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Programs
There are many ways you can visit the center. If you can think of other ways, there is always that possibility too.
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The Summer Meditation Classes will resume:
Meditation Classes are offered at the center each week and
also will be scheduled for locations in Ironton and in Cape Girardeau during the summer months
from June - October. Eventually these will be available year round at the center
through teacher trainees who are intern residents as the center expands.
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Visit the Meditation Center and Monastery:
Day Visits
So you are curious. Can't blame you. Come on down for the day and get
acquainted.
Call in advance and you can have the noonday meal with us at the
center. Find out what Loving Kindness and Compassion Meditation is all
about. Enjoy the gardens. Walk the trails.
Contact Sister Khema by email to make
arrangements.
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Key Benefits
- Get to see the place. Take a break. Go for a walk.
- Get to visit the forest land.
- Get to sit in meditation, get to know us.
- Take a look at the idea of Cessation of Suffering in life. It's a nice practice.
COSTS
- There is no cost to come out and visit the center. The best time to come for the day is following the noonday meal at about 1PM. OR you may come out in the morning about 9AM and join in with the meal time.
- It is traditional to bring a gift out when you visit a Buddhist Center. A gift can be a little it of food, or flowers. A support contribution may be given by you to help the center or you may bring out items needed on the wish list if you desire.
- The Center lives solely on the contributions of students and lay contributors for the success of the project.
Extended Visits
Building the floor of the fist kuti.
Extended visits can be arranged if interested in monastic living. Persons
coming in are encouraged to contribute to building a kuti which will then be
made available for them in the future when they visit the center. There is a
sawmill next to the property that is willing to cut to order the
wood you need for building a small log cabin. The wood can also be kiln dried if
required.
Kuti structures must be approved for the center land plan. The nuns have a specific area where kutis will be developed. The monks have a different area. A small Dhamma hall will be built in each area and a large one will go up in the middle. Building sites are already cleared and roads are installed.
Imagination is all we need to move forward. Building materials are all over this land and many construction options are available. Sawmills are right around the corner from us and can fill an order for an entire house.
Contact Sister Khema
Key Benefits
- The monasitc life is uniquely different from the householders life. It is free and open in a different way.
- To achieve the highest levels in the meditation one can now use their time toward this end.
- Living in an environment where the other people around you are doing the
same thing is very encouraging and supportive.
- Personal Retreats
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Perhaps you have already been doing meditation and you want to sharpen your skills. Or maybe you want to try something a little bit different to see if you can experience and fully comprehend what is described in the texts? If so, you may come into the center for a few days to do a short weekend retreat. Call Sister Khema and make the arrangements for the dates of your visit between June and October. Try for a 4-day weekend if possible. There are various forms of habitats for you to stay in or you can bring a tent into the camping area for a few days. So please consider coming in for 3-4 days and giving this meditation a sincere effort. It's a remarkable adventure and usually people you will be surprised what they can observe it coached just a little bit to observe following specific instructions from the text. |
| Digha Nikaya 28 Section 10 |
In this sutta Sariputta is telling the Buddha why he
respects him so much and holds him in such high esteem as a guiding
teacher. In section 10 he explains that the Buddha is unsurpassed in
explaining to the monks the modes of progress so that they can train
further students. He reiterates what the Buddha has said about
there being three forms of meditation which are considered to be slow
progress and why. Then he empasizes that the Buddha said that "...meditation
that is pleasant and not painful with quick clear comprehension is
considered to be excellent progress." This is what happens when training with Tranquil Wisdom Meditation. It is not painful and one has very quick clear comprehension if one follows the instructions very closely and applies oneself sincerely without adding or taking away anything. |
Besides weekend retreats, you can schedule a personal retreat expand your practice with Bhante. This would consist of coming into the center and staying anywhere from one week up to three or even five weeks. It's up to you. It's very flexible. This is concentrated personalized training.
ROUTINE AND SCHEDULES
Our General schedule has a bit more work time* in it if here is scheduled devlopment projects and there is not a retreat going on formally at that time. Whenever someone is in retreat here, the primary concern is for meditation development and the normal program runs as follows:
5:00 Wake-up call 5:30 AM Meditation group sit and then (sitting and walking) 7:00 AM Breakfast 8:00 - 9:00 AM Group work together* 9:00 - 11:00 AM Meditation 11:00- 12:00 Noon Mealtime 12:00 - 1:00PM REST time 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM Meditation group sit and then (sitting and walking) 5:30 PM - 6 PM Tea time 6 PM - 8 PM Dhamma Talk and questions 8 PM - 10 PM Meditation 10 PM Sleep time = 7 hrs.
