Coming and Goings
- Early November Ajahn Sudanto and a large group of Upasikas from Portland Friends of the Dhamma were able to gather together with the Sangha at Abhayagiri Monastery for the events of the annual Kathina Ceremonies.
- Mid November Ajahn Sudanto, Venerable Jotimanto and a couple Dhamma friends from Portland drove up for a weeklong visit to Birken Forest Monastery, and to bring Ven. Jotimanto for an planned extended period practicing at Birken with Ajahn Sona.
- Ajahn Sudanto will be departing Thursday December 5th for several weeks in Japan and Thailand visiting friends, teachers and fellow monks. He’ll return Janruary 9th, along with Venerable Hemako from Abhayagiri (see below), who will be spending the Winter Retreat Period at the Hermitage.
Winter Break for Yoga Samadhi Meditations
With Ajahn Sudanto away in asia for several weeks, the weekly Tuesday meditation events at Yoga Samadhi will be on winter break from December 10th – January 7th. They will resume after the New Year on January 14th.
New Mailing Address
The Pacific Hermitage has a new mailing address. The new address is on our website contact page for reference. If you have a contact for us please, update it to the following mailing address;
56 Snowden
White Salmon, WA
98672
2025 Birken Retreat Registration is Open
Read the featured post on our home page for details and a link to the registration form.
We will be accepting registrations from Dec. 1 – Jan. 18th.
Venerable Hemako
Venerable Hemako was born in 1990 in rural Massachusetts. Curious about nature and the universe he studied physics at university and began meditating in his early 20s. After graduating he worked in education and on a vegetable farm before moving to New Zealand. There he first visited an Ajahn Chah branch monastery. To pursue monastic life he traveled to Abhayagiri, where he took anagārika ordination in 2022, novice ordination in 2023, and obtained full acceptance into the Bhikkhu Sangha in 2024 .
Ven. Hemako will be arriving in early Janruary 2025 for the winter retreat at the hermitage.