Lba Dana Day

Written by Ubasika Lynne

On Saturday 30^th September it was the Lay Buddhist association annual Dana day. This is the day when all members, long standing and recent, gather together to offer lunch to the Venerable monks. Offerings of food were taken to the kitchen and prepared and arranged. It was a hub of activity there.

At ten am we all gathered in the shrine room, where the Abbot talked to us and handed gifts to some members. The other Venerable monks joined him and we took the five precepts before the monks chanted and we were given a blessing. A donation was given to the temple by Andy Brown, on behalf of the LBA.

The venerable monks sat down to lunch, they were joined by Ven Ajahn Karuniko from Cittaviveka, Chithurst Monastery. He was the guest speaker, scheduled to talk at one thirty. There was a variety of food and many goodies on offer. At noon we lay people had our lunch.

In the basement of the temple we gathered ready to hear the guest speaker. The Ven. Ajahn Karuniko voice was gentle and soft, he spoke of many topics and his life a monk. As you may know monks have two hundred and twenty seven rules, the speaker said that the big rules were easy to keep, but it was the small ones that they and we have to work on, especially to use kind speech at all times. He also said that too often we can recognize our faults but it is so important to acknowledge our good points. His talk was very inspiring and appreciated by all who heard. Then it was back to the house for refreshments and conversation. The day was a very enjoyable one for all who attended.