Students have excellent access to the teacher
each day, and hear the Dhamma each night while sharing in the work of the center
as needed with whatever is going on. They learn a skill they will be able to use
all the time in life, not just on retreat. Its a great tool for the toolbox of
life! Students feel lighter and happier and find it easy to move back into life
and continue what they are doing all the time. Their lives change for the better
and they become happier. This is the way Meditation was meant to be. This is how
the world can move towards Harmony and Peace.
Many come back year after year to deepen their practice.
COSTS
- The Dhamma is priceless and it is freely given by the monastics with a joyous heart. This center is committed to developing to a level where the Dhamma can be free for everyone. Eventually this will be possible!
- Cost of visiting the facility is $20-50 per day ( as a person is able) which is only covering the cost of facility operations including food, housing. Contact us if there is any difficulty with this cost. Eventually one day, as more students experience this practice and witness how successful it is, and through donations and endowments, the facility will one day be entirely free to all people.
- The Dana given to the teacher goes towards the requisites for the teacher and other monastics in the center. The four requisites are Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Medicine. Dana is given at the end of a retreat visit. Dana is a traditional appreciation for the teachings and training that were given.
Key Benefits
- Get acquainted with the land and sometimes with the simple wonderful people in the area.
- Get a taste of what meditation is all about the way the Buddha was doing it and experience the results described in the texts.
- Take a break from the world and see what its like to be in the forest
void of the city!
Internships and work exchanges can be arranged with the
center
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Ordination Programs
This is a new American Buddhist Forest Tradition that has been started officially in this Rains Retreat year 2006. This was done by decision of a Maha Thera Buddhis Monk, Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi. Training has been going on here now for over 6 years. The training covers Meditation Practice, Sutta studies, and more. The first woman to be ordained in a Samaneri (Novice) ceremony here in the United States with an American Buddhist Forest monk officiating over the ceremony was Sister Khema ( formerly Khanti-Khema).
The Ordination Program is by arrangement with Vernerable Bhante Vimalaramsi who is the Abbot of Jeta's Grove/Anathapindika's Park where Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center is located in Annapolis, MO. Arrangements must be made through contacting him and discussing your request to enter this program.
- The Nun's monastic ordination program primarily takes one year living at
the center where you wear white and abide by the 8 precepts all the time.
You study the meditation daily and learn to listen to the suttas about the
meditation.
- After that, upon review and approval, you then take the Samaneri
(Novice) vows [10 precepts as you are able] and follow these in robes
for about one year minimum.
- After that, then you may apply for full ordination through the Abbot and
continue on as a full Bhikkhuni if desired. The full Ordination, at this
time ( this date of Sept 2006 ) must be done in Sri Lanka. It is our hope that one day we
will be able to do a full ordination here in the US at our center. It take 5 monks and 5 nuns to do a
full ordination ceremony.
- If interested in the program, please contact either
Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi or
Reverend Khema.
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Community Services
- Dhamma Studies
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Offering Meditation training to the community and world at large and practicing Loving Kindness all the time. This, of course, is to gather full comprehension and understanding of the true nature of everything. This meditation can readily assist with sleep disorders, depression, feelings of sadness or loneliness, anxiety, grief or loss of energy and insecure or fearful feelings.
- Community Works
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Sharing Compassionate service is one of our greatest opportunities for generosity and giving to the world the Compassion of the Buddha. There are many peaceful ways to do this in our area. We welcome Veterans to come here when they come home to readjust to being back in the US. This calm environment offers the space needed for quiet adjustment. Call us. - Family Services & Activities
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Several projects are available to join in with involving outdoor activities including herb, vegetable and flower Gardening, light construction on habitats, establishing a naturalist area for birds, bats and other animals, art projects in the forest. Be creative! come up with an idea using natural forest wood and rock to create a small cottage industry
On Sundays there are classes offered for studies ad services for families upon request.- Sharing the stories of the Buddha's life and his teaching in a family setting and having hot chocolate or iced tea and stories by the fire when the weather is nice. There is a free library to browse in and read about many interesting subjects.
Anathapindika's Park, Dhamma
Sukha Meditation Center
RR 1 B0X 100, Annapolis, MO 63620 Contact PH: 573-546-1214
Email webmaster questions to
sisterkhema@dhammasukha.org
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