Reference

NEWS FROM THE CENTRE

5 issues per year

SUMMER 2024

Two three-day courses, one Satipatthana and four 10-day courses filled the summer season at Dhamma Suttama. In other words, just over a thousand people came to recharge their batteries in Vipassana learning, either by serving or meditating a course.

Autumn began in the middle of the twelve-day seasonal service period, which was preceded by an Open House on Sunday September 15. The weekend of September 28 and 29 will be dedicated to classes for children aged 8 to 12 on Saturday, and 13 to 17 on Sunday.

OSSC

The Old Student Support Committee makes a major contribution to planning the seasonal service period or finding a professional who, through his or her Dhamma service, will help maintain the centre's assets. This committee coordinates all the skills offered in the MDSI (My Dhamma Service Information), a list of students available to serve (which you can sign up for), looking to match them with a project, for example, the one-off need for a cabinetmaker or the longer-term need for a kitchen coordinator, or any other need to be filled. This list is thus a valuable tool that enables people wishing to serve through their skills to develop in the Dhamma.

DECEMBER 2024

A 10-DAY NON-CENTRE COURSE !

Non-centre courses date back to before the Sutton centre was acquired in 1999! Back then (1978-1999), courses were organized in rented camps, with all the site set-up and take-down needing to be done.

The Quebec City group repeated the experience with a 10-day non-centre course at Rivière-Ouelle from September 25 to October 6: 24 women and 14 men came out very happy! Well done to the service team - 6 men and 7 women, including a male assistant teacher and a female assistant teacher - as well as to the Quebec City group who piloted the project, drawing on their experience in organizing 3-day courses over the past few years.

NEWS FROM THE CENTRE

A look back at the Seasonal Service Period

Over thirty servers enthusiastically took part in the most recent Seasonal Service Period (SSP) last September.

As always, these various small and large jobs improve and secure life at the centre, for ever better meditation there. Here's an overview of the work undertaken.

Installation of emergency heating in the buildings in the event of prolonged blackouts
Construction of a temporary exit in men's building F
Planning the exit to the Servers' Residence B to improve security
Roof repairs in various buildings
Checking and repairing roof windows in buildings A, E and F
Repairs to the entrance to building G (men's meditation hall)
Major renovations to one of the long-term server houses - the A-shaped one - lasting until February 2025
Painting (doors, walls) and other miscellaneous repairs
Securing the Internet wire entrance
Replacement of hot water tanks in the women's residence and in one of the long-term server houses
Chopping firewood
Redevelopment of the beaver dam (to be inspected by the municipality)
Replacement of the tractor/snow plow/sander

20-Day course

A 20-day course began on November 9, in parallel with a small 10-day course that welcomed some 45 women. So, until November 29, a small team dedicated itself to serving these long-course old students, whose deep meditation fills the centre with a gentle vibration of equanimity.