Vesak 8-Precepts Meditation Retreat (1D1N) 2010

Conducted by : Bhante Pannyavaro
Venue : Wisma Mahinda,Mahindarama Buddhist Temple, Penang
Co-organised by : Mahindarama Buddhist Temple & Than Hsiang Temple

Meditation Master’s Profile

Bhante Pannyavaro is an Australian Buddhist monk who has devoted his life to the meditational aspects of the Buddha's teachings. During his meditation training he practiced under several meditation masters in Sri Lanka and Burma including Venerable Sayadaw U Janaka of Chanmyay Meditation Centre, Rangoon, who is the foremost disciple of the renowned Burmese meditation master, the late Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.

Bhante Pannyavaro was involved in the beginnings of a number of the very early Buddhist communities in Australia. He later received full ordination at Wat Borvornivet in Bangkok under Venerable Phra Nyanasamvarva, the Sangha Raja of Thailand.

For the past twenty-five years, he has from time to time studied and practiced meditation in most of the major Theravada Buddhist countries, including long periods of intensive practise of Satipatthana-Vipassana meditation at the Mahasi Sayadaw centres in Burma.

As a Western meditation teacher, Bhante Pannyavaro naturally empathizes with the concerns and needs of meditators in their own culture. His long training and life experience combine to bring a practical in-depth approach to the teaching of insight (vipassana)meditation in contemporary life.

Bhante Pannyavaro is the resident teacher with the Buddha Dharma Education Association at its Centre at Surry Hills in Sydney and gives retreats from time to time at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre, Medlow Bath, NSW, Australia.

RETREAT SCOPE
No prior experience of meditation is required. Full instruction in the practice is given by the meditation master and therefore suitable for beginners or experienced meditators who wish to refresh their basic understanding. The programme will include a chance for group interview with the meditation master.

A meditation retreat is a serious undertaking which requires effort and self-discipline. A retreat is not merely a chance to escape the pressures of daily life, nor a means of overcoming a psychological crisis, nor time out in which to do your own practice. Rather, it is a unique opportunity to cultivate the Buddha’s way of liberation first taught two thousand and five hundred years ago through the practice of generosity (Dana), ethics (Sila) , meditation (Bhavana) and right view/understanding (Samma Ditthi). Walking this path, we can learn to abandon actions of body, speech and mind that bring suffering to ourselves and those around us and cultivate actions that bring true happiness to ourselves and those around us.

The cultivation of sila, or ethics, is fundamental to the practice, as it allows us to develop a firm foundation of concentration, from which insight and understanding can mature, and provides a conducive environment for meditation. All participants of this programme are required to observe the eight precepts as listed below.

TO REGISTER
If you are interested, please fill up the application form duly-completed and come in person to register at 9:15-10:15 am on Sunday April 11, 2010 to A Pemaratana Hall (Top Floor), Wisma Mahinda, Mahindarama Buddhist Temple, No. 2, Kampar Road, 10460 Penang. Limited places available.