Vision
We aim to keep the place simple and basic since we believe such conditions are supportive of our practice. The Buddha emphasized that monks should be easy to be taken care of.
The Monastery’s main purpose is to serve as a residence for a small number of Buddhist monastics. Based on the values and standards of lifestyle set by the Buddha, the monastics are dedicated to the abandonment of sensual pleasures and excessive material possessions.
The Buddha created monastic communities as the optimal setting for those seeking to understand suffering (dukkha) and realize freedom from it. The main purpose and responsibility of a Buddhist monk or nun is therefore to put the teachings into practice. Through renunciation and right mental cultivation, they are committed to not seeking relief through the pathways of craving; instead, they strive for the lasting and secure relief that comes from liberating their minds from it.
As their own practice develops, so does their capacity to help and be an example for others with the same aspiration.
The Monastery also supports the lay community in their practice of Buddhist teachings. By offering almsfood and other requisites to the monastic community, visitors to the Monastery are able to develop generosity (dāna). Visitors can deepen their familiarity with the Buddha’s teaching, discuss and rectify their understanding, and receive advice on how to apply this understanding to their own life.
Samaṇadīpa offers limited accommodation to laity who wish to train themselves according to the Buddha’s instructions, allowing them to:
- experience a glimpse of monastic life
- have dhamma conversations with monastics,
- daily opportunities to help with the single meal preparation, offer requisites to the monastics, or help with work around the monastery.