Portland Friends of the Dhamma is a Buddhist center affiliated with Abhayagiri Monastery and the lineage of Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho. This community is completely supported by the goodwill and generosity of its participants. Everyone is welcome, regardless of experience or financial means. More about PFoD →
- Magga-Bhāvanā Program
Saturday, June 1 - Ajahn Pasanno
Starting June 28 - For Beginners
Some Good Places to Start
Closing down the Old – Opening to the New
On May 31st PFOD Makes a Move and Hopes you Follow
Ajahn Sucitto just before offering a Blessing Chant
at Dharma Rain – It’s all juiced up for us now ;)
As Portland Friends of the Dhamma continues to investigate options (rent, lease, purchase) of a permanent home for our community, we begin by renting space from Dharma Zen Rain Center as of May 31st.
Final Days at the Sellwood Methodist Church:
- Friday Night Dhamma Closing Vigil – May 24th, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
- Sunday Eightfold Path Class – May 26th, 9:30 – 11:00 am
- Tuesday Book Study – May 28th, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
First Evening at Dharma Rain Zen Center:
- Friday Night Dhamma, May 31st Opening Vigil – 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Magga-Bhāvanā Program
“Cultivating the Path”
First Saturday of the Month
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
To shape our lives around the practice of the Buddha’s teachings, rather than shaping the practice of the Buddha’s teachings around our lives.
Monthly daylongs of teachings, practice, and exploration, jointly led by Sakula Mary Reinard and Matthew Grad. Daylongs are held on the first Saturday of each month, starting April 6, 2013.
- Fostering the practice of sīla, samādhi and paññā with ever increasing clarity, depth and continuity.
- Sīla: The precepts and acts of generosity, goodwill and compassion.
- Samādhi: Stability of mind through formal practice.
- Paññā: Insight into the Four Noble Truths and Three Characteristics (impermanence, suffering, not-self).
- Nurturing our practice together as community, keeping harmony utmost.
- Cultivating a respectful and supportive attitude toward our lineage.
- Committing to the Three Refuges.
- Living by the Five Precepts.
- Undertaking the Eight Precepts on Full Moon Days.
- Making every effort to attend the Magga-Bhāvanā daylongs.
- Maintaining a daily meditation practice and attending at least one meditation retreat annually.
- Live by the Five Precepts.
- Mark the Full Moon Days in some fashion (e.g., by placing flowers on your alter).
- Regularly attend a PFoD offering led by one of this program’s teachers: Matthew’s Walking the Eightfold Path and/or Sakula’s Friday Night Dhamma.
If you are interested in possibly joining, or would just like to learn more, please contact Matthew Grad.
Sakula is the Spiritual Director of Portland Friends of the Dhamma and a student of the Western Forest Sangha—the lineage of Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Chah. Soon after meeting Luang Por Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro in 1997, she made a formal request to Luang Por Pasanno who accepted her as his lay student, eventually giving her the Pali name Sakula meaning One of Good Family. In 2001, Sakula was invited by them to join eleven others and train as a lay minister, graduating in 2004. She co-founded Portland Friends of the Dhamma in 2000 and leads a meditation group every Friday.
Matthew Grad leads the bi-monthly class Walking the Eightfold Path and co-leads the monthly Magga-Bhāvanā Program. He has practiced in the Theravada lineage for over 25 years. Before joining our community, Matthew taught an ongoing course in sutta study for Spirit Rock Meditation Center. When teaching from the suttas (discourses of the Buddha) he emphasizes their direct application in daily life. His practice is rooted in Ajahn Sumedho’s teachings on intuitive awareness, and the teachings of Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Thanissaro on training the mind and heart.
Ajahn Pasanno
Starting Friday, June 28 (Portland & White Salmon)
Ajahn Pasanno will visit Portland and White Salmon in late June and early July. Check back for details as the date gets closer.
Ajahn Pasanno took ordination in Thailand in 1974 with Venerable Phra Khru Ñāṇasirivatana as preceptor. During his first year as a monk he was taken by his teacher to meet Ajahn Chah, with whom he asked to be allowed to stay and train. One of the early residents of Wat Pah Nanachat, Ajahn Pasanno became its abbot in his ninth year. During his incumbency, Wat Pah Nanachat developed considerably, both in physical size and reputation. Spending 24 years living in Thailand, Ajahn Pasanno became a well-known and highly respected monk and Dhamma teacher. He moved to California on New Year’s Eve of 1997 to share the abbotship of Abhayagiri with Ajahn Amaro. In 2010 Ajahn Amaro accepted an invitation to serve as abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England. Ajahn Pasanno is now the sole abbot of Abhayagiri. [From the Abhayagiri website]
Some Past Visiting Teachers
