Sunday 27^th October 2024

Arrival                                9:00  – 10:00 am                         
Almsround & Lunch         10:00  – 12:00 pm
Ceremony                        12:00  –   1:00 pm
Guided Tour                      1:00  –  2:00 pm

The Robes Offering Ceremony marks the end of the Rains Retreat. On this occasion we rejoice in having spent the past three months at the Wat dedicated to the cultivation of peace and kindness. This is a rare opportunity to take part in an old and inspiring Buddhist ceremony and a chance to connect with other practitioners.

The core values that are celebrated during the Kathina are those that make living together in harmony possible; qualities like kindness, compassion, patience and acceptance.  In our sometimes confusing and competitive world, it is important to remember that our own sense of well-being cannot be secure unless it is founded on acts of generosity and goodwill to others.

The ceremony will include taking the Three Refuges and Five Precepts, auspicious chanting and Dhamma talks by Luang Por Tiradhammo and Ajahn Khemavaro. After the ceremony there will be a monastery tour, where visitors can see some monks’ huts.

For further info, please call 0409 389-887 between 8-10 am and 11am -1 pm or email: wbdretreats@gmail.com.

Robes will be available for offering at the monastery.  
 

Community List for Rains 2024

Monks
LP Tiradhammo               
Ajahn Khemavaro                                                    
Ajahn Bhuripanyo

Layguests

Luke
Annie
Tam
Rob
Rebecca
Kristine
Phil
 

Wisdom of Stillness
New Year Retreat
with Ajahn Khemavaro

Saturday 28^th to Wednesday 1^st January 2025
                             New Year Retreat Registration                             

For further enquiries, please email:  wbdretreats@gmail.com or call the office at 0409-389-887 between 8 – 12 noon.
 

Recent Talks on YouTube:

Nourishing the Mind with Meditation
by Ajahn Dtun 

True Happiness
by Ajahn Dtun 

The Path to Arahantship
by Ajahn Dtun 

Buddhism and Psychology
by Ajahn Tiradhammo

Letting Go Letting Be
by Ajahn Khemavaro

Freedom from Desire Not Freedom of Desire
by Ajahn Khemavaro

Kathina 2023

Doubts and other Demons

Q: What can I do about doubts? Some days I’m plagued with doubts about the practice or my own progress or the teacher.

A: Doubting is natural. Everyone starts with doubts. You can learn a great deal from them. What is important is that you don’t identify with your doubts. That is, don’t get caught up in them, letting your mind spin in endless circles. Instead, watch the whole process of doubting, of wondering. See who it is that doubts. See how doubts come and go. Then you will no longer be victimized by your doubts. You will step outside of them, and your mind will be quiet. You can see how all things come and go. Just let go of what you’re attached to. Let go of your doubts and simply watch. This is how to end doubting.

Q: These days, there seem to be so many teachers and so many different systems of meditation that it’s confusing. Which one should I follow?

A: It’s like going into town. One can approach from the north, from the southeast, from many roads. Often these systems just differ outwardly. Whether you walk one way or another, fast or slow, if you are mindful, it’s all the same. There’s one essential point that all good practice must eventually come to-not clinging. In the end, you must let go of all meditation systems. Nor can you cling to the teacher. If a system leads to relinquishment, to not clinging, then it is correct practice.

You may wish to travel, to visit other teachers and try other systems. Some of you have already done so. This is a natural desire. You will find out that a thousand questions asked and knowledge of many systems will not bring you to the truth. Eventually you will get bored. You will see that only by stopping and examining your own heart can you find out what the Buddha talked about. No need to go searching outside yourself. Eventually, you must return to face your own true nature. Right where you are is where you can understand the Dharma. 

An excerpt from Still Forest Pool by Ajahn Chah

MONASTERY REPORT for Annual General Meeting in November
 
Comings & Goings
          Monks

1. Luang Por Tiradhammo will be visiting New Zealand 26 Oct – 16 Nov and to Thailand 13 Dec – 2 Feb 
2. Ajahn Khemavaro will be away the following dates:

            2 – 9 November in Thailand
            17 Nov to 7 Dec in USA
             25 Jan to 5 Feb in Singapore and Thailand

1. Ven Pannyananda left for Vietnam on 20 October. 
2. Ven Caranadhammo will be coming on 30 Dec and will stay for one year.  

