hilltop newsletter


In Full Flow

Today, Saturday 18th, is the Full Moon of May 2019. The next Full Moon falls on Monday 17th June. Tomorrow, on Sunday 19th, we will observe Vesakha Puja : marking the birth, Enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha. Details regarding proceedings of the day can be found here . Also this year, on the day that we mark Vesak, Anagarika Jason is due to formally request samanera precepts ( pabbajja ), and will be given the new name, Samanera Sucinno. The Precept Ceremony is scheduled to begin at 1.30pm in the Dhamma Hall. It doesn’t seem so long since Samaneras Mahesako and Saṁvaro requested pabbajja , however they are both now sewing their full sets of three robes in preparation for requesting the bhikkhu training (upasampada ). This ceremony is planned to take place at Amaravati on 13th July with Ajahn Amaro as their Preceptor. We have welcomed back Samanera Jayamangalo from his home visit to Italy, however he will shortly be leaving again, this time for Cittaviveka Monastery in West Sussex where he will stay until autumn. Ajahn Vimalo is expected to be back with us again here at Harnham, arriving in early June and leading our first lay retreat of the year. The weather around this time of year is generally more agreeable for lake work days and the next one is scheduled for June 1st. As usual all are very welcome. On the last lake work day, beside getting much done down by the lake, the community with the support of several generous helpers began to lay the gravel path leading to the new Bamboo Grove kuti next to Mangala House (see picture above).

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