Friday Morning Picnic and Q&A with Ajahn Sona (In-Person)

Friday, June 27, 9 – 11 am, at Volunteer Park (picnic table by the water tower at the intersection of E Prospect St and 14th Ave, just south of the reservoir— Map). Event is weather-dependent; cancellations due to rain will be announced on Clear Mountain’s WhatsApp or Discord).

Join us for a Q&A, and picnic with Luang Por Sona, Ajahn Kovilo, Ajahn Nisabho and the Clear Mountain community! The morning, starting at 9 am, will begin with meditation and Q&A session. Afterwards, those who want may offer food to the monastics and share a meal with other kalyāṇamittā, or spiritual friends, in a potluck picnic! Though not required, feel free to bring a dish to offer and share, and a blanket for yourself and others to sit on. Sadhu! .

What to Bring
A blanket, cushion, or folding chair to sit on.
If you’d like, a dish to offer the monastics or share with others!

Volunteer Park Meeting Place (Map)

Biography
Luang Por Sona
Ajahn Soṇa is the founder and abbot of Birken Monastery. Born in Canada in 1954, Ajahn Soṇa’s background was as a classical guitarist. His encounter with Buddhist wisdom as a young man initiated a spiritual journey that led him to become a lay hermit in the Coast Mountain region of British Columbia for several years. He subsequently ordained as a Theravada monk in 1989 under Bhante Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia, where his first years of training took place. Ajahn. Soṇa further trained for another three plus years at monasteries in the Ajahn Chah tradition in northeast Thailand, especially Wat Pah Nanachat. Upon his return to Canada in 1994 he helped found the original Birken Forest Monastery near Pemberton, BC and, as its spiritual guide. Through several incarnations, he has since led Birken monastery, also known by its Pali name ‘Sītavana’, translated as ‘cool forest grove’, through to its current and final resting place in a secluded, fully off-grid forest location just south of Kamloops, B.C.