tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2866975708849445152024-03-15T21:13:08.115-04:00Georgia Buddhist ViharaTheravada Buddhist Temple and Vipassana Meditation CenterSahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15012183754701791970noreply@blogger.comBlogger276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-59058792625204901752024-03-07T20:00:00.001-05:002024-03-07T20:00:30.835-05:00GBV Madin Poya Program on March 16th @ 7:30 am<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 665px;"><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-large; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Madin Poya Program will be observed on</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Saturday, March</span></span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> 16th, 2024, from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">at the Georgia </span></span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Buddhist Vihara. </span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-large; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We invite you all to join the program.</span></span></span></h2>
<span style="border: none; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span> <span style="border: none; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
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<table class="tg">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th class="tg-xldj">Morning Program</th>
<th class="tg-xldj"></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">7:30 – 8:50 a.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Observance of the eight Precepts, Buddha Puja and Heel Dana (Self Serving)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-xldj">9:00 – 9:45 a.m.</td>
<td class="tg-xldj">Guided Meditation</td>
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<td class="tg-0lax">9:45 – 10:00 a.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">break</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">10:00 – 11:00 a.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Dhamma Desanawa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">11:00 – 11:15 a.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Buddha Pooja (@ 11.00)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">11:30 – 12:00 nn</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Dana offering to the Bhantes and those who observe eight precepts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">12:00 – 1:00 p.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Luncheon</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-0lax">Afternoon Program.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax"></td>
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<td class="tg-0lax">1:00 – 2:15 p.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Dhamma Deshana</td>
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<td class="tg-0lax">2:15 – 2:30 p.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Tea & coffee break</td>
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<td class="tg-0lax">2:30 – 3:30 p.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Suthra Discussion </td>
</tr>
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<td class="tg-0lax">3:45 – 5:45 p.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Dhamma Discussion</td>
</tr>
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<td class="tg-0lax">5:45 p.m.</td>
<td class="tg-0lax">Observation of Five Precepts, Punnyanumodana, and Conclusion</td>
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</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Sign up for the program</b></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-48448609-march" target="_blank"><img alt="Sign Up!" border="0" height="45" src="https://www.signupgenius.com/images/sign-up-now2.gif" width="250" /></a>Sahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15012183754701791970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-21435053396147370372024-02-14T20:48:00.000-05:002024-02-14T20:48:03.962-05:00GBV Vesak Day & Ceremony to Offer the New Pagoda to the Buddha Sasana (May 18th-19th, 2024)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcA51LFzj9g4G87xxx5vCbp9LBK6IehmBBn96xIbPG-an1Dooj3-0A3WVrtccUGw0yvT29L5_SOM7BtjIQ7GwUbf8uSY6H1ehIevS1RV_OB3ic1sX4o1QbhXdn30Vl93eXzfKK1l82nuFuzvIOOLPmafaHpxRTWVVuUNLToxJy1oNqVR3ZBSPqCCSOFnsb/s720/Wesak%202024%20Announcement%2001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="509" height="741" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcA51LFzj9g4G87xxx5vCbp9LBK6IehmBBn96xIbPG-an1Dooj3-0A3WVrtccUGw0yvT29L5_SOM7BtjIQ7GwUbf8uSY6H1ehIevS1RV_OB3ic1sX4o1QbhXdn30Vl93eXzfKK1l82nuFuzvIOOLPmafaHpxRTWVVuUNLToxJy1oNqVR3ZBSPqCCSOFnsb/w523-h741/Wesak%202024%20Announcement%2001.png" width="523" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-63414291757631630512024-01-28T12:08:00.005-05:002024-01-28T12:24:14.341-05:00School Supply Donation - Completion Details (Community Project) <p> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;">School Supply Donation - Completion Details </h2><h2 style="text-align: center;">(Community Project) </h2><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcp00GsMd-L7NJISz_2XiUiYVfAm0N-WRuiaLhDQoCi-6NohafmFmCm-ewAZ6XUD-2pisGf5fJw3sefjpXjlHjUY5ksq1Qgd4Xy3dd38g_HCzFnq9reDpIRfeFHEUSMzWS1ZkhnlgNly6m4-uwcJrbiVpjI0Y63tgyFyJ4mtBfcu9x4wXQFSASLRCquAa/s1472/pic01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="1472" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcp00GsMd-L7NJISz_2XiUiYVfAm0N-WRuiaLhDQoCi-6NohafmFmCm-ewAZ6XUD-2pisGf5fJw3sefjpXjlHjUY5ksq1Qgd4Xy3dd38g_HCzFnq9reDpIRfeFHEUSMzWS1ZkhnlgNly6m4-uwcJrbiVpjI0Y63tgyFyJ4mtBfcu9x4wXQFSASLRCquAa/w640-h184/pic01.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Dear Friends,</p><p>We wish you all a healthy, peaceful, and productive 2024. Please find the final report on our School Supplies Project that started last fall. Those items were distributed to two schools in Puttalam district on the 22nd of December, 2023. Please accept our deepest appreciation for your support. Although I am sure you do not expect a detailed report, we provide these details as our duty. Details are in different paragraphs below and have pages (Schools and donation details, images, receipts, etc) in order for you to select what you want to read. Again, a Big Thank You for your support. </p><p>School selection and support: I wanted to pick rural schools in SL. Dr. Manjula Dharmawardena said he knew a few schools in the Puttalam district while he was working there that were in dire need of school supplies even then. He also mentioned that his friend Dr. Ajith De Alwis is still working in the area. We found two schools, and the Deputy Principal of Mahakumbukkaduwela Kanishta Vidyalaya( Mr. Krishantha Dhammika, impressed me in our first meeting. He asked me to help him do a science project on the night sky. When I inquired him about his science background. He said He did one course in Astronomy at Univ of Peradeniya for his degree. To make a long story short, we (with Dr. Shameer Abdeen and Dr. Nalin Samarasinha) helped him organize a star night at the school (at very short notice), which was a success. We also picked the Punnavitiya Knahishta Vidyalaya again for the prompt responses from the principal and Mrs. Hasini Upamalika who was assigned as the teacher in charge for the project.. </p><p>Supplies & Selection: We specifically asked for simple essential items that can be used by students for their day-to-day use in school and to start the school year with enough basic supplies. ( No school bags, lunch boxes, water bottles, etc.) These were selected in order to manage the packing volume and make sure we can distribute enough material to all the students equally. The support we received was commendable!. </p><p>We had 4 boxes full of material (totaling 24 Cubic Feet), which were shipped and distributed to two schools, two boxes each, distributed to the students on Dec 22nd, 2023, to start the new year with new books to write, pencils, and erasers, thanks to your generosity. </p><p>Best Regards,</p><p>
Unil & Shrima Perera<br />
Kumarasiri Rathnayaka<br />
Manjula & Dasheema Dharmawardena<br />
Bhante Panamwela Wajirabuddhi<br />
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<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 467.5pt;" valign="top" width="623">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">School Supply donations for Two schools <br /> In the Puttalam District in Sri Lanka (Dec
22nd, 2023 ) <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 467.5pt;" valign="top" width="623">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">MahKumbukkadawala
Kanista Vidyalaya: (~200 students) Deputy Principal: Mr. Krishanatha:
Dhammika,
Two boxes ( six cubic feet each, labeled
M1, and M2) <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">PU/Mahakubukkaadawala K.V., Maradankadawala, Madurankuliya,
Puttalam <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"> Box M1<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Box M2<o:p></o:p></p>
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</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Composition
Books <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">200<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">150<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Spiral
Notebooks <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">50<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">250<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Pencils <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">2450<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">1000<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Erasers Grades 1- 2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">150<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">200<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Erasers (White, Pink, Pencil) <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">350<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">250<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Blue pens <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">400<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">200<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Black pens <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">500<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 40.5pt;" valign="top" width="54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">250<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Punavitiya Kanishta Vidyalaya ( ~150 students): Mrs. Hasini
Upmalika 2 boxes, six cubic feet each, labeled as P1,
P2<o:p></o:p></p><!--[if !supportMisalignedColumns]--><!--[endif]--><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Pu/
Punavitiya K.V., Punavitiya, Andigama<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 0.5in;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"> Box P1<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 0.5in;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Box <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">P 2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Composition
Books <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 45pt;" valign="top" width="60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">60<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 27pt;" valign="top" width="36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">100<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Spiral
Notebooks <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 45pt;" valign="top" width="60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">150<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 27pt;" valign="top" width="36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">70<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Pencils <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 45pt;" valign="top" width="60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">1750<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 27pt;" valign="top" width="36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">1200<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Erasers Grades 1- 2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 45pt;" valign="top" width="60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">25<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 27pt;" valign="top" width="36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Erasers(white,Pink,
Pencil)<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 45pt;" valign="top" width="60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">250<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 27pt;" valign="top" width="36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">185<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Blue pens <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 45pt;" valign="top" width="60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">200<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 27pt;" valign="top" width="36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">232<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 134.75pt;" valign="top" width="180">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Black pens <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 45pt;" valign="top" width="60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">275<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 27pt;" valign="top" width="36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">300<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr height="0">
<td style="border: none;" width="180"></td>
<td style="border: none;" width="48"></td>
<td style="border: none;" width="12"></td>
<td style="border: none;" width="44"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In addition, each school received a few items to be used by teachers ( not enough to distribute, such as Pencil Sharpeners, rulers, multicolor pens, etc); this large quantity of school supplies received is a testament to the generosity of our GBV devotees. We really appreciate your
support.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Several devotees of the GBV helped sort and pack the boxes. Kumarasiri Rathnayaka was helpful in shipping the packages to SL, which were
cleared by Ven Kirinde Pangathisssa Nayaka Thero of the Padangaha Buddhist
Temple. The tireless efforts of Ven Welivitiya Sujeewa Thero should be commended, as he tried his best to get a tax exemption/reduction through the Buddhist Cultural Affairs ministry.<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Puttalam District
Hospital Physician Dr. Indika De Alwis graciously transported the material from the Padangaha
Vihara to Puttalam. The parents picked up the boxes from the office and delivered them to schools. Dr. Indika participated in the distribution ceremony at
both schools. Images of the packages and the distribution ceremony are also attached separately, Courtesy of
Mr. Krishanatha Dhammika, Mrs.
