Please join us for a day of celebration and an opportunity to mark the opening of Temple Forest Monastery with a ceremony and a Dhamma Talk led and offered by Luang Por Liem (Tan Chao Khun Pra Rachabhavanavigrom) – the abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah’s main monastery in Ubon Province, Thailand. Luang Por Liem is Preceptor to many of the Ajahn Chah monks, both Western and Thai, and is a revered teacher in his own right.

Schedule:

10.00 a.m. – Introduction
10.30 a.m. – Alms-round (offering rice into monks’ bowls)
11.00 a.m. – Meal Offering
1 p.m. – Dhamma Talk by Luang Por Liem
2 p.m. – Blessing Ceremony for the Foundation of the Monastery
3 p.m. – End

This is a rare opportunity to meet the senior monks visiting from Thailand, and to hear a Dhamma Talk by Luang Por Liem. Luang Por Jundee will be with us as well,  and Luang Por Viradhammo, abbot of Tisarana Monastery in Canada will be with us too.

The Thai Ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency Ambassador Pisan Manawapat, will be honoring us with a visit on both days of this Opening Weekend, for the events on Saturday and Sunday, June 27–28.

The day will begin with an introduction and a traditional alms-round where those who wish will have an opportunity to offer rice into the monks’ bowls, and then share a meal made up of whatever food offerings are brought by the people who come (Buddhists have been eating pot-luck for 2,500 years). After the meal, at around 12.30 or 1 p.m., we will invite our special guest Luang Por Liem, the abbot of Wat Pah Pong in Thailand, to offer us a Dhamma Talk which will be translated by an English-speaking monk. After the talk the gathered monks will do some traditional chanting for the auspicious occasion, and a foundation stone will be unveiled and dedicated.