This monastery will be located in a cul-de-sac in a bend in the Ourthe river, in Belgium. Now Ourthe means ‘Our-father’.
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’"
If we take ‘Our father’ to be the Buddha, doing his ‘will’ will be practicing the dhamma!
So I came up with ‘Dhamma-dita monastery’, which means ‘daughters of the Dhamma’ monastery. Dhammadita is already a name used for an ordained Bhikkhuni.
There will also be a nice background story on how the name came to be .
Tavatimsa monastary is good except it will sound rather like ‘Heaven of Hedonism’ monastery
Interesting analysis, but I question if that is really correct.
The river Ourthe’s original name is Aiwe d’ Oûte. Aiwe means “water” (basically the Wallon word for the french “eau”). I cannot really find what “Oûte” is supposed to mean in the Wallon dictionary. The Wallon word for “father” is “pér”. If somebody has some knowledge of the ancient patois languages and has any idea …
I actually thought it was just a joke because Bhante had named Perth, Australia after a heaven too. Now we actually have some nuns who are going to live there (apart from myself) and the buildings are actually going to be put up, we started discussing the name also. But I will add the Tāvatiṃsā Vihāra idea to the list.
I kind of like that too. Especially because I was trained as a geophysicist and had a large collection of minerals at that time. Will add to the list.
But I guess the name will have to be something distinct (sakyadita would be conflicting), memorable (not ‘Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein’), not conflicting with purpose (Asava monastery- outflows mirroring water) or trivial (the hut). Best if it was meaningful (something to do with wholesome dhamma) and where nuns would want to reside (shanti-peace, cool- as before-, sukha- bliss, samadhi- tranquillity, piti-joy). If Heaevn is crucial how about ‘Brahma vihara’ .
Bananas! It was, in fact, meant as an extension of that joke. I was relying on the idea that any proposal I might put forward here would, by rights, not be taken seriously just on account that I come from a land of people that saw fit to name their shiny new research vessel Boaty McBoatface.
I’m reluctant to make a suggestion, as so many of the suggestions above are so creative and interesting.
As Ayya’s new monastery has as its teacher Ajahn Brahm, and its Spiritual Advisor Bhante Sujato, I thought to tie the new name to some existing names or themes, so that the new name is easily identifiable and yet has a nexus with the Ajahns Brahm, Brahmali, and Sujato “lineage.”
So, Mettaloka. It’s a riff on Perth’s Dhammaloka, and a tip of the hat to one of Bhante Sujato’s centerpiece practices (and focuses via his teacher Ajahn Maha Chatchai) on Metta.
For some reason the name Kinnarivana (fairy-grove) springs to mind when I read your post Maybe it has something to do with the association in my mind between myth and Bhante Sujato’s work.
But I must admit that when I first came to Santi Forest Monastery, I thought I had landed in Lothlórien.
In Southeast Asian mythology, Kinnaris, the female counterpart of Kinnaras, are depicted as half-bird, half-woman creatures. One of the many creatures that inhabit the mythical Himavanta. Kinnaris have the head, torso, and arms of a woman and the wings, tail and feet of a swan. She is renowned for her dance, song and poetry, and is a traditional symbol of feminine beauty, grace and accomplishment.
Cool!
Kinnaris have the head, torso, and arms of a woman and the wings, tail and feet of a swan.
Reminiscent of Bhante’s beautiful cover of the new Sutta Nipata book and his comments on swans and Perth. Ayya, you might be on to something here…
Somebody should check my Pali, but my understanding is that Ninnavana would mean something like “low country grove”, but also carries the sense of a river valley area in which everything inclines down and leads toward the sea of nibbana.
She sailed west in the year TA 2510. So if that is the same as Buddhist years, that is 1966 so long before I arrived.
Oops, just realised I talked about Celebrían, Celeborn’s daughter … this is a nun’s monastery remember!
And no, unfortunately Celeborn had left too …
So maybe the monastery should be called Oûtelórien. It actually has a Wallon meaning too. Oûte is the river and lorien literally means “crowned by laurels”, usually meaning something or someone who is magnificent in every way.
@Vimala
Dear Ayye,
I’m curious if you’ve decided on a name yet. Everyone’s suggestions are interesting. I prefer Sītavana though I quite like Kinnarivana too
Regarding lapis lazuli, the eyes of the main Buddha Rupa at Amaravati monastery are made from this stone, maybe other Rupa’s too? That would be a nice connection
I also really like lapis lazuli, Veḷuriya.@SCMatt offered. The beautiful color and the fact that it’s a precious stone seem most fitting. It’s the color that comes up a lot for me in meditation, so I’m partial to it I thought, though that the Pali word might be a little more difficult to remember & say than the others.
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Bananas! It was, in fact, meant as an extension of that joke. I was relying on the idea that any proposal I might put forward here would, by rights, not be taken seriously just on account that I come from a land of people that saw fit to name their shiny new research vessel 
For some reason the name Kinnarivana (fairy-grove) springs to mind when I read your post 