Hasini Upamalika, and Dr. Ajith De Alwis. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Two boxes each were ( six cu ft) shipped to the two schools:<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">M1 and M2 : Mahakumbukkkaduwela,P1 and P2 : Punnavitiya </p><p class="MsoNormal">( Only MI and M2 are shown)</p><p class="MsoNormal">Unpacking at the schools</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcp00GsMd-L7NJISz_2XiUiYVfAm0N-WRuiaLhDQoCi-6NohafmFmCm-ewAZ6XUD-2pisGf5fJw3sefjpXjlHjUY5ksq1Qgd4Xy3dd38g_HCzFnq9reDpIRfeFHEUSMzWS1ZkhnlgNly6m4-uwcJrbiVpjI0Y63tgyFyJ4mtBfcu9x4wXQFSASLRCquAa/s1472/pic01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="1472" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcp00GsMd-L7NJISz_2XiUiYVfAm0N-WRuiaLhDQoCi-6NohafmFmCm-ewAZ6XUD-2pisGf5fJw3sefjpXjlHjUY5ksq1Qgd4Xy3dd38g_HCzFnq9reDpIRfeFHEUSMzWS1ZkhnlgNly6m4-uwcJrbiVpjI0Y63tgyFyJ4mtBfcu9x4wXQFSASLRCquAa/w640-h184/pic01.png" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Mahakumbukkaduwela Distribution Ceremony</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaUgZQg4gy2WwVYK_qkqFzBdCsxG6nTQLSE2IpiD_RBE9PEnsZe5ewoIH0s08MccBfILkNUadTv_Nqi-TUAJyJcqkaBwpOSgALFVXDQZVyelBDEVJhZSj5_GTK0cYydpSvFtlVQafBfe_tMvdQxzPCh-pgvb94IUfzQIZ-L3dkkqNMmDLY1jlEmrlEaNm/s1445/pic02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="1445" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaUgZQg4gy2WwVYK_qkqFzBdCsxG6nTQLSE2IpiD_RBE9PEnsZe5ewoIH0s08MccBfILkNUadTv_Nqi-TUAJyJcqkaBwpOSgALFVXDQZVyelBDEVJhZSj5_GTK0cYydpSvFtlVQafBfe_tMvdQxzPCh-pgvb94IUfzQIZ-L3dkkqNMmDLY1jlEmrlEaNm/w640-h206/pic02.png" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Punnavitiya Distribution Ceremony:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29-Sp6Xxl4bWymEKkZ-IbCO0roOBzaWPhTD4rt4VuriqHYjKVJcMTnfisz-OyXGHuX-qNuHCbuBjyaGkpJITZLbDz701q1o9Q1286FBBYFAGIZ5f-Tr0FciWj1QbMBzyGyU2Gxju3aviJuLoY2Bs6lABjnsYVTqHYdXvFA9WBNlVv2aIxuhFe2wzI2DkD/s1565/pic03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="1565" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29-Sp6Xxl4bWymEKkZ-IbCO0roOBzaWPhTD4rt4VuriqHYjKVJcMTnfisz-OyXGHuX-qNuHCbuBjyaGkpJITZLbDz701q1o9Q1286FBBYFAGIZ5f-Tr0FciWj1QbMBzyGyU2Gxju3aviJuLoY2Bs6lABjnsYVTqHYdXvFA9WBNlVv2aIxuhFe2wzI2DkD/w640-h226/pic03.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Aptos",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Iskoola Pota"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p>
</p>Sahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15012183754701791970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-56795123392159908512023-11-19T22:48:00.001-05:002023-11-19T22:48:55.055-05:00Placing of the Sacred Pinnacle (Koth Wahanse) Ceremony (Thursday, November 23rd, 2023 - 7:00 AM)<p> <span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Dear Devotees of Georgia Buddhist Vihara and Friends,</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">We would like to invite you for the </span><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Placing of the Sacred Pinnacle (Koth Wahanse)</strong><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> on </span><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Thursday, November 23rd, 2023, at 7:00 AM</strong><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> at the </span><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Georgia Buddhist Vihara Stupa/Pagoda.</strong></p><p><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEmtBEQrHuyA9stg49_JPT4Ayr747gfdN2O1JMbnBMDEhEKlI33TYagHdfCTINNnd0rgBqCKo3ZE_BgSL05FdY1v3sMUTBFbXHO-ftO6mlnzEwrM-QQ-waWKi7IAn9zP4VAMOmRc1GQBSLQey_tBvIlpvv2CktC7b9aLjUz6tsAOhhoLacElG1-qezENmd/s1440/GBV%20Pinacle%20Placement%20112323_02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1018" height="687" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEmtBEQrHuyA9stg49_JPT4Ayr747gfdN2O1JMbnBMDEhEKlI33TYagHdfCTINNnd0rgBqCKo3ZE_BgSL05FdY1v3sMUTBFbXHO-ftO6mlnzEwrM-QQ-waWKi7IAn9zP4VAMOmRc1GQBSLQey_tBvIlpvv2CktC7b9aLjUz6tsAOhhoLacElG1-qezENmd/w485-h687/GBV%20Pinacle%20Placement%20112323_02.png" width="485" /></a></div><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><p><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p>May you all rejoice in this powerful meritorious deed and realize the Four Noble Truths in this Gautama Buddha's Dispensation!</span><p></p>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-3394386196905313302023-09-28T20:51:00.011-04:002023-10-02T22:16:53.954-04:00Katina Ceremony (October 8th, 2023)<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="padding-top: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top">Dear Devotees of Georgia Buddhist Vihara and Friends,</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnCaptionBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody class="mcnCaptionBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnCaptionBlockInner" style="padding: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RG8dLRYoWezaP_hGEQcN8zhAmoIlH7O7s75We3AB8Q9JP00OGQz5WdYWrxOEsdZyTjCd9jwSHKMYIMqEQ4utazy3DP52rs57nSqlnZ9h9_594s9Sj_m1HtfSg3BfRKMS3fthclWo2tCf2Qb9bL8PciU5Ma5ce0PL8WrYNcJLtUrmpoJaTDSAgRyMLQjq/s1280/IMG_4447.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="727" height="982" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RG8dLRYoWezaP_hGEQcN8zhAmoIlH7O7s75We3AB8Q9JP00OGQz5WdYWrxOEsdZyTjCd9jwSHKMYIMqEQ4utazy3DP52rs57nSqlnZ9h9_594s9Sj_m1HtfSg3BfRKMS3fthclWo2tCf2Qb9bL8PciU5Ma5ce0PL8WrYNcJLtUrmpoJaTDSAgRyMLQjq/w559-h982/IMG_4447.jpg" width="559" /></a></div><br /><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnCaptionBottomContent" style="border-collapse: collapse; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="mcnCaptionBottomImageContent" style="padding: 0px 9px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top" width="564"><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><strong>Georgia Buddhist Vihara Katina Ceremony 2023</strong> will be held on <strong>October 8th</strong>. We warmly invite all of you to participate in this wholesome event. The merits you can generate from this special event are enormous. Therefore, we hope you will make the best out of this opportunity.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Katina Ceremony Day Schedule: (October 8th, 5:00 AM - 5:00 PM)</strong><br /><br /><strong>5:00 AM - Bringing of the Katina Cheevara to the Vihara and Offering to Maha Sangha</strong><br /><br /><strong>6:00 AM - Morning Buddha Puja and Heel Dana for Maha Sangha and Devotees<br /><br />8:30 AM - Enshrining of The Lord Buddha's Sacred Relics</strong><br />The sacred relics of the Lord Buddha will be enshrined in the new Pagoda.<br />For those who missed the enshrining ceremony of the stupa, there is the opportunity to donate <strong>any small items</strong> you wish to be enshrined <strong>until the Katina Day</strong>.<br /><br /><strong>9:00 AM - Cheevara Pandu Peweema</strong><br />Katina robe coloring using tree barks and medicinal herbs.<br /><br /><strong>10:00 AM - Besajja Pindapatha</strong><br />Please sign up for the <strong>Besajja Pindapatha</strong> and participate in this great meritorious deed using the link below:<br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44675175-bhesajja" href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44675175-bhesajja" target="_blank">https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44675175-bhesajja</a><br /><br /><strong>10:30 AM - Afternoon Buddha Puja Followed by Dana for Maha Sangha</strong><br />We kindly request that you bring the food items that you have signed up for no later then <strong>10:00 AM</strong> so that we can prepare <strong>Buddha Puja and Dana</strong>.<br /><br /><strong>12:00 PM - Lunch for Devotees</strong><br />In appreciation and gratitude for everyone's support during the Katina Season, <strong>the Katina hosting family and friends will be providing lunch for all devotees.</strong><br />However, we have some items that we need you to generously provide. Please use the following link to confirm your participation and contribution:<br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44675177-gbvkatina" href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44675177-gbvkatina" target="_blank">https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44675177-gbvkatina</a><br /><br /><strong>1:30 PM - Katina Perahera<br /><br />2:30 PM - Katina Cheevara Puja Ceremony<br /><br />5:00 PM - End of Program<br /><br /><br />Kapruka</strong><br />If you would like to bring items to place under the <strong>Kapruka</strong>, below are the <strong>much-needed items</strong> for the temple:<br />Paper towels, paper cups, water bottles, Ziplock bags in assorted sizes, Tide/All detergent, dishwashing liquid, hand washing liquid, aluminum foil, kitchen towel, dishcloths, broom, dustpan & brush, tea candles, oatmeal, almond milk (nonperishable), cleaning liquid, air fresheners, Clorox wipes, paper plates, disposable spoons, trash bags (large and 13 gal).<br /><br /><strong>Pirikara</strong><br />If you would like to offer <strong>Pirikara</strong> for the participating Bhantes, you are most welcome to. We will have <strong>approximately 16 Bhantes</strong> attending the Katina.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-35297222690955961972023-09-21T21:47:00.000-04:002023-09-21T21:47:09.945-04:00Overnight Pirith Chanting & Stupa Enshrining Ceremony (September 23rd - September 24th, 2023)<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_2559225497609080962mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="m_2559225497609080962mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; word-break: break-word;" valign="top">Dear Devotees of Georgia Buddhist Vihara and Friends,</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_2559225497609080962mcnCaptionBottomContent" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 9px 9px;" valign="top"><img alt="" class="m_2559225497609080962mcnImage CToWUd a6T" data-bit="iit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjQ_mTBUjB5r2DCWCq_bca0Q8zK5gpr-quK1FX_lrpXkIhk4v79-yTFmPQ8dHCbvShKlwK7Bokk1_hl8lyAoBwLYiPK318DtVD_ighenDgUVrGOPX6c21yCeWoODbrm4t6OQlLW1ai-P20XVyqBbvnn4ilm9tmWV5kO52i7QqkMySj_0g1FT-DiGP-1_gv3FMui-sg4BcfDqCBI9w3RajFDw7Sp=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; height: auto; max-width: 1018px; outline: none; vertical-align: bottom;" tabindex="0" width="564" /></td></tr><tr><td class="m_2559225497609080962mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 9px; word-break: break-word;" valign="top" width="564"><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;">You are cordially invited to participate in this meritorious occasion!<br />An <strong>Overnight Pirith Chanting Ceremony</strong> will be held at the Georgia Buddhist Vihara to invoke the blessings of the Triple Gem upon all beings! Followed by a ceremony next day morning to <strong>Enshrine Buddha Statues</strong> inside the new Pagoda.<br />It will take place from <strong>Saturday, September 23rd 6:30 PM to Sunday, September 24th 7:00 AM</strong>, followed by the offering of the morning dana to the Maha Sangha and all participants.<br /><br />The schedule is as follows <strong>(September 23rd):</strong><br />6:30 PM - 7:30 PM – Dinner<br />7:30 PM - 8:00 PM – Atavisi Buddha Pooja<br />8:15 PM Onwards – Pirith Chanting<br /><br /><strong>(September 24th):</strong><br />7:00 AM – Morning Dana for Maha Sangha and Attendees<br />8:00 AM – Enshrining Ceremony<br /><br />To confirm your participation and contribution to dinner, snacks, or morning dana please use the following link. Please indicate as a comment if you are <strong>only participating for the morning Dana & Enshrining Ceremony</strong>.<br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42%26id%3Dbe1f119526%26e%3D0b4775c76a&source=gmail&ust=1695433425573000&usg=AOvVaw1b4thlRT3F-2z0JVgx_88M" href="https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42&id=be1f119526&e=0b4775c76a" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">https://www.signupgenius.com/<wbr></wbr>go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-<wbr></wbr>44344636-pirith</a><br /><br />The Pirith Chanting will also be live-streamed via GBV YouTube channel: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42%26id%3D11d4ec0287%26e%3D0b4775c76a&source=gmail&ust=1695433425573000&usg=AOvVaw3cq4l9FTaeHszTKJDZACK0" href="https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42&id=11d4ec0287&e=0b4775c76a" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.<wbr></wbr>com/c/GeorgiaBuddhistVihara</a></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-26351635842579223502023-09-14T23:13:00.003-04:002023-09-14T23:17:37.082-04:00 GBV Overnight Pirith Chanting (September 23rd, 2023)<p> <span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Dear Devotees of Georgia Buddhist Vihara and Friends,</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecZ8u_CRoAUtC_o9W9iKQIocxP5XUNJNH-KC4nQaAFyLxzsdZHbkZZGcNtvkfniu6PfGOefHyHO1FbNbXn081UabCzMtOs__yG8iOM-deTw_CRCAyTddF4QmPu8xPOShW8mrAp1r0DrAco_d79hvMeV2R56KcnqbmmYeMQS5dXinWfOKtSiDrRhanuyxl/s1440/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1018" height="830" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecZ8u_CRoAUtC_o9W9iKQIocxP5XUNJNH-KC4nQaAFyLxzsdZHbkZZGcNtvkfniu6PfGOefHyHO1FbNbXn081UabCzMtOs__yG8iOM-deTw_CRCAyTddF4QmPu8xPOShW8mrAp1r0DrAco_d79hvMeV2R56KcnqbmmYeMQS5dXinWfOKtSiDrRhanuyxl/w585-h830/image.png" width="585" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">You are cordially invited to participate in this meritorious occasion!</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">An </span><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Overnight Pirith Chanting Ceremony</strong><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> will be held at the Georgia Buddhist Vihara to invoke the blessings of the Triple Gem upon all beings!</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">It will take place from </span><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Saturday, September 23rd 6:30 PM to Sunday, September 24th 7:00 AM</strong><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">, followed by the offering of the morning dana to the Maha Sangha and all participants.