Mettā Forest Monastery, also known as Wat Mettāvarānaṁ or Wat Mettā, is a

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Valley Center, California Valley Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern San Diego County, California. The population was 9,277 at the 2010 census. History Valley Center was the site of the capture of the largest California Grizzly Bear in history. In 1866, ...

. It was founded in 1991 by

Ajaan Suwat Suvaco Ajaan Suwat Suvaco (27 August 19195 April 2002), born in Thailand, was a Buddhist monk who founded four monasteries in the western United States. Ordained at the age of twenty, he became a student of Ajaan Funn Acaro two or three years later. ...

(1919–2002) along with his student

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (also known as Ajahn Geoff; born ) is an American Buddhist monk. Belonging to the Thai Forest Tradition, for 10 years he studied under the forest master Ajahn Fuang Jotiko (himself a student of Ajahn Lee). Since 1993 he ha ...

. Ajaan Ṭhānissaro has been the resident

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

since 1993. Currently there are ten resident

bhikkhus A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist c ...

, nine American bhikkhus and one Thai, as well as space for lay Buddhists on overnight retreat. Ajaan Goeff Dhamma Talk

Ajaan Ṭhānissaro stresses the importance of strict adherence to the

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

or Buddhist monastic code which teaches relying only on donations from the lay community as well as living in the wilderness, a key feature of the

Thai Forest Tradition The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning Kammaṭṭhāna, "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a Parampara, lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The ...

of which he is a part. All visitors are expected to follow the Eight Precepts of Buddhism, which helps introduce students into the practice of Theravāda Buddhism.

Historical Context

Even though the Mettā Forest Monastery has not been widely studied, the founding of this monastery is of great importance in establishing Theravāda Buddhism within the United States. Part of the problem of recognizing Buddhism in the US is that many surveys do not allow participants to select their specific school of Buddhism, so it is hard to know how many Theravāda Buddhists there are in the US. Theravāda Buddhism was only introduced in the US in the late 1960s, much later than when Buddhism was first established in the country. There was an increase of temples being built in the 1980s and 1990s, with Mettā Forest being one of fourteen established in California in the 1990s. The Mettā Forest Monastery was founded thanks to a generous donation of land from someone from Massachusetts, with the expectation that a monastery would be built there. These wishes were carried out as the monastery now draws Buddhists from the surrounding California area. Theravāda Buddhism is practiced in many different ways across the US; congregating in monasteries is just one way to practice Buddhism, and the Mettā Forest Monastery invites laypeople to connect to their religion and community.

Historical Context

See also

References

Further reading