Comings & Goings
It is a great joy to share that Ajahn Kassapo, Ajahn Cunda, and Ajahn Ṭhitapañño arrived at the Hermitage at the end of November, and will stay through early April. All three took Bhikkhu ordination between 2007-2009, and have spent much of their time since at Abhayagiri. Each has also spent time here at the Pacific Hermitage – and the community is so grateful to welcome them back for the winter! We wish them a very beneficial winter retreat.
Ajahn Kassapo 
Ajahn Cunda 
Ajahn Ṭhitapañño
Sharing the Dhamma
The monks plan to begin teaching via livestream on the Pacific Hermitage YouTube channel in mid to late January. Meanwhile, we have the great treasure of recorded talks on the Pacific Hermitage YouTube channel – with the ability to hear the wisdom of Luang Por Pasanno, Ajahn Sudanto, Ajahn Karunadhammo, and Ajahn Cunda. We can listen to Dhamma themes like Simplification, the Stain of Attachment, Seclusion, and many others.
They also have plans to begin teaching in-person (and livestreamed) by March 1, every Tuesday evening at Yoga Samadhi. Ajahn Sudanto also hopes to join this venue shortly after his return in the Spring. Watch for updates with more details on the monks’ teachings soon.
An Update on Meal Dana
New Meal Dana Coordinators
There are two new meal dana coordinators, Matthew and Heather Baucum. They live in Portland, and have been offering monthly meals themselves for several years. We are very happy and fortunate to have them helping to coordinate meal dana for the monks.
If you would like to contact them with any meal dana inquiries, please email them at dana@pacifichermitage.org,
Updated Meal Protocols
The winter weekend meal protocols have slightly changed:
Any number of people/households are welcome to join in on a weekend meal offering. During the winter this usually ranges from 1-8 people, and on rare occasions may go up to 10 or 12 people. There are almost never more than 10-12 people in the winter, but you never know; all are welcome.
All vaccinated weekend visitors may use most of the lower level of the house freely. The monks will make use of the shrine room for their meal. They will keep the windows in the house open to a certain degree, and they ask that everyone wear masks when not eating. The monks will also be wearing masks.
When donors contact the meal dana coordinators, they will ask how many people are in the group, and if anyone in the group is not vaccinated.
If anyone unvaccinated wishes to visit the Hermitage on the weekend, they will need to take an over-the-counter Covid test at home the evening before or the morning before their visit. Please let the monks know of the negative test result upon arrival, privately, or by email the morning of the visit. With a negative test, unvaccinated visitors may use the lower part of the house the same as vaccinated visitors.
All visitors, vaccinated and unvaccinated, are required to wear masks.
Our post-meal Dhamma discussions will occur in the kitchen area of the house with the windows open, unless the visiting group wishes to relocate outside.
Note: All 3 monks are vaccinated and have received booster shots. The majority of weekend visitors have indicated they have also been vaccinated.
“I think that for many of us, there are questions we can ask ourselves like: ‘How far do I want to go with the practice?’ Or ‘How far do I want to go with meditation?’ If the answer is, ‘well, I want to go as far as I possibly can,’ then we’ll need to make decisions for ourselves that reduce the complexity and entanglements in our lives, we’ll need to sort out those things that are helpful for us and those that aren’t. This is how we establish ourselves in right effort.
Ajahn Cunda