</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">The schedule is as follows:</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">6:30 PM - 7:30 PM – Dinner</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">7:30 PM - 8:00 PM – Atavisi Buddha Pooja</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">8:15 PM Onwards – Pirith Chanting</span><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Please use the following link to sign up to confirm your participation and to indicate if you wish to provide dinner and snacks: </span><a href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44344636-pirith" style="color: #007c89; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-44344636-pirith</a><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">The Pirith Chanting will also be live-streamed via GBV YouTube channel: </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/GeorgiaBuddhistVihara?utm_source=GBV+Master+List&utm_campaign=d7a43ed875-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_21_2020_0_18_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b2514e6b18-d7a43ed875-" style="color: #007c89; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; text-size-adjust: 100%;">https://www.youtube.com/c/GeorgiaBuddhistVihara</a><p></p>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-17387796282887756212023-09-11T22:08:00.001-04:002023-09-11T22:08:24.677-04:00Upcoming Events - Katina Season 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXui61DPqGNh2toXmxKVYjBZ0c5RHofV-5zaQJeLsO8LvKuRmenfLASwPWizo-vvOeeWdYi1D6SI6qnbzleh9yCjBaY0Srdf3ZvJexvwA7YDZy3sViTzLzRU-ATOoABv42-HzAMbSrZbseG-gNSpO92142bq7DZRjOReL-Cnf5utywIivkXeaIe-p-mDA5/s671/Untitled%20drawing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="317" height="890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXui61DPqGNh2toXmxKVYjBZ0c5RHofV-5zaQJeLsO8LvKuRmenfLASwPWizo-vvOeeWdYi1D6SI6qnbzleh9yCjBaY0Srdf3ZvJexvwA7YDZy3sViTzLzRU-ATOoABv42-HzAMbSrZbseG-gNSpO92142bq7DZRjOReL-Cnf5utywIivkXeaIe-p-mDA5/w420-h890/Untitled%20drawing.png" width="420" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-43187301293692651442023-08-13T21:31:00.020-04:002023-09-11T21:56:45.292-04:00GBV Stupa/Pagoda Fund<p style="text-align: center;"><b>-Namobuddhaya-</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Atthi Dinnan: for those who believe in giving</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk3oywKOYfcOMXnK-opMWu_4f9SD8AbLMz-KI40LritShBqUaFrtp8vAqW8x-sLpuzgqo7YCuhsZdp6sV8pq5hrD4eWBQJk9HSESlMAQivRSc_lZ8GedygwBFN4SLfUGkiGcH_Cvv9BEEButKc8LIn4RH76Is19Cc8QHH2JS-6oXLQ3TO9HdZBaF8rjnc5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="6912" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk3oywKOYfcOMXnK-opMWu_4f9SD8AbLMz-KI40LritShBqUaFrtp8vAqW8x-sLpuzgqo7YCuhsZdp6sV8pq5hrD4eWBQJk9HSESlMAQivRSc_lZ8GedygwBFN4SLfUGkiGcH_Cvv9BEEButKc8LIn4RH76Is19Cc8QHH2JS-6oXLQ3TO9HdZBaF8rjnc5=w580-h291" width="580" /></a></div><p></p><p>Dear Devotees and Friends, </p><p><br /></p><p>We were given a very rare and once in a lifetime opportunity to construct a Stupa or Pagoda in our Georgia Buddhist Vihara temple with blessings of the resident monks (maha sangha). The merits gained are enormous, in addition to the 18 benefits, by donating to such a noble project. </p><p>This project was initiated since 2015, when we finished our second Katina, and throughout 8 years we have donated over $80,000 in cash to initiate this project. In addition, the Kotha (Pinnacle) was built in Sri Lanka and brought over to the temple.</p><p>We were blessed to get the most difficult part of hiring the experts such as qualified architects, structural engineer and a site engineer to draw the plans and get it approved from city and county authorities in a very short time. We were fortunate enough to find a very reasonable contractor who agreed to complete the footing, foundation and inner walls, accessibility landings, and stage 1 & 2 of the Stupa/Pagoda with the funds provided.</p><p>Rejoice the merits of this project's progress through the following <a href="https://www.facebook.com/people/Georgia-Buddhist-Vihara-Stupa/100095053013038/?mibextid=LQQJ4d">page</a>.</p><p>To complete the rest of the project we need to raise another $60,000 as soon as possible. Therefore, we look forward to your kind participation, generosity and support.</p><p>You can also donate your effort through shramadana (gifts of labor) whenever you have time to contribute to the building of the stupa. Even moving one brick will produce enormous merits.</p><p>To complete the rest of the project we need to raise another <b>$60,000</b> as soon as possible. Therefore, we look forward to your kind participation, generosity and support.</p><p>Tiles will be laid on the stupa's upper level (Salapathala Maluwa) by September 25th, 2023. Anyone who wishes to have their name engraved on a tile can donate before <b>September 20th, 2023</b>.</p><p>Please fill in the following form to sign up for contributions and donations made to GBV Stupa/Pagoda Fund. Donations can be made by:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Checks by mail to <b>3153 Miller Rd, Stonecrest, GA 30038</b> to be received before <b>20th September 2023</b>. </li><li>Cash or checks provided in-person, please enclose it in an envelope and write <b>"GBV Stupa/Pagoda Fund" </b>and hand it to Bhante Wajirabuddhi Thero or the resident monks. </li><li>If using Zelle, please send it to <b>gbvihara@gmail.com</b>.</li></ul><p></p><p>With the blessings of this enormous meritorious deed, may you attain the ultimate bliss of awakening as you wish! </p>
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Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-38657452288094996292023-07-30T12:24:00.001-04:002023-07-31T16:47:10.339-04:00This retreat helped me to reduce stress and anxiety.<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxk9GNdmcKMP9OeddEsLeo36BopjtsuGWQTLYUJYw10E51R6di2dkViylxQdLRfF-9_J3fmiQS1myHGFKdSGcwpcnby-ExCGWWoqh7Wx-neA7PcPZisZjMw_02nXn6wlD5uSdDIpguqFLQdghAZKo41ZMOWc_NOyPyGtd-sbHiQLYtl9Xz9YHv2XqMuE0/s1446/IMG_3960.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="822" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxk9GNdmcKMP9OeddEsLeo36BopjtsuGWQTLYUJYw10E51R6di2dkViylxQdLRfF-9_J3fmiQS1myHGFKdSGcwpcnby-ExCGWWoqh7Wx-neA7PcPZisZjMw_02nXn6wlD5uSdDIpguqFLQdghAZKo41ZMOWc_NOyPyGtd-sbHiQLYtl9Xz9YHv2XqMuE0/s320/IMG_3960.PNG" width="182" /></a></div><br /> <span face=""Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-size: 22px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual;">Kalana Karunanayake</span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">These past few days have been good because I learned a lot<br />about Buddhism. I learned the importance of being mindful<br />and present in the moment. It helped me to be more aware of<br />my thoughts and feelings. I also realized how good meditation<br />is and its ability to help reduce stress and anxiety. On the first<br />day, I barely got any sleep but it was okay because the nice tea<br />helped it out. The candle meditation was good because I<br />learned that even if you don't like someone, you still have to<br />wish them that they have a good day without problems. Also, I<br />saw that it felt much better when I did the meditation because<br />it cleared all my useless and distracting thoughts. After the art<br />class started, I learned about the importance of<br />impermanence. Impermanence is the awareness that you and<br />everything will disappear someday and you cannot do<br />anything to stop it. The whole world is not permanent, you are<br />not permanent, I am not permanent. Everything you think will<br />disappear one day. Even your thoughts are not permanent.<br />Our group was supposed to represent a Buddhist topic and<br />draw something to represent it. We drew pictures of<br />something that represents impermanence. I drew a waterfall.<br />It represents impermanence because the waterfall is changing<br />every minute. I think someone in my group drew a candle that<br />burned out. It represents that the candle will always burn out<br />just like everything will burn out too.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span> </span>When I was eating lunch, I heard the Bhantes saying to pick<br />some food that you don’t like and you like. So I got rice<br />because I don't like it and I got yogurt and a ton of fruit. I was<br />so full but I knew I was not going to eat dinner so I ate it all.<br />Also, the Bhante said not to waste food so get the right<br />amount that you need. I was grateful that I chose to eat all of<br />my food because I was not hungry the rest of the time.<br />Then I had to leave the retreat because I got sick. I think it was<br />because I slept on the ground. After all, I do get sick from the<br />dust. I will have to come back another day. So the Bhante said<br />the 5 precepts to remove the 8 precepts so I could go home.<br />I missed the second day but I came back on the last day. I was<br />kind of disappointed because I missed it. Sadly, I missed the<br />meditation too. The Bhantes did the 8 precepts so I can<br />observe them again. For art class, I saw that they drew on<br />rocks when I was gone. I was asked to draw on a rock, so I did.<br />You were supposed to draw a Buddhist symbol. I drew the<br />Buddha meditating under A tree. Afterward, I was told to draw<br />a table and things on it. It had some items on it, I remember<br />there being an orange cloth and an oil lamp.<br />When the retreat was over, I think back and notice the change<br />from the beginning to now. When I first came here I thought<br />about what is the purpose of doing this retreat, then in the<br />end, I learned that the purpose was to clear your mind and<br />learn more about Buddhism. When I cleared my mind I was<br />able to focus much better. I think this can help you a lot with<br />schoolwork and other things you need to focus a lot on. I<br />recommend people to meditate more often, especially during<br />school because it helps more than you think. Also, I have<br />become a lot kinder because I meditated. I think I got a lot of<br />merits from paying attention and listening and even learning. I<br />learned so much from this and I hope everyone had the same<br />experience as I did. If you didn’t have the same experience,<br />you may not have paid attention. So you could focus and clear<br />your mind because your mind is going here and there. Next<br />year, I recommend you listen more. It might get hard to focus<br />but it is worth trying to. If you didn’t get the same experience<br />as me, you should continue meditating more at home and be<br />mindful of your surroundings. Thank you for reading about my<br />experience.</div>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-61719105134450011082023-07-29T21:46:00.000-04:002023-07-29T21:46:32.967-04:00GBV Pagoda Keystone Laying Ceremony<p> <img height="1080" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NSto5akUPg7gnf9H6bzjo8DgsLTPPBgzliZIxal62-mtxFPzWBFxU5L3Z_zwCbiy8atyF9LSbT1AeXYhaPCq5Mka8CaFTOGdrSqrYxXTnuIzQi88gdJa3pn4YTzAQAD7iQsMQqDY_vm9-6ry7iiBYXQ" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;" width="604" /></p>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-52111649702225855472023-07-26T21:33:00.000-04:002023-07-26T21:33:01.033-04:00My mind was surprisingly peaceful.<p> <span> </span></p><p><span> </span><span> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6PEuKP7-k79Qx62clqQMqaf5BBMIotOjCB8g8UtgJ4AGdyADpsx0TptKnybCXzEdsE2yjfKcYFEcxkOqSArLbIgBx-DLTrw6l7Yfs8U1YLnCC0x__6_8MP9Bc_aT0KRRbkY2lFSAql_AFgyWWL6-FKkxfCRF3Dgnec0GntKawJxi0hTQf3A_5eB8tn8/s301/IMG_2333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="301" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6PEuKP7-k79Qx62clqQMqaf5BBMIotOjCB8g8UtgJ4AGdyADpsx0TptKnybCXzEdsE2yjfKcYFEcxkOqSArLbIgBx-DLTrw6l7Yfs8U1YLnCC0x__6_8MP9Bc_aT0KRRbkY2lFSAql_AFgyWWL6-FKkxfCRF3Dgnec0GntKawJxi0hTQf3A_5eB8tn8/s1600/IMG_2333.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman", "new york", times, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> Kaveesh Rathnayake</span></b></span></p><p>Overall the Dhamma retreat was a very mind-cleansing thing. That's not to say there weren’t a</p><p>lot of problems. The first day I had trouble sleeping because the lights in the room we were</p><p>sleeping were on and kept changing colors. Not to mention I was hungry because I was used to</p><p>eating dinner before I went to sleep. I went to bed and tried to go to sleep but I could not go to</p><p>sleep as there were RGB lights on in the room the entire time. I got up the next day with 0 sleep.</p><p>Luckily they had coffee during morning break and I drank the entire cup. I still found it hard to</p><p>focus during the meditation classes but by the time Breakfast had started, I was usually already</p><p>wide awake. Our schedule was mostly full of breaks, meditation, and a reading period. Luckily</p><p>the 2nd day they gave us smoothies in the afternoon so by the time it was time to sleep my</p><p>stomach was still full and I was able to get some sleep. The 3rd day was followed by the exact</p><p>same thing. I noticed that I started to get lots of cramps as I wasn’t used to sitting down in one</p><p>place for so long. After I drank the smoothie and went to sleep that day my stomach was</p><p>surprisingly full considering the fact that I drank the smoothie about 3 hours ago. That night I fell</p><p>asleep instantly and woke up refreshed in the morning. On the final day we did our usual</p><p>proceeding then it was time to go. We bowed down to our parents and chanted to conclude the</p><p>Dhamma Retreat. Something I noticed about the Retreat was that I found it much easier to</p><p>concentrate on things and my mind was surprisingly peaceful. Overall I think that the Dhamma</p><p>Retreat was a good life experience even with some of its cons.</p>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-88443382237199312692023-07-26T21:05:00.004-04:002023-07-26T21:05:44.100-04:00My favorite part of the day was art class and the walking meditation....