Dana List and Announcements

Thursday, 10 January 2008

Winter Retreat

The Monastery is gradually settling in to quiet retreat mode whilst the world swirls on around it. On Wednesday the local hunt circled about the hill and spent all day weaving back and forth in the vicinity. On Thursday the power was cut, and the Electricity Board men came swooping in like the SAS, carrying chain saws and swinging bravely from ropes high up in the trees hanging over the back of the monastery.
For several days there have been strong piercing winds blowing in the winter cold. In the main house the central heating broke down and for 4 days David and Sebastian were bringing in wood and burning it in the Castle stove as the only way to keep the house warm. By Tuesday it became clear that the fault was in the wiring and Kevin Vallely came and managed to restore heating to the house.

10th January 2008

Dana List -

useful food items

Cheese
Soy Milk
Juice

And non-food items

A Visitors Book
Betadine

Current Announcements

The Calendar for 2008

The Calendar for 2008 is now available for download as a single PDF file. Please note the size is over 890 kB, so it might take few minutes to download it. To download please click here.

Our monastery will be on Winter retreat from 5th of January until 31st of March. We will not be taking any guests again until till the end of March. Only occasionally Dhamma talks might be given during the three months retreat and in such circumstances the talks will be podcasted. We expected to resume weekly talks early in April.

Hilltop Newsletter
The Hilltop Newsletter Winter 2007/8 was has been uploaded. For the newspaper please click here.

Date Mistake - Magha Puja
Unfortunately we made a mistake by announcing Magha Puja as 21st March in our pictorial calendar. It should read 21st February. Sorry about that.

Support team
If anyone would like to spend a month or more supporting the Sangha throughout the winter retreat please contact us here.

Guesthouse manager needed
At Aruna Ratanagiri we are looking for a new guest house manager. Applicants need to be male, fluent in English, comfortably familiar with Theravada Buddhist monastic practice, and able with general repair work. Also, they will need to have a clean driver's licence and be able to commit for at least one year. The caretaker will receive without charge: a single room, two meals a day, the opportunity to participate in retreats and the opportunity to participate in daily meditations. For more information please click here.

Email us from our contact page on http://www.ratanagiri.org.uk/ or phone us on (0166) 188 1612.

Websites manager
We have been wondering if any of our regular friends and supporters have the time and skill to assist the monastery in managing www.ratanagiri.org and www.kusalahouse.org websites. If you are interested please contact Tan Nyanamoli for an appointment to discuss.

New Dhamma talk available
Most recent talks given at Aruna Ratanagiri are available as podcasts or download. Please click here.
The most recently posted talk G.O.D.S. to Believe In was given by Ajahn Munindo on New Year's Eve at Aruna Ratanagiri Monastery.

Sunday Practice Afternoons
We will now hold practise afternoons at Harnham one Sunday of each month from 2 to 5pm. See our calendar for further dates.

A two CD set of a reading of "The Dhammapada for Contemplation."
If you are interested in receiving this please contact the monastery.

For the regular notices please see our newsletter here.

Friday, 4 January 2008

Entering Stillness

Snow Buddha

With the winter weather closing in, the monastery is preparing to enter the traditional 3 month retreat on 7 January. The New Years Eve Gathering of Forgiveness and Aspiration was well attended by about 70 people. On Thursday the hill experienced blizzard conditions and several vehicles got stuck in 5 inches of snow. However the Sangha and the neighbours helped to to dig and pull them out and clear the way.

4th January 2008

Dana List -

useful food items

cheese
soy milk
juice

And non-food items

Kitchen Towel
A Visitors Book

Current Announcements

For the regular notices please see our newsletter here.

Thursday, 27 December 2007

Building a meditation garden

On Sunday the community was licking stamps and stuffing envelopes, sending out the New Year card and Hilltop to the network of friends and supporters across the country and continent. The Christmas Eve Children's Event was well attended, with several clans gathering from all over Northumbria, culminating in Tan Hiriko's candlelit circumambulation. On Boxing Day and Thursday guests began to gather, everyone a different nationality: Thai, Malaysian, Italian, Dutch and even someone from Tottenham, proclaiming that the Northumbrian weather is very "potatoes". (As in "potatoes in mold"which means "cold" in Cockney ryhming slang.)
Those living up here will know that, in fact, the weather has taken a very mild turn. So much so that the ice on Bolam lake has now melted, and the frost covering Harnham hill disappeared.

Thursday, 20 December 2007

Helpful Herman from Holland

On Friday our hardy Scottish treasurer, Clive drove south over the freezing border to spend the day working on the monastery accounts with Penny, the Trust's secretary. It was the quarterly reckoning. Saturday saw Ajahn Abhinando winging his way back from Italy, and on Monday Anagarika Trevor migrated North for our winter retreat. He joins us having originally taken the eight precepts with Ajahn Sucitto at Chithurst monastery in October 2006.

Although we don't have a resident caretaker, our good friend Herman from Holland has been diligently tidying up various untidy corners of the monastery, for which we are very grateful.
On Wednesday Ruth Thompson dropped in to do some gardening and to organise the annual Xmas Eve children's events. Children and helpers of all ages are welcome to the gathering,which will begin after the meal and continue through until a small circumambulation, mid afternoon.