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Thank you to everyone that contributed to our glorious celebration of the Buddha's life. Anumodana!
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 IBMC will be observing Vesak on May 14, 2023. Vesak is the celebration and remembrance of the Buddha's birth, awakening, and parinibbana, which is believed to have each occurred on a full moon in May.
The celebration will begin at 11:00 AM, our usual start time for our Sunday services, and will take place in our Main Hall. After the service, we will then move to Ananda Hall for a lunch provided by the temple which will include vegetarian and non-vegetarian Sri Lankan, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisine. Members and guests will be encouraged to participate in the practice of dana, serving food to the monks, before we all then have lunch together buffet-style. This is a very joyous holiday for Buddhists around the world and at IBMC. We often have guest monks that we invite for the celebration and many of our monks, dharma teachers, and members attend as well. It is a great opportunity for guests to get to know us and share a day of community with us. Everyone is welcome to attend. Today at IBMC we had our regular morning meditation that we hold in the main hall on the first Sunday of the month from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM before our usual Sunday service that begins at 11:00 AM. We began with a short chanting session which included homage to the triple gem, refuge, and the five precepts. We then did a guided loving kindness meditation and then a period of breath meditation. We ended our meditation session with a dedication of merit.
After our meditation, our group had a small discussion where the idea was brought up to begin a monthly daylong retreat on possibly the second Saturday of the month that would be conducted from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This was brought up by longtime IBMC member, Nam, who remembers such retreats held at IBMC fondly and would like to see them resume. It could very well be the case that we will be able to hold such retreats again soon! Nam also brought some food for us to enjoy after the Sunday service. There were a mix of offerings, but the veggie burgers seemed to be the highlight for those of us who joined in on the meal. Our hearts were warmed by his generosity and thoughtfulness. As is now usual for after the Sunday service, we also enjoyed some tea and cookies as we chatted with the people who came for the dharma talk. While IBMC has been softly open to the members and guests coming to the Sunday services and meditation sessions in person for quite a few months already, it seemed appropriate to make an official announcement here that people are once again allowed inside the zendo and highly encouraged to attend our Sunday services with us.
Zoom sessions will continue, as will our livestreaming of the Sunday service on YouTube, but we would love for people who are willing and able to attend physically to do so. The last few years have shown how important it is to not take community for granted. Let us enjoy each other's company and share in the dharma together. Stay after the Sunday service to enjoy tea, cookies, and wonderful conversation with our monks, dharma teachers, and congregation. See you soon! Our resident monk Ven. Nepalaye Vineetha passed away on 12th Feb 2022. Many monks, nuns and lay people attended the 7th day Dana ceremony remembering our beloved Ven. Vineetha and offered merits for him. The Dana was at Anaheim Sri Ratana International Buddhist Center on 20th February. 7th Day Dana is a traditional ceremony which include Dharma chantings, lunch for monks, nuns and lay people and offering merits to those passed away. Ven. Nepalaye Vineetha was born in Nepal and traveled to Sri Lanka at the age of 13 to ordain as novice monk under the guidance of Ven. Havanpola Shanti. After finishing secondary and higher education from Vidyalankara Pirivena in Sri Lanka, he was eager to learn more about Buddhism and dedicated his life to help others. In 2012, he traveled to USA to contribute his knowledge and provide support to his teacher Ven. Havanpola Shanti at the IBMC in Los Angeles. As expected he became the second hand of Ven. Shanti and also offered his unlimited service to temples in around USA and to monks, nuns and lay people. Many of his family relatives living in Nepal and Sri Lanka have also contributed to Buddhism as monks. Ven. Vineetha passed away at the age of 38 in Los Angeles. He will be missed to many of us and to his family and friends in Nepal and Sri Lanka. He lived a simple but meaningful life dedicating his life to improve the Buddhism in and around the USA, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Ven. Nepalaye Vineetha
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May 2023
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