Dear Friends,

This fall the Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC) invites you to join a six week virtual study program by Tan Amarasiri, a resident bhikkhu at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery.

The theme of the program is “Great lives inspiring right practice”. It will be held weekly, on Thursdays, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., starting September 21st and ending October 26th, 2023.

The idea is to come together weekly, discuss and understand key aspects of the lives of some of the Buddha’s disciples to encourage right understanding, resulting in right application. Each session will be a blend of instruction and discussion, followed by a period for questions and answers.

We ask the interested to commit to all six weeks (barring unforeseen circumstances) and register in advance.

Program Details

Week 1 (September 21) – Sariputta, the embodiment of right understanding

Week 2 (September 28) – Mahamoggallana, the embodiment of right unification

Week 3 (October 5) – Ananda, the embodiment of devotion and service

Week 4 (October 12) – Khema, the embodiment of renunciation and discernment

Week 5 (October 19) – Visaka, the embodiment of generosity

Week 6 (October 26) – Anathapindika, the embodiment of right livelihood

Tan Amarasiri

Amarasiri Bhikkhu was born and raised in Chennai, India. His education and career led him to live in many parts of the world. Venerable Amarasiri moved to Toronto in 2009 and attended a Vipassana retreat in the Goenka Tradition where he was inspired by the teachings and practice of Theravada Buddhism. On his very first visit to Tisarana, his interaction with Luang Por Viradhammo impacted Ven. Amarasiri to commit to the Theravadin Monastic life. He subsequently took Anagarika precepts in November 2016, Samanera Precepts in September 2017 and was accepted into the Bhikkhu Sangha in September 2018 with Luang Por Viradhammo as Preceptor.

Fees

In keeping with the Thai Forest Tradition, there is no cost for this program.

Dana

Participants are welcome to offer dana to the Tisarana Dhamma Hall. Donations can be made here. Choose Tisarana Dhamma Hall Fund when making the donation. 100% of the donations will be transferred to Tisarana.

Registration

To register, click here. Registrations close on Monday, September 11th. We hope you can join us.

TBC member Nithya is facilitating the program, please email her at nithyarcaleb@gmail.com for clarifications.

Thanks,

Nithya

Dear Friends,

The Theravada Buddhist Community is pleased to announce that on Sunday, July 23rd at 10:00am Luang Por Viradhammo 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 Luang Por Viradhammo, please use the Contact Us form at the bottom of this page to submit them. Luang Por will try to address as many questions as possible during his talk.

Luang Por Viradhammo

Ajahn Viradhammo is the founder and abbot of Tisarana Buddhist Monastery in Perth, Ontario. He took bhikkhu (monastic) ordination in Thailand in 1974 at Wat Pah Pong with Ajahn Chah. He was on of the first residents at Wat Pah Nanachat, the international monastery in northeast Thailand. In 1977, he was asked by Ajahn Chah to join Ajahn Sumedho at the Hampstead Vihara in London. Later, he was involved in the establishment of both the Chithurst and Harnham monasteries in the UK. In 1985, he moved to New Zealand, where he lived for 10 years, setting up Bodhinyanarama monastery. In 1995, he went to the UK to assist Ajahn Sumedho at Amaravati and stayed for four years before returning to New Zealand, where he lived until 2002. He then returned to Ottawa where he cared for his mother for nine years. He is now a full time resident at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery.

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

Looking forward to seeing you there.

TBC

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