Portland Friends of the Dhamma is located in Portland, Oregon, in the Hawthorne district, a small neighborhood of roughly 12,000 people. It is just a 10-minute drive away from the center of the city and Portland State University. Portland Friends of the Dhamma is a Theravada lay community that practices in the Thai-Forest tradition of Ajahn Chah and Luang Por Chah (Ajahn Pasanno). This community was jointly founded in 2000 by Mary Reinard, later given the title Sakula, with the help and guidance of Luang Por Pasanno. During this time, there was a rapid rise in the popularity of the Buddhist religion around this region on the West Coast of the United States. Mary Reinard’s interest in Buddhism began rather late in her life. In 1996, she stumbled upon Buddhism while browsing the internet. The religion captivated her so much that she decided to take some entry-level classes at the local Dharma Rain Zen Center. This center is in Portland, Oregon, and is a Soto Zen Buddhist community. She enjoyed her time here and learned a lot but decided to venture out and go to other monasteries in the area. This led her to Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California. She continued to nurture her knowledge of Buddhism while studying here. One day she met Ajahn Passano and Ajahn Amaro, who shared abottship at the monastery. Eventually, Ajahn Passano welcomed her as one of his many lay students. During her time as his student, she was given the title Sakula, which means “One of Good Family” in the Pali canon. In 2001, one year after Portland Friends of the Dhamma was founded, Sakula along with eleven other students were invited back to Abhayagiri by the ordained monks and nuns of the monastery to complete a three-year training program. At the end of the three years, Sakula and the others officially became lay ministers. With this lay minister certification, Sakula has enough knowledge of Buddhism to lead meditation groups and share the Buddha’s teachings with others.
Teachers
Sakula, Lay minister and Spiritual leader
Matthew Grad, Lay teacher
25+ Years of experience, previously taught suttas at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Jessica Swanson, Lay teacher
Jessica has been practicing Buddhism for over 20 years. She is a board of directors officer for the Sanghata Foundation, which oversees Pacific Hermitage Monastery.
Rudy Grad, Lay minister
Rudy began her Buddhist journey in 1988. In 2014, Rudy was ordained as a lay Theravada minister and received training to be a Buddhist chaplain. She teaches both at Portland Friends of the Dhamma and Pacific Hermitage monastery in White Salmon, Washington.
Portland Friends of the Dhamma is associated with many other Buddhist communities in the West Coast area and abroad.
- Abhayagiri Monastery, which is located in Redwood Valley, California. This is the monastery Sakula attended and where Ajahn Passano, who helped co-found Portland Friends of the Dhamma, held abbotship from 1997 to 2018. This community is similarly part of the Thai-Forest tradition.
- Pacific Hermitage Monastery, located in White Salmon, Washington. This monastery is part of the Thai-Forest tradition and lay minister Ruby Grad teaches here alongside teaching at Portland Friends of the Dhamma.
- Karuna Buddhist Vihara, which is located near Boulder Creek, California. It is a Theravada monastery where Theravada bhikkhunis live and train others.
- Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, located in South East England. This monastery practices in the Thai-Forest tradition and is one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in England.
Portland Friends of the Dhamma is part of the Thai-Forest tradition lineage of Theravada Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism originated in India, it was based on the Buddha’s original teachings. In the Thai-Forest tradition, they follow the original monastic rules of discipline. In the tradition, meditation is the primary form of practice as it leads one closer to enlightenment. Traditional Forest monastery monastics spend most of their time practicing contemplative insight meditation to develop their understanding of the true nature of reality.
Members and Demographics
Portland Friends of the Dhamma has no official member count as anyone is welcome to join the community at any time. The average in-person event has anywhere from 10 to 25 attendees not including additional viewers on Zoom. Special events with monastics have greater attendance as they are more significant than the average class. Portland Friends of the Dhamma has a collective of 2,500 followers across their social media pages on Facebook and YouTube. The community is made up largely of Caucasians, but they are welcoming to all demographics.
