CITTAVIVEKA
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CHITHURST BUDDHIST MONASTERY
Announcements
A message from the lay community associated with Chithurst Buddhist Monastery:
A Kathina festival is scheduled to take place at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery on Sunday, 12 October.
Kathina is a ceremony initiated by the lay community. It is when everyone has a chance to celebrate the very special relationship between the monastic and lay aspects of the Fourfold Assembly.
The Lord Buddha knew what he was doing when he set up this relationship more than 2500 years ago. By making the monastic community materially dependent on the generosity of his lay disciples, he ensured that his teachings would remain alive through the medium of human relationships. When this relationship is infused with generosity and goodwill on both sides, it becomes a very potent vehicle for Awakening.
The core values that are celebrated by the Kathina tradition are those that make living together in harmony possible; qualities like patience, moral conduct, kindness and empathy. In our otherwise confusing, competitive and restless world, it is so important to remember that our own well-being cannot be secure unless it is founded on us practising benevolence to others.
The programme is as follows:
10.00 am – Arrive
10.30 am – Paritta Chanting
11.00 am – Rice Pindapata and Meal Offering
1.30 pm – Kathina Ceremony (requesting the Five Precepts, Paritta Chanting, offering of the Kathina Cloth)
2.30 pm (approximately) – Dhamma Talk
You are most welcome to participate and help with the working together of everyone involved, encompassing the true essence of the Kathina celebration:
• By attending the Kathina on Sunday, 12 October.
• By attending a planning meeting at the monastery at 1.30 pm on Sunday, 21 September, to discuss practical ways of helping.
• By helping to organise the day, offering food, decorations (flags and flowers) or by offering your time during the weekend 11 and 12 October.
A downloadable PDF of the Kathina leaflet is available here.
Please join us!
Please note: Because of the Kathina ceremony, the regular Sunday Teatime Q&A at 5.00 pm and 7.30 pm Guided Meditation are cancelled.
The next Lay Forum will take place at the monastery on Sunday, 7 September, from 2.00-4.30 pm in the Shrine Room of the main house.
Topic – Why Buddhism?
Date and time – Sunday, 7 September, from 2:00-4:30 pm
Place – The ground floor of the main house
The Lay Forum consists of a short, ten-minute meditation, followed by a talk by a layperson and then by a monk or nun. Each of these two talks will last approximately fifteen minutes.
After this, there is some informal discussion in small groups of around five people for forty-five minutes, followed by a larger group sharing for thirty minutes. We usually chant one of the reflections at the end, finishing with a cup of tea and chocolate until 4.30 pm.
The Lay Forum is open to all, emphasising valuing your extensive life experience and aspirations regardless of your familiarity with Buddhism, though committed practitioners are especially welcome.
Some people may wish to stay on to meet with a monk or nun for the weekly teatime Q&A at 5.00 pm in one of the ground floor rooms of the Main House. The weekly guided meditation follows at 7.30 pm in the Dhamma Hall.
As always, people are very welcome to come earlier in the day and participate in the midday meal offering, which is at 11.30 am from late March through October.
If you wish to receive the monastery newsletter and regular updates about Cittaviveka, please visit this website's Subscription Registration page.
A Dhamma talk will be offered every Saturday evening, beginning with chanting and silent meditation at 7.30 pm.
Guided meditations occur each week on Sunday evenings at 7.30 pm, also live streamed via the monastery YouTube channel.
On most Full and New Moons, the Cittaviveka community will hold a meditation vigil at 7.30 pm, continuing until midnight. The evening programme will include chanting, silent meditation and some form of a Dhamma teaching, either a reading or a recorded talk. Please feel free to join us for as much of the evening as you wish. You can download a calendar showing the lunar days using this link.
Use of the Dhamma Hall
Visitors are now welcome to visit the monastery from early morning until the end of the group practice session that evening, i.e. evening pujas, guided meditations, Dhamma talks and midnight vigils.
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We ask people to refrain from visiting the monastery if they are feeling unwell with symptoms of respiratory illnesses.
Dhamma Teachings
Commencing on 31 August, a Dhamma talk will be offered every Saturday evening, beginning with chanting and silent meditation at 7.30 pm.
Guided meditations occur each week on Sunday evenings at 7.30 pm, also live streamed via the monastery YouTube channel.
On most Full and New Moons, the Cittaviveka community will hold a meditation vigil at 7.30 pm, continuing until midnight. The evening programme will include chanting, silent meditation and some form of a Dhamma teaching, either a reading or a recorded talk. Please feel free to join us for as much of the evening as you wish. You can download a calendar showing the lunar days using this link.
Sharing the Midday Meal Offering
Now that it is winter, the midday meal offering is at 10.30 am. This changes with the onset of British Summer Time, Sunday 30 March, when the meal offering will be at 11.30 am.
Making Food Offerings
The arrangements for people wishing to offer prepared dishes for the meal will remain the same, taking dishes directly to the kitchen. Other requisites can also be offered at the house or in the Dhamma Hall.
Monastery Routine
Please visit our website to view the monastery's daily routine.
As always, please regularly check our website for changes or updates. Also, please consider signing up for our e-newsletter and announcements. You can do this by visiting the Subscribe to Newsletter page on our website.
Closing Time
For those of you who plan to park a car within the monastery grounds, please note that the driveway generally closes at 9:00 pm when metal bollards block entry and exit.
On nights when Dhamma talks and late-night vigils take place, closing time is fifteen minutes after the end of the gathering.
The weekly Sunday teatime Q&A with a senior monk or nun will take place on the ground floor of the main house starting at 5.00 pm. Everyone is welcome to stay afterwards and join in with the weekly guided meditation at 7.30 pm in the Dhamma Hall. The tea time Q&A does not happen during the months of January, February, and March (the annual Winter Retreat). They will recommence on Sunday 6 April.