Ajahn Punnyo (by Ron Livingston)

Our rains retreat (or Vassa) has entered its final week and on Sunday it will come to a close with the Pavarana day, a traditional day to mark the occasion where monks invite their fellow monastics to offer admonishment regarding their behaviour over the last three months. This observance is aimed at fostering communal harmony within a monastery, which usually grows in members for the rains retreat, and it also serves as an important chance to reflect on our own deeds and how we relate to those around us. Shortly after Vassa many monasteries host a Kathina festival where the lay community gather to offer the Kathina robe, and this year Harnham’s is on the 11^th of October (click here for more details). Many guests are expected including Luang Por Sumedho and the Thai Ambassador, His Excellency Mr.Kitti Wasinondh. Our sister monasteries are also hosting Kathina’s - most on different days to ours - and information is on their websites. Back at Harnham, we were happy to be visited by our neighbours, Brian and Lindsey, this week. They had been growing potatoes and decided to offer a bagful as Dana to the monastery. It has been rather an active week all round including a mass visit to the dentist by 5 of us, an inspection of Yurts over at Burnlaw, virtual completion of the wi-fi downloading facility of Dhamma talks at Kusala House and Ajahn Munindo's sabbatical book project going off to the printers. Ajahn's Abhinando visited Micky and Trudy for a night then walked three and half hours back to the monastery (a wee dander compared to Ajahn Punnyo's usual marathons to Hexham and back). And finally this week saw us join in for the big kitchen cleanup, where we made the larder, fridges and oven squeaky clean ready for the visitors at Kathina. the Samanera Ariyo and and Anagarika Gabor were especially diligent with cleaning the oven and kitchen conservatory, an area that is occasionally missed in the daily washing up. We hope you all will come and enjoy it on Sunday 11th.

bolam lake

The days are becoming noticeably shorter but we are still enjoying these lovely late summer/early autumn weather. Ajahn Punnyo’s weekend retreat, which was held over the weekend, went very smoothly. Many of the retreatants were regular and experienced but for others this was their first retreat in Theravada meditation. The teachings were focused on mindfulness of the body and the breath, as well as discussing the theme of the ‘tools’ we can use in meditation to overcome specific hindrances. Immediately following the weekend the monastic community engaged in our own quiet time for a few days. We have now returned to normal schedule (although the on-line calendar indicated we were on retreat for longer. Can’t always believe what you read). The dry stone wall behind Kusala House is being repaired - damage from the time of installing the sewerage system had caused it to gradually lean over to one side looking perilously like it could collapse. A small new store room is being constructed by Samanera Ariyo behind the Dhamma hall. It is interesting (and at times challenging) to notice how apparently straight-forward tasks are not necessarily easy. This applies to the job of tidying up of our monastery address book. Not wanting to rely too much on computers we maintain a paper copy also. This apparently simple task has occupied our resident computer expert Anagarika Gabor for weeks. It seems we are there now. If any of you change your contact details please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Picnic at the Sneep Farm

Our annual Sangha picnic was held on Saturday at The Sneep, the home of Micky and Trudy Macgregor, which is about an hours drive from Harnham. The day started with a shared meal out in the garden where fortunately the sun shone persistently all day (hats and sun-cream were wisely worn). After the meal Ajahn Abhinando and Micky led the Sangha and many friends on a trek around the neighbouring countryside, up hills, through woods and over streams and after three and a half hours (seven and a half miles) we returned to the garden for a cup of tea. The following day Harnham Monastery was paid a visit from Peter Harvey, the Buddhist scholar and Professor at Sunderland University. He led a day of study on the suttas, focusing on the Mahasatipatthana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya. In this crucial discourse The Buddha expounded the four foundations of mindfulness as a means to liberation. We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to Professor Harvey for his time and effort and we eagerly await his next study day. Ajahn Munindo reached the age of 58 this Wednesday. Abramina offered a full Dana to commemorate the day, and also her last day at the Monastery as she leaves for The Netherlands on Thursday. We wish her a safe journey and hope she returns soon.

On Friday Ajahn Punnyo’s weekend retreat begins in which 20 or so meditators are expected to join in a few days of mindfulness and reflection, and at the same time Ajahn Abhinando is visiting Edinburgh to also lead a retreat for the weekend. This union of meditation joining the two countries is an inspiring thing to witness and we hope to see many people attending.