Aruna Ratanagiri
Encyclopedia
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
monastery of the Thai Forest Tradition in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The community consists of monks, novices
Samanera
A samanera ) may be translated as novice monk in a Buddhist context. The literal meaning is 'small samana', that is, small renunciate where 'small' has the meaning of boy or girl. In the Vinaya monastic discipline, a man under the age of 20 cannot ordain as a bhikkhu, but can ordain as a samanera...
and postulants
Anagarika
In Theravada Buddhism, an anagarika is a person who has given up most or all of his worldly possessions and responsibilities to commit fulltime to Buddhist practice. It is a midway status between monk and layperson where one takes on the Eight Precepts for the entire anagarika period, which could...
from a wide range of nationalities, usually numbering around 8 Sangha
Sangha
Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
members, and an adjacent lay retreat facility known as Kusala House.
History
The monastery was founded in response to increasing interest, particularly in northeast England, in the Thai Forest Tradition. When, in 1980, a group of local yoga students tried to find a suitable cottage which they could offer as a retreat facility to the Sangha, farmer John Wake of Harnham Hall responded, and they agreed to rent one of his farm cottages. In 1981 AjahnAjahn
Ajahn is a Thai language term which translates as teacher. It is derived from the Pali word , and is a term of respect, similar in meaning to the Japanese sensei, and is used as a title of address for high-school and university teachers, and for Buddhist monks who have passed ten vassa.This...
Sucitto (now the abbot of Cittaviveka/Chithurst Buddhist Monastery
Chithurst Buddhist Monastery
Cittaviveka, popularly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, is a Theravada Buddhist Monastery in the Thai Forest Tradition. It is situated in West Sussex, England in the hamlet of Chithurst between Midhurst and Petersfield...
) became the first bhikkhu
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
to take up residence, and began initial renovations; on June 21, 1981 the monastery was officially opened by Ajahn Sumedho and in that same year the Magga Bhavaka Trust was formed (the monastery now has a new trust: Harnham Buddhist Monastery Trust).
Vision
The primary focus for the Aruna Ratanagiri monastery is to provide and maintain a sanctuary suitable for the training and ongoing practice of Theravadin bhikkhus, in keeping with the PaliPáli
- External links :* *...
vinaya
Vinaya
The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based in the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline...
and forest tradition of Northeast Thailand.
Today, through freely distributed books and Dhamma talks, regular discussion groups and Sunday evening talks, and also in the context of more than 5 times yearly meditation retreats, Harnham offers spiritual support for practitioners far and wide. Monks from Harnham regularly visit meditation groups in the north east of England and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In addition, a lot of non-Buddhist groups and individual visitors, including school and university groups, come to the monastery to learn about Buddhism.
Abbots
• Ajahn Sucitto (1981–1981)• Ajahn Viradhammo (1981–1983)
• Ajahn Anando (1983–1984)
• Ajahn Thiradhammo (1984–1987)
• Ajahn Pabhakaro (1987–1990)
• Ajahn Munindo (1991 – present)
See also
- Thai Forest Tradition
- Ajahn Chah
- Amaravati Buddhist MonasteryAmaravati Buddhist MonasteryAmaravati is a Theravadin Buddhist monastery at the eastern end of the Chiltern Hills in south east England. The centre, in practice as much for ordinary people as for monastics, is inspired by the Thai forest tradition and the teachings of the late Ajahn Chah....
, UK - Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, UK
- Wat Nong Pah PongWat Nong Pah PongWat Nong Pah Pong is the main monastery of the late Thai Forest Tradition meditation master, the Venerable Ajahn Chah...
, Thailand - Wat Pah NanachatWat Pah NanachatWat Pah Nanachat is situated in a small forest in north-east Thailand about fifteen kilometres from the city of Ubon Rachathani. The late Ajahn Chah established the monastery in 1975 to serve as a training community for non-Thais along traditional monastic lines. Its monks, novices and postulants...
, Thailand