Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

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cooran
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Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by cooran »

Hello all,

Sad news. Bhante Sujato announced his resignation from the position of Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery (on 22nd May, 2012):
http://sujato.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/an-announcement/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
hermitwin
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by hermitwin »

anicca.....
all the best to bhante....
who knows what the future holds...
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retrofuturist
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Wow. Thanks for letting us know, Cooran.

I can't help but think it's interesting how things pan out. In a parallel universe, I could have just arrived at Santi...

("who knows what the future holds", indeed)

:shock:

All the best to Ajahn Sujato and may he attain the goal he strives for.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Hmm...is he disrobing or just resigning as abbot? Interesting development.

May he be happy!
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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Cittasanto
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by Cittasanto »

Any reasons? Where is he going?
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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mikenz66
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by mikenz66 »

There is a detailed explanation at the link Cooran gave... :reading:

:anjali:
Mike
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Viscid
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by Viscid »

This is indeed a shock. I can't see him not teaching, though-- he'll probably set up something smaller in the future. I certainly hope he keeps blogging.
"What holds attention determines action." - William James
Kenshou
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by Kenshou »

I don’t want to run a community or to look after a large property. Now, my heart leaps forward at the thought of having nothing and making no plans.
Sadhu to that, and luck to him.
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by daverupa »

retrofuturist wrote:In a parallel universe, I could have just arrived at Santi...
In that universe, I'd have been a six-month-old anagarika at Santi 'round about this time.

The comment by Piya Tan was interesting.

I only met Bhante Sujato one night, and he spoke a little about his then-recent road trip in the States as well as the general bhikkhuni situation, among other things.

:anjali:
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Re: Bhante Sujato resigns as Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery

Post by DNS »

I wish him well and sure he will be fine.

I think many 'successful' people go through such a time. At one point you wonder if it was / is worth it. The stress, the headaches, etc. that come with success can be burdensome and you remember the easier times when there was less responsibility. I can empathize with Bhante. And by success, it doesn't have to be financial, it can be having some position of power or leadership, such as being an abbot, running a center, etc. You can easily fall into an indifference (sort of a WTF moment), but not saying he has done that. It can also be or progress to upekkhā where you can take on fewer responsibilities with renewed zeal / better focus / concentration.

There was an article in Tricycle or some other Buddhist publication where one of the directors of a retreat center said that he went there to find the bliss of working and meditating at a retreat center. He soon found himself in a similar 'rat-race' of lay life dealing with the responsibilities of running the place and had little time for his own practice.
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