<p> </p><p><br /></p><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><b>Senithu Senanayake</b></div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUsn0PZ9J8FUZmVdF8AhN9V1YNJdyDnCWzGT5WyIxeG6Wjf5_Zj4xu8-CJaE8GFxxIfN7NEXBRSBo5bZ8QEsmrvIoPD7oP84--U9WWLlB_wXJjMcukoFEOovni7p_e7BSDMYxLoiBDUGZfEHinfDL2OJrJov6GyINZBtEMkJ4mCBkAKYqK7skoZmMLCs/s924/57fcad0a-eb4b-48db-88ae-b00bf3658b81%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUsn0PZ9J8FUZmVdF8AhN9V1YNJdyDnCWzGT5WyIxeG6Wjf5_Zj4xu8-CJaE8GFxxIfN7NEXBRSBo5bZ8QEsmrvIoPD7oP84--U9WWLlB_wXJjMcukoFEOovni7p_e7BSDMYxLoiBDUGZfEHinfDL2OJrJov6GyINZBtEMkJ4mCBkAKYqK7skoZmMLCs/s320/57fcad0a-eb4b-48db-88ae-b00bf3658b81%20(1).jpg" width="174" /></a></div><br />When I had to wake up at 5:00 A.M. it was not that easy. After we got ready for the day, we were given a candle and proceeded to the shrine room to begin a long day. <p></p><div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">We meditated while listening to Bhante’s words and also did the walking meditation. After we offered food to the Buddha, we served ourselves breakfast and ate in silence. </div><div dir="ltr">After, we participated in a session that discussed the Mangala Sutra and the Ratara Sutra. My favorite part of the day was art class and the walking meditation with Bhante Deepankara. </div><div dir="ltr">We would walk outside with no shoes or socks. I liked that we could focus on what was going on around us since I usually don’t think about that. </div><div dir="ltr">This meditation is good for being aware of your surroundings. The meditation really helped me because it made me more mindful and helped me be more aware of what’s around me. </div><div dir="ltr">Then we proceeded with the Buddha Puja and had another silent meal afterward. Before we had meals, we would chant a gatha that basically said “I will not waste this alms given to me” and “I will only take as much as I can take”. </div><div dir="ltr">This taught me to be more grateful of not only the food that I am given but also things like clothes and shelter. Next, I visited a Laos temple and a Cambodian temple. </div><div dir="ltr">The Cambodian temple was interesting because their Buddha statue had different features than ours. </div><div dir="ltr">In art class, we had to draw something on a paper that is related to Buddhism and teaches a moral. We also drew something related to Buddhism on a rock. </div><div dir="ltr">The dhamma discussions we had taught me about a lot of things like being mindful and grateful. Throughout this retreat, I learned many useful things that I can use in my life for now on. Thank you to all the Bhante’s for teaching me and I will be back next year.</div></blockquote></div>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-76459666842753079142023-07-25T22:30:00.002-04:002023-07-26T07:22:55.308-04:00This has already made me a better disciplined person.........<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwg1jJ8x40u7w3KCK2zBZ8UaIHMxfoqvh1xsPOyMC7intMCxAi9sDxa2PxHJS2NeovcLDR0VYuYNLGln-eDZby7eQvyZX0SJKfMtD7RLuJOtPhHPua_Vj3vfvVX1VnSH6201QveM75qr_Vn--SLHQGH0_OTWencVY9g70inWIAcQay2jhbH0NvYPvxnYI/s2001/mihini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1991" data-original-width="2001" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwg1jJ8x40u7w3KCK2zBZ8UaIHMxfoqvh1xsPOyMC7intMCxAi9sDxa2PxHJS2NeovcLDR0VYuYNLGln-eDZby7eQvyZX0SJKfMtD7RLuJOtPhHPua_Vj3vfvVX1VnSH6201QveM75qr_Vn--SLHQGH0_OTWencVY9g70inWIAcQay2jhbH0NvYPvxnYI/w200-h199/mihini.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br style="text-align: left;" /><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span color="windowtext" face=""Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span>Mihini Senanayake</span></span></span><span color="windowtext" face=""Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif" style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span> </span></span></span></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">When I arrived at the temple for this year’s </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">retreat,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I felt </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">different</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> than I did at my first retreat in 2019. What I </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">recently </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">felt was a feeling of excitement </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">and joy to be experiencing this</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> wonderful program</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> again. Not everyone </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">gets</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> t</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">o </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">participate</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> such a </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">thing,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and I was grateful to be able to </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">be </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">participating</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in this </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">year's</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> retreat.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The last </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">retreat </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I went </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">to, I</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">was not</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> the most </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">excited</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> since </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I knew it would be </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">awfully hard</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> for me to withstand such a </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">punctilious</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> sc</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hedule</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This year, I was more invested in the Dhamma discussions and meditations.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> And so,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I would like to talk about</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> what I learned and my thoughts throughout the day</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">s of this retreat.</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span></p><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><div><br /></div></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span> </span>I </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">never would have thought that waking up before 5 in the morning would be so easy. Whenever I woke up, I </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">felt bliss in the air, and my mind was so peaceful and calm. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I never felt groggy or had the desire to sleep more. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The environment of the temple</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> is part of the </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">reason</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> it was so easy for me to wake up at 4:30 a.m.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> After waking up</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> everyone would have a cup of tea and then start the morning meditation</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. I found the meditation so calming that my mind would stop thinking, and it would listen to the Bhante’s words. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Some things</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> that I found difficult </span><span style="background-image: var(--urlContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2,url('')); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">at</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> first </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">was staying still, as my legs would start to </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hurt,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> or my back would start to lean forward</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> without me noticing</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> My mind would start to </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">wonder,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and I would easily become distracted.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Throughout the retreat, I found it easier for me to sit still and </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">observe</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> my surroundings a</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">nd be able to stop my restless mind from thinking </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">intrusively</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><br /></p><div><br /></div></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span> </span>One of my favorite parts of this retreat was the Walking Meditation. The most important concept about it is being mindful and I really liked that I could </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">concentrate on practicing it for the next three days. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This meditation builds on itself and on you in a way that you become aware of everything.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Of course, that level of meditation would take lots of practice, but </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">what I learned what that </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">it is most definitely possible for anyone if they really tried. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">t this retreat, </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">everyone</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> learned to be</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">come more </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">aware of what actions they committed, what words </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">that they</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> spoke, and what thoughts they </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">reminisced about. While doing this meditation I thought about the body parts</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, internally or externally,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">that would move. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">For example, when </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hale</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, I am aware </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">that</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> the air is entering my nostrils, going through my body to my lungs, and expanding my lungs. As I exhale, the air leaves without oxygen and is now carbon dioxide, and my lungs </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">contract and wait for another breath. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The idea of this is to be aware of the sensations you feel, not enjoying them nor disliking them. Just knowing that this is what is happening and that is how it is. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">At </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">first,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I thought I should concentrate on keeping my thoughts away, but</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> what</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I learned from Bhante </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Deephankara</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">is </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">to let them happen. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are aware of thoughts happening, you are practicing the concept of being mindful in this meditation.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I could go on about the </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">many </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">different</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> part</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">s</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> of this </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">meditation,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> but I </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">also </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">want to talk about </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">the principles we had to apply in this retreat.</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><br /></p><div><br /></div></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span> </span>There were several ideas that we had to be more aware of, such as talking </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">too much or singing and dancing. For me, it </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">was not</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> hard to sing or dance but sometimes I would get too comfortable with a friend and talk too much. What I </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">observed</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> is t</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hat when I would be aware that I have the desire to share something with someone else,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I realize that what</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I want is a useless thing. It enhanced my ability to internalize my thoughts and just be mindful o</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">f </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">what is</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> happening. </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><br /></p></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Breakfast and lunch also helped me to internalize my thoughts. