Announcing Birken’s Upāsikā Secluded Study Program
Starting January 1, 2023, Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery will launch a new Birken Upāsikā Secluded Study program combining elements of our earlier online program and other resource materials by Ajahn Sona. All initiates to this pilot program must complete the entire one year training to be invited to join existing Upāsikā Graduate groups and access the Upāsikā Graduate website and archives (proof of program completion will be required).Birken Upāsikā Secluded Study trainees will have the same assignments as previous Online Upāsikās groups, yet will not be able to make comments or ask questions of Ajahn Sona on the Upāsikā webpage, nor engage with other Upāsikā Secluded Study trainees individually or in groups. It is only after graduation that these initiates will learn who else was in their cohort during the past year.Instead of online engagement, all Upāsikā Secluded Study trainees will be encouraged to seek answers to their questions through the following resources:
- Monthly source assignment materials which will be uploaded to the password protected website on the first of each month (January-December)
- Ajahn Sona’s YouTube Channel
- Ajahn Sona Q&A Directory (link will be available on trainees’ website)
- Ajahn Sona’s books and articles
- External research sites such as Sutta Central and Access to Insight
- In person visits to Birken and/or other branch monasteries in the Ajahn Chah tradition, subject to each monastery’s health and safety guidelines concerning COVID-19
Please see our Birken Upāsikā Secluded Study Program webpage for more information and to apply.
One More Week: Matching Donation of $10,000 Towards Our Insulation Project
A generous donor has offered to match all Insulation Project donations made between August 25 and September 15, 2022, up to $10,000 in total.
If you’d like to contribute towards the costs of this monastery project, please see our Support page for the many ways you can give. Be sure to note “INSULATION PROJECT” on your donation, whether it is made to our “General Giving Fund” at CanadaHelps, through Interac e-transfer (Canadian financial institutions only; see Interac e-Transfers on our “Support” page), by cheque or by cash sent through the mail (our mailing address is at the bottom of this newsletter).
More Ways to Support Birken
Virtual Dānā Meal Program
Our Virtual Dānā Meal Program is an opportunity for families and individuals to make a financial contribution towards Birken’s meal offerings in memory of loved ones without visiting the monastery. The meal will be cooked by resident stewards at the monastery and offered as either breakfast or our mid-day meal on the day of your choosing (subject to date availability). Any portion of your donation that is not spent on your sponsored meal will either be used for a meal at a later date or for general kitchen expenses.
We invite you to fill out our online form to schedule your Virtual Dānā Meal, or see our Support page for more ways to give. You may designate your donation in the name of someone and/or select a preferred date for your dānā meal. If you have a preferred date, please include it under your selected donation amount where it says, “Write a private message to us (optional)”. For those requesting a specific date, we will reply within one week to confirm if it is available. Whatever giving method you use, please be sure to note “DANA MEAL” on your donation.
Should you have any questions about our Virtual Dānā Meal program, please email us for more information.
Now Make a Donation through CanadaHelps using Google Pay and Apple Pay
CanadaHelps offers a number of ways to make donations to Birken, including your credit card, PayPal, CanadaHelps Charity Gift Card, and now Google Pay and Apple Pay. Just visit our charity page at CanadaHelps to learn more.
Donate Cryptocurrency through CanadaHelps
