1217 Babel Lane
Concord, CA 94518
Wat Buddhadhammadharo is a Thai Buddhist temple in Concord, California. It is a branch of the Wat Ashokaram sect. The principal Buddha image of the temple is Phra Phuttha Metta Phichitimar. Wat Buddhadhammadharo is one of the few official designated branches of Wat Ashokaram outside of Thailand.
The temple consists of two main buildings: a monk’s residence and a multipurpose hall. The monks’ residence measures 1,141 ft2 and typically houses a small number of monks, between two and six. The monks’ residence welcomes both permanent and visiting monks. Both the monks’ residence hall and the multipurpose hall underwent minor renovations to restore the spaces.
The temple is supported by its lay community through donations and offerings. Offerings can be made in person (more detail under Religious Practices) and monetary offerings can also be made via electronic payment, including Zelle and wire transfers.
Origins in Wat Ashokaram
Wat Ashokaram, named in honor of King Ashoka the Great, is located in Thailand and was founded in the late 1950s by Phra Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo. Phra Lee was a Forest master and strict practitioner of asceticism. He is credited with bringing the ascetic traditions of the Forest path into mainstream Thai society. A notable form of meditation practiced at Wat Ashokaram is Anapanasati meditation, a breath meditation most often performed in a seated position. This meditation can be practiced by laypeople as well as monastics and is best conducted in a forest, at the foot of a tree, or in a secluded area, per the Forest monastic traditions.
Phra Lee was a student of Luang Pu Ajahn Mun Bhūridatta, the great insight meditation master who established the Thai Forest Tradition. He closely followed the principles of the Vinaya and the 13 dhutanga (ascetic) practices.
Both Phra Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo and Luang Pu Ajahn Mun Bhūridatta are deeply revered at Wat Buddhadhammadharo, and their teachings form the foundations of the Wat Buddhadhammadharo religious practices.
Founding of Wat Buddhadhammadharo
Wat Buddhadhammadharo was founded in 2005 by Phra Ajahn Reumchai Chinnawaso who was ordained as a monk at Wat Ashokaram on May 18, 1975. He named Wat Buddhadhammadharo in honor of Phra Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo.
The temple was accepted by the Dhammayut sanghas of the United States as the 44th Dhammayut temple. The Dhammayut is the smaller of the two Thai sanghas and adheres to stricker practices of asceticism.
The temple was founded according to following objectives and principles, as stated on the Wat Buddhadhammadharo website:
“To be a place to stay for monks and Dhamma missionaries who come to perform religious duties in the United States; to be a place to practice meditation and perform Buddhist merit-making ceremonies; to be a center for the propagation of Buddhism to flourish abroad; to be a center of the minds of all Buddhist groups; to be a center for education, arts, culture, and various good traditions.”
https://watconcord.org/about/
Phra Phuttha Metta Phichitmar was enshrined as the temple’s principle Buddha image in the multipurpose hall in 2007, and the first annual general meeting was held in the same year.
Religious Practices
The temple focuses on the practice of meditation, particularly insight meditation in keeping with the temple’s origins in the Forest Tradition and its lineage that traces back to insight meditation master Luang Pu Ajahn Mun Bhūridatta.
The temple also distributes Dharma knowledge through books, tapes, and articles published on their website. Their articles include information about their founders and the ancestry of their Buddhist practice, as well as expounding on the Dharma and offering insights, and providing information to guide practice, such as detailing different types of meditation and subjects to meditate on and suggesting which meditation is best depending on one’s temperament.
The lay people can practice meditation and learn the Dharma, but their greatest contribution to the temple is through Dana (generosity or giving freely). The lay people make offerings to support the monastic community. There are very specific, strict rules for making offerings.
In making offerings, the offering should not be too large or too heavy to be carried by one person. In cases where it is acceptable to make an offering larger than this, then it is sufficient to say the words of offering and present the documents that might accompany the offering.
The monks are forbidden from touching women, women’s clothing, and any images and statues of women. They are also forbidden from touching the ten treasures (silver, gold, pearls, rubies, topaz, conch shells, stones such as jade and morah, etc.), life-ending weapons, traps for land or aquatic animals, and musical instruments of any kind, as such all these items should not be offered to monks.
Certain additional considerations are taken into account when offering food. Raw meat is forbidden and cannot be eaten by the monks. Human flesh (including human blood) as well as elephant, horse, dog, snake, lion, tiger, yellow tiger, bear, and leopard meat are also forbidden. Animals should not be killed specifically to be offered to the monks, but if they were not aware and did not suspect that it was killed specifically, they are not faulted for eating it.
There are also restrictions on when certain food offerings can be eaten. Yawkali means food can only be eaten or received between morning and noon. This includes heavy meals such as rice, fish, meat, milk, fish, fruit, grains, and sweets, and drinks made from these such as beverages made from grains. Kalika refers to food that can only be eaten for one day and one night after being received. Afterword it must be given to a person who is not a monk. Sattahagalika means food that must be eaten within seven days of being received or it too must be given away to a person who is not a monk. Finally, long life foods can be kept forever. This includes all medicines.
