Dear Friends and Supporters of Vimokkharam,

 

just a few notable things to share... This weekend we will not only be celebrating Mother's Day, but also saying goodbye to Ajahn Bom after over 4 years here. He will return to Thailand on Monday night with the intention to spend this year's rains' retreat back at Wat Boonyawad. We may see him back here again at some point, but the future on this is still in the realm of the unknown. Please join us in saying goodbye if you want to catch him one more time in Australia. He has been a great and stalwart presence here through hard times and good :-)

 

The monastery will be closed to visitors this Wednesday May 17th, and there will be no monks going on alms round that day. With two monks still in residence after Ajahn Bom leaves, the hermitage will still be open as normal on all other days, including Thursdays.

 

There is a bit of confusion around Wesak celebrations this year, with the Thai lunar calendar having a 'leap year', or extra month inserted, so while some communities have already celebrated the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha, here at Vimokkharam we will be celebrating this day on the upcoming full-moon day of Saturday, June 3rd. There will be both a morning program and an evening program, for those of you who are interested in joining us for extra chanting and meditation until midnight. Please see the attached flyers for more details.

 

And finally, next Sunday May 21st will be the occasion for our regular forest working bee, from roughly 11am until 1pm. We hope to get back into the forest to restart work on our stream frontage management program (i.e. weeding), but we'll see how much the weather cooperates with our plans. As always, anyone is welcome to participate for all or for part, and to join us for the communal meal offering at 10am...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there!

 

Very best wishes,

Ajahn Hāsapañño