn Kaccana and Pesalo Bhikkhu have graciously offered to share their personal experiences of the fires, Dhamma reflections and practices they have found beneficial to themselves and the community in the past year.

Please note: Because this Upasika Day is part of the fire remembrance week activities, we anticipate that neighbors affected by the fires will attend and may share personal and sensitive stories. Out of concern and respect for their privacy, we have decided not to live-stream this Upasika Day.

Many of the readings for the day are freely available in translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu through the below links. Additionally, they may be found in Wisdom Publication’s editions of each collection. The readings for the day include:

Four Dhamma Summaries (two-thirds through MN 82: Raṭṭhapāla Sutta) available here: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN82.html
Instability and dissolution are natural.
SN 3.25: The Simile of the Mountains available here: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN3_25.html
Experiencing or imagining disaster can align our priorities with Dhamma.
Short discourses on the benefits of Metta (Khp 9 and AN 11.16) available here:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Khp/khp9.html and https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN11_16.html
AN 5.162: The Subduing of Hatred available here: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN5_162.html
Five reflections to maintain goodwill when it’s difficult.
MN 28: The Great Elephant Footprint Simile available here:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN28.html
Reflecting on elemental disasters can reveal the not-self nature of the body. Maintaining goodwill and the not-self perception in harrowing circumstances can bring forth astonishing composure.
Ajahn Chah: Our Real Home (Chapter 13, p. 145 in the Collected Teachings)
“If your house is flooded or burnt to the ground, whatever the threat to it, let it concern only the house. If there’s a flood, don’t let it flood your mind. If there’s a fire, don’t let it burn your heart. Let it be merely the house, that which is outside of you that is flooded or burned.”

We hope you will also join us for the daily meal, beginning at 11:00
a.m. It’s customary to bring a dish to offer to the monastics and to
share with others. Our material support of the monastery community is
an important aspect of our role as upasikas (literally, “those who
sit close by”), and our generous offerings of food are a tangible
means of extending this support.

Attendance at Upasika Days is open both to those who wish to make a
formal commitment to the program and to those who may simply wish to
attend for the day. All are welcome. Please spread the word among
those who may be interested.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

10:45 a.m. Refuges and Precepts (optional)

11:00 a.m. (sharp) Meal Offering (please bring a dish to share)

1-4:30 p.m. Study/Practice Session

4:30 p.m. Tea with the monastics (optional)

For directions on getting to the monastery, please visit
www.abhayagiri.org. And if you’d like to carpool, please feel free to
utilize the “upasika@yahoogroups.com” email group as a means of
contacting others planning to attend.

The remaining Upasika Day date for 2018 is:
Saturday, December 1: Meditation: Reflections on Not-Self as a Contemplative Strategy