The Monks Are Well and Grateful
For the well-being of all, the monks are not walking alms and the Hermitage is not accepting visitors during the Coronavirus pandemic. The monks are doing well, and are humbled by the generosity and outpouring of support from the community.
Thank you to Kalyani and Joseph
The efforts of our meal dana coordinators, Kalyani and Joseph, are helping support meal offerings that care for the safety and well-being of all. The new meal dana process is working well. If you have any questions about offering a meal, please contact them directly at dana@pacifichermitage.org. There are currently cases of the virus in White Salmon and Klickitat county and Kalyani and Joseph are in a high-risk group, please be aware if you are showing any symptoms.
Ajahn is grateful to Kalyani and Joseph, and to all who offer support to the Hermitage. You can listen to the monks rejoice in the power of this goodness with the daily Anumodana chant here.
Responding to Changing Conditions
Though the new meal dana process is working well, we know that conditions may change, sometimes unexpectedly. To plan for the health and safety of all, the Hermitage is accumulating and storing a two-month supply of food. The vinaya does allow for doing so in the type of situation we are facing. This does not change the current meal dana process in place, it is an additional action and backup plan.
We are not in need of assistance in shopping for the food supply at this time. If you would like to offer financial dana in support, you can offer on the Sanghata website, Sanghata.net/donate. Any unused food remaining after the crisis has passed will be donated to local food banks.
Staying Connected with Our Sangha
Ajahn Sudanto is committed to staying in touch with the lay community, and has begun posting on the new Pacific Hermitage YouTube channel. Ajahn expects to be doing livestream events soon, at times with Q&A, puja, dhamma, and meditations. Please SUBSCRIBE, making sure to click the bell to select ‘All’ notifications. This is a way for us to stay connected and practice together during these times. We are hoping to reach 1,000 subscribers (YouTube provides some very helpful features at this level), so please share this wonderful news with all.
“I find solace and grounding in the core insights of the Buddha on impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self. This time and the challenges it brings will soon come to pass. It’s supremely helpful to reflect on this again and again through your day as a point of mindfulness and reflection. It’s an antidote to the habits of fear and anxiety that are rooted in framing our experience as stable, satisfactory, and self which implies a level of control beyond the true nature of the world”
– Ajahn Sudanto