Karuna Buddhist Vihara

New Things are Happening!

8/2/2022

The workshop is up and ready for use, and so is the new UTV!

The finished workshop and new UTV

The much-needed new workshop is now complete, sitting snugly next to the storage "turtle". The structure is ready just in time to house the new UTV (Utility Terrain/Task Vehicle) and will also hold lumber, tools, a workbench, and other materials. The new UTV is important for carrying construction materials and passengers up the steep hill to kuti sites. Thanks to all the many donors, volunteers and workers who made these possible! The workshop and UTV will be essential to the Hermitage development in the coming years.

Kuti #2 is Almost Finished

Ayya Santussika sits on the front step of the second kuti.

The second kuti is nearly finished, only needing caulk, paint, and curtains. It's located up the hill from the main house in a beautiful clearing by a creek bed. This kuti is wired for electricity, ready for potential solar. The new UTV has already come in handy hauling materials to the site.

Where Do You Put a 400 Pound Buddha Statue???

Ayya Cittananda builds the shrine pedestal.

The garden below the main house will soon have a new shrine, with an exquisite volcanic stone Buddha rupa that has been generously donated by a devoted couple from the East Bay. Ayya Cittananda and others have been constructing a large pedestal with cottage stones, hopefully with a mosaic top as a finish. The plan is to plant KBV's Bodhi tree, hang the beautiful new monastery bell nearby with a path around for circumambulation, and create a sitting area for ceremonies. We're looking forward to completing this sacred outdoor space in time for the Kathina Celebration.

Kathina Committee Volunteers Needed

This year’s Kathina will take place on Saturday October 29. We are planning to offer a hybrid event again which will be held outdoors at KBV and on Zoom. A committee is being formed to help with technology, site preparation, flowers, etc. If you would like to help please email me at lindabemail5@gmail.com
- Linda Booth, Kathina Sponsor

Dhamma Reflection

Hermitage garden tree rupa

I cherish the opportunities I have to be kind, generous and to share the Dhamma. Currently, a theme running through those opportunities has been the clarity that happiness and suffering exist in the mind. We often think our happiness is outside ourselves. We reach for something "out there" for happiness or maybe just for a bit of relief from discomfort. We are also generally convinced that our suffering comes from outside ourselves. After all, aren't there at least half a dozen things you can point to right now as the source of your pain, irritation, or aggravation? We also reach into the future and into the past to evoke both happiness and suffering.

When we stop to reflect, we recognize that the happiness or relief we find in this way is so fleeting. And the suffering is endless. Then we might conclude that we just need to work harder, be more patient or smarter in the way we engage with the world, the past or the future. But actually, this isn't the problem. The problem begins with the wrong view that happiness and suffering are outside the mind. Shifting to the right view that real happiness lies within the mind and that suffering cannot invade the mind once we understand it, changes the whole field of experience.

This shift does not come from positive thinking, spiritual bypassing, or wishing or willing it to be so. It comes from practicing all the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path. The beauty of this is that in any moment, from the beginning of our practice as we develop virtue, samadhi and wisdom, we can pause and remember that the problem and the power lie within the mind. That's where the game changes.

- Ayya Santussika

With Mettā
The Newsletter Team

The Hermitage is Growing!

6/15/2022

The foundation for the new workshop is curing.

The Workshop
As the weather warms, the Ayyas are making progress on the new workshop. Thanks to generous supporters and volunteers, the concrete foundation is poured and is curing. This foundational step brings us closer to a workshop to store construction tools and a utility task vehicle (UTV) which will carry tools and materials to kuti building sites up the hill. The UTV will be purchased when the metal structure workshop is completed later this month.

Bridge building begins in March 2022.

The Bridge
The UTV will need a sturdy bridge to cross the spring creek up behind the house, and work has started on this aluminum bridge. As soon as the site is cleared this month, the bridge will need crossbars placed for it to be moved to its permanent site. Then, it will need its decking installed and anchoring performed. We hope to have a work party help with next steps for the bridge.

Ayya Santussika teaches in White Salmon, Washington, in May.

White Salmon
Ayya Santussika taught in White Salmon, Washington, in May at the invitation of the Columbia River Theravada Circle (CRTC). For this first visit to the Columbia River Gorge area she taught on “The Joy that Leads to Awakening.” Over twenty gathered at Yoga Samadhi to hear the Dhamma from Ayya. We have much mudita for the invitation by CRTC. Perhaps this first step will lead to others in the Gorge area.

Ayya Cittananda and Ayya Santussika teaching together in 2020.

Cloud Mountain
Both Ayya Cittananda and Ayya Santussika led a seven night retreat at Cloud Mountain in Washington state in early June. Twenty-two practitioners attended to hear teachings on and practice with "Infusing our Life with the Dhamma" This is the Ayyas' third year teaching at Cloud Mountain.

We Found a Bell!
While in Washington state, the Ayyas visited a noted bell maker to see about a bell for the Hermitage. They found a beautiful bell with a copper patina and a sound that makes their hearts sing! The bell maker is able to make an 8 foot tall stand, all metal and portable.

With the help of supporters, this bell and its stand can be installed at the Hermitage this summer. It will call people from throughout the property to come in for the meal or meditation. Please contact us if you have questions about supporting the bell.

Dhamma
The foundation leads to the workshop, the workshop leads to the UTV. The bridge brings the UTV to the construction. Construction leads to the kutis. The Buddha used the image of rain on a mountain to illustrate natural progressions.

"It’s like when it rains heavily on a mountain top, and the water flows downhill to fill the hollows, crevices, and creeks. As they become full, they fill up the pools. The pools fill up the lakes, the lakes fill up the streams, and the streams fill up the rivers. And as the rivers become full, they fill up the ocean." [SN 12:23, Bhante Sujato translation]

"It's the same with our practice. Developing virtue leads to joy, which leads in turn to tranquility, to happiness, to deep stillness, to knowledge and insight, to disillusionment, to dispassion, and finally to awakening. " - Ayya Santussika

As always the home page has the upcoming events, and the teachings are posted on our video channel.

Much mettā,
The Newsletter Team