Offering food to the monastic community brings puñña (merit) in addition to the opportunity to visit and participate in the monastic lifestyle. Kitchen facilities are available at Paññāgiri, but some people prefer to cook a dish at home and bring it with them. The kitchen manager can assist you and explain the protocol for offering food to the Sangha.
Time for Food Offerings
Monastic regulations require the community to finish eating their daily meal by noon. The food offering and the chanting of Anumodana (Thanksgiving and Blessing) will begin at 11:00 AM.
If you have food to offer, please arrive at least thirty minutes early to allow the kitchen staff sufficient time to arrange your offerings in the serving area. If you plan to bring multiple dishes or come to cook food in the Paññāgiri kitchen, we would appreciate it if you contacted us first. You can contact the monastery through our website.
“Reflecting wisely, I use begging food: not for amusement, not for pleasure, not to fatten myself, not to beautify myself, but only to sustain and nourish this body, to keep it healthy, to aid the Holy Life. Thinking thus: ‘I will satisfy hunger without overeating, so that I may continue to live serenely and without remorse.’”
(The Buddha’s Reflections on Food)
Community harmony is an important theme: it fosters sensitivity, reflection, and attunement to the bigger picture of what is happening around us. Working together in community with kindness, mutual respect, and integrity can be challenging, but it can facilitate a genuine integration of the teachings into our lives.
Offerings of Food and Other Goods and Supplies
Monastic code requires that the sangha depend on the lay community for all physical needs. In addition to food, other goods and supplies are needed for the resident community and the operation of the monastery.
This link to the Dana list shows the monastery’s current needs: open link