Long-term Lay Guests

1. Megan is visiting her family in Melbourne for a few weeks in Dec
2. Annie currently has no travel plan for 2023
3. Yuliana is staying for a while and probably for a longer term
4. David is planning to stay until Dec

 
Retreats
Regular retreats with Ajahn Khemavaro were held monthly from early 2022 until the commencement of Rains Retreat in July. The next retreat is the 4-day New Year Retreat (30 Dec–2 Jan) and the registration is open.  4—Day Easter Retreat is from 7^th to 11^th April (For further info, see below)
 
Completed Projects 2022
Bush toilet opposite the kitchen
Lay Open Sala
Laundry shed
Flooring repair for Granny Flat
Kempsey–New water tank, Meditation platform, drop toilet built.
Dhammacakka Forest Monastery – the first Vietnamese Theravada monastery in Australia
Land purchase finalized in July and first Robes Offering Ceremony in October 2022
 
Building Projects for 2022/2023
Road repair around the monastery after prolonged rain/flood
Electricity upgrade for Yurt
Roof repair and lighting reconnection for Dorm
Sink and toilet for Kyle House
Decking and roof renovation for Cynthia House
Decking, window and roof restoration for Family House
Decking for Old Kitchen
Bathroom upgrade for Yurt
Workshop near car park

LP Thiradhammo’s book has arrived.
Hard copies of LP Thiradhammo’s new book:  Beyond I-Making, A Contemplative Investigation of the Concept of Anatta and the Path to its Realization, has arrived.  If you would like a copy, please contact the office at wbdoffice@gmail.com.
Otherwise, a digital copy, is available here:  Beyond I-Making

Picture Gallery:  Robes Offering 2022

Picture Gallery:  Robes Offering Queensland

Ajahn Khemavaro attended the Kathina Ceremony at Ajahn Dtun’s Monastery in Thailand. Picture Gallery:  Boonyawad Kathina 

Upcoming Retreats

Spiritual Indulgence
4–Day Easter Retreat
with Ajahn Khemavaro
Friday 7^th to Monday 11^th April 2023
Weekend Retreat Registration

To register for upcoming retreats, please register at Eventbrite or click on link attached to that retreat. 

Rains Retreat 2023
1^st August to 29^th October
You are cordially invited to spend the
Rains Retreat at the Wat. 
To serve and to deepen your practice. 
Minimum stay of one month and priority will be given to those who can commit for the entire three months. 

To register for the Rains retreat, please complete the application form on the WBD website.

For more info regarding the monastery, visit our website www.wbd.org.au.  For further enquiries, please email wbdretreats@gmail.com or call the office at 0409-389-887 between 9 – 12 noon.

Recent Dhamma Talks on YouTube

How to Get to Wat Buddha Dhamma

Sutta Class Session #7
The Real Meaning of Kamma, Vipaka, and Rebirth 
by Ajahn Tiradhammo

Sutta Class Session #8
Feelings & States of Mind 
by Ajahn Tiradhammo

Using Calm & Insight to End Suffering 
by Ajahn Tiradhammo

Enjoy the Simplicity 
by Ajahn Khemavaro

Four Ways of Letting Go
by Ajahn Khemavaro

The Right Angle:  Everybody Benefits, Nobody Loses

The entire world and everyone in it needs the Dhamma as a protection.  We all survive and find comfort in life with the support of the knowledge and skills, mindfulness and wisdom, of countless others.  Without their help we would all perish as soon as we left our mother’s womb.  We’d have no food to eat, clothes to wear or house to live in.  Our parents, whose faces we have never seen before, give us life and all the things we need to make us healthy and strong.  For our clothes and living places, and all the various skills we learn, we are entirely–indebted to others.  From the first moments in our mother’s womb, all of us have a debt of gratitude owed to innumerable other people–no need to mention our parents and all our teachers, to whom the sense of gratitude we should feel is incalculable.

