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Bodhinyanarama Buddhist Monastery

New Zealand
Buddhist - Theravada
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www.bodhinyanarama.net.nz

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Description of the Retreat

Bodhinyanarama Buddhist Monastery is a monastic sanctuary situated in a 51 hectare (126 acre) wooded valley near Wellington, New Zealand. The monastery is the focus for a thriving Buddhist community and serves a variety of functions. While principally a residence for those wishing to participate or train in the monastic lifestyle, the large public area and meeting hall are used for religious festivals, public meetings and retreats. The forested area with remote lodgings provides a suitable environment for seclusion. The senior monks instruct in meditation, teach Buddhist principles, lead retreats and provide religious services for the Buddhist community, both at the monastery and at other venues in New Zealand and elsewhere.

The monastery offers several semi-residential retreats with the accommodation we have (about a dozen beds) available for those wishing to stay at the monastery with the option for people to come during the day โ€“ or part thereof โ€“ and return home in the evening. Those who can commit to the full retreat time or who are traveling some distance to the monastery are given priority for accommodation.

If you wish to stay at the monastery overnight please book as a guest

Retreat Guidelines:
Retreats are quite open and you can come for all or part of the scheduled time; a day or part day.
Accommodation may be available for just part of a retreat but is sometimes shared.
Please be sensitive to those who are already here when you arrive and join the Noble Silence. If there is sitting meditation in session it is best if you wait until it has finished. The end of that period would be a good time to introduce yourself to the monk leading the retreat.

Remember that there is no evening meal at the monastery.
We have our daily meal at 10.30 and you would be welcome to join us for this.
If we are meditating in the hall please wait until the session finishes.
If there is a talk or discussion in place you may enter the hall and quietly take a seat.
The standard for everyone at the monastery is the eight precepts

The underlying theme in the monastery is one of restraint and renunciation. The movement to silence is important so please leave phones, tablets, laptops and any other distracting things at home. Even books… we will be reading from the book of the mind. An area of special practice is the kitchen. As alms mendicants we take only what is offered. There are no special diets, we don’t help ourself to things in the pantry or fridge and beverages are only available at set times.

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Practical Information

The monastery is primarily for the training of monks and is very much a community project. We like to welcome as wide a range of people as we are able. Staying here as a guest is a part of that possibility; an opportunity to experience monastic life. Lay life is often complex and a transition to simplicity can be difficult for some. It is important that you have some sense of what is involved before you come.

Overnight Guest Guidelines
Monastic life is one of community. Guests become a part of this and follow the monastery schedule and take part in all community activities. To maximise the benefits of your time in the monastery do determine to 'leave the world behind.' In this respect it is not appropriate to come and go without notice or engage in external business during your stay. To help make the monastery a haven of quiet and solitude the use of telephones and other such devices is very much discouraged. There is no public email service at the monastery. Please leave portable computers at home and take care of all business and travel arrangements BEFORE coming to the monastery. All this helps to ensure a peaceful, contemplative stay.

The foundation of our lifestyle is the Eight Precepts, which includes eating only before noon and avoiding all sensual physical contact, regardless of gender.

The Eight Precepts โ€“ kept by all residents and guests

To refrain from destroying living creatures (harmlessness: not intentionally taking the life of any living creature)
To refrain from taking that which is not given (trustworthiness)
To refrain from any kind of intentional sexual behaviour (celibacy)
To refrain from incorrect speech (avoiding false, abusive or malicious speech and idle chatter)
To refrain from intoxicating drink and drugs which lead to carelessness (sobriety)
To refrain from eating at wrong times (restraint: not eating after midday)
To refrain from beautification, entertainment, and adornment (restraint: not seeking distraction, playing radios and music, and dressing modestly)
To refrain from lying on a high or luxurious sleeping place (alertness: refraining from overindulgence in sleep)

Personal items to bring: a flashlight, sleeping bag (or sheets), pillow, towel and toiletries, sturdy shoes, work clothing (warm clothing in the winter months), and an alarm clock. We have blankets and some pillows if your luggage is limited.

We are not able to accommodate pets.
No smoking.

The monastery is supported entirely by voluntary donations and, in keeping with our tradition, there is no obligatory charge for anything at Bodhinyanarama. Each person considers how best they can contribute to the needs of maintaining the monastery, while at the same time developing good qualities within themselves. The kitchen steward does no grocery shopping, so guests may want to check before they arrive if they want to bring something.

Mindfulness and Composure
Buddhist monasteries have certain social conventions and a body language meant to convey a sense of composure, grace, and respect. For people visiting the monastery and unfamiliar with the etiquette, it can often feel intimidating: "I think there is a way I am supposed to behave, but I don't know what it is!" Most important is a well-intentioned attitude. No-one will be offended by the absence of precise etiquette on your behalf. General courtesy and respect go a long way and are the basis for many of the forms of etiquette we use in the monastery. As well as promoting harmony and grace within the community, the forms of etiquette we use are also a means of training oneself in mindfulness and circumspection in everyday social interactions.

General Considerations
Body Language
Anjali: The most commonly used expression of body language in the monastery is the anjali. The hands are held palm-to-palm in front of the heart and are sometimes raised to the lowered forehead. It is a gesture of respect that can be used as a greeting, a goodbye, a thank-you or when speaking with one of the monastics.