At Portland Friends of the Dhamma, members practice mainly through mediation. Every event incorporates a form of mediation, whether it be guided or silent. Members understand that the purpose of these meditations is to examine one’s thoughts and reflect on reality. Jessica Swanson, lay teacher, teaches members an introduction to meditations and the Five Precepts. Through these teachings, Portland Friends of the Dhamma hopes to build a strong, close-knit community of support. It is encouraged to bring your family, even small children, to the gatherings.
Events
Portland Friends of the Dhamma regularly hosts three events per week. These take place on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. After most in-person events, there is a reception on the garden level of the building with donated food and tea for members to enjoy while they talk and bond together as a community. All preparations and clean-up are done voluntarily by members of the community as one of the many ways to give back.
Sunday
Sunday Sila takes place from 10 am to 11:30 am. This class is led by Jessica Swanson, one of the lay teachers. She begins this class by leading a chant, followed by a silent meditation for about 30 minutes. After meditating, an open discussion and reflection begins on the Dhamma.
Wednesday
Sitting Circle takes place from 7:10 am to 7:50 am. This is a peer lead class that gathers on Zoom or Skype for a brief 30-minute mediation followed by a discussion and check-in with the members where they can make announcements, or simply chat with others in their community.
Friday
Investigations take place in the evenings from 7 pm – 9 pm. The event is hosted in a hybrid format with members attending both in person and online through Zoom. The class gets its name from dhamma vicaya, the process of analyzing one’s qualities in order to develop an understanding of our true nature and self to achieve awakening. The class is led by Matthew Grad, one of the lay teachers. The format of these gatherings is as follows, each meeting has a specific Dhamma theme to focus on for the evening. Matthew begins by sharing his perspective on the theme and discussing the theme in the context of the Buddha’s experiences. After the introduction of the Dhamma topic, meditations take place. Then, an open discussion takes place where others can add their input. The purpose of this class is to invoke thought, and how one can then apply these teachings to positively impact day-to-day life.
Other Events
Virtually Bookish takes place on the first and third Saturday of each month from 12:30 pm to 2 pm, it is online only through Zoom. This class is led by lay minister Ruby Grad. The class reads and discusses a new Dhamma book with each meeting. Anyone is invited to attend even if they don’t participate in reading, as they can still gain insight by listening to the discussion. Many of these books can be found in the building’s community library which is free for members to borrow from.
Portland Friends of the Dhamma occasionally hosts special events with monastics who come to speak. At these events, there are guidelines for those attending to follow in order to promote a friendly environment and obey any of the monastic’s vows. Some of the rules to follow include wearing appropriate loose-fitting clothing and putting your hands together in prayer fashion when speaking to the monastics.
Funding
Portland Friends the Dhamma is funded entirely through the generosity of its members, also known as Dana. Dana is the trait of giving from the kindness of your heart without expecting any personal benefit or return. Through giving, one is able to increase their merit and good karma.
Ways to Give
- A one-time donation.
- Monthly givings through a recurring donation of a set amount.
- Matching Gift program, some employers offer this program which will match the donations of an employee to a non-profit organization of their choice.
- Rewards programs, companies like Amazon offer a rewards program that will donate 0.5% of select purchases to a charity of your choice.
- Stocks and Investments, Portland Friends of the Dhamma is able to receive donations of investments through a donor-advised fund. With this method, the donator also receives a tax benefit based on the donation value.
- Will or Trust, donate to Portland Friends of the Dhamma by naming them a recipient in your will. With this method, you can have control over how your contribution is used.
- IRA, and Retirement plans.
- Life Insurance, by naming Portland Friends of the Dhamma a recipient in your life insurance you can continue to contribute to the community even in the event of your death.
By Thomas McMurtrie
Sources:
- https://www.pdxdhamma.org/
- https://www.facebook.com/pdxdhamma/
- https://www.youtube.com/@PortlandFriendsoftheDhamma/featured
- https://www.abhayagiri.org/community/residents
- https://amaravati.org/
- https://www.karunabv.org/about-us.html