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Being in the moment was one of the things we talked about in </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">discussions,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and I would apply t</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hat to this</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">While we </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ate,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> we were </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">advised not to talk</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and to think about what </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">was</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> happening in the moment. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I was learning to b</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">e mindful that </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">was </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">consuming food</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and that </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">should be grateful that </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> have such a luxury in </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">my </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">life.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Loku Bhante told us to</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> not think about the past or the future, but to sense the feelings you are feeling</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">at the momen</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">t</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, the thoughts that go through your head, and being mindful of every bite that is placed in your mouth. </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><br /></p><div><br /></div></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span> </span>I am so glad and thankful to have </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">participated</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in this year’s retreat and will make sure to leave with the </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">principles</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> that </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">have practiced</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and the morals that I have learned.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I will not let myself forget about the precious time I spent at the temple and will make sure to continue those </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">practices</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in my daily life. This has already made me a better</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> disciplined</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> person</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and this experience will help me </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">lead</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> a peaceful </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">life. Spreading loving kindness to </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">everyone</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> is something I want to do more of after this retreat</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Practicing</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> mindfulness</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">getting</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">rid of attachments and selfishness will allow one to be happy</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">so I am glad that I know what I can do to become happy.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">There is more to these terms as they mean more meaningful things and </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">so I hope that I will have a deeper understanding </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">of Buddhism</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> as I attend future retreats. </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><br /></p></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span> </span>Before I can conclude my journal, I would like to thank Taniya Auntie, and all the Auntie’s and Uncles that </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">provided</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> help </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">to mak</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">e t</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">his retreat possible for us. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Idesha Akka was also a big part of this </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">retreat,</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and I cannot thank her enough for helping us make this retreat </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">a </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">great experience</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> for everyone.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">And I cannot forget about </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">my parents </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">who work so hard so that I will be able to </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">participate</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in incredible </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">programs </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">like this. I am incredibly thankful </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">to</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> everyone who made my participation a </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">beautiful and blissful experience.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><br /></p><div><br /></div></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">With loving-kindness,</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><br /></p></div><div style="clear: both; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><p lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-image: var(--urlSpellingErrorV2,url('')); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Theruwan</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-image: var(--urlSpellingErrorV2,url('')); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Saranai</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span></p></div></div></blockquote>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-65422111548538993572023-07-23T22:06:00.000-04:002023-07-23T22:06:57.096-04:00Upcoming Events - Vassa Season 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuayXrp6yGalmBsSUdtTGJSf7Kyz1yeC16cFORsxdHVPyE9MDZ6f-2Z-DA-JRQtT4xaYUaHY5p3WhIxNLCEbWtaF5qMlyzOl6bxnzhSLgbOgazGPGVdmwbJ5SHiEBwAeVi8prxt4PPyTo6j9Ycr0W4PuqfwA7Pn3ktqAqPOmN5KTd3VyxrkH8wK1Zilr3K" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="694" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuayXrp6yGalmBsSUdtTGJSf7Kyz1yeC16cFORsxdHVPyE9MDZ6f-2Z-DA-JRQtT4xaYUaHY5p3WhIxNLCEbWtaF5qMlyzOl6bxnzhSLgbOgazGPGVdmwbJ5SHiEBwAeVi8prxt4PPyTo6j9Ycr0W4PuqfwA7Pn3ktqAqPOmN5KTd3VyxrkH8wK1Zilr3K" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h3 style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Upcoming Events - Vassa Season 2023</h3><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Dear Devotees of Georgia Buddhist Vihara and Friends,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Several religious and meritorious activities will take place during the Vassa season. We would like for you to join us to rejoice these merits. Additional information related to these activities will be conveyed via separate emails.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><strong>1.</strong><span style="font-family: new; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><strong> </strong> </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Daily Atavisi Buddha Puja: Every Day (6:30 PM - 7:30 PM)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Kindly sign up for the Daily Atavisi Buddha Puja (in person only) using the link below. If no one has signed up for the Atavisi Buddha puja on the day of your dana, if possible, kindly bring flowers, candles, and fruit juice for puja. </span><br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42%26id%3D451febef31%26e%3D0b4775c76a&source=gmail&ust=1690247276966000&usg=AOvVaw23D2SYL46bkWIOd5NX5i1q" href="https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42&id=451febef31&e=0b4775c76a" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">https://www.signupgenius.com/<wbr></wbr>go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-atavisi5</span></a></p><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><strong>2.</strong><span style="font-family: new; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><strong> </strong> </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Saturday Dhamma Sermons: Every Saturday (8:00 PM - 9:00 PM)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Every Saturday there will be a sponsored sermon. Look for an email from the sponsoring family for further information.<br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42%26id%3Db1410552c5%26e%3D0b4775c76a&source=gmail&ust=1690247276966000&usg=AOvVaw0ckHSc_0DhE4pWP3uJiZTV" href="https://gavihara.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42&id=b1410552c5&e=0b4775c76a" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">https://www.signupgenius.com/<wbr></wbr>go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-saturday</a><br /><br /><strong>3.</strong><span style="font-family: new; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><strong> </strong> </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">One Day Retreat: August 5th (9:00 AM - 5:00 PM)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">A discussion on the Satipattana sutta focusing especially on Dhammanupassana.<br />Lunch and tea is provided by the hosting family Prassana and Sanuja Bopitiya.</span></p><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><strong>4.</strong><span style="font-family: new; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><strong> </strong> </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Kiri Ammawarunge Dana: August 19th (5:00 AM)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Sponsored by Kumara Ratnayaka. More information to come.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><strong>5.</strong><span style="font-family: new; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><strong> </strong> </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Pirith Chanting: September 23rd (3:00 PM - 11:00 PM)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">To invoke blessing and protection to all devotees, there will be a Seth Pirith Chanting.</span></p><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><strong>6.</strong><span style="font-family: new; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><strong> </strong> </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Shramadana (Volunteer Support): September 30th (9:00 AM)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">In order to get the temple premises ready for the Katina Ceremony, we highly appreciate your participation.</span></p><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><strong>7.</strong><span style="font-family: new; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><strong> </strong> </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Katina Ceremony: October 8th (6:00 AM - 5:00 PM)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">The Katina Ceremony will conclude the Vassa Season for 2023. Kindly join us to rejoice the merits gained throughout the Vassa Season.</span></p><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></p><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_8412140029728997429mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="m_8412140029728997429mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; word-break: break-word;" valign="top">With Metta,<br />Venura, Iedisha, Sharani Jayaratne and Parents<br /><br />For any questions or concerns please contact Taniya Jayaratne at <strong>770-870-9897 (text </strong><strong>preferable</strong><strong>)</strong> or <a href="mailto:taniyajayaratne68@gmail.com" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">taniyajayaratne68@gmail.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><p></p>Vassa Season 2023http://www.blogger.com/profile/17238940022667429611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-52161203020214972262023-07-19T08:22:00.003-04:002023-07-19T08:30:58.981-04:00 I don't have to depend on my sister, I can do things by myself. <p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Damsas Dharmawardhana,</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN67S_Bo8U0GytacIfPttqyD1wx3k8cBiouMsx0aGStrbtgehwhupH1dee8rbdZV9Xsu_WMCMJ0t7QSOo1IUijIVOvHV5Qk6nWhohKkvotXendyM8ftaUF-YRP98Obfgp3OFjGlsz_5XDJM4CLm3UlLrZGnAp44lmPe8eO1Eta3cZ3KU_FAqqgp0E7zLI/s142/IMG_2392.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="142" data-original-width="98" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN67S_Bo8U0GytacIfPttqyD1wx3k8cBiouMsx0aGStrbtgehwhupH1dee8rbdZV9Xsu_WMCMJ0t7QSOo1IUijIVOvHV5Qk6nWhohKkvotXendyM8ftaUF-YRP98Obfgp3OFjGlsz_5XDJM4CLm3UlLrZGnAp44lmPe8eO1Eta3cZ3KU_FAqqgp0E7zLI/s1600/IMG_2392.jpg" width="98" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span> </span>This was my first ever Retreat, but because I only stayed for half of the Retreat I was not able to get the full experience that everybody that started from Friday, but I will still share my feelings and experiences. As many would think, one of the huge problems would be the time that everybody wakes up. Not everybody wakes up at 5.00 every day, but as we went on through the retreat, waking up early got easier. The first few days many people were solely surviving off of the coffee or tea given in the morning though. We also had morning meditations with candle lights. That was a very calming meditation and it would wake mostly everybody up.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span> </span>What I was very sad about was that since I was a day late, I didn't get to visit the Cambodian temple that they went to. Another hard thing for me to do was stay awake in some meditations as some meditations were very long and I was not used to this many meditations and especially when they were like 30 minutes long every time. Another hard thing to do was keep my back straight because I would usually forget to keep it straight and I would slouch on the chairs we were sitting in.