Vassa in Canada

Canoeing in Algonquin Park

Hi Friends, Namo Buddhaya

I am now spending the three months vassa (rainy season) period in Ottawa Canada, at the Hilda Jayewardenaramaya. I am staying there with the two resident monks, Ven. Jinananda and Ven. Vijjitha. There is a fairly busy schedule of giving talks and leading one day and weekend retreats in different places. However, in between teaching programs there is time for some excursions to visit some other monasteries and take nature walks and some mindful canoeing on the plentiful lakes in the province of Ontario.
After the first two weeks I made a three day excursion into the countryside outside of Ottawa. First was a visit to the Sati Saraniya nuns Hermitage where I had lunch dana with Ajahn Medanandi and.... We were  showed  the nice newly constructed meditation hall where we had a short meditation and I gave a talk. Later on that same day I went to stay for two days at the Tisarana Buddhist Monastery near the small town of Perth.
It was good to meet Ajahn Viradhammo again after several years. There are three young bhikkhus and two anagarikas staying with him for the vassa season. I stayed in a nice kuti in the forest.

With Ven. Vijjitha in front of Ottawa Vihara

The new Meditation hall at Sati Saraniya Hermitage for nuns

Entrance sign at the Tisarana Monastery

Notice the deer behind the white tent

Important Monastery bell

Resident monastic community

The kuti in the forest where I stayed two nights

During the weekdays I made a couple days trips out to the nature a few hours driving from Ottawa with three Dhamma friends, Mark, David and Nissanka.


                            
         On a day hike with Mark on a high ridge in Gatineau Park

                                 
                    A day long canoe trip on the Madawaska River
                  
                 David and Nissanka Prepare to launch the canoe 
                                                      

Local wildlife

                            
                       The odd couple- a black and white swan


                            
                             A a busy beaver on the riverbank


                            
             The beaver peering out from the safety of his house


                            
                                             A heron...
                               
                                         ....takes flight

 Picturesque countryside

    Back at the Hilda Jayewardena vihara we held a morning long                                             outdoor meditation

                                Leading the meditation with Ven. Vijjitha

 Walking meditation

 Yoga exercise

                                

A highlight of my nature outings was a three day canoeing/camping trip to Booth Lake in the famous Algonquin Park. This is the first time I had been on such a canoe/camping journey. The Algonquin Park is a huge National Park in Ontario made up of many large and smaller lakes which are connected by rivers and small creeks. Sometimes you have to "Porterage" carry your canoes and gear across stretches where it is not possible to paddle. One can make canoe trips of many weeks through all of these wilderness waterways and hundreds of campsites are available.

          With David and Nissanka on the shore of Booth Lake in                                                 Algongquin Park

Mark prepares lunch

Our tents

Launching the canoes for a mindful cruise

Early morning fog adds to the mystique 

 Time to reflect

A cabin behind the trees

Our turn around point

Mark filtering water

Heading back to civilization

 Crossing the last 'portage'

During these last two months I also made  a five day trip back to the Bhavana Society forest monastery to lead the yearly Youth retreat in Mid August. And in the first few days of September I went to Toronto to lead a three day retreat at the Toronto Mahavihara. 

A Dhamma discussion during the Youth retreat at the Bhavana Society Forest Monastery

On a walk through the forest to a creek accompanied by
Ven. Seelananda, Samanera Mangala and Youth retreat participants

The retreat at the Toronto Mahavihara

Retreat in Northern Sweden

Mosquitoes welcome me to Northern Sweden

Hi friends,

Since the last post from Rio two months ago I had been in the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden. May 17th-20th was spent visiting some friends in the Czech countryside outside of Prague and giving a talk at the Lotus Buddhist Center in downtown Prague. Thereafter I  spent a few days at the secluded hermitage of Ven. Czech Dhammadipa near the Bohemian village of Mala Skala in the "Czech Paradise" (a popular name for the area) a one hour drive northeast of Prague. We took some walks in the lovely surrounding forests.
Returning to Germany I  participated in the Vesak Celebration at the Buddhistisches Haus in Frohnau, Berlin where I stayed for the next three weeks.
My 65th birthday on June 21st was spent with old friends at the Haus Der Stille (40 kms from Hanburg) that co-insided with the beginning of a ten day retreat. That was the 25th anniversary of my leading retreats at Haus Der Stille, the first Buddhist retreat center in Germany.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

A short canoeing trip with  a Czech friend and his two sons

                                                                                                                                             
                                                                             

A few small rapids for excitement

                                                  The picturesque Czech landscape

The Czech Paradise near Mala Skala

                                                                                    

 A quaint small church on its perch above Mala Skala

 A small cemetary in the woods

A unique rock forest typical in Bohemia 

Enjoying my 65th birthday with old friends at Haus Der Stille

After the ten day retreat at Haus Der Stille I flew to Stockholm with two meditation students from the retreat who wanted to also do the retreat in North Sweden. We connected in Stockholm to a flight to Umea, located about 800 kilometers north of Stockholm. The retreat was held in the small town of Fredrika, situated by a large lake. The summertime with near 24 hour daylight and plentiful lakes makes Northern Sweden an ideal habitat for mosquitoes. Hence the photo at the top of this post. 

I was surprised to find that there is a Thai Buddhist temple just outside Fredrika on a hilltop overlooking the forests and lakes. There are two large statues, a standing Buddha and a seated image of Pra Achan Tate, a renowned Thai Forest meditation master reputed to have been an Arahat. It seems that every year 400 Thai men and women come to Fredrika to pick blueberries in the summer in the surrounding forests. And a lot of Swedish men have married Thai women who now live in Umea, and other places in Sweden. Hence this Thai temple has come to be. 

 Ringing the gong

Typical landscape of Sweden

Scenes from the retreat

 Inside the wooden structure (usually a summer square dance hall) turned into our temporary meditation hall

A Farewell practice of Metta to our little friends

Next stop Ottawa Canada