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Serving and Sharing the Dharma – May

Sometimes Offering Service Saturday (OSS) and Sharing the Dharma Day (SDD) are back-to-back, which makes for a lovely weekend full of friends and Dharma activities. Maintaining the Abbey grounds, hauling rocks for the Buddha Hall, hearing teachings, and meditating were just some of the ways we spent our time this weekend. Take a look.

Finding Joy In Troubled Times – May

We held a short and sweet retreat with our friends this weekend on all the ways we can transform our suffering into happiness! Teachings, discussion groups, guided meditations, Q & A, and connecting with one another were just some of the ways we spent our time together to transform our minds in a lasting way.

Buddha Hall Rocks – April 

As crews continue to repair the damage from a burst water pipe in the Buddha Hall interior, there’s lots going on outside. Thanks to a state grant offered to help landowners reduce fire danger, the Abbey has received 20 tons of rainbow river rock for landscaping around the buildings. Abbey residents and volunteers have been happily hauling rocks around the property. The rocked-out areas around the Buddha Hall will eventually be filled with potted ornamental plants, creating a hardscape garden along the circumambulation path.

Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany Tour! – April

Vens. Chodron, Jampa, and Konchog continue to tour around northern Europe to share the Dharma with many eager students. They offer retreats in all three countries, shower the public with talks, break-out into discussion groups, connect and meet with new nuns, and seek to benefit whomever crosses their path. Watch the teachings on our YouTube Europe & U.S. East Coast Teaching Tour Playlist.

Abbey Life – April

April’s been packed with opportunities to connect with friends and share the Dharma locally. Monastics continue weekly teachings in Spokane, Ven. Chonyi gives a talk on kindness at North Idaho College (NIC), we hold a lovely Offering Service Saturday (OSS) and a Sharing the Dharma Day (SDD), and continue to offer service around the abbey.

East Coast & Europe Teaching Tour – April

Venerable Thubten Chodron traveled to the East Coast before beginning the first stretch of her month-long Europe teaching tour in France. Here’s a look at her virtuous activity to share the Dharma with friends around the world:

Standing Up For Compassion – April

Venerable Semkye and Venerable Jigme took a refreshing and compassionate stance on how to approach the U.S. political climate within a Buddhist worldview. Guests and community members worked with their concerns by listening to teachings, engaging in discussions, and being guided in meditations. Here’s a look at our retreat:

Venerable Sangye Khadro Teaches in Singapore – March

Venerable Sangye Khadro spent an entire month teaching in Singapore on topics such as meditation, making merit and purifying, preparing for death, transforming suffering into happiness, and more. Check out photos of her time there.

A Spring Kathina – March

On Sunday, March 23rd, we celebrated the ancient ceremony of Kathina, dating back to the time of the Buddha. Practiced for millennia, Kathina reunites the sangha and the lay community after the monastic retreat or varsa. It’s a day to rejoice in the virtue and goodness created by the whole sangha. Traditionally, it’s also the time when lay supporters offer sangha robes and other other requisites, thereby celebrating the lovely connection between the sangha and the laity.

A special Offering Service Saturday – March

We’re fresh out of retreat and hosted the first offering service Saturday (OSS) of the year. It’s a joy to reconnect with our friends again. Many came up to help in whatever ways are needed. Some came early to take in Venerable Chodron’s live teaching on the seven-point mind training practices, broadcast on Zoom, for the Dharmakaya Center in Reno, NV. Assembling chairs for the Buddha Hall, moving a massive Buddha statue, maintaining grounds, helping in the library, and mantra rolling are some of the ways we served the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha of the ten directions today. Take a look.

An End of Retreat Celebration – March

Three rewarding months of intense meditation, silence, study and reflection draw to an end. Feeling rested and refreshed, we’re ready to offer service and share the Dharma in full enthusiasm again. But to go out on a high note, we have our annual end-of-retreat fire puja and have some fun with skits! Take a look at how we’ve wrapped up retreat.

Retreat Life – February

Our winter monastic retreat continues to be meaningful and fruitful, as residents meditate, participate in pujas, furnish the Buddha Hall, study lamrim and Vinaya teachings, and enjoy the great outdoors during break times.

Fun in the Snow – February Flashback

Shoveling snow during winter retreat is a time-honored practice at the Abbey. Nearby Spokane averages about 45½ inches of snow per year, giving us plenty of opportunities to exercise our bodies and visualize clearing the path to awakening. We also play and work in the snow, as you can see in these photos taken over the years.

Happy Lunar New Year! – February

As a way to extend generosity and send well-wishes to our Friends of Sravasti Abbey in Singapore (FOSAS), our community recently celebrated Lunar New Year – a big 15 day festival celebrated by many countries across Asia. We connected with the FOSAS on Zoom, rejoiced in the generosity of donors, and hosted a Tara puja dedicated to the good health, long life, and good fortune of all sentient beings. Take a look at this year’s celebration:

Abbey Life – January

A lot goes on in a community of 22 people, even during winter retreat! We’re receiving weekly teachings five days a week, retreatants continue to come and go, and we all find ways to help out around the Abbey grounds as we engage in this powerful Chenrezig practice.

Bookcases, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas – January

We are still in winter retreat, but we take some breaks from meditation to furnish the Buddha Hall! Most notably, we received 39 double-sided bookcases over two days and moved them into the library. We finally opened the large fish and large gong, important Dharma instruments for the Main Hall. We immediately used them to chant the Incense Offering, inviting all the buddhas and bodhisattvas to join us in the Buddha Hall.
While we have the keys to the Buddha Hall, we do not yet have the occupancy permit.

New Year’s Vajrasattva Retreat – January

There’s nothing like spending five days meditating on Vajrasattva, the Buddha of purification and renewal. We hope our friends left feeling refreshed and revitalized as they embark in the new year. Teachings, discussion groups, meditation, study, and Buddha Hall events were just some of the activities we immersed ourselves in this week. Here’s a look at how our retreat played out:

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Sravasti Abbey

692 Country Lane
Newport WA 99156 USA
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509-447-5549