We are canceling today’s social because of the thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon. Stay tuned for the next social later in the summer on August 26!

Everyone is welcome to attend our community social on July 15^th at Christie Pitts Park between 12 noon and 2pm.  Someone will be at the entrance to the park right across from the Christie/Bloor subway exit to direct people to our location.

This is an opportunity to meet up with fellow members.  build community, welcome new members and strengthen our Sangha. 

There will be another social on August 26th, same time and place.  Please join us if you can on one or both of those dates and bring your lunch, beverage and a portable seat if you have one.

This year’s AGM will be held on Sunday, July 9, at 12:15 pm following the morning session. We will be meeting in-person at the Transense Healing Arts Centre at 344 Bloor St W., unit 610. The centre can be accessed by using the call panel outside the main door on the street. We also will be providing remote access for those unable to attend in-person, using the same Zoom link as the regular Sunday morning sessions.

The agenda for the meeting and other material can be found online at this link. More items will be added as they become available.

If you have any questions about any of these items, we encourage you to ask them ahead of time to help focus the discussion during the meeting. You can leave your questions or comments for the Steering Committee in the Contact Us form at the bottom of this page.

The Theravada Buddhist Community would like to invite you to a Day of Mindfulness on Sunday, June 25, 2023. The retreat will be available online using the Zoom platform. This retreat will start at 9 am EDT and finish by 3:30 pm. Ayya Medhanandi will join us for a Dhamma talk at 9:30 am. In the afternoon, we will virtually join the Sunday Meditation program at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, which will be led by Ayya Medhanandi and Ayya Anuruddha.

Ayya Medhanandi

Ayya Medhanandi is the daughter of Eastern European refugees who emigrated to Montreal after the World War 2. She is the founder and guiding teacher of Sati Saraniya Hermitage, a forest monastery for women in the Theravada tradition. She began a spiritual quest in childhood that led her to India, Burma, England, New Zealand, Malaysia, Taiwan, and finally back to Canada. In1988 while in Burma, Ayya requested full ordination as a bhikkhuni from her teacher Venerable Sayadaw U Pandita. However, this was not yet possible for Theravada Buddhist women. Instead, Sayadaw granted her ordination as a ten precept nun on the condition that she keep her vows for life. When a military coup closed Myanmar’s border, Sayadaw blessed Ayya to join the Ajahn Chah Forest Sangha at Amaravati. After 10 years, Ayya felt called to practice as a hermit nun in New Zealand for six years and later in Southeast Asia. In 2007, after nearly 20 years as a novice alms-mendicant nun, Ayya fulfilled her long held wish for full bhikkhuni ordination in Taiwan. In 2008, on invitation from the Toronto Buddhist Community and Ottawa Buddhist Society, Ayya returned to her native Canada to establish Sati Saraniya Hermitage.

Ayya Anuruddha

Ayya Anuruddha of the United Kingdom joined Sati Saraniya Hermitage community in May 2014. After her initial year as an anagarika she began her life as an alms-mendicant nun in September 2014. This deepened her spiritual commitment to the Buddha’s path of monastic training. Her higher ordination as a bhikkhuni was conducted on December 3, 2017 at Dhamma Dharini Monastery in California with Ayya Tathaaloka as preceptor. The Pali name Anuruddha means “One Who is in Harmony”. It was also the name of a beloved cousin of the Buddha, one of his chief disciples renowned for his penetrating Dhamma vision, skillfulness, devotion and noble qualities of heart.

To join our Zoom Meeting, click on this link:

The Day of Mindfulness will include meditation, mindfulness instructions and Buddhist reflections.

Registration is not required. If you would like to donate to the Sati Saraniya Hermitage for this event, please use the TBC donation page and include a message that the donation is for Ayyas Day of Mindfulness retreat. 100% of all donations will be passed on to the Hermitage.

We look forward to you joining us on June 25th.

Schedule

Dear Friends,

The Theravada Buddhist Community is pleased to announce that on Sunday, June 11th at 10:00am Tan Sirimedho will be joining us during our weekly meditation session to offer a dhamma talk and if time permits followed by a short question and answers period.

If you have questions about Dhamma or your practice for Tan Sirimedho, please use the Contact Us form at the bottom of this page to submit them. Tan Sirimedho will try to address as many questions as possible during his talk.

Tan Sirimedho

Sirimedho Bhikkhu was born in Ontario to a Mennonite family and raised in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. After returning to Ontario, his spiritual search took him on a pilgrimage to India and a couple of long retreats at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS). This culminated in a strong desire to ordain. Unfortunately, during this time he became chronically ill. After many years, during which he visited Tisarana and forest monasteries regularly, he recovered well enough to pursue ordination. He took on Anagarika precepts at Tisarana in January 2017, ordained as a Samanera (novice) in December 2017 in Chennai, India, and was accepted into the Bhikkhu Sangha on September 16, 2018, with Luang Por Viradhammo as Preceptor.

This session is available on Zoom at our regular Sunday morning Zoom link: Sunday Morning Zoom

Looking forward to seeing you there.

TBC

Dear Friends,

The Theravada Buddhist Community is pleased to announce that on Sunday, May 28th at 10:00am Phra Ajahn Pavaro will be joining us during our weekly meditation session to offer a dhamma talk and if time permits followed by a short question and answers period.

If you have questions about Dhamma or your practice for Ajahn Pavaro, please use the Contact Us form at the bottom of this page to submit them. Ajahn Pavaro will try to address as many questions as possible during his talk.

Ajahn Pavaro

Ajahn Pavaro early formative monastic training began in 2001 with Ajahn Sona at Sitavana Forest Monastery in British Columbia. He spent his seventh year as a Bhikkhu with his preceptor, Luang Por Pasanno, and the Sangha at Abhayagiri Monastery. In 2010 he moved to Thailand and spent close to 10 years with Ajahn Achalo at Anandagiri Monastery in Petchabun. He benefited from periods of practice at Wat Pah Nanachat and from opportunities to receive teachings from leading elders of the Wat Non Pah Pong Sangha, including Luang Por Liem and Tan Ajahn Anan. In June 2020 Ajahn Pavaro was welcomed to Tisarana, where he now resides.

This session is available on Zoom at our regular Sunday morning Zoom link: Sunday Morning Zoom

Looking forward to seeing you there.

TBC