5-Day Meditation Retreat w/ Ayya Medhanandi
5-Day Spring Retreat in Lanark Highlands
Dates: May 7th – May 12th, 2010
Location: Stillwaters Retreat Center 12 Rockliffe Way, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1M 1B1
Registration Form: in PDF and in MS Word
Ven. Ayya Medhanandi
Ayya Medhanandi is a Theravada bhikkhuni and the abbess of Sati Saraniya Hermitage. Inspired by the practice at a young age, she made pilgrimage to India, met an Advaita sage, and trained with him as a nun for four years. Her teacher’s death in 1986 was a call to monastic life. She took her first vows as a Buddhist nun with Sayadaw U Pandita in Myanmar. Then came ten years at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery with Ajahn Sumedho as preceptor, eight years as a solitary nun in New Zealand and Penang, and teaching in the Antipodes, Asia, and the West.
In 2007, she received bhikkhuni ordination and the bodhisattva monastic precepts in Taiwan. Accepting an invitation to return to Canada, in 2008 she established Sati Saraniya Hermitage, the first Canadian Theravada Buddhist monastic residence for bhikkhunis. The website for the hermitage is: www.satisaraniya.ca.
She is the author of 'Gone Forth, Going Beyond'.
March Pagoda Study Groups – Cancelled
The Pagoda Study group meetings for the month of March have been cancelled to give Ajahn Viradhammo a well-deserved "March break".
Community-led DoM, March 13th, 2010
The Day of Mindfulness on March 13 will be based on recordings of a weekend retreat taught by Thanisarro Bhikkhu in June 2009 in Saskatoon. This event was sponsored by Saskatchewan Kammatthana.
“Head & Heart Together: Bringing Wisdom to the Brahmaviharas”
“The brahmaviharas - attitudes of limitless goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity - are the Buddha's primary "heart" teachings. Yet he never distinguished between issues of heart and head: The more you can get your head around his explanation of causality, the easier it is to make the heart's attitudes more expansive. This course - using readings, talks, discussion, and meditation - is devoted to exploring how this is so. Topics will include exploring how an understanding of kamma helps in removing limits from one's goodwill and equanimity; understanding the conditions needed for fostering healthy emotions from a Buddhist perspective; and finally, discussing the role of the brahmaviharas in the context of Buddhist practice as a whole.”
The Day of mindfulness will consist of selected recorded talks, discussion and sitting and walking mediation. Participants are encouraged (optional) to read “Head & Heart Together” prior to the day. The full retreat recording and readings can be found at:
http://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Retreats/Saskatoon/6-2009/Audio.html
Participants can complete the study after the day of Mindfulness by listening to the remainder of the online talks.
Please remember to bring a potluck vegetarian dish for the lunch.
Friday Evening Meeting – March 5th, 2010
The next OBS event is on Friday March 5th, 7:30 pm at 91A Fourth Ave in Ottawa.
Sessions begin with a 45-minute guided meditation, followed by a 'Dhamma' talk on the topic of the week and period of questions and answers. See the Friday Meetings page for more information including all dates.
This session will be led by Ajahn Viradhammo.
Friday Evening Meeting – 26th Feb., 2010
The next OBS event is on Friday February 26thm 7:30 pm at 91A Fourth Ave in Ottawa.
Sessions begin with a 45-minute guided meditation, followed by a 'Dhamma' talk on the topic of the week and period of questions and answers. See the Friday Meetings page for more information including all dates.
This session will be led by Ajahn Viradhammo.
Jhana Retreat with Ajahn Sona, November 12-21st, 2010
Please Note:
(1) For logistical reasons, this retreat is not being planned, organized or managed by the Ottawa Buddhist Society - please address all queries to Dianne Fairfield.
(2) Registration for this retreat requires that the retreatant has been on a minimum of two previous 10-day meditation retreats.
March Day of Mindfulness, March 13
The next OBS Day of Mindfulness will be held on March 13th. Details will be announced closer to the date. There is no Day of Mindfulness in February, given this coming week-end retreat.
Registration for Feb 19-21 Retreat – Full
There is now a waiting list of 5 people for the Feb. 19-21 retreat "The Craft of Meditation". No more registrations can be accepted for this retreat.
Friday Evening Meeting – 5th Feb., 2010
The next OBS event is on Friday 5th February, 7:30 pm at 91A Fourth Ave in Ottawa.
Sessions begin with a 45-minute guided meditation, followed by a 'Dhamma' talk on the topic of the week and period of questions and answers. See the Friday Meetings page for more information including all dates.
This session will be led by Ajahn Viradhammo.
Ajahn Sumedho Retreat, Ottawa, June 12-13, 2010
The Tisarana Buddhist monastery in Perth has organized a week-end non-residential retreat with Ajahn Sumedho. The retreat will be held at a University of Ottawa facility and residential arrangements have been made for people travelling from outside of Ottawa.
Details are available on the Tisarana Web page for Ajahn Sumedho's retreat.
Registration for the retreat is available from the University of Ottawa Center for Continuing Education.
