Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

Rugged InterdependencyThe construction of a sizeable new building near to the main house, consistingof disabled-access accommodation, bathroom and office space was completed inApril of 2006. This new amenity has helped enormously in allowing the varioustasks of the community to be carried out more efficiently and peacefully, sinceeveryone is no longer crammed into a couple of small spaces in order to do theirwork, as was the case from 1996-2005.Sakula of Portland, along with Jim Cameron of Florida, Jaya Karlson ofMassachusetts and eight others, most of whom are not mentioned in these pages,have been part of a lay ministry training program known as CALM (Communityof Abhayagiri Lay Ministers) since it was launched in 2001.Some of the members of the Upasika community felt they would like more indepthand specific training, to help them fulfill the various roles they had in leadinglocal groups or teaching in some capacity. Thus this training was hatched.The group of 11 trainees graduated in April of 2004. They come from California,Wisconsin, Oregon, Florida, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Alberta, Canada.This is the first such group associated with any of the Ajahn Chah monasteriesaround the world; it is a very experimental venture.The hope is that they will not only be better equipped to teach and run groupsbut that they will also be able to carry out functions that monastics cannot do,such as perform weddings, as well as to be chaplains for schools, hospitals or themilitary – some have already begun to serve in these roles.In January of 2006 Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Sudanto and I took the whole group,plus a few significant others, to Thailand to visit various monasteries and highlyaccomplished teachers, and to attend the annual gathering at Wat Nong Pah Pongthat occurs around the anniversary of Ajahn Chah’s passing away.In 2002 Dennis Crean, one of the CALM trainees, purchased a house on20 acres of land across the valley from Abhayagiri. At New Year of 2003, HuckRorick purchased 220 acres adjacent to Dennis, also adjoining our property, alongRussian River, in the hope of it being developed as a place for members of the laycommunity who want to be near the Monastery.In 1998 James Baraz launched an initiative through Spirit Rock, calledCommunity Dharma Leaders. It was a two-and-a-half year program and involvedabout 80 participants, mostly those leading Vipassanā meditation groups aroundAmerica and Canada. I came along and helped with some of the training sessionsand became so impressed with the usefulness of such a training that we launchedthe CALM program and about half our trainees joined up as part of the secondbatch of James’s students – CDL2.122