Anagarikā Ceremony for Michelle

This New Years Eve will be the first for our community at Dakkhina Dhammatthala and we will be celebrating with two auspicious events.
Monastic aspirant, Michelle, will be taking initial steps towards the life of renunciation with her anagarikā ceremony.  The Anagarikā stage is made available as a period of adjustment and usually last from 6 months to a year. It’s a period where the trainee is able to fully embrace the life of a monastic and benefit from a more pure simple existence.
A small ceremony will be held where Michelle will shave off marks of a householder and put on white training robes of a Buddhist monastic.

Jhānathon

Following on from the ceremony we will be blissfully welcoming the new year with our inaugural jhānathon. What is a jhānathon? it’s like a marathon, but with meditative might. We will attempt to meditate from 7pm to 7am. There will be tea, coffee and mattresses provided for those who need a revival along the way. You are welcome to stay the whole night or leave quietly after midnight.

You might want to bring along some ear plugs or ear protectors and maybe a blanket and pillow.

New Year’s Eve Program:
3pm: Guided Meditation
4pm: Dhamma Discussion
5pm: Head Shaving and Dressing
5.45pm: Anagarikā Ceremony
6pm: Blessing Chanting
6.15pm: Tea Break
7pm: Jhānathon
7am: Chanting and Close