Aranya Bodhi

Aranya Bodhi is a hermitage for monastic women practicing in the Theravada forest tradition. It is a secluded natural setting, perfect for the reclusive life and meditation.

In 2015 we welcome residential visits of a month or longer, to include periods of service and times for meditation and Dhamma study. This is ideal for one who wishes to experience the Theravada bhikkhuni form of practice … who has experienced the transformative power of Vipassana meditation … who loves the forest and practicing in nature … and who is a monastic woman, a monastic life aspirant or an ally of the re-born women’s monastic sangha.

To protect the meditative space, we ask our friends to contact us before visiting. There is an application process, and when possible we ask new people to first come for a day visit or a few days.

The rustic facilities and reality of the rugged and wild forest environment are challenging for some. However, visitors over the past year have noted the large and small improvements to our physical setting. Gone now are the old trailers that were so difficult to keep clean, dry and safe. They have been replaced by new buildings of standard construction that have taken us safely through a rainy winter season. The challenges of mold, mildew, rain and rodents that marked our first few years are well resolved with these new and easy to maintain structures.

There is pure potable water on-tap, expanded solar electric capacity, and kitchen and shower facilities that look and feel like an ordinary home in town … except that one can step out the door and be in the deep silence of a magnificent forest.

All this progress with the physical set-up has allowed us to pause on construction projects, leaving our daily life more balanced and quiet. The time available for supported personal retreat is gradually increasing. Besides our daily formal practice, there are monthly new moon day-long retreats; alms round in Sebastopol twice a month. For fun and inspiration, a few of us are creating a Dhammapada study guide, translating, analyzing and reflecting on one verse per day.

There is regular intervisitation with the Dhammadharini Vihara in Santa Rosa, and many women find it fruitful to alternate periods at Aranya Bodhi with periods at the Dhammadharini Vihara. More information about visiting the Vihara is here.

Among the forest redwoods and high meadows of the California Sonoma Coast, a vibrant new community of Buddhist monastic women has taken root. It is a hermitage given the Pali name Aranya Bodhi, which means Awakening Forest. A generous donor offered the use of this land to Ayya Tathaaloka Theri several years ago, with the aspiration to make a forest meditation hermitage for Theravada bhikkhunis (fully ordained female monastics) and like-minded women.

This aspiration has become a reality through inspired leadership, the friendship of the Bhikkhu Sangha, the commitment of monastic women, and the help of many donors.

We invite your participation in developing this new community. The Theravada Bhikkhuni Sangha is still in its tender stage. Only a few of the Bhikkhunis have acquired the spiritual power that comes from decades of monastic training, and there are not enough practice communities for women seeking to enter monastic life.

Your nurturing help will make a great impact for the welfare of women, and the preservation of Buddhism in the modern world.

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Aranya Bodhi

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