Beloved Monk Moves to England

A much beloved monk departs Mendocino County
By Tony Anthony
Updated: 07/14/2010 12:00:14 AM PDT

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Ajahn Amaro leaves Abhayagiri Monastery for England
Special to the Daily Journal
Ajahn Amaro, the founding abbot of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, will be moving to England this month to fill the role as abbot of Amaravati Monastery near London. Since moving to Redwood Valley in 1996, Amaro has been generous in sharing the teachings of the Buddha with our local community. He has offered many classes, guided meditations, and daylong mini-retreats at the monastery as well as at Yoga Mendocino in town.
Larry Restel, an investment adviser from Ukiah, first met Amaro in 1990 in England.
"I've seen him grow up as a monk. He feels like a brother to me," Restel said. "He's always been amazing. When he gives one of his well-known talks, if he has to finish by ten o'clock, he'll be finished at ten. He weaves his stories so intricately, with so many different branches, but when there's only a minute to go he ties up all the knots. The tradition with Theravada Buddhist monastics is that people keep coming and going. So to me it seems natural that he's heading to England."
Amaro, who was born in England and just two years ago gained American citizenship, enjoys talking about the environment. He notes that the weather seems to be reversing between these two countries.
"This year, Mendocino County, cold and rainy, experienced what we once thought of as being English weather," Amaro said. "My sister, a gardener back in England, recently reported that once-green fields are already parched from too much sun, certainly what we in Mendocino County consider to be our weather."
Although he is looking forward to seeing the seasons change, Amaro has mixed feelings about leaving Abhayagiri.
"I had been thinking I'd be getting older here, with the hills feeling steeper and longer on my walks to my cabin in the forest," he said. "But when the invitation came to move back to Amaravati Monastery in England, I couldn't refuse. My teacher Ajahn Sumedho has been abbot there for 25 years, and I'm happy to be supporting him now that he is ready to retire." He goes on to say, "The standard for our community is one of homelessness." So, it appears for Amaro, his move back to England will be "business as usual."
Amaro's time at Abhayagiri
When Amaro says, "I'm glad the place has grown - I've enjoyed being here," there is a sweet sadness in his eyes that reveals what is in his heart. Abhayagiri was born of humble beginnings in 1996 when a small group of two Theravada Buddhist monks and one layman arrived on their newly acquired property on Tomki Road ready to begin building a monastery. Master Hua, abbot of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, had donated the land when he heard about the desire of these Theravadans to found a monastic community. His generous gift was a bit unusual, since Master Hua's community is part of a completely different Buddhist sect.
So it was from the good intentions of a few with the desire to create a place of refuge that a piece of mountainous raw land is now a thriving spiritual community. Beginning with the ordination of its first new American monk in 1996, Abhayagiri has grown to a resident community typically numbering over a dozen monks and a handful of aspiring novices. Abhayagiri has also spawned a new monastery just forming this summer in Northern Oregon. Ajahn Sudanto, also a longtime resident of Abhayagiri, has already left to foster the efforts to build a satellite community near Portland. Another new monastery in Massachusetts is also being planned as a refuge for the New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut area. Amaro gets a sparkle in his eye when he describes these communities that are springing up from the seed planted by the founding of Abhayagiri in California.
Many in Ukiah may be familiar with the sight of the monks from Abhayagiri walking through town each week with their begging bowls. The traditional practice of pindapat, or alms rounds, was instigated by the Buddha so the monks would not remain isolated, that there would be a shared life with the community.
Amaro says, "The monks are a spiritual presence. So that when townspeople see them dressed in the traditional robes it immediately brings spirituality to mind. Once in England, in a train station, a man stopped me and asked about my religion. Even though I told him I was Buddhist, he didn't seem to understand and asked again, So what kind of Catholic are you?' I repeated, I am a Buddhist; the Buddha lived hundreds of years before Jesus, so we are not Christian.' But it really didn't matter that he didn't understand. The point was that the man knew I was a spiritual person, and he could relate to that."
The feelings of the community
The many locals who have delighted in Amaro's message know the special unspoken qualities he embodies. For certain, he has a way with the English language. He is glib and insightful, but his message goes deeper. Sometimes his words are put together in such an extraordinary fashion they can cause a shift in consciousness. This is his extraordinary gift: to be able to give words such a subtle sense of meaning that they allow the mind to find the space between them where consciousness lies.
Janejira Sutanonpaiboon, a young Thai woman from Santa Rosa, sums up the feelings of many of Amaro's students from around the Bay Area. "My impression of Ajahn Amaro is that he's really kind. He smiles, he shines from within. He exemplifies loving-kindness. When I heard he was leaving I felt very sad. I'm attached to my teachers. I trust him completely. I can talk about everything with him - family issues, personal problems. Going to England will be a great experience for him. I wish him well, but behind my wishing, I'll be crying."
Mary Paffard, founder of Yoga Mendocino in Ukiah, has a long-standing connection to Amaro.
"After the first series at the Sun House before we had moved to the Yomo building in 2000, a student commented on how amazing it was to have a teacher, a monk to boot, who both makes you laugh at the same time as illuminating the finer points of Dhamma teachings," Paffard said. "One of his great gifts that we will sorely miss is his ability to make Buddhist practice accessible to everyone even some of our community who had hardly heard the word Buddha before, and were a little scared and averse to spiritual lingo."
Dennis Crean of Redwood Valley, a longtime student and monastery supporter, typifies the general emotion about Amaro's departure when he says, "Sad." He also adds, "I'm happy for the opportunities. It will be a loss for the community because he's such an accessible teacher; the local community has benefited from that. But his departure makes space for the younger generation of monks who will now have to step up."
Farewell to Ajahn Amaro
On the Fourth of July, as the monastery inaugurated a beautiful new building for the monks, Amaro remarked, "There's a slightly bittersweet quality to seeing the new Bhikkhu Commons' building. Just like an architect or builder who puts his soul into creating such a wonderful structure and then leaves it behind to allow it to live the life it was built for, so it is with me in departing Abhayagiri."
He went on to explain, "In Buddhism, there is a quality we call mudita,' which means finding joy in the happiness and good fortune of others." This, without any doubt, is how Amaro lives his life. He will be missed, but his good works will live on. Perhaps it can be looked at this way: California is giving England the gift of a new ray of sunshine. We will keep what he has left with us and look forward with mudita to the good fortune of others.
A farewell gathering for Ajahn Amaro will take place on Sunday at Abhayagiri Monastery, 16201 Tomki Road, Redwood Valley, www.abhayagiri.org. The daily "potluck" meal begins at 11 a.m., followed by a talk and closing ceremony beginning around 1 p.m. All are invited.