Update on the Saranaloka Nuns’ Community

From Jill Boone
Board of Directors of the Saranaloka Foundation

Building a new nuns’ community is a work and a blessing for all those who wish to engage in helping to realize this vision. This letter is intended to share our current status with the wider sangha of supporters, so that all who want to participate in this pivotal moment may do so.

The Aloka Vihara, an initial and temporary residence for the new nuns’ community, in San Francisco, now houses three senior nuns, Ajahns Anandabodhi, Metta, and Santacitta. Also in residence there are Anagarika Santussika and Hitesi, a lay woman who aspires to take the anagarika training.

Aloka Vihara is situated at 1632 48th Avenue, San Francisco, two blocks from the beach, and is open for evening pujas, Dhamma teachings, meditation workshops and meal offerings. Our website has a schedule listing when the Vihara is open for visitors, as well as the nuns’ teaching engagements in the Bay Area and across the nation.

The Ajahns each have a three-year religious visa, which is a major step towards a more permanent community. The generosity of the wider community is greatly appreciated. Your support has allowed the Board to invite the nuns to come for an extended stay, rather than just visit on an annual basis.

Now that the nuns have arrived, settled into the temporary Vihara, and even had a one-month retreat here, the Board is looking towards the next phase of building a community on the West Coast. Our vision has always been to establish a rural monastery for women who wish to undertake the monastic training.

Currently, the four-bedroom house of Aloka Vihara is full, with six residents. There is a waiting list of women who wish to come and live at the Vihara with the intention of taking up the anagarika training, and other nuns from England may also be interested in joining the community here soon.

Therefore, we are actively looking for land. Until now, we have been looking in the Bay Area, within an hour of the city, particularly in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Skyline area south of San Francisco. We have recently begun looking in areas a bit more distant, such as the Sierra Foothills, where land prices are significantly lower, so we could more immediately achieve our goal of settling the community in a rural location.

In 2010 to date, Saranaloka revenue and expenses have balanced. Monthly expenses to support the Vihara and pay for health insurance, etc., total about $5,000 each month. Ideally, moving to the rural location would not increase these expenses, and could possibly decrease them.

Given projected expenses, and our status as a new organization with a short history of support, the Board considers it prudent to have access to at least $750,000 to negotiate on property in the Bay Area, and $75,000 to consider land in the Sierra Foothills. Saranaloka currently has about $60,000 in our operational account and about $46,000 in our Founders’ Fund, a designated fund for purchasing property and establishing the nuns' monastery.

We find ourselves in a bit of a “chicken and egg” position. The present moment is the best in years for buying property in California, so we are looking actively. Should we find the right place, we would like to be able to negotiate seriously, with a realistic idea of the depth of financial support from our community.

Therefore, we welcome your thoughts, pledges of support, and other contributions as we work together to create this new community. Ways to help might include:

We are looking for land with an existing, habitable dwelling (improvements and expansion could be made over time, as finances allow). The monastery house does not need to be large or fancy, but should be well built with a room large enough to be used as a shrine room—this will be the main structure of the monastery for several years. Energy efficiency would also be a great plus.

After looking at various properties, we have identified the following key attributes:

We are eager to settle the nuns in a rural location with enough space to accommodate the current community, the women who are already waiting to join them, and additional women who in the future will aspire to dedicate themselves to this precious training and to this project. This new location would also allow for both men and women to come and visit for more than just a puja!

Please feel free to contact me to discuss the vision and any possibilities. You can reach me most easily by email at saranaloka@gmail.com. If you would prefer a phone call, please send your phone number and when I can reach you easily on nights or weekends.

Thank you very much for all your support, good wishes, and enthusiasm for this historic endeavor of establishing the first training monastery for nuns in the lineage of Ajahn Chah in the United States. I look forward to our working together to create a lively and thriving new Dhamma community.

—April 25, 2010

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