Bowing: The traditional way of paying respect to a shrine or to a senior monk is to bow. This is best learned by following the example of others. As with many traditional practices it is more a 'movement of faith' rather than a rigid rule and is taken up accordingly. In the monastery we pay respect to the shrine when entering or leaving the meditation hall and to the senior monk at the end of the morning and evening meditations.

Sitting: When sitting it is traditionally considered impolite to point one's feet at either the shrine or at the monks. Also, lying down or stretching out is considered inappropriate in public spaces. During meditation or a Dhamma talk, care should be taken to move and shift positions quietly.

Relating to the Monastic Community
Monks have many rules in their monastic code of discipline that affect the way they relate to people. In particular it is a serious offense for an ordained monastic to have sensual physical contact with a person of the opposite sex. The protection against this goes even further, stipulating that there must be another conscientious male present whenever a monk is spending time with a woman. This is to prevent unfortunate situations from occurring as well as to prevent harmful gossip and misunderstanding. Partly for this reason, monks will greet people with an anjali rather than shaking hands or embracing.

As alms-mendicants, monks are prohibited from engaging in activities that could provide for their own material livelihood. This includes handling money, cultivating crops, and working the land or storing food. As a result everything that accrues to the monastic community is the result of an offering from a generous person. Anything a monk consumes, except water, must actually be offered to them directly. They cannot help themselves to food unless it has been given to them.

In addressing a monk, it is considered impolite to refer to them directly by name without an appropriate form of address. The abbots or any monastic of more than ten years standing is usually addressed as "Ajahn" (i.e. Ajahn Kusalo). "Ajahn" comes from the Thai and means "teacher." Monks with less than ten years in the order can be addressed as "Tan" (i.e. Tan Pavaro), which is also Thai and means "venerable." To make things easier any monk can be addressed as "bhante" (pronounced BUN-tay) which is from Pali, the original language of the Buddhist scriptures and means "dear sir."

Relating to the Monastery
Sangha life is a life of community. Everything in the monastery belongs to the sangha, the ordained disciples of the Buddha, both present and future. The individual members of the sangha and its guests are the caretakers charged with the responsibility of safeguarding, protecting, and maintaining the monastery for the use of the Buddha's disciples today and tomorrow. One should remove one's shoes before entering any monastery building. For dwellings the standard is to try to leave it cleaner than when you arrived. An overall attitude of care and respect for monastery property is the rule.

Items in the kitchen and in the storeroom are also property of the sangha. Even the monastics may not help themselves to things without permission. If you need something, you should ask permission of the guestmaster. To help oneself to food, personal items (except library books or items for free distribution) without permission would go against the spirit of monastic life.

Teacher/Teachings

Ajahn Kusalo is the current Abbot at Bodhinyanarama. He was born in 1952, grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. A chequered pattern of study and work, mostly in the building industry, eventually resulted in qualification as a Quantity Surveyor. However, a general disinterest in worldly gain led to many years of wandering throughout Australasia. Around 1980 he met Ajahn Jagaro in Perth, Australia and joined retreats led by Ajahn Sumedho who visited there for two conscutive years.

Because he was still married, with one son, it was not until 1990 that he was able to join Ajahn Viradhammo in Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Wellington. He took bhikkhu ordination in 1992 and remained there until 1994 when there was an invitation to join Ajahn Sumedho in England. Six years at Amaravati Monastery led to a couple of years in Wales which was a precursor to two years of wandering around Europe. Part of this time was a three week trip to Canada that eventually resulted in his living there for eight years, the last five of those being spent developing Tisarana the new monastery West of Ottawa

A short visit to Bodhinyanarama in 2011 resulted in Ajahn moving back to his home monastery in 2012 to follow on from Ajahn Tiradhammo. The plan is to reside there for some years to come.

The Thai Forest tradition is one branch of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Theravada Buddhism, also known as the Southern School of Buddhism, is present throughout Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka. The Theravada tradition is grounded in the discourses recorded in the Pali Canon, the oldest Buddhist scriptures. Theravada literally means the Way of the Elders, and is named so because of its strict adherence to the original teachings and rules of monastic discipline expounded by the Buddha.

The Forest tradition most strongly emphasizes meditative practice and the realization of enlightenment as the focus of monastic life. Forest monasteries are primarily oriented around practicing the Buddha's path of contemplative insight, including living a life of discipline, renunciation, and meditation in order to fully realize the inner truth and peace taught by the Buddha. Living a life of austerity allows forest monastics to simplify and refine the mind. This refinement allows them to clearly and directly explore the fundamental causes of suffering within their heart and to inwardly cultivate the path leading toward freedom from suffering and supreme happiness. Living frugally, with few possessions fosters for forest monastics the joy of an unburdened life and assists them in subduing greed, pride, and other taints in their minds.

Forest monastics live in daily interaction with and dependence upon the lay community. While laypeople provide the material supports for their renunciant life, such as almsfood and cloth for robes, the monks provide the laity with teachings and spiritual inspiration. Forest monks follow an extensive 227 rules of conduct. They are required to be celibate, to eat only between dawn and noon, and not to handle money. They also commonly engage in a practice known as "tudong" in which they wander on foot through the countryside either on pilgrimage or in search of solitary retreat places in nature. During such wanderings, monks sleep wherever is available and eat only what is offered by laypeople along the way.

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Timetable

5:15 morning meditation
6:30 chores
7:00 breakfast
8:00 work period
10:30 main meal
6pm tea time
7pm evening meditation

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