Dear reader,
I hope you are doing well.
Sayadaw U Pandita once said that with him things always go well. ‘If things don’t go well, I know what to do, and so things go well anyway.’
It seems to me that this requires more than mindfulness: also faith, effort and clear comprehension. Clear comprehension (wisdom in practice) is clearly explained here (p. 41 – 52) by Nyanaponika Mahathera, as well as in the book A Householders Vinaya by Allan Cooper (see below).
Ah, happily do we live without hate
amongst the hateful,
amidst hateful men
we dwell unhating.
(Dhammapada 197)
In this newsletter:
1. Finally another long retreat!
2. A Householder’s Vinaya
3. Donations for earthquake victims Burma
4. The retreat of Pigeon Guus
5. Research Radboud University Nijmegen
6. Agenda
With warmest regards,
Guus Went
www.mahasi.net
1. Finally another long retreat!
This is Dhammaramsi Center, located in Belgium between Dinant and Namur. From June 20 to July 20, I will be attending a retreat there with two monks from Burma: the first two weeks will be led by Sayadaw U Nanujjota, and the third and fourth by Sayadaw U Thuzana.
Since January 2020, when my seventh 60-day retreat in Burma ended, I have not done any long retreats, only a few week-long retreats at Dhammaramsi. During the last one, in April this year, I realized that it was time for another long retreat.
A few weeks later, the decision was made: not to wait until the winter months or next year, but to seize the first opportunity.
The prospect already gives me a deep sense of peace: thirty days! And a renewed connection with the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.
The fact that a 5-day retreat immediately follows my return home, followed by a 10-day retreat, requires some advance planning, but it also gives me confidence that I will have a lot to share after my own long retreat.
2. A Householder’s Vinaya
Yogis often wonder how they can continue meditating at home after a retreat. A yogi recently pointed me to the book A Householder’s Vinaya by Allan Cooper. Cooper (1950) has been practicing the Mahasi method since 1974. His most important teachers were Sayadaw U Pandita, Sayadaw U Vivekananda, and Joseph Goldstein. In this 376-page book, Cooper provides a wealth of tips and examples of how monastic discipline can be incorporated into daily life. Sampajañña (clear comprehension) in daily activities. The book is available for purchase and can also be downloaded.
3. Donations for earthquake victims in Burma
In the previous Newsletter 2025-1 (April 18), I made an appeal for donations for the victims of the earthquake in Myanmar on March 28. Six yogis donated a total of €1,625.50. Initially, €500 was donated, and later a donation of £1,000 (€1,125.50) was received from a yogi in England. A wonderful result!
4. The retreat of Pigeon Guus
The retreat from May 23 to 28 at the Abdijhoeve began on Friday afternoon. On Monday morning, a pigeon was sitting on the bench at the entrance (left in the photo). He had a ring around his leg with letters and numbers indicating that he came from Belgium. I reported his arrival on the website of the Belgian Racing Pigeon Association and received an email from the owner within a day. The pigeon was from Sint Niklaas, 236 km from Doetinchem, and the owner was willing to come and get him. But first, he asked if we could let the pigeon rest. Together with our hostess, we provided the pigeon with Benedictine hospitality: a bowl of water and a bowl of oatmeal. On Wednesday morning at 5 a.m., the pigeon was gone, but at 9 a.m. he was back. He began to behave more and more relaxed: sometimes standing on one leg, sometimes lying on his belly on the floor, and sometimes stepping inside with the perkiness that is characteristic of pigeons, right into our chapel.
On Wednesday afternoon, yogi Paul took the pigeon with him (at the time of the above photo, he is already in a box) and cared for him for a few days until the owner came to pick him up on Saturday morning at Pauls home on the Belgian border.
His story: the pigeon was called Guus and was his second best racing pigeon. Guus was released in France for a race, lost its way in a heavy storm and ended up taking refuge of all places in a Benedictine abbey where a retreat was taking place.
5. Radboud University Nijmegen research
Dr. Hein van Schie, senior lecturer at the Behavioral Science Institute at Radboud University Nijmegen, is supervising a research project by PhD student Tim Gellings on the relationship between meditation and well-being. Participants are being sought for this study. The flyer below explains what is required of you. Scan the QR code or click on this link
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