Theravada Buddhist Doctrine and Practice |

A Religious Community such as Forest Theravada Buddhism is open to the public all year round. The day begins with the Puja (Meditation and Songs) of five o'clock in the morning and ends with the Puja of the evening, at 7:30 p.m.

We recall that this is a mendicant tradition and that monks depend on local communities for their daily sustenance. The main meal of the day is10:30 p.m. The lay residents and visitors prepare and offer the meal to the monastics, who, after collecting their only daily meal, eat in silence. Lay people can also enjoy the meal after a ceremony of the monks' thanksgiving and blessings for the gift of the meal.

The Puja (Meditation) begins when the monk in front of an altar, revering the Buddha, lights the candles and an incense. After fifteen minutes of singing, meditation begins. No ceremony is ever officiated without the monk, the only authority. Thus, the Monastery is the place, Temple of worship and ceremony and is where the laity also practice their homages to the Buddha.

A religious community, the Sangha, can never exist without the participation of society. in turn, the (lay) society can freely enjoy, or formally request and assume, through the respective ceremony administered by the monks, the five Buddhist precepts that are – not to kill any living being; not to steal or take possession of others; refrain from inappropriate sexual activity; to refrain from a rude or malicious word; refrain from the consumption of any intoxicating drug, substance or drink, including alcohol.

The monk, while cultivating a spiritual practice clothed with silence, recollection, meditation, and contemplation, at the same time retains the duty of counseling and spiritually helping people by giving lectures, practical guidance, or officiating at religious ceremonies.

In the periods of Full Moons and New Moons, the lay community residing in the space of the religious community can formally assume in the Temple, through the respective ceremony administered by the monks, not only the five precepts assumed by those living outside the community, but all eight Buddhist precepts, which are the minimum requirement asked of the laity in order to live within that space.

All Moon Rooms/phases and Saturdays (in addition to the fixed dates of important annual Buddhist ceremonies), in the evening celebration (the Puja), a senior monk administers through a lecture the Teaching of the Buddha.

On weekends, a course on Buddhism and meditation is sometimes given for approximately two hours.

Monks may be asked to profess abroad by giving lectures or conferences; blessing ceremonies; formally administer funeral ceremonies, prison assistance and spiritual counseling.

They are also invited to schools to offer explanations on Buddhism, monastic life and meditation, answering the various questions they are asked.

Monks are often asked to bless locals and people outside the Monastery space, spiritually benefiting those who need it most.