Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

Epilogue“…go on with your story.”More than eight years have passed since the time Golden Highways Revisited waswritten. Many changes have come about in the places and people described: somehave died, some have married; some institutions have blossomed, some have crumpledand disappeared.In order to give the reader a continuing sense of the evolution and flow ofthese changes, here are listed some of the details of what has come after; they arearranged in no particular order.Sāmaneras Ñānamuni and Pāsādiko both left the community within the year;the repeated absences of one of their ajahns (namely moi) being cited as one of thecauses. My schedule for the latter part of 1998 was cut back, events were cancelledand, since this time, the community as a whole has decided on what invitations areto be accepted or not. Prior to this time it had been my choice alone. A brief tallyingof the talks and retreats I gave, and the meetings and ceremonies I attended in the105 days covered by the journal, should serve amply to show what saying Yes toeverything can lead to:Dialogues and meetings: ~ 68Days leading retreats (i.e. usually at least one talk per day): ~ 47Dhamma talks (not during retreats): ~ 19Ceremonies: ~ 15Spirit Rock has gone from strength to strength. Their retreats and classesare mostly full but there are still endless discussions about the amount tocharge people and how to live as lay teachers within the dāna principle[www.spiritrock.org].Norman Fischer retired from the post of co-abbot of Zen Center. He now headsup his own small organization, Everyday Zen, dedicated to making Buddhistpractices and principles as widely accessible as possible [www.everydayzen.org].Anagarika Don Sperry was ordained as Bhikkhu Jotipālo at Abhayagiri in Julyof 2000; after his fifth Rains, in 2005, he made a tudong pilgrimage, with a laycompanion, Austin Stewart, living on alms and walking beside the MississippiRiver, heading northwards from its mouth. The journey was much hindered bysickness but the account of the whole adventure can be read on the Abhayagiriwebsite: [www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/article/mississippi_journal/].118