Even people of one nation have much to be grateful for those living in another.  This is something which, if you think about it, is not too hard to see.  Knowing and acknowledging with gratitude the debt we have to others, and placing them above ourselves, is called katannuta.  The effort to repay the debt is called katavedita.  The ones who know what has been done for them are called katannu.  And those who return the favor gratefully are called katavedi.

Katannu-katavedita:  acknowledging the debt we owe to others and paying it back with acts of gratitude are spiritual qualities which protect the world from harm, help society to function, and lead to peace and happiness.


Excerpt from The Life and Teachings of Luang Por Liem Thitadhammo pg 135

For more teachings from Luang Por Liem, please click here:  LP Liem Teachings

14th July to 10th October

During the Rains Retreat the community at WBD will focus on formal meditation practice, cultivating stillness, compassion, and wisdom. While people are welcome to visit the monastery during the day, we will not be able to accommodate overnight guests.

Emails will be answered between 5-7 days. If it’s urgent please call the office at 0409-389-887 between 11 am and 12 noon. Thank you for your support.

Community List for Rains 20212
Monks
LP Tiradhammo
Ajahn Khemavaro
Venerable Panyannda

Layguests
Megan
Annie
Tommy
Yuliana
Graeme
Serena
Marie

For new talks on YouTube, click below:
WBD Dhamma Talks

Picture Gallery
Vesak 2021

A Road Trip North and … a Monastery is Born
Road Trip Gallery

Robes Offering Ceremony
Sunday 16th October 2022
Activities include: Shared Meal, Auspicious Chanting, and Dhamma Talk
10 – 3 pm. For further enquiries, please email: wbdoffice@gmail.com or call the office at 0409-389-887 between 11 – 12 noon.

Empty Space

People want to go to Nibbana but when you tell them that there is nothing there, they begin to have second thoughts.  But there’s nothing there, nothing at all!  Look at the roof and floor here.  Think of the roof as a “becoming” and the floor as a “becoming” too.  You can stand on the roof and you can stand on the floor, but in the empty space between the roof and the floor there is no place to stand.  Where there is no becoming, that’s where there’s emptiness, and to put it bluntly, we say that Nibbana is this emptiness.  People hear this and they back up a bit.  They don’t want to go.  They’re afraid that they won’t see their children or relatives.

That’s why whenever we bless the laity by saying, “May you have long life, beauty, happiness and strength,” they become very happy.  But if you start talking about letting go and emptiness, they don’t want to hear about it.  But have you ever seen a very old person with a beautiful complexion or a lot of strength or a lot vitality?  No! But we say, “Long life, beauty, happiness and strength,” and they are all pleased.   They’re attached to becoming, to the cycle of birth and death.  They prefer to stand on the roof or on the floor.  Few are they who dare to stand in the empty space between.

Excerpt from A Tree in a Forest–A Collection of Ajahn Chah’s Similes

For more teachings of Ajahn Chah, please click here: Teachings in English

Greetings from winterly Wat Buddha Dhamma, 10 Mile Hollow, Wisemans Ferry, NSW 2775, Australia;

Here in the southern hemisphere we are experiencing Winter, which is also the time of the traditional Buddhist ‘Rainy Season’. Fortunately, at Wat Buddha Dhamma winter is not too extreme, with most mornings around 3 – 5C and sunny afternoons in the upper teens. Ironically, it is also the dry season.

This year we may only have a small Sangha due to some health issues and a serious delay in receiving a requested visa.

