Retreat - August 2024

Issue 32: Successful 2-Day Retreat with Taan Ajaan Geoff

Greetings,

Aranya Refuge and the Victoria Insight Meditation Society were honoured to co-sponsor a non-residential weekend retreat with Taan Ajaan Geoff (Thanissaro Bhikkhu) on Aug 17 and Aug 18 2024 in Victoria, BC. The topic was Stream Entry. 105 participants attended in person and 145 participants joined online via Zoom. We are grateful to Taan Ajaan Geoff for sharing the dhamma with us and we are thrilled that so many people were able to listen and receive teachings on this rarely taught dhamma topic.
 

Audio Recordings from the Retreat

Recordings from the weekend are available here:

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Exciting News: Aranya's Two-Month Feb/Mar 2025 Monastery

Aranya Refuge is organizing a two-month monastery in rural Sooke, BC, one hour west of Victoria, BC. Monks from Metta Forest Monastery will reside in a rented house for the months of February and March 2025.

A second rented house on an adjacent property will serve as the meditation hall (sala), kitchen and dining area and a gathering place for lay guests.
The rural setting and forest nearby offer opportunities for walking and, or sitting meditation inside or outdoors.

Those wishing to offer food for the monks are welcome to drop by.

We encourage Day Visitors to join the meditation gatherings, meal offerings, and take advantage of being in a monastery setting.

There will be some overnight guest accommodations for one-week stays (Monday to Sunday).

Look for more information in our next newsletter: Registrations open Oct 1 2025.

📰 Aranya Refuge featured in Northwest Dharma Newsletter

Aranya Refuge was invited to submit an article to Northwest Dharma about its activities.

You can read it here: Creating a Temporary Thai Forest Monastery As a Stepping Stone to a Permanent Monastery

Anumodana for supporting the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.

Aranya Refuge Board of Directors:

Taan Ajaan Geoff
Jacqui Balfour
Brock Brown
Russ Callaghan
June Fukushima
Irfan Pirbhai

Issue 31: Invitation to Ajaan Geoff Retreat August 2024

We are pleased to invite you to attend a weekend of teachings from Taan Ajaan Geoff, abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego county. Taan Ajaan will be visiting Victoria, BC Canada to offer teachings in person and online. The topic of the retreat is Stream Entry.

These teachings are hosted by two Victoria organizations, Aranya Refuge and Victoria Insight Meditation Society (VIMS).

  • August 17 (Sat) & August 18 (Sun) 2024

  • 9 am - 4 pm PDT (Pacific Time)

  • Sngequ House, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Description

The Buddha taught that there are four levels of awakening.The first level — called “stream entry” and “the gaining of the Dharma Eye” — is the point where you gain your first glimpse of the deathless. This is a momentous event in the practice. It marks the point where you are guaranteed full awakening within at the most seven lifetimes, and in the meantime, you are safe from being reborn on any level in the cosmos below the human.

This weekend retreat — through readings, talks, meditation, and discussion — will focus on the Buddha’s recommendations for how to attain stream-entry, and his description of the characteristics of a person who has entered the stream.

Reading Materials

Taan Ajaan Geoff has prepared the following readings for the retreat:

Schedule

  • 09:00  - 11:15   Guided meditation, teachings and Q&A

  • 11:15  - 13:00   Break

  • 13:00  - 16:00   Guided meditation, teachings and Q&A  (includes a break mid-afternoon)

Registering


In Person

Click here to register for attending in person in Victoria, BC.
After registering, you will receive information about the venue location.

Online

Click here to register for attending online using Zoom.
After registering, you will receive the links for joining via Zoom.

📧 Contact vims1retreat@gmail.com if you have questions about your registration.

About the Teacher

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) has been a Theravada Buddhist monk since 1976. After studying in Thailand with Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, he returned to the US in 1991 to help found the Metta Forest Monastery (Wat Metta) in the mountains north of San Diego. In 1993, Ajaan Geoff was asked to be the abbot and has continued to train monastics and offer teachings to lay people in North America, South America, Asia and Europe. Ajaan Geoff is a highly respected scholar and practitioner of the Buddha's teachings. His many recorded talks and writings can be found here.

In 2017, Taan Ajaan Geoff agreed to explore the possibility of establishing a refuge for Wat Metta monks on Vancouver Island. Aranya (Wilderness) Refuge was then established as a society and a registered Canadian charity.  Since 2018, Aranya Refuge has organized four temporary monastery experiences and is planning for its first two-month temporary monastery in February and March 2025.

……The first simile is a variant on the stream image. Instead of flowing along with a stream, you are trying to cross over a stream to the safety on the further shore. In this image, the first noble attainment is where you “gain a footing” (MN 56). In other words, you haven’t yet reached the further shore, but you have reached the point near that shore where the stream is so shallow that your feet can be firmly planted on the streambed. From this point on, you won’t be swept away by the current. The second simile highlights the fact that the amount of suffering you potentially face in the cycle of death and rebirth is now drastically reduced. Prior to stream-entry, that suffering can be compared to all the dirt in the world. After stream-entry, it’s like the dirt under a fingernail (SN 13:1)……

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
The Dhamma Eye  (Chapter in the book Along the Way , P98 - 108)