Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

Rugged InterdependencyThey are not generally so keen on the city temples, which tend to focus on culturalelements rather that just on meditation and spirituality. Gwendolyn Cadge, ofPrinceton University, has written on this kind of cross-pollination and the fact thatone can’t truly say that there is one Buddhism in America for the white middle classand one for the Asian immigrants – Seeking the heart: The first generation practicesTheravāda Buddhism in America [www.cis.org/articles].Ajahn Maha-Prasert has ordained a young Caucasian American man,Tan Michael, at his temple in Fremont. Along with the City of Ten ThousandBuddhas monastics who come to our ordinations, Ajahn Maha-Prasert always eithercomes himself or sends representative monks. During 2006, while Ajahn Pasannowas away in Thailand on sabbatical, Ajahn Maha-Prasert graciously stepped in toact as preceptor for the bhikkhu ordination of Tan Sampajāno.He has also become a teacher and mentor for the former Yeo‐Kwang Sunim,now better known as Ayya Tathāloka Bhikkhunī, an American nun originallyordained in the Korean tradition. He has taken her along with his group whenreturning to visit Thailand and has offered to help her stay there if she would liketo. He sees her example could be a great encouragement for Thai people to acceptthe reintroduction of the bhikkhunī order.She has now established, with the vigorous encouragement ofAjahn Maha‐Prasert, her own Monastery in Fremont, called Dhammadharini[www.dhammadharini.org].In the late 1990s Thich Nhat Hanh shifted the emphasis of his teaching, fromlay students and a group of trained lay teachers (Dharmacariyas) onto the monasticorder. He began vigorously to encourage monastic training and, consequently,many young people have gone forth under his guidance since then – their monasticcommunity now numbers more than 200, mostly ordained within the last tenyears.Maple Forest Monastery (for monks) was founded in Vermont in 1997, as thefirst branch of Plum Village – their main center in France – and Green MountainDharma Center (for nuns), also in Vermont, opened in 1998; Deer Park Monastery,Escondido, California was founded shortly after. In February 2004 Thich NhatHanh gathered all 200+ of his monastics together at Deer Park for a three monthretreat.Chozen and Hogen Bays, finding the development of their communityconstantly frustrated by planning restrictions, finally moved away fromthe Columbia Gorge in 2002. The newly opened Great Vow Zen Monastery[www.greatvow.org] is just outside the town of Clatskanie, about 40 miles northwestof Portland. They continue to be keen on inter-lineage Buddhist exchanges; in theautumn of 2003 I co-led another retreat with Chozen and Hogen there, as a way ofoffering support to their new venture.131