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span> </span>As this was the first day of my Retreat, I was really relying on my sister, but as the days went by I didn't really need to rely on my sister that much because I knew what to do.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span> </span>After we started, Deepankara Hamuduruwo's discussion was very interesting but since I didn’t sleep much that night I was very sleepy during it and soon managed to fall asleep. As for the parents, it might have been a little sad to leave them but because of you accomplishing things alone, personally, it felt very great to do something that you would usually have to get help from your parents. Doing any task independently feels very amazing. Managing something like that all by yourself seems to make you proud or feel grown up.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br />Theruwn Saranai.</span></p><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-79003193219199821042023-07-17T17:46:00.002-04:002023-07-17T17:46:39.020-04:00Retreat helped me to become a better Buddhist person.<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Navina Weliwita</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-eba0213c-7fff-3631-47f6-8741dca61a63"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFtJ5Ubk4nnibKi-sZmWY1ReD-CPE0cRZGbDJznWDyYIhzBFUmmG5wGpLWwoxcM7AXbKaUPhZpoFKed3UAjqOaNFRl4sqS4yHRq29BmB_MhKQUNQfO0834hS372TmEo4lEFjxU1DKlQA0yfiMkKcZBHygoDYw2y1idPJST7FTjHxNwGdiPdoaHDhjG7w/s445/fd3a5e58-d97e-4227-9938-6356a90c86fb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFtJ5Ubk4nnibKi-sZmWY1ReD-CPE0cRZGbDJznWDyYIhzBFUmmG5wGpLWwoxcM7AXbKaUPhZpoFKed3UAjqOaNFRl4sqS4yHRq29BmB_MhKQUNQfO0834hS372TmEo4lEFjxU1DKlQA0yfiMkKcZBHygoDYw2y1idPJST7FTjHxNwGdiPdoaHDhjG7w/s320/fd3a5e58-d97e-4227-9938-6356a90c86fb.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span> </span>Coming into this retreat, I wasn’t the most ecstatic about it. I’m used to the comforts of my own home and staying overnight and being away from all the luxuries of my regular life and having to be disciplined seemed like a grand challenge. However, I still went into the retreat with a positive mindset and hoped to find the good in it. But upon reflecting on the retreat, I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being away from distractions allowed me to be focused on what I was doing and see it through with maximum effort. I tried my best during this retreat and it’s clear to see that I had learned and experienced so much throughout it. Waking up early wasn’t much of a challenge for me, and it was refreshing to be up before sunrise and be productive so early in the morning. In specific, the candlelight meditation was extremely beneficial for me as it allowed me to clear my head and get rid of any negatives that I had thought about perhaps the night prior or in the morning. It led the way for the rest of the day and showed that this retreat would be a positive experience.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span> </span>The focus on mindfulness during the discussions helped me think back on many places where perhaps I had not thought clearly and it also helped me think about how I can improve on myself in the future. Deepankara Bhante’s Dhamma discussions were incredible and taught me a lot of things about morals and how I should act. I realized that a lot of the things that I have said and done were not in the right conscious and how I can fix these issues in the future. The silence during meals helped me appreciate and focus on my food more and it made me think about how truly fortunate I am to be well-fed day in and day out. Overall, I really enjoyed this retreat, and it deepened my connection with Buddhism and helped me become a better Buddhist and a better person.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic;">2023 Georgia Buddhist Vihara Youth Retreat Reflection -</span></span></div></span>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-55859175706162172552023-07-17T17:17:00.001-04:002023-07-17T17:18:14.527-04:00 A Fruitful Retreat for My Monkey Mind<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLW8nqsCN2tAL4C6zw_jRX-4Iyd6PIVR94qLkc_la48g4j-Z5v9jJPXXPHKIgk91M-KAWgnUqAUHHHHJb01i6kt9MN0nbKpZuX2HjdBHJbPUBILFgE2ntTHgPV25AJruZJXd5wwr4gwMi5pHwMF1DGfne0TS5ZupO8oqrJDvnTIQJw3-OaTW3g5EtgaI/s3230/IMG_Thenulya%20potrait%20(1).JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3230" data-original-width="2272" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLW8nqsCN2tAL4C6zw_jRX-4Iyd6PIVR94qLkc_la48g4j-Z5v9jJPXXPHKIgk91M-KAWgnUqAUHHHHJb01i6kt9MN0nbKpZuX2HjdBHJbPUBILFgE2ntTHgPV25AJruZJXd5wwr4gwMi5pHwMF1DGfne0TS5ZupO8oqrJDvnTIQJw3-OaTW3g5EtgaI/s320/IMG_Thenulya%20potrait%20(1).JPG" width="225" /></a></div>Thenulya Jayasinghe<p></p><p><span> </span>“Just as a monkey swinging through the trees grabs one branch and lets it go only to seize another, so too, that which is called thought, mind or consciousness arises and disappears continually both day and night.”- Supreme Buddha</p><p><span> </span>Mindfulness is an essential component for anyone’s life to become a better person every day. It is very fascinating to experience what is stated in the aforementioned quote during the 2023 youth sil retreat at Georgia Buddhist Vihara Atlanta GA. Among the enormous amounts of experiences I gained, I would like to share a very few of my thoughts and feelings as follow.</p><p><span> </span>During this year’s Sil retreat, I came to realize a lot of things. First of all, I began to realize I wasn’t as patient as I thought I was. Sitting in one place during the meditations wasn’t hard, but during the later parts of the meditations I begun to understand how truly distracted my mind really is. While practicing walking meditation, I would often break out of my focus due to a loud sound or the sight of someone in the corner of my eye. However, throughout the retreat, I slowly began to get used to concentrating on one thing at a time and living in the present moment.</p><p><span> </span>Second of all, I didn’t have a good enough understanding of the true power of the Dhamma and our actions before the retreat. Growing up in a Buddhist family and going to Dhamma school helped me reach a certain understanding of the Buddha’s teaching. Yet I never grasped the full impact it could and has been doing on our lives. Even though some of the sutra translations and stories were hard to take in, it helped me be more aware of the true impermanent nature of things. During dhamma talks with the resident monks, it helped me answer some of my questions about living while having the knowledge of the Dhamma, and how we could realize the momentary nature of things, from our feelings and thoughts to the world around us. Thirdly, I slowly discovered and learned about the reality of the world. As I’ve said before, I realized a lot about the short-lived permanence all things have. It also helped me realize more about my own self, and how as I grow older and transition into higher grades, I need to be more careful about my surroundings. I feel that even though I thought was mentally preparing myself for the workload and expectations, I forgot or even pushed aside any ideas or thoughts about being mindful. However, as my time at the retreat went on, I began to regain my mindfulness. I did make mistakes and stumble a bit at first, due to my mind struggling to adjust to the new setting and schedule. Despite that,</p><p><span> </span>I managed to make at least a little bit of progress on the long journey of becoming mindful with the help and advice of all the aunties, resident monks, and all my peers. Even though I am not completely mindful of my actions and although I may still stumble from time to time, I am very grateful and positive about my experience at this year retreat. I have hope that by applying what I have learned from this valuable experience I will grow into a</p><p><span> </span>knowledgeable and more mentally aware person and that all the others that shared this wonderful experience with me feel the same. Overall, I hope to come back for the years to come and am looking forward to learning and bettering myself and my understanding about</p><p>The triple gem!</p><p>Theruwan Saranai,</p><p><br /></p>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-52548750258323627882023-07-16T22:03:00.008-04:002023-07-17T14:33:27.665-04:00 The walking meditation helped me focus my mind and remain mindful,<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1yQf-vlKVvXDxWXYaSvTdvmH_6g_YSUM1IRnaII7jnF7njuuvqWEdZt3L3py2b_oqQCIyT8-eKB0gkK63fya594EAutPNAJL7JrrECpij4lBccpjMhswAz29HAh_M9akkqWqYttLKsm-V_4Ld8Xy0GIEg8QEYEp03l5K8jgjH3E-_uh-RzwdCSiLAtg/s164/IMG_2352.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="86" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1yQf-vlKVvXDxWXYaSvTdvmH_6g_YSUM1IRnaII7jnF7njuuvqWEdZt3L3py2b_oqQCIyT8-eKB0gkK63fya594EAutPNAJL7JrrECpij4lBccpjMhswAz29HAh_M9akkqWqYttLKsm-V_4Ld8Xy0GIEg8QEYEp03l5K8jgjH3E-_uh-RzwdCSiLAtg/s1600/IMG_2352.jpg" width="86" /></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Santhushi Dharmawardhana</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-22c80cad-7fff-1da8-4e1f-b0879468990f"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the 2019 Retreat Journal, I wrote down everything day by day, but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to do that this year. Instead, I’m going to write one big journal with how I feel and what I learned and found interesting at the end of the retreat instead. Since I had done the retreat before, I knew what to expect and I wasn’t too worried about it. However, I thought waking up would still be a bit difficult and that I would feel too drowsy throughout the day. Unlike what I thought, I woke up at 4:30 or earlier on all 4 days and I didn’t feel drowsy in the morning at all. I was able to get ready relatively quickly and drink a cup of tea calmly and alertly. The morning meditation with the candle lights in the dark was also a serene and calming time in the day and I felt very rejuvenated after the meditation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What I found most difficult was sitting down in the proper posture for meditation. I usually have a hard time sitting still and I constantly move my hands and legs around, and I had to remind myself that I had to try and stay still. The idea of noble silence was also a little bit difficult for me, because I tend to talk a lot. The morning walking meditation was probably the meditation I found the easiest for me. Because I struggle with staying still, the walking meditation helped me focus my mind and remain mindful, while also moving around. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My brother was at the retreat this year as well, and while I am happy that he was there, I struggled with focusing on myself only during discussions and meditations, because I’m so used to checking on him. I had to remind myself that he had to learn to keep track of himself and that I couldn’t do that for him. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">During one of our discussions, Deepankara Hamuduruwo reminded us that we are supposed to eat the food without really preferring one food over the other and picking favorites. Food is supposed to be a necessary thing for our body, and not much more. Taking his advice, I tried to get some foods that I don’t usually eat and I tried not to think about the taste of the foods too much. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Compared to the retreat in 2019, I did a lot more cleaning up around the temple and helping with the preparations for everything. Interestingly, I didn’t dislike doing that. I like keeping busy and helping clean up. Also to be honest, the fact that there weren’t many parents around all the time, made things easier too. I feel like when there are parents around all of the time, the other kids don’t help out and sometimes the parents don’t let us help out. There just tends to be a lot more dependence on the parents. However, without the parents, more kids stepped up and did more around the temple out of their own will and that was better for everyone. Some level of independence is important to have, and the fact that there weren’t many parents around helped that. Not that having parents help is always a bad thing or anything like that, its just nice to get things done without the help of parents.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The discussion I found most interesting was the discussion about the <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; white-space-collapse: collapse;">Chula Vyuha </span> Sutta which was a sutta given by the Buddha about how to decide the truth. The basic message of the sutta was that things like oral transmission, logic, transcripts, etc., cannot determine the truth alone. Truths aren’t really universal and they tend to be personal. Finding out the truth for yourself requires questioning you hear or see for yourself. Its important to know that because people have personal truths, disagreements are common. While I may believe something to be true, someone else may not, and that is something that I have to respect and understand.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The discussion about taking care of yourself was also deeply relatable and something that everyone was interested in. The basic message of the discussion was that fulfilling yourself or taking care of yourself isn’t selfishness, its more of a spiritual requirement. I can’t be mindful towards others without being mindful of myself first. During a different discussion with Bhante Wajirabodhi, I also found advice Venura gave about procrastination helpful. I talked with some others, and this advice was very helpful to many of us who struggled with procrastination. I tend to see tasks and activities as daunting and too big to handle at the time, so I always push it off to later. If I can break up the activities and tasks into smaller and more doable looking ones, I can get the overall task done one step at a time. I will definitely try this when I get home.