I have been reminded that it has been nearly 6 months since my last Blog update. I will not claim it as an excuse, but part of the reason was that not much has happened in the last 6 months – ‘nothing to write home about’, as the saying goes. The other part of my delay is that, for the early half of that time, I have been quite preoccupied with applying the finishing touches to my book. Now, with the final comments from my diligent proofreaders, Theresa and Grant, the enduring patience of Sharon for layout and Melinda for production of the ebook, it is now ready for reading. Copies can be downloaded at: www.wbd.org.au/news/book

In March, we were once again ‘flooded in’ with both the ferry down and the northern route along the river under water for ten days. Ari, one of our long term lay women, was eager to leave for a flight to Sri Lanka. The only option, other than walk 10 km over the hills, was to hire a helicopter for an airlift out. This was doubly helpful as it allowed some fresh vegetables to be flown in and Yuliana as a replacement cook to join us in our maroonment! Shortly after, several of us were obliged to have a picnic lunch in the park next to the ferry dock and had to clear debris off the picnic tables before eating. Various forms of debris, including an old mattress, clothing and driftwood indicated that the area was about two meters under water at some point. We are happy to live nearly 100 meters above the river level!

And … just as I am uploading this blog, we are once again ‘flooded in’. No big problems for us. The weekend retreat has had to be cancelled, some of the tracks are more washed out and the low lying bridge to the old garden has once again washed away – this time 100 meters downstream. One of our guests is marooned here while another guest, who hiked in from Wisemans Ferry five days ago, decided to hike out over the hills to Mangrove Mountain – 4 ½ hours in the rain!

                                                    The bridge to nowhere.

With the lifting of the Covid restrictions it is now possible to travel. I thus stirred myself from inertia and three of us took a road trip to Victoria. The main reason was to attend the Grand Opening of the Dhamma Sala at Vimokharama Monastery in the Dandenong ranges, east of Melbourne. This project has been in progress for the last eight years and Ajahn Hasapanyo and his disciples have done a superb job of re-establishing the site as an ongoing monastery after the original house was burned down.

Our trip to Victoria also allowed us to visit Ajahn Sudhammo at the new monastery, Nigrodharama, just north of Melbourne. Unfortunately, he was not able to extend his visa before it expired and has now returned to Thailand to re-apply for a return whenever it is granted. Ajahn Bom, another monk from Ajahn Dtun’s monastery in Thailand, is keeping the place warm over the southern winter.

On the return journey we followed the coastal route which involved an overnight stop at a camp ground where we were able to view the sunrise over the Tasman Sea. Australia is such a huge country – continent actually – that it really requires many days to appreciate the natural beauty and diversity of the landscape. It takes more than a few hours to absorb the effects of majestic rocky headlands pounded by the crashing surf or the endless expanse of pristine, sun-drenched beaches.

Ajahn Khemavaro has made good use of the opportunity to travel with visits to Thailand, Indonesia and USA, as well as several trips to various Buddha in the Bush properties. After a retreat in Brisbane, much interest was expressed in establishing a local Vietnamese Theravada monastery. With much enthusiasm and energy, a 360 acre property was located one hour west of Brisbane and the down payment was quickly raised. Dhammachakka Forest Monastery will be the first Vietnamese Theravada monastery in Australia, although still in the early stages of development.

One of the teachings of Ajahn Chah which I have been reflecting upon recently was triggered off by a discussion I had with one of our recent guests. This is the teaching that Dukkha (unsatisfactoriness or suffering) is our teacher. The more I contemplate this simple teaching the more profound it becomes. If I had only heard this teaching when I was young it would have saved me so much (unneccessary) suffering!

Most of us, unfortunately, waste so much time and energy denying, avoiding or trying to escape from suffering. If we could just transform this energy into studying suffering we would not only save a lot of wasted effort, but learn some valuable lessons in the process.

Of course, Ajahn Chah was giving this teaching within the context of the Buddha’s teaching on the Four Noble Truths. These truths tell us that suffering is a fundamental reality of life and this experience has a definite cause which can be brought to an end through a detailed practice of spiritual development.

I think the main reason why most people do not try to study suffering is that they do not know that there is a path of practice to transcend suffering – the Eightfold Path. Without a way out, suffering seems like a very unpleasant deadend. And, while not exactly easy, by studying suffering we can gradually learn to free ourselves from this self-created condition.

The tools are now within our hands. 

Wishing you all good health, well-being and the peace of Liberation.

                                  Australia Rock — can you see the outline of Australia?