Three Jewels
On September 25, 2022 a lay teacher and dear friend of Abhayagiri, Cindy “Mettika” Hoffman passed away. Before the pandemic, the monks visited regularly to teach at Mettika’s Three Jewels Dhamma Hall in Fort Bragg. Mettika spent her final weeks at a care facility in the nearby town of Ukiah, which allowed the monastic community to visit her many times. Mettika’s life and her peacefulness during her final weeks were an inspiration to the Abhayagiri community. Mettika has left the Three Jewels property including its lovely Dhamma Hall to the Abhayagiri sangha allowing the possibility of a small branch monastery in Fort Bragg.
Now that the Abhayagiri monastics have inherited the property, Three Jewels has become a branch monastery of Abhayagiri. The current residents are Ajahn Kassapo, Ajahn Thitapañño and Upāsika Kevin.
Upcoming Events
In addition to the weekly schedule listed below, here are some notable upcoming events:
Wed., April 17 - Ajahn Karunadhammo will be on the coast and will stop by Three Jewels and be available to answer questions regarding meditation and Dhamma practice. His arrival time is uncertain but it is estimated to be around 12:30pm.
Friday, April 26 - Ajahn Jayasaro is planned to be at Three Jewels for the meal. For background information on Ajahn Jayasaro, please see this article on the Abhayagiri website:
https://www.abhayagiri.org/news/452-ajahn-jayasaro-to-visit-abhayagiri
Monday, April 29 - Debbie Stamp will be at Three Jewels for the Monday tea time and evening program.
Sunday, May 5 - Community Work Day at Three Jewels from 12:30pm onward. Please feel free to join us for the meal beforehand.
All are welcome to join us for these events.
Monday evening at the Three Jewels Dhamma Hall:
There is a Monday evening program every Monday. Visiting ajahns from Abhayagiri will be announced on this page and via the Three Jewels email list. Otherwise, the monks currently in residence will be present for that.
The schedule for Monday evenings is:
5:30pm - Tea time in the Dhamma Hall - An opportunity for questions, answers and discussion with monks and other practitioners. This is a good time to ask questions and discuss Dhamma practice, spiritual practice and meditation.
7pm - Thirty minutes of meditation, offering of Dhamma reflections and an opportunity for questions and comments.
Anyone interested is welcome to participate in the tea time and/or the evening program beginning at 7pm, as well as any of the events below.
Meal
The meal is at 11am on Mon., Tues. Wed., Thurs., Sat. and Sunday. Please feel free to join us. If you would like to simply drop off an offering, it may be helpful to know that there is usually one person in the kitchen between 9:45am and 11am. If you are making an offering for the meal, it can be helpful if you call the day before and let us know, but you are also welcome to just turn up unannounced.
On Fridays, there is usually not a meal offering at Three Jewels. However, April 26 is an exception as Ajahn Jayasaro will be at Three Jewels for the meal. All are welcome.
Note: In addition to Fridays, on other rare occasions, there may not be monastics at Three Jewels for the meal. If you wish to make sure that the monks will be present for the meal offering, please call in advance.
If you have any questions about Three Jewels including the meal please contact Three Jewels by:
Email: threejewelscontact@abhayagiri.org
or
Phone #: (707) 813-0842
The phone is usually on between 7am and 8:15am .
Alms round schedule
The usual schedule for alms round is:
Tues., Wed., Thurs. and Saturday - the central Fort Bragg area between 8:45am and 10:15am
Friday - one of the local areas such as Caspar, Cleone, Mendocino or Westport
Sundays and Mondays - the neighborhood north of Pudding Creek between 8:30am and 9:30am
Note: This is the usual schedule for alms round but there will be variations. If you would like to make sure that you meet the monks on a particular morning, please call Three Jewels the day before or during the morning between 7am and 8am.
Sutta Discussion Group
Tuesdays at 5:30pm there is a sutta discussion group in the Three Jewels Dhamma Hall. All are welcome to attend any Tuesday discussion group. No preparation is required.
We are currently going through the Dhammapada, focusing on Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu’s translation:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/#dhammapada
Tuesday, April 16: Start on Chapter V: Fools, page 18
We’ll keep going through further verses as time allows. The amount of verses we go through each Tuesday is flexible based on whatever is useful.
Here is another translation:
Ācariya Buddharakkhita
https://readingfaithfully.org/dhammapada-translated-by-acharya-buddharakkhita-kindle-epub-pdf-mp3/
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.intro.budd.html
Quiet Meditation
If you are interested in quiet meditation in the Dhamma Hall, good times and days to do that are:
Mon. & Tues. - 4:30pm-5:30pm
Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat. and Sun. - 7pm-8pm
Evening Chanting and Meditation at 7pm
There is often silent meditation from 7pm to 8pm in the Dhamma Hall followed by some brief chanting. Sometimes there may not be anyone present, but you are still welcome to sit quietly on your own.
2023 Dhamma Talks at Three Jewels
On the Abhayagiri website you can find Luang Por Pasanno’s Dhamma talk at Three Jewels on Monday, Sept. 25. That Monday marked the one year anniversary of Mettika’s passing away
https://www.abhayagiri.org/talks/8290-mettikas-memorial-ajahn-pasanno-at-3-jewels-ft-bragg-92523
Ajahn Amaro’s Dhamma talk on Nov. 13 at Three Jewels can be downloaded via the below link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b5HXW2N6UrSm4ZYm9raQUTouY2q4DhZ2/view?usp=drive_link
Community Work Days
The next community work day is Sunday, May 5. If you wish to participate we will generally start around 12:30pm. Please feel free to join us for the meal. There are generally work opportunities on the property such as gardening, weeding, pruning, etc.
In general, if you would like to help us maintain the property or to volunteer in other ways, please let us know.
Contact
You may contact Three Jewels at this phone number: (707) 813-0842. The phone is usually on between 7am and 8am. Or you can leave a message.
Or email: threejewelscontact@abhayagiri.org
If you would like to be on the Three Jewels email list, please let us know via email.
Directions to Three Jewels
Three Jewels is located at 31791 Johnson Lane, Fort Bragg, CA 95437. It is located on the north end of Fort Bragg. It lies east of Highway 1, which is named Main Street inside the town. The following directions assume that you are on Highway 1/Main Street.
Turn onto Pudding Creek Road, which is opposite a beach and trestle bridge on the ocean. You will be heading east (away from the ocean). Pudding Creek runs alongside the road on your right.
Proceed 1 mile, continuing past the stop sign at John Hyman Road.
Turn left (north) onto Petaluma Avenue. Take it easy! Though paved, tree roots have created unmarked speed bumps along this stretch. Be prepared to navigate them by changing lanes. Proceed about ¼ mile to the intersection with Johnson Lane.
Turn right (east) onto Johnson Lane. After a few hundred feet you will arrive at 31791 on the right (south) side marked with the Three Jewels sign.
Turn right into the driveway and park.
Walk down the path on the right (west) end of the building as you face it rather than through the gate. The entrance to the Meditation Hall is the righthand wing of the building, the end opposite from the garage.
Support
If you wish to support Three Jewels, there are a variety of ways to do so. These include volunteering to help maintain the property, helping with transportation, looking after the kitchen for a meal or asking if there are any donations that would be useful. If you would like more information on supporting Three Jewels, please feel free to contact Three Jewels.
Three Jewels is part of Abhayagiri and is supported by Abhayagiri’s steward, the Sanghapala Foundation. This page provides information on ways to make a donation to the Sanghapala Foundation:
https://www.abhayagiri.org/support/donations