Offerings should be humbly presented. Once the items are prepared and the monk is ready to accept offerings, the offering should be brought near the monk (about one or two cubits distance) and lifted and offered to the monk, high enough that a cat could pass underneath. Each offering must be presented in a separate bowl, offerings cannot be combined in one bowl. Men should kneel or stand and present the offering to the monk with two hands, then hand the monk the offering. Women should stand or sit about two cubits away, then bring the offering close enough to the monk and place it on his offering cloth. Women cannot hand the offering directly to the monk. Women should wait to place the offering on the cloth until the monk is touching the cloth (this stems from requirement that the monk accepts the offering with his body or with something connected to his body as outlined in the Vinaya Pitaka, Maha Vibhanga). Once an offering has been made, both men and women should pay homage before the monk.
Lay people are prohibited from touching offerings. If they do it is a failure to make an offering and they must make a new offering.
Daily Schedule
The temple adheres to the following daily routines and has additional events as outlined below:
6:00 AM: Morning prayers and meditation of loving-kindness
10:00 AM: Monks go out for alms
10:30 AM: Offer food to monks
6:30 PM: Evening prayers and meditation of loving-kindness
Events & Merit Making
The temple schedules important merit-making ceremonies on a monthly basis in order that there be at least one per month. Important ceremonies include:
New Year’s Day
Makha Bucha Day
Makha Bucha is celebrated on the day of the full moon of the third lunar month (typically falls in late February to early March). Makha Bucha celebrates Buddha’s teachings to his disciples. According to Buddhist tradition, the original celebrated event displayed four miraculous phenomena: 1) The event occurred on the third full moon of the lunar year; 2) there was no planned meeting, yet 1,250 disciples spontaneously gathered at the site; 3) all of the disciples were arahats; 4) all were Ehi Bhikkhu Upasampada, meaning they had been ordained by the Buddha himself (his direct spiritual descendants).
Phra Phuttha Metta Phichitmar
A celebration of the temple’s principal Buddha image.
Visakha Bucha Day
Visakha Bucha falls on the full moon of the sixth month in the lunar calendar. Visakha Bucha marks the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha and is the most sacred day.
Pha Pa ceremony
Pha Pa is a ceremony to celebrate and support the monastic community. It is an opportunity for merit making, and lay people gather to offer cloth and other donations.
Asalha Bucha Day
Asalha Bucha falls on the full moon of the eighth lunar month (typically the month of July). It celebrates the Buddha’s first teachings and the revealing of the four noble truths.
Khao Phansa Day
Khao Phansa commemorates the start of the three month Rains Retreat. It is sometimes also referred to as Buddhist Lent.
Mother’s Day
Sarat Day
Ok Phansa: the end of Buddhist Lent
Ok Phansa celebrates the end of the three month Rains Retreat. It falls during the eleventh month of the lunar calendar.
Kathin Samakhi Merit-making Ceremony
A day where monks have the opportunity to replace their three garments (robe, sarong, and extra robe). The story goes that thirty monks were traveling to a temple for the Rains Retreat, but they did not make it there in time. As they continued their journey their robes got soaked through. When they at last arrived, the Buddha saw the hardship they endured and granted permission for one to receive new garments.
Father’s Day
Community
Wat Buddhadhammadharo’s practices appear to be conducted primarily in Thai. Their website, as well as their articles on the Dharma, are predominantly written in Thai, and their video and audio teachings are in Thai, as well. For special events and merit-making ceremonies, an event schedule is often offered in both Thai and English.
Website of Wat Buddhadhammadharo:
Sources
- https://watconcord.org/about/
- https://www.watasokaram.org/templehistory
- https://santiforestmonastery.org/lineage/phra-ajaan-lee-dhammadharo/
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/monasticism/Mendicant-friars-and-orders#ref422793
- https://www.thailandnow.in.th/event/makha-bucha-day/
- https://www.au.edu/news/visakha-bucha-day-full-moon,-6th-thai-lunar-month.html
- https://www.samanadipa.org/news/vesak-pha-pa-pabbajja-19-may-2024/#:~:text=Pha%20Pa%20is%20a%20Thai,other%20requisites%20to%20the%20monks.
- https://www.thailandnow.in.th/event/khao-phansa-buddhist-lent-day/
- https://www.thailandfoundation.or.th/culture_heritage/ok-phansa-the-end-of-buddhist-lent/
- https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ariyadhamma/bl115.html
- https://buddho.org/about-the-author/ajahn-mun/
Written by Kelsey Helfer
Images
- https://watconcord.org/about/ ↩︎
- https://www.takemetour.com/trip/amazing-private-one-day-adventure-to-must-see-places-in-samut-prakan ↩︎
- https://santiforestmonastery.org/lineage/phra-ajaan-lee-dhammadharo/ ↩︎
- https://www.luangta.eu/site/pictures-album.php?album=21 ↩︎
- https://watconcord.org/about/ ↩︎
- https://watconcord.org/dhamma/%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%87%e0%b9%81%e0%b8%81%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%a7%e0%b8%84%e0%b8%b9%e0%b9%88%e0%b8%9a%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%a3%e0%b8%a1%e0%b8%b5-%e0%b9%82%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%a2%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%b1%e0%b8%87%e0%b8%84/ ↩︎