Issue 46: Two-Month Monastery ’27 Registration + Than Ajaan Geoff’s 50th Ordination Anniversary

Greetings,

We are pleased to invite you to Aranya Refuge’s seventh temporary monastery in February and March 2027. Following our 2025 and 2026 programs, we are returning to Tugwell Cottage, a log home in rural Sooke, BC, about one hour west of Victoria.

Monks from Metta Forest Monastery (Wat Metta) will be in residence throughout the two months. We are hosting Ajaan Peter and Than Will in February, and Ajaan Isaac and Than Peter in March. You are welcome to offer food for the daily meal, visit for the day, or apply to stay for one week as an overnight guest.

Whether you are new to monastery practice or returning, you are welcome to support the monastics, build community, and deepen your practice.

Click here for more information.

🏠 The Monastery Experience

The schedule follows that of a typical monastery in the Thai forest tradition: early morning chanting and group meditation, the morning meal, and free time to meditate for most of the day. There are 2 optional group meditation sits in the afternoon for the lay guests. Evenings include tea and Q&A with the monks, followed by chanting, group meditation, and a recorded Ajaan Geoff dhamma talk.

Lay visitors benefit from direct contact with monks who have devoted their lives to the practice of the Dhamma and Vinaya. Guests help prepare and offer the daily meal and assist with the upkeep of the facilities. There is plenty of time for meditation in the sala and walks in the rural forested area.

There is no charge for room, board, or teachings. Everything is offered in the spirit of generosity (dāna) by the monks and supporters of the monastery.

🌲 The Monastery Setting

Tugwell Cottage is a large two-story log home in rural Sooke. The monks will stay in a separate residence. A wood stove keeps the house warm on cool days, a creek runs through the property, and trails lead into the surrounding evergreen forest. The large exterior deck is suited to walking meditation.

The property is within driving distance of Mystic Beach and East Sooke Regional Park.

👥 Visiting Monks

We are hosting Ajaan Peter and Than Will in February and Ajaan Isaac and Than Peter in March.

Visiting and Staying at the Monastery

🛌 Overnight Guests

Eight cohorts, which are one-week in length from Monday to Sunday, are available from February 1 through March 28, 2027. Space is limited, with room for five or six guests each week. Accommodation includes single rooms and shared rooms for two people of the same gender.

Click here to apply. Approved applicants will be asked to sign a Participant Agreement.

If you are interested in helping as a steward, there is an optional question on the application, or you can email registrar@aranyarefuge.org. Please let us know what experience you have.

☀️ Day Visitors

Day visitors are welcome from February 1 to March 28, 2027. No registration is needed. If you plan to come, or have questions, please email registrar@aranyarefuge.org.

Day visitors can join the daily schedule: offering food at the morning meal, meditating in the hall, practicing on the grounds, or joining the group meditations. If you are new to monastery life, the meal offering is a good place to start.

Click here for more information.

🥘 Meal Offering (Dāna) to the Monastics

You are welcome to bring food for the monks on any day from February 1 through March 28, 2027. If you plan to come, or have questions, please email registrar@aranyarefuge.org.

Click here for more information.

📅 Community News

🌸 Wat Metta Celebrates 36 Years

Metta Forest Monastery (Wat Metta) marked its 36th anniversary on October 17. Anumodana!

🌳 The Rains Retreat Has Ended

On October 26, the three-month rains retreat (vassa) came to a close. The monks gathered at Wat Metta for Pavāraṇā, a ceremony in which each monk opens himself to criticism from his fellow monks. Than Ajaan Geoff has completed his 50th rains retreat. The Kathina, the annual robe-offering ceremony, will be held at Wat Metta this Sunday, November 1.

📆 Portland Weekend Update

The November 6–8 weekend with Than Ajaan Geoff at Portland Friends of the Dhamma has been cancelled. Portland Friends of the Dhamma will dedicate a newly planted tree in honour of Than Ajaan’s 50th ordination anniversary.

🪔 Than Ajaan Geoff’s 50th Ordination Anniversary

Celebrations will be held over two Sundays, and students are marking the occasion with a practice pledge in the weeks before.

🧘 Paṭipatti Pūjā: 50 Hours of Practice

Students around the world are joining in Paṭipatti Pūjā (paying homage through practice) by pledging 50 one-hour meditation sessions in the lead-up to the anniversary, one hour for each year of Than Ajaan’s ordination.

  • Track your pledge on the meditation tracker.

  • If you continue beyond 50 hours, you can record additional offerings anonymously here.

Anumodana to Iván M. and Suganya V. for creating these apps.

Sunday, November 1 (following the Kathina)

  • Students offer flowers and perform the ceremony of asking forgiveness.

  • Students formally present the commemorative amulet created for the anniversary.

  • Than Ajaan Geoff and the Sangha distribute the amulets to the lay community.

Sunday, November 8, 11:00 AM PT, at Wat Metta and on Zoom/YouTube

  • Students share information about the Paṭipatti Pūjā dedicated to Than Ajaan Geoff.

  • A senior monk offers flowers, followed by a ceremony of asking forgiveness led by the monks.

  • The Sangha chants blessings, and Than Ajaan Geoff gives a Dhamma talk.

  • Students offer their practice as a tribute, followed by a Q&A about Than Ajaan’s 50 years as a monk.

Join on Zoom: Meeting ID: 834 3872 8099 | Passcode: Karuna
Watch live on YouTube: Broadcast Wat Metta

📚 New from Dhammatalks.org

Questions?
Please email us at registrar@aranyarefuge.org.

Anumodana for supporting the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha to take roots in a wilderness home on Vancouver Island.

Aranya Refuge Board of Directors: Than Ajaan Geoff, Brock Brown, Jacqui Balfour, Russ Callaghan, Irfan Pirbhai, Tiara Letourneau, Kiko Brown, June Fukushima (in loving memory)

Two-Month Monastery ‘27 Volunteer Team: Brock Brown, Kiko Brown, Suzan Denis, Irfan Pirbhai

“A recurrent theme in the teachings of the forest ajaans is that all the steps of the practice are of a piece. In other words, having attained Awakening, they don’t say anything disparaging about the early steps in the practice, that they’re only elementary and that you have to drop them to move on to the more important stuff. As Luang Pu Dune put it, “The Dhamma is one thing clear through.” Or as Ajaan Maha Boowa once said, one of the realizations that comes when you hit Awakening is that everything is the same teaching, starting from generosity and gratitude, all the way up through Awakening. There are different levels of subtlety, but it’s all the same principle.

And you could see this fact in their lives. Even having attained Awakening, they didn’t just sit around and say, now that their own job was done, they didn’t have to do anything further. They were very industrious people. Ajaan Fuang, even when he was sick, would get out every evening and do some chore around the monastery. When we were doing construction work, he wasn’t up to doing any of the heavy jobs but at the very least he would go out and pick up the thrown-away nails. He was very frugal, very meticulous.

So it’s important to keep this principle in mind: that the practice here is a practice of generosity, of gratitude, of goodwill and kindness, all the way through. Look at the Buddha’s teachings on the four noble truths. What are they motivated by if not goodwill? The desire for an end of suffering, the desire for happiness that doesn’t place any burdens on anyone else: What is this if not compassion?”

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu | One Thing Clear Through | June 26, 2006