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Full Ordination In Taiwan! – March

Five of our siksamanas—Venerables Lamsel, Kunga, Dekyi, Rinchen, and Monlam (along with Vens. Chodron and Damcho)—are in Taiwan for the incredible opportunity to receive full (bhikshuni) ordination at Fo En Si Temple. The ordination procedure is complex, and the training and ceremonies require many senior monks and nuns, so full ordination in the Mahayana tradition generally requires a trip to Asia. In recent years, Covid and travel restrictions have prevented our eligible nuns from receiving the ordination. At last, their patience has paid off. Someday, may the Abbey be able to offer full ordination for monks and nuns in the Buddha Hall!

Buddha Hall Construction – February

Mudding, taping, sanding; mudding, taping, sanding. At 17,00 square feet, the Buddha Hall has a lot of walls! The mudders work steadily on the drywall under the eyes of the painters as they prepare for the next phase.

Pravarana: The End of Varsa – February

We’ve made it to the end of another beautiful Varsa, the annual 3-month monastic retreat! To bring to a close, we hold the Pravarana ceremony as prescribed by the Buddha. This is our chance to give and request feedback from the community regarding our behavior these past three months, and where we are able to renew and restore our precepts.

Abbey Life – February

Winter retreat continues. In the silence, if you pay attention, you can sometimes hear laughter coming from the storage room as five of our siksamana nuns are joyfully packing and preparing to leave for Taiwan by the end of the month. Unexpected warmer days gave us (and the cats) the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful nature surrounding the Abbey. Our Abbess also took advantage of the good weather to look at all the progress made on the Buddha Hall.

Lunar New Year Celebrations – February

Happy Lunar New Year! It’s the time of the year where Friends of Sravasti Abbey Singapore (FOSAS) and the Abbey community gather together on Zoom, followed by a Cittamani Tara Puja to celebrate the new year. May the Year of the Dragon bring vitality and great fortune to everyone!

Ven. Pema’s Progression – February Flashback

Ven. Thubten Pema is our newest bhikshuni, receiving her full ordination in October 2023 at Guanxi Chaoyin Temple in Taiwan. While a few months overdue, we want to celebrate her ordination and her monastic journey, starting as a lay person back in 2016. Read her bio here.

Buddha Hall Construction in January

Myriad details come together in a steady flow of progress toward Buddha Hall completion.

Remembering a Meaningful Life – January

We held two remembrance ceremonies for our late teacher, Geshe Dadul Namgyal (Tenzin Chodrak), in honor of his remarkable life and dedicated, loving service to sentient beings on the path to awakening. At the Abbey, monastics and lay friends offered poems, dedications, prayers & aspirations, shared about Geshe-la’s life, showed photo slideshows in his memory, and held a short Medicine Buddha puja. Offline, the friends gathered in person shared a final go-around of remembrances and good wishes. Later in the week, Geshe-la’s family came, along with monks from Drepung Loseling in Atlanta. The monks led prayers in a Newport funeral home simultaneously with Drepung Loseling monks in various locations around the world.

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The soon-to-be bhikshunis continue to explore the inside of the temple.
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Sravasti Abbey

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