Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

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Tom
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Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by Tom »

I'm interested in possibly traveling to a monastery in North America, apart of the Ajahn Chah lineage, such as Abhayagiri, to learn the Dhamma and meditation. Are any of these monasteries available for me to stay overnight for a good amount of time, in the upcoming weeks, in order to do this?
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appicchato
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Re: Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by appicchato »

http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/country.php?country_id=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Loads to choose from...many having websites...contact them with your queries...
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James the Giant
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Re: Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by James the Giant »

Contact them weeks in advance... They are really full and demand for guest layperson beds is high. I had to take a tent the last time I visited a monastery.
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Abhayagiri is always open to guests, but as others have said, it takes a while to get a reservation. I recently returned from a stay there and it was very nice.
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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Cittasanto
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Re: Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by Cittasanto »

Ajahn Chah related monasteries are about to go into winter retreat so they are not very likely to allow visitors.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
Tom
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Re: Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by Tom »

Can lay people join these winter retreats in order to learn and practice dhamma and meditation, or are they strictly for monastics?
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James the Giant
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Re: Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by James the Giant »

ccharles wrote:Can lay people join these winter retreats in order to learn and practice dhamma and meditation, or are they strictly for monastics?
Laypeople are usually welcome. But you have to be known as a reliable person and pretty committed. And it's usual that you have stayed for some time at that monastery before, and get on with some of the monks.
I visited for two weeks before the rains, they saw I was serious and reliable, and when I asked to stay for the 3 month rains they said sure. It was gooood.
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
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Cittasanto
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Re: Ajahn Chah "lineage" monasteries in North America

Post by Cittasanto »

ccharles wrote:Can lay people join these winter retreats in order to learn and practice dhamma and meditation, or are they strictly for monastics?
The Lay support team are there to support the community there so there is work but there is time for personal/group practice. however this isn't a lay teaching period and it is a time for the community to practice and retreat away from interaction (although there maybe some interaction and teaching for lay people on certain occasions it is not like a retreat for the lay support crew in the same way a retreat is a retreat.

Joining is through approval and a previous stay is needed, although exceptions for people known to community members may happen, each monastery may have its own policy here.

This period is not for any stop over guests and the support team is chosen months in advance in some instances although last minuet changes happen you are not likely to be accepted at this stage.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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