Four Ways to be Involved in the Monastery

 

More than 2,500 years ago, the Buddha established a radical relationship between the monastics and the lay community which continues today in Theravada Buddhism. The monastic code (Vinaya) requires the ordained Sangha to live in dependence upon the laity for all their physical needs. Monastics cannot grow or prepare their own food, and they can only accept food that is freely offered by laypeople. Lay practitioners support monastics with material requisites so they may dedicate their life to Awakening, whilst monastics share the Dhamma and provide spiritual sanctuaries (i.e., monasteries!) to help and inspire their supporters to deepen their Buddhist practice.

 

1. Residential Stays

 

We offer you the opportunity to come and stay at the monastery, surrounded by the woods and parks on Boars Hill. You can deepen your practice by meditating and serving the Sangha as part of a small group of visitors and Dhamma practitioners. You are welcome to stay for a week on your first visit and subsequently apply for a longer stay if it would be of benefit to all concerned. We have four guest bedrooms, and can accommodate male, transgender or non-binary visitors.

 

 

A residential stay entails practicing and applying the whole Eightfold Noble Path in a quiet environment, supported by spiritual friends. It includes some light work such as cooking, cleaning, gardening, and time for solitary meditation practice in our lovely meditation room  and grounds. There are two group meditation sessions a day and opportunities to join our online and in-person teachings as well as speak personally about your practice with the nuns. Many people are deeply inspired by their stay and feel a renewed aspiration to commit to living a life of harmlessness and to continue deepening their meditation practice as a result.

 

Anukampa offers the possibility to explore whether monastic life could be beneficial and inspiring for you. The path to ordination is progressive and would include visits and longer stays at different monasteries. Prospective candidates would have participated in several retreats of at least a week in length, be in sound mental and physical health, and have an established daily practice that is well integrated into a stable lifestyle.

 

To apply for a stay and for detailed information about our daily schedule, please email team@anukampaproject.org

 

 

2. Visiting for Lunch and Giving Other Requisites

 

If you cannot come to stay, there are many other ways to offer your support the community from afar and benefit your practice.

 

Generosity lies at the heart of the Buddhist Path and is the foundation for inner cultivation. The type of giving that yields most benefit are gifts offered with a serene, joyful heart for the purpose of "beautifying" and "equipping" the mind (with stillness and wisdom) AN:8:31.  We would very much like to give our supporters the wonderful opportunity to practice generosity (dana) by offering meals and/or other requisites and household items to the Sangha.

 

 

Below we offer six ideas for how you can participate in giving, whether you live locally, or far away. To schedule any of these or find out more, please email team@anukampaproject.org.

 

1. Come for a shared lunch! Bring a prepared hot meal to offer for the main meal, which is at 11:00 each day. Prepared food can also be brought the evening before for the following day’s meal). You can check the Lunch Dana Calendar to look for available dates, and to find out how to schedule an offering or get more information.

 

2. Invite the monastic Sangha for a meal at your home, traditionally called a "house dana," or invite them to a restaurant.

 

3. Order shopping deliveries or vegetable boxes. You can send groceries on a one-time or recurring basis, which lay visitors can use to prepare meals for the monastic Sangha.

 

4. Send Gift vouchers. This is particularly helpful for our resident community! Example stores include:

Tesco (supermarket, local to Oxford)

Sainsburys (supermarket near to the Vihara)

Costa and other cafes (helpful for when the monastics are travelling!)

Dunelm (paint, varnish, cabinets, sheets, household, etc)

John Lewis (all manner of things!)

Marks & Spencer (food, household)

Amazon 

and other food, home, and hardware stores relevant to the Oxford area.

 

5. Supply Monastery household items. The Needed Items List contains various household items that would be beneficial for starting up and maintaining the monastery.

 

6. Offer transport and other needs.  You can always invite the resident Sangha to let you know if there are other items or transportation needed. Please let them or our volunteer team (team@anukampaproject.org) know your approximate spending range the time frame of your offer (e.g., £30 available for use within the next 3 months, etc.)

 

 

 

3. Volunteering to Help Build Our Community

 

We deeply appreciate offers of time volunteered for specific types of tasks, as and when needed. You can also watch for details of longer-term, ongoing volunteer roles in the newsletter, or write to team@anukampaproject.org with your interests, skills, and availability. Volunteering can be done remotely, or by coming to the Vihara in the morning to join in our daily Kindful Service period (7.30am - 11am), which is followed by a shared lunch.

 

We have two WhatsApp Groups for ad-hoc help, called Anukampa Food at the Ready (lunch and food offerings) and Anukampa Hands at the Ready (AFAR and AHAR for short ;-)) that you are welcome to join to receive updates about what the Sangha needs.

 

Once again, the volunteers at team@anukampaproject.org can give you further information or add you to either or both group(s).