Ajahn Brahmali’s visit in June 2017

Ajahn Brahmali’s visit to Europe was a great success in many respects.

We started with a 9 day meditation & Sutta retreat at Semkye Ling meditation center, Schneverdingen, from 14th to 23rd June. The peaceful atmosphere of the meditation center in combination with Ajahn Brahmali’s wonderful style of teaching assured a peaceful and quiet retreat. Ajahn Brahmali explained the Suttas and the Gradual Training in such a wonderfully clear and inspiring manner, which helped us deepen our practice and meditation.

One of the retreat participants wrote the following:

“After searching for a year to further my meditation practice in Europe, I am happy to find Samita ASBL’s 9-day Happy Sutta Retreat with Ajahn Brahmali, who is Ajahn Brahm’s disciple. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, this peaceful retreat house in the countryside made it easier for us to get deep into ourselves to find inner joy. The retreat is conducted in English with a German translator, with retreatants coming from more than 6 different countries (I think). It’s cool for participants to be able to stay in their own tent (kuti) 😀

Also grateful for the opportunity to serve in the kitchen alongside Danny, who has been full time serving the monastics and retreats for more than 15 years.

Thank you Samita ASBL making retreats in forest tradition available in Europe. Samita is a non-profit organisation, solely funded by donations, with as goal to establish a Buddhist monastery in the Theravada tradition in Europe. If you believe in this cause, any kind of contribution will greatly help to get the monastery ready next year.

Friends in Malaysia have so many retreat options there, especially Ajahn Brahm’s retreats. so quickly grab your place for the next one.

Meditation is one major practice of the Buddhist monastics, and they are some of happiest people I know, despite not having any possession, go to the movies, or go on holidays. 😀

Meditation have given me profound peace and happiness, more than anything else. Frequent practice helps to cultivate the mind. Whenever I feel frazzled, 10 minutes meditation reenergize me immediately.

No time to take care of your body & mind? Chances are you are running on empty. Health is about so much more than just eating well. The mind is equally as important as the body, if not more. The state of your mind effects your physical body.”

(Shannon Lim, participant)

Some impressions:

On Friday, 23rd of June Ajahn Brahmali gave an evening talk at the Tibetisches Zentrum Hamburg. The topic was “Buddhism in the West—Past, Present, Future”.

On Saturday, 24th of June we were the guests of the BGH, Buddhistische Gesellschaft Hamburg, one of the oldest Buddhist organisations in Germnay, founded by people like Paul Debes and Hellmuth Hecker, the very pioneers of Buddhism in Germany. Here we had an entire day about the topic of the monastic Vinaya and how ethics in general can support our practice.

The last part of Ajahn’s tour was in Antwerp, Belgium on Sunday, 25th of June at Ehipassiko Boeddhistisch Centrum. After an afternoon of meditation and instructions, Ajahn Brahmali gave an evening talk on the topic of “Commitment and Perseverence in the Practice”.

Download the audio files of all talks here.

Financially, this Dhamma-tour was also a great success. We had organised this on a donation-basis, but of course at least our costs had to be met. Thanks to the great generosity of the participants we have been able to do so. All funds received in excess of these costs were donated to the building fund of Tilorien Monastery, as per Ajahn Brahmali’s wishes. We are very grateful to Ajahn Brahmali for selflessly donating his time and energy to support our monastery project. The funds received from the retreat and the talks will be sufficient to pay for f.i. the electricity and heating systems at Tilorien.

We wish to express our deep gratitude to everybody, who helped make this Dhamma-tour such a great success, and in particular to Ajahn Brahmali and all participants, who donated so generously towards supporting the Bhikkhuni Sangha in Europe!

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

(The team of Samita ASBL & Tilorien Sangha)

Ayya Kathrin Vimalañāṇī, Anāgārikā Sabbamittā, Ayya Vimalā, Danny, Helen, Christine