Abhayagiri Monastery & Wildfires

The Watercooler
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Hello everyone,

I am still gathering information but at this time it sounds like Abahayagiri Monastery and its nearby village of Redwood Valley have been evacuated today due to severe and fast moving wildfires moving across Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties. Please send lots of Metta to the monks, novices, and lay practitioners who have worked so hard to make Abhayagiri a shining star of dhamma with brand new sala and meditation hall just completed :sweat:

I’ll try to find out more!

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I stayed there for about a week around this time last year, and it is indeed a lovely place with lovely people, so I will definitely be sending thoughts of metta, safety and goodwill as much as possible. Thank you, @dharmacorps, for letting us know!

:anjal:

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This is from the Abhayagiri mailing list:

Friends,

Here is some news about the Abhayagiri Monastery community related to the fire. All of the people continue to be safe.

Right now, arrangements are underway for all the monks and laypeople living at Abhayagiri to stay at the nearby City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah. The abbot there (and others) have generously offered to host the monks and friends who have been evacuated. Transportation is in progress.

The fire continues to burn near Abhayagiri. Many, many homes have been lost so far. Fortunately, as of right now, it is likely that the monastery has not burned. Firefighters are continuing to work in the area, and the danger remains high.

You can also learn more at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/MendocinoSheriff/posts/

Your continued good wishes are most welcome!

Kind regards,
Dennis Crean

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Here is a link to live updates on all the wildfires currently burning in Northern California. Much metta to all of those affected.

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Thanks for the news and updates, everyone. :heart: :cloud_with_rain:

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May all the beings living at
Abahayagiri Monastery and its nearby village of Redwood Valley , Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties,

May all of them be safe , be well .
May they be free from all kinds of dangers
May their houses and belonging also be safe guarded and secure protected
May the fire be ceased very soon
May all them may return home soon

Namo buddhaya
Namo dhammaya
Namo sanghaya

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Venerable Ayya Tathaloka Bhikkhuni also recently posted on Facebook -

Friends, as many of you have read and heard, our Dhammadharini Monastery area in the western Sonoma Valley is on fire (note: the photo here is not of our monastery on fire). Those at our Aranya Bodhi Hermitage are safe–that fire there is already 100% contained. We are also safe at our monastery for now; local friends who’ve needed to evacuate have come to the monastery and friends who would like to be here are welcome. The areas just to the north and east of us have been evacuated and we are preparing in case we may also need to evacuate soon. Please send your good wishes to all beings affected by fire in this area. May all be safe, may all be well. May all care well for one another.

The fire near their forest hermitage has been contained, but one of the largest fires is still approaching their vihara in Santa Rosa, however, they haven’t been asked to evacuate yet.

May all beings be safe and protected!!! :pray:

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The situation is ugly but from space it seems to be smaller than the fires we saw few weeks ago.

image-download
image-download1104×1152 136 KB

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Abhayagiri Community is safe

You have likely heard about the fires in Northern California. We want to let you know that the Abhayagiri community is safe. We don’t know what will happen with Kathina this Sunday. Please check this website for announcements before visiting Abhayagiri.

https://www.abhayagiri.org/news

:anjal:

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This seems to be the latest about the particular fire in the area around Abhayagiri.

https://www.mendovoice.com/2017/10/redwood-valley-day2/

19,000 acres (76km2) burned in that fire alone!

It’s great that the community are all evacuated safely. Let’s keep sending good wishes for those firefighters. My former partner is a volunteer firefighter in Australia and I know how intense that work is.

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This appears to be the best map for that fire. It shows the perimeter of burned area to include the monastery (16201 tomki rd- there’s a search to drop a pin) http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=99b6544ed5c743949549892cdb73686e&extent=-122.7194,38.38,-122.5043,38.4785
Of course this doesn’t mean the monastery has been damaged and we probably won’t hear reports either way for a few days.

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Another update from this morning:

Friends,

The Abhayagiri monks and laypeople continue to be safe and well cared for. They spent Monday night at Three Jewels Dhamma Hall in Fort Bragg last night, graciously hosted by Mettika (Cindy) Hoffman. With the highways clearer today, they are now headed back to Ukiah to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas for the foreseeable future.

The monastery area remains off limits to the public. Wildfires continue to burn uncontrolled very near the monastery, and so Abhayagiri is still in danger. More details are expected later today from the sheriff and fire authorities.

For those wondering about the Kathina Ceremony planned for Sunday, October 15, please check Abhayagiri’s website at www.abhayagiri.org in the days ahead for the latest news.

Thanks to all for your good wishes.

Kind regards,
Dennis Crean

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Next-door neighbors are a Chinese family, daughter & son-in-laws family of which live at “The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas” – the big Chinese Buddhist complex near Ukiah (Northern California). Today they’re here in Sunnyvale (SF Bay Area). Word has it some fire had moved to within 9 miles of that place, hence evacuation.

The temperatures are supposed to lower 10 degrees (F) or so overnight, so hopefully the fires will abate.

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Redwood Complex (Redwood Fire and Potter Fire)

http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/Index/1874

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Google shows the fires are very close to the monastery

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I’ve just heard the fires are within a mile of the monastery if not closer :confused:

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From their website


Update 8 pm October 10:
A neighbor reported that the monastery buildings were OK as of the afternoon of Oct. 9. The fire is still active, and we don’t know the state of the buildings after that time. It is unsafe to travel on Tomki Road, and there are hard closures approaching the monastery from both directions. We plan to update the website as we hear more information.

8 pm October 9:
You have likely heard about the fires in Northern California. We want to let you know that the Abhayagiri community is safe. We don’t know what will happen with Kathina this Sunday. Please check this website for announcements before visiting Abhayagiri.

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California fires: At least 21 dead as hundreds reported missing

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Some more info here:

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Abhayagiri Residents Safe at CTTB

We want to let everybody know that the Abhayagiri community is safe and is currently staying at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.

As of Thursday, 10am, the Abhayagiri property is most likely not damaged but conditions are volatile and are there is no access to the property.

We are asking that people not to come visit us at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to leave roads, hotels, and services available to others who have evacuated.

We will be posting updates on our condition at least once a day for the foreseeable future.

The following photo was taken at around 9am this morning.

In addition, we will have more information today, Thursday, at around 6pm PST. Please check back then.

https://www.abhayagiri.org/news/212-abhayagiri-residents-safe-at-cttb

:anjal:

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