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lastly, I am very grateful for Taniya Auntie, Kisa Nanda, Auntie Duli, and my mother for helping out with the retreat. Taniya auntie was at the temple every day and helped out a lot. I would also like to thank Idesha Akka for everything she did. She was a part of the retreat, and she also helped prepare and clean everything and organized tasks for everyone else. She gave guidance to all of us and made sure we were doing the right thing. Of course, I’m thankful to the Bhantes as well, for teaching us and trying to show us the right path. Many of my questions were answered and I feel like my knowledge of the dhamma greatly increased thanks to the retreat. Many of my bad habits were fixed as well. I hope that the retreat will go successfully next year as well. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Theruwan Saranai.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Summer Youth Retreat of 2023</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p></span>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-28185151824694042512023-07-13T10:35:00.005-04:002023-07-13T10:35:43.531-04:00<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 48px;">The retreat taught me to be more mindful about my mind and body.</span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px;">Thinudi Wickramage</span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwJDZ_DUy4RA_csvNjPeYM6FxETF17-n5CmGj0v9rFSof_6dW2oa1-xP2-OSKX0xI7hoj_tnGuJ3y0ZQoNPn4Q3HqxvDdsiwZR0wdu7X3NpM8gLSRNSwCuU7YfmtMDw1Snj-yvpLmb_EuManMhOfxZTOwZtzw9KsWD54kIFYLgAp-iJL28enSLJdCNvM/s353/IMG_2367.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="247" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwJDZ_DUy4RA_csvNjPeYM6FxETF17-n5CmGj0v9rFSof_6dW2oa1-xP2-OSKX0xI7hoj_tnGuJ3y0ZQoNPn4Q3HqxvDdsiwZR0wdu7X3NpM8gLSRNSwCuU7YfmtMDw1Snj-yvpLmb_EuManMhOfxZTOwZtzw9KsWD54kIFYLgAp-iJL28enSLJdCNvM/s320/IMG_2367.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p><p> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt;">There are several things I learned from my first retreat. Waking up very early was surprisingly not difficult for me and we washed up. Everyone got their own candle, which we brought to the shrine room and meditated on loving kindness and our loving parents. I also remember Bhante saying how the candles were a metaphor for the light of Dhamma dispelling the darkness of delusion. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Once we went to breakfast, I found it slightly difficult to keep my mind focused on my thoughts. It got progressively easier over the days, though. Then we had a Sutta discussion with Bhante Wajirabodhi thero, analyzing the Mangala, Ratana, and Karaniya Metta Suttas. The Mangala Sutta was about loving-kindness and blessings, and the Ratana Sutta is a protection chant. Although there were English translations, Bhante said the actual Pali words were more deep and meaningful than that. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">After another Buddha Puja, we had lunch. While I was eating, I tried not to savor or attach to the taste of the food but instead concentrated on nourishing my body and thinking about the people who made or brought the food for us. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">After lunch, we had a work period, which I enjoyed because I felt helpful cleaning. During the working period, I helped clean the kitchen, dishes, bathrooms, and outside. I noticed that everyone else who was working all took on different responsibilities to work faster. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Then, we had an art session with Bhante Piyananda thero. The first day, my group and I chose a Jataka story and drew different scenes of the story, The Monkey King and the Crocodile. We never did anything with it, and that confused me a bit, but the session was calming. The second day in art we designed rocks for our parents, and the third day we drew a still life image of a flower vase and microphone. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">We had a break since the art session was two hours, and then we had a walking meditation with Bhante Deepanakaro thero. Before we walked, he spoke about the impermanence of everything, that one day everything we know will not be here. Then during the walking meditation, I felt how the different terrains felt. For example, the parking lot’s pavement was kind of coarse and rough and became very hot when the sun shone on it. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Then we went inside for a Dhamma discussion, where Bhante Deepanakaro thero spoke about impermanence and mindfulness, among other topics. It was difficult to sit there and listen for so long without doing anything else, but I tried to and it was quite rewarding.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">We had another break, and some of us prepared to go to another Buddhist temple. On the first day, we went to a large Cambodian temple with a big shrine room with several paintings of major events in the Buddha’s life. They also had a Laughing Buddha statue. The second day, we visited a Laos temple with a bell, but no one was there. Both temples had very detailed carvings and statues. It was interesting seeing how other cultures and types of Buddhism perceive the same religion. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">When we came back to our temple, we had the Atavisi Puja in the evening and prepared to sleep. At the beginning, I had trouble sleeping because we were on the concrete in the shrine room. I tried not to move because I didn’t want to wake anyone up, so I stayed awake for a few hours. Eventually, I fell asleep though.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">The retreat taught me to be more mindful about my mind and body. I hope to apply these to my daily life, and I will definitely be there next year! I thank all the adults and parents for preparing and bringing food for us. My gratitude also goes to the Bhantes for taking time to organize this and teach us. </span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p></span>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-36046141013337769582023-07-13T10:23:00.001-04:002023-08-01T17:08:39.272-04:00Naditha Wickramage<p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The walking meditation was calming for me</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Naditha Wickramage</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYJ6N-jzbdq8XJwYDdT0BTa9ZM0WlAqs6DqMWOo7LUgPjGFqbujLNcrr-7mDhRcArnkRbBy1qOD6ZvEt9qW93DehQ9kPsqDMr8E71EhoVF9s4__hlyU5_gnr06aFgNQnDJChEyk3c4NDnB5fLX1WOnp1dsTY8T8JJ14i3XFKjZKAe2ZWVN6df8qTP4y0Y" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1606" data-original-width="2048" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYJ6N-jzbdq8XJwYDdT0BTa9ZM0WlAqs6DqMWOo7LUgPjGFqbujLNcrr-7mDhRcArnkRbBy1qOD6ZvEt9qW93DehQ9kPsqDMr8E71EhoVF9s4__hlyU5_gnr06aFgNQnDJChEyk3c4NDnB5fLX1WOnp1dsTY8T8JJ14i3XFKjZKAe2ZWVN6df8qTP4y0Y=w221-h233" width="221" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><span> </span>On the first day of the
retreat, we had to wake up much earlier than usual at 5 am. Normally I would
wake up at 7-9 in the morning so waking up this early was a first. As soon as I
woke up, I had to carry candles to the shrine room for the Buddha Puja. We
carried the candles for candle meditation early in the morning. After the
candle meditation, we did a walking meditation. The walking meditation was
calming for me. This didn’t last long as we stopped for Buddha Puja a few
minutes later. I took the 8 precepts during the Buddha Puja and then went into
the main building for breakfast. Before eating we chanted a Gatha that
generally said that “I will not waste this Alms food given to me” and “I will
only take as much as I can eat” which is what I did. After everyone finished
eating we shared merits. I did sitting meditation after I ate breakfast and
after that, I was taught about the Mangala sutta from its origins all the way
to its meaning. It was confusing but also interesting to learn about the 38
high blessings preached from it. Once again we did Buddha puja before lunch and
then I went to get lunch. Once again I chanted thanks for the food and ate. During
lunchtime, we were told there was no dinner so I ate as much as I could and I
made sure not to be wasteful of the food I was given. I learned that there was
going to be an event later where we could go to visit another temple. Directly
after lunchtime, we had an art session where we needed to draw something based
on a Buddhist quote. The art session allowed me to focus after lunchtime.
After the art session, we did more walking meditation but outside this time and
for half an hour instead of 15 minutes. It was less calming as I was outside
and the ground was much more uneven and hot since it was the afternoon. Yet it
was still enjoyable. After we came inside, Bhante Deepankara talked about some
suttas that I couldn’t see the name of. In the afternoon we were given the
choice of going to a Cambodian temple however I chose to work on my journal
instead. We finished the day off by doing the Atavisi Puja and going to sleep.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span> </span>The second day started
off pretty much exactly like the first one did with the main difference being
that we didn’t take the 8 precepts again. This day I did standing meditation
which was much easier to do and more calming than walking meditation in my
opinion. We also learned that meditating before sleep can considerably help
with sleep which is something I might do before sleeping in preparation for
high school. Also, I might use it for calming down as it seems effective. There
was another trip to a Laos temple, I chose not to go but to work on my journal.
The people who went to the Laos temple came back after we did Atavisi Buddha
Puja for the night.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span> </span>The third and final day
started off well and most of us were in a good mood since we were going home
today. We once again did walking and standing meditation to wake ourselves and
calm ourselves. When we went into the shrine room to talk about suttas, we were
talking about the Metta Sutta which many of us wanted to know more about.
Bhante Deepankara also talked about trust and how to determine if someone is
lying or trustworthy. This is important as choosing who I trust can determine
good or bad things in my life.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span>What I learned from this retreat is the mindfulness of
meditation and some ways I can use it in my daily life. I also learned many
other things like why some suttas came to be like the Metta sutta first used by
monks to convince Devas to allow them to meditate in the forest to become
arahants. Thanks to the parents who organized and who stayed with us during the
event and the Bhante Deepankara, Bhante<b><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: #58363b; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b>Wajirabuddhi, Bhante Wajirabodhi as well as all others involved who
helped. who helped us through it. I hope that you consider more retreats
to help us next year as well.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></p>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-55050859672926356432023-07-12T11:19:00.002-04:002023-08-01T17:12:29.082-04:00Menadi Dharmabandu<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: left;">It was pleasant to be able to combine Buddhism and art</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Menadi Dharmabandu<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVpCHs7loyFcXv2NswEh2zDhEtktJjUzVz8vySs2ayGd2vZc8Q2CLHlwamfWdlbbPvFdB5KnUYIxmAkAYt2G8VqIRMjh00zCDd_uUtU-W5uecbDA3JHgkw_-3WsEKLnTn-UnsaPettd7apYFJQOTExVdo7vBq6jGun66__7bCVRPQ4hZIOpWZALvzIeY/s640/IMG_2379.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="640" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVpCHs7loyFcXv2NswEh2zDhEtktJjUzVz8vySs2ayGd2vZc8Q2CLHlwamfWdlbbPvFdB5KnUYIxmAkAYt2G8VqIRMjh00zCDd_uUtU-W5uecbDA3JHgkw_-3WsEKLnTn-UnsaPettd7apYFJQOTExVdo7vBq6jGun66__7bCVRPQ4hZIOpWZALvzIeY/s320/IMG_2379.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNj2WY1n1M0uG7LDG_9BrDJKYDlWhAljIiCYL3uOYjqXWDWCL2XN3JzhyNIEzRSZtLcIgBalB4Qbnl3sTsxiBTqQNJzpo1gs_cryb2gd_6OtZ4BRiAc3C0P3DRI9w5-GRHbSArmXMyz6JKSXAX1hf8kUucUa94yTRKgFooLEzPOS1ZfvKyp55_z38odxE/s2048/297124296_7873092866097389_51086516835390492_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1986" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNj2WY1n1M0uG7LDG_9BrDJKYDlWhAljIiCYL3uOYjqXWDWCL2XN3JzhyNIEzRSZtLcIgBalB4Qbnl3sTsxiBTqQNJzpo1gs_cryb2gd_6OtZ4BRiAc3C0P3DRI9w5-GRHbSArmXMyz6JKSXAX1hf8kUucUa94yTRKgFooLEzPOS1ZfvKyp55_z38odxE/s320/297124296_7873092866097389_51086516835390492_n.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span> </span> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;">I woke up around 5 A.M
for each day. It wasn’t particularly easy waking up, but I felt refreshed
afterward. Then we did the Buddha Puja and morning walking meditation in the
shrine room. We served ourselves breakfast and quietly ate. </span></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I remembered the
Bhantes told us not to have attachments or thoughts about the food, only to
be mindful of what you are eating. I found it hard not to savor the food since
I was eager to eat, but after a few times, it was easy to not feel either good
or bad about the food. Then we had Dhamma discussions throughout the three
days. We talked about various suttas, including the Karaniya Metta Sutta, Mangala, and
Ratana Sutta. We also talked about each of our biggest problems and a way to
fix them. My problem and another friend of mines problem was procrastinating
our work. Bhante Wajirabuddhi Thero told us to try and be more mindful of our work. Our
peer told us that we can break a big task into smaller tasks, and it will make
the work less daunting. Next, we had the Buddha Puja again, then lunch, and
again we practiced not savoring or having an attachment to the food. We visited
two temples, a Laos and a Cambodian temple. It was interesting to see how
different countries and cultures presented Buddhism. We had tea and then had an art class. It was pleasant to be able to combine Buddhism and art. My group
drew different colored pieces of the Jataka story where two women claim to be the mother, so the Bodhisattva does a test to see who the true mother is. Each
scene was a different color of the rainbow. We also got to draw and color Buddhist symbols onto rocks. I enjoyed the walking meditation with Deepankara Thero.
