Almsgiving Ceremony at Aloka Vihara
On Saturday September 13th, a group of over 50 supporters of Saranaloka came together to celebrate the Bhikkhuni Sangha with an annual Almsgiving Ceremony. This tradition, dating back to the time of the Buddha and the very beginning of the Buddhist monastic order, is an opportunity for the lay community to come together and make offerings of robe-cloth and other requisites, including financial donations, in support for the monastic Sangha.
Unless it is initiated by the lay community, no almsgiving can happen. This year, Lynne and Meira initiated the alms-giving. They were joined by an awesome team of helpers and did an amazing job in bringing together all the pieces to make the day go so smoothly, getting just the right balance between clear organization and wholeheartedness. Marinell Daniel, offered the robe-cloth – the cloth being central to the Almsgiving day. Deep gratitude to Rik and Muriel for offering use of the Mindfulness Care Center in San Francisco, for the third year in a row!
On this auspicious day we also celebrated the 4th International Bhikkhuni Day – bringing together bhikkhunis from Dhammadharini Vihara in Santa Rosa, Aranya Bodhi Hermitage in Jenner, Karuna Buddhist Vihara in Mountain View, with our Aloka Vihara sisters from Placerville. In commemoration of International Bhikkhuni Day, Ayya Tathaaloka gave a beautiful and uplifting talk about Yasodhara, the former wife of the Buddha, who in her lifetime ordained as a Bhikkhuni and became fully enlightened.
As well as the robe-cloth one of the main aims for this years almsgiving was to cover the cost of the recently purchased monastery vehicle for Aloka Vihara, a greatly needed requisite in their new rural vihara. The criteria was to find a used car which was fuel efficient, could seat 5, had cargo space and was easy to maintain. The 2013 Prius was a great find! We are so grateful to all who contributed to the purchase of the car and would like to give a big “Anumodana!” to Alliance for Bhikkhuni’s who offered $3,500 towards the cost of the car. We feel the wheels of generosity rolling with joy!
Our gratitude to AfB for all your work in supporting the Bhikkhuni Sangha to take their proper place once again in the Fourfold Assembly.
With metta from the Aloka Vihara sangha
Almsgiving Ceremony at Aloka Vihara
On Saturday September 13th, a group of over 50 supporters of Saranaloka came together to celebrate the Bhikkhuni Sangha with an annual Almsgiving Ceremony. This tradition, dating back to the time of the Buddha and the very beginning of the Buddhist monastic order, is an opportunity for the lay community to come together and make offerings of robe-cloth and other requisites, including financial donations, in support for the monastic Sangha.
Unless it is initiated by the lay community, no almsgiving can happen. This year, Lynne and Meira initiated the alms-giving. They were joined by an awesome team of helpers and did an amazing job in bringing together all the pieces to make the day go so smoothly, getting just the right balance between clear organization and wholeheartedness. Marinell Daniel, offered the robe-cloth – the cloth being central to the Almsgiving day. Deep gratitude to Rik and Muriel for offering use of the Mindfulness Care Center in San Francisco, for the third year in a row!
On this auspicious day we also celebrated the 4th International Bhikkhuni Day – bringing together bhikkhunis from Dhammadharini Vihara in Santa Rosa, Aranya Bodhi Hermitage in Jenner, Karuna Buddhist Vihara in Mountain View, with our Aloka Vihara sisters from Placerville. In commemoration of International Bhikkhuni Day, Ayya Tathaaloka gave a beautiful and uplifting talk about Yasodhara, the former wife of the Buddha, who in her lifetime ordained as a Bhikkhuni and became fully enlightened.
As well as the robe-cloth one of the main aims for this years almsgiving was to cover the cost of the recently purchased monastery vehicle for Aloka Vihara, a greatly needed requisite in their new rural vihara. The criteria was to find a used car which was fuel efficient, could seat 5, had cargo space and was easy to maintain. The 2013 Prius was a great find! We are so grateful to all who contributed to the purchase of the car and would like to give a big “Anumodana!” to Alliance for Bhikkhuni’s who offered $3,500 towards the cost of the car. We feel the wheels of generosity rolling with joy!
Our gratitude to AfB for all your work in supporting the Bhikkhuni Sangha to take their proper place once again in the Fourfold Assembly.
With metta from the Aloka Vihara sangha
