From June 9^th until the 12^th, 2014,  the Buddhist Monk Yuttadhammo was the guest of the novitiate community.  During his stay, he led a two-day workshop on the campus at Assumption College, attended by close to thirty Assumptionists, Religious of the Assumption, College personnel and friends from off-campus.

Venerable Yuttadhammo, born Noah Greenspoon in Ontario, was ordained a Theravada Buddhist monk in Thailand in 2001.  For at least five years now he has had an online “presence,” providing instruction in Buddhist writings and in the practice of meditation.  He recently founded a Buddhist monastery in Canada, although still spends a good deal of time living, teaching and writing in the Far East.

It was in the context of a course that Fr. Richard Lamoureux, the Novice-master, was giving on prayer and major writings on the topic (like Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross), that he was led to follow a series of online videos on meditation by Yuttadhammo.  He found the series to be engaging, thoughtful and instructive.  When he learned that the monk was planning to “trek” from Canada to Florida in June to teach meditation at various locations, Fr. Richard contacted him and suggested he stop at Assumption.  He readily agreed.

The workshop (on June 10^th and 11^th) included a morning session on Buddhist monasticism and meditation, then two half-day session to introduce the participants to meditation, to practice it, and to consult with Yuttadhammo on their practice.  The session ended on the second day with a conversation about the Dhammpada, a basic Buddhist text that includes, in the manner of the Book of Proverbs, a series of wisdom sayings.

On his site, as he was leaving Assumption, Yuttadhammo had this to say about his visit:  “Our stay at Assumption College is coming to an end… Our stay here has been quite agreeable; we were very well-received and the campus community of both men and women received the teachings with open minds and hearts.  I gave a long lecture on Buddhist monasticism… We did two sessions of meditation practice and one-on-one interviews, then yesterday afternoon we studied the Dhammapada. I took one hour to give some background on the Buddha and the text, then distributed the chapters among the participants and asked them to spend an hour meditating on their chapter. The third hour, they came back and gave their thoughts and impressions. I wasn't sure how it would go, but in the end it was a wonderful experience; lots of insight and sharing of stories and ideas.  All in all, an auspicious start to our trip.”