It was easier to focus when walking because it allows you to not let your mind
wander since you have more to focus on. Then we had more Dhamma discussions. It
was a bit difficult to sit in one spot for so long and pay attention, but I
still did my best. I learned many things about Buddhism during this retreat,
like how to be more focused, to be mindful of everything we do in our daily
lives, and cultivate loving kindness even outside of meditation. My experience
at the retreat was tranquil and helped me develop more of an ability to focus
for longer and be more mindful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you to the Bhantes
for taking their time and teaching us! I will be coming back next year. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">2023 Youth Retreat</span></span></p>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-4202751522764785372023-07-12T09:17:00.000-04:002023-07-12T09:17:03.934-04:00I felt alive and much better!<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I felt alive and much better!</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2c746f35-7fff-9095-8e3e-c1ff2dfb3aab"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIp9q8frF_DTp-cU9PkmZTrD78D44T9fP_mEieZ8HQqkq-XNqmDUPwQc6n9CpgsFOCpQbzNr7HTLdnSxaeBAecEsffxgQKgTidLumVkUoUCx9Kmf27vP5Kik6uEZkcCMwpToWDNRCCI6fwlcG2SwK3A29oVK4kvav75QtfOls8QExIV7E3gsAmcHY7QhM/s581/IMG_2355%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIp9q8frF_DTp-cU9PkmZTrD78D44T9fP_mEieZ8HQqkq-XNqmDUPwQc6n9CpgsFOCpQbzNr7HTLdnSxaeBAecEsffxgQKgTidLumVkUoUCx9Kmf27vP5Kik6uEZkcCMwpToWDNRCCI6fwlcG2SwK3A29oVK4kvav75QtfOls8QExIV7E3gsAmcHY7QhM/s320/IMG_2355%20(2).jpg" width="156" /></a></div><br /> Sanadi Dharmabandu</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There are various things I learned about from the retreat. It was difficult for me to wake up at 5:00 in the morning because I’m not such an early bird and I wake up usually later in the day. After I awoke, I felt alive and much better! We did sitting meditation a lot throughout the day. Deepankara Thero then discussed walking meditation, and when I tried it, it was much easier for me to focus more, and it helped me to not fall asleep. During the walking meditation, the hot pavement hurt my feet and the scorching sun burned me, but I still pushed forward. We did many Dhamma discussions, such as when Deepankara Thero said you should learn to live life without luxuries and that you should not be attached to luxury items. If you are forced to live without certain luxuries it would be difficult for you to adapt. Deepankara Thero also mentioned that you should not crave items and material things or ask your parents for unnecessary items and to be mindful of what you think about and how you act. We also discussed how you should cultivate loving kindness and always have loving kindness thoughts and if you spread loving kindness to all beings, it will return to you. During a different discussion with Bodhi Thero, he taught us about Ratana Sutta and Metta Sutta. He told everybody what each verse in each sutta means. Ratana sutta is a protective chant and Metta Sutta is about loving-kindness. We did three Buddha pujas each day and we chanted and recited gatha. I also loved the Arts and Crafts period it was very fun to color and create rocks related to Buddhism with Piyananda Thero. Whenever it was time to eat breakfast or lunch Bhante Wajirabuddhi Thero would always say don’t have any feelings about whether the food was bad or good, to appreciate the food you get, not to waste, and to thank the people who made the food. We went to two separate temples, the Cambodian temple, and the Laos Temple. It was so fascinating to see how Buddhism can vastly spread throughout the world and to see how other countries view Buddhism, I also observed that animals on the side of the road or next to a building are fierce and feral and will attack anyone or anything, but the animals at the temples are nice and kind, it’s almost like they got disciplined too. This year’s Retreat was my first Retreat and I learned so much from it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Thank you to the adults and the Bhantes for organizing and preparing this retreat.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">2023 Youth Retreat </span></p><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div>Georgia Buddhist Viharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612771579342249630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-9628226927061094262023-06-21T21:57:00.001-04:002023-06-21T21:57:31.689-04:00July Sil Program 2023<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="templateContainer" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px; color: black; max-width: 600px; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td id="templateHeader" style="background: none 50% 50% / cover no-repeat rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: 0px; border-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnImageBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody class="mcnImageBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnImageBlockInner" style="padding: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnImageContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnImageContent" style="padding: 0px 9px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><img align="center" alt="" class="mcnImage" src="https://mcusercontent.com/3796bdd7d53b22422b0e11d42/images/47e4cb44-ebb3-4a4f-bbbb-f1574c54e953.png" style="border: 1px none; display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 196px; outline: none; padding-bottom: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="137.2" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="padding-top: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><h3 style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">Georgia Buddhist Vihara's July Sil Program</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>(Conduct in the Sinhala language)</strong></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnDividerBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody class="mcnDividerBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnDividerBlockInner" style="min-width: 100%; padding: 18px; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnDividerContent" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-top: 2px solid rgb(234, 234, 234); min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-size-adjust: 100%;"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td id="templateBody" style="background: none 50% 50% / cover no-repeat rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(234, 234, 234); border-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="padding-top: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Saturday, July 01st, 2023 at 7:30 AM – 6:00 PM EDT</strong><br /><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">(GBV Full Day Sil Program/Conduct in the Sinhala language)</strong><br /><br /><strong style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: blue;">If you are observing Sil in person or planning to come to the Vihara, please sign-up from the link below:</span></strong><br /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-july">https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA9AA22A1FF2-july</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><strong>ZOOM LINK</strong></span><br /><a href="https://zoom.us/j/96030860851?pwd=UnU1NDNaK1pIWDFhMUFxUnVKNmlLUT09" style="color: #007c89; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">https://zoom.us/j/96030860851?pwd=UnU1NDNaK1pIWDFhMUFxUnVKNmlLUT09</a><br /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica;">Meeting ID: 960 3086 0851</span><br /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica;">Passcode: 979864</span><br /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: rgb(165, 165, 165); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(165, 165, 165); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(165, 165, 165); border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(165, 165, 165); font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Time</span></div></td><td style="background: rgb(165, 165, 165); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(165, 165, 165); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(165, 165, 165); border-top: 1pt solid rgb(165, 165, 165); font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><strong><span style="color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Event</span></strong></div></td></tr><tr><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">7:30 am</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 8:00 am</span></div></td><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Observation of Eight Precepts</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">and Vandana by <u>Bhante Bodhi</u></span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">8:00 am</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 8:50 am</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Heel Dana</span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">9:00 am</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 11:00 am</span></div></td><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Guided Meditation and Dhamma Deshana</strong><br />by <u> Bhante Boddhi</u></span></span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">11:00 am</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 11:10 am</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Break</span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">11:10 am</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 11:30 am</span></div></td><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Buddha Poojawa</strong> by <u>Bhante Bodhi</u></span> </div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">11:30 am</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 1:00 pm</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Daval Daana and Break</strong></span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">1:00 pm</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 2:15 pm</span></div></td><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Dhamma Deshana</strong><br />by </span><span face="calibri, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u>Bhante Piyananda</u></span></span></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">2:15 pm</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 2:30 pm</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Break</span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">2:30 pm</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 3:45 pm</span></div></td><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Sutta Discussion & Dhamma Deshana</strong><br />by </span><span face="calibri, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u> Bhante Boddhi</u></span></span></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">3:45 pm</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 4:00 pm</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Break</span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">4:00 pm</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">– 5:45 pm</span></div></td><td style="background: rgb(237, 237, 237); border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Dhamma Discussion and Q&A Session </strong><br />By <u>Bhante Deepankara</u></span></span></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 80.75pt;" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">5:45 pm</span></div></div></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(201, 201, 201); border-top: none; font-family: roboto, robotodraft, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in 5.4pt; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><span face="calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Observation of Five Precepts for those who observe Sil, Punnyanumodana, and Conclusion by <u>Bhante Deepankara</u></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnDividerBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody class="mcnDividerBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnDividerBlockInner" style="min-width: 100%; padding: 18px; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><br /></p></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="padding-top: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top">Feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or questions. Thank you.<br />May you and yours be well, healthy, and peaceful!<br /> <br />Regards,<br />Sahan Thanthiriwatte </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Sahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15012183754701791970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286697570884944515.post-68461398472632676872023-06-13T11:44:00.005-04:002023-06-25T12:10:22.269-04:00GBV Youth Retreat 2023<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Youth Retreat 2023</span></h2>
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<br />
<br />
Devotees and Friends of the GBV,<br />
<br />
We are happy to announce the Georgia Buddhist Vihara's 10th annual youth retreat dates. This year's youth retreat will commence on Friday, July 7th, with a brief orientation for all participants and conclude on Monday, July 10th. This is an excellent opportunity for participants to spend dedicated time learning about self-discipline, meditation, Buddhist teachings, and the Buddhist tradition. Participants will learn through first-hand experience the benefits of following the Buddhist path through a period of focused learning and practice.<br />
<br />
The retreat is open to any young person between the ages of 12 and 25 years old. If you are interested in registering for the youth retreat or learning more about the retreat, please contact the Georgia Buddhist Vihara at gbvihara@gmail.com or 770-987-8442.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Q4x4EcQaCySEh1Q2xKTktRLWhPWnpqM1Z0M2t5WnFyRHFZ/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Please download the Retreat application for the GBV 2023</a></span></b>.<br />
<br />
Georgia Buddhist Youth Retreat (July 7th to 10th, 2023)<br />
<br />
Brief Orientation begins<br />
On July 7th 7.30 pm<br />
<br />
Daily Schedule<br />
5:00–5:30am – Wake Up, Coffee/Tea.<br />
5:30–6:30 – Group Meditation<br />
6:30–7:00 – Buddha Puja<br />
7:00–8:00 – Breakfast (self-service)<br />
8:00–9:00 – Vipassana Meditation<br />
9:00–9:30 – Break, Coffee/Tea<br />
9:30–10:00 – Meditation Instruction<br />
10:00–10:30 – Walking Meditation<br />
10:30–11:00 – Metta Meditation<br />
11:00–11:30 – Buddha Puja<br />
11:30–12:30pm – Lunch<br />
12:30–1:30 – Work Period<br />
1:30–3:00 –Dhamma session<br />
3:00–3:30 – Break, Coffee/Tea<br />
4:00–4:30 – Personal Reading and Reflection<br />
4:30- 5:30- Sutta Discussion <br />
5:30–6:00 – Prepare for Temple visitation<br />
6:00–7:30 – Temple Visits<br />
7:30–8:30 – Atavisi Buddha Pujawa, Group Chanting (selected Sutra with English meanings) Metta Meditation<br />
8:30–9:00 – Journal Writing; Prepare for Bed<br />
9:00–Lights Out<br />
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<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">General Guidelines for Retreat Participants</span></b></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What Not to Bring</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Do not bring illicit drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products.</li>
<li>Do not bring personal computers, personal gaming systems, cell phones, mp3 players, electronic musical devices, radios, musical instruments, newspapers, magazines and secular books to the center. Buddhist reading materials will be provided.</li>
<li>Do not bring clothing with distracting lettering.</li>
<li>Do not wear perfumes or deodorants with strong scents.</li>
<li>Do not bring pets.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What to Bring</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Flashlight</li>
<li>Sleeping Bag, Pillow, Towel (shower facilities are available)</li>
<li>Toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, razors)</li>
<li>Bring a cup (for tea/coffee and water), a plate, and a spoon and fork for eating.</li>
<li>Ear plugs if you are a light sleeper</li>
<li>Personal meditation cushion if you prefer (We have plenty of zafus, zabutons, and benches for everyone)</li>
<li>Modest clothing. (Even in the warmest of weather, tank tops and short shorts are not acceptable.) Do not bring t-shirts with commercial or political messages. You are requested to wear white clothing, if possible.</li>
<li>Work gloves, cleaning gloves, and breathing mask (if working outside causes breathing problems) for the work period.</li>
<li>Each participant should complete the entire program to be obtained a certificate. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
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<br />
Family Sponsorship<br />
<br />
Each sponsoring family will need to arrive at the vihara by 6 am on their designated day in order to prepare the morning meal for the monks and retreat participants.<br />
<br />
Sponsoring families will also be responsible for preparing the lunch meal.<br />
<br />
Sponsoring families will be responsible for preparing evening nutrition and leaving it for the participants to consume later in the evening.<br />
<br />
It is preferred that sponsors adhere to the following guidelines for providing meals during the retreat period:<br />
<br />
All meals should be vegetarian.<br />
<br />
Food for the morning meal should be light and consist of cereal, oatmeal, muffins, bagels, fruit, yogurt, or pancakes.<br />
<br />
Food for the lunch meal should be more substantial since this will be the primary meal until the next morning meal.<br />
<br />
Evening nutrition could consist of homemade juices, milkshakes, soup, etc. Please be mindful that retreat participants have taken the 10 precepts which stipulate that no solid, substantial food should be taken an afternoon.Sahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15012183754701791970noreply@blogger.com