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2025 Pacific Hermitage Birken Retreat

Birken Meditation Hall

The Pacific Hermitage meditation retreats at Birken Forest Monastery – will continue in 2025. Applicants can apply for a one of two ten-day sessions, scheduled for May 2-11th and May 16-25th. The retreats allow for a travel day on a Friday and begin that evening and finish on the following Saturday evening; allowing for eight full days of teachings and meditation. The final Sundays are scheduled for returning home.

The theme has not been established yet, but as always, Ajahn Sona will offer reflections each night on a theme, there will be evening group tea time questions and answer discussion with Ajahn Sudanto, and group meditation practice sessions throughout the day.

Members of the community interested in attending can request to participate by filling out this application – requesting either one or both of the two sessions. Please Pre-register by January 18th 2025, and those accepted will be notified by January 31. Also:

  • The selection of retreat spots is not done on “first come, first serve” basis nor by lottery. The main selection criteria is available spaces with preference given to active supporters of the Pacific Hermitage and members of Portland Friends of the Dhamma.
  • Details about logistics and coordinating carpools will be shared after this time.
  • With the recent renovations at Birken, each participant will have a single room.

If you have any questions, please email Ajahn Sudanto at hermitage@abhayagiri.org, and put “2025 Birken Retreat” in the subject line.

Birken Monastery is a beautiful setting quite conducive to meditation, investigation and reflection. We are glad Ajahn Sona and the Birken community are willing to host us and offer us the chance to continue receiving these precious teachings!

Please Update our Postal Address

We recently discovered our request to forward mail to our new postal address for Pacific Hermitage and Sanghata Foundation was rejected in early December. Therefore all mail sent to our old post office box (POB #803) since early December 2024, has been lost, and was not received. This includes monthly donations, especially those sent via automatic bill pay services.

Please update our postal address if you have not already done so. It is correctly listed on the contact page of our website for future reference.

Pacific Hermitage, 56 Snowden Road, White Salmon, WA 98672 USA.

Yoga Samadhi Update & Retreat Registration Closing Jan. 18th

Jan. 14th Yoga Samadhi Cancellation

Ajahn Sudanto returned from Thailand January 9th, but is still recovering from a bout of the flu. Unfortunately, we will need to delay resuming the regular Tuesday evening meditation sessions at Yoga Samadhi until January 21st. We hope to see you all then.

Jan. 18th Birken Retreat Registration Deadline

Just a few days remain to preregister for our 2025 May retreats with Ajahn Sona at Birken Forest Monastery. If you haven’t submitted your application yet, please do so immediately. See the pinned post at the top of the page for details and the registration form link.

Winter Update

Coming and Goings

  • Early November Ajahn Sudanto and a large group of Upasikas from Portland Friends of the Dhamma were able to gather together with the Sangha at Abhayagiri Monastery for the events of the annual Kathina Ceremonies.
  • Mid November Ajahn Sudanto, Venerable Jotimanto and a couple Dhamma friends from Portland drove up for a weeklong visit to Birken Forest Monastery, and to bring Ven. Jotimanto for an planned extended period practicing at Birken with Ajahn Sona.
  • Ajahn Sudanto will be departing Thursday December 5th for several weeks in Japan and Thailand visiting friends, teachers and fellow monks. He’ll return Janruary 9th, along with Venerable Hemako from Abhayagiri (see below), who will be spending the Winter Retreat Period at the Hermitage.

Winter Break for Yoga Samadhi Meditations

With Ajahn Sudanto away in asia for several weeks, the weekly Tuesday meditation events at Yoga Samadhi will be on winter break from December 10th – January 7th. They will resume after the New Year on January 14th.

New Mailing Address

The Pacific Hermitage has a new mailing address. The new address is on our website contact page for reference. If you have a contact for us please, update it to the following mailing address;


56 Snowden
White Salmon, WA
98672

2025 Birken Retreat Registration is Open

Read the featured post on our home page for details and a link to the registration form.
We will be accepting registrations from Dec. 1 – Jan. 18th.

Venerable Hemako

Venerable Hemako was born in 1990 in rural Massachusetts. Curious about nature and the universe he studied physics at university and began meditating in his early 20s. After graduating he worked in education and on a vegetable farm before moving to New Zealand. There he first visited an Ajahn Chah branch monastery. To pursue monastic life he traveled to Abhayagiri, where he took anagārika ordination in 2022, novice ordination in 2023, and obtained full acceptance into the Bhikkhu Sangha in 2024 .

Ven. Hemako will be arriving in early Janruary 2025 for the winter retreat at the hermitage.

Final Garden Party Cancellation

Typically, on the first weekend of October, we host our “Woodchucker’s Ball”—the final Garden Party of the year. During this event, volunteers help the monks split, stack, and prepare firewood for the Hermitage House and winter heating. However, due to an abundance of firewood from previous years and a scheduling conflict, we won’t be holding the October event this year.

A Note of Gratitude

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all who have attended our past events and supported the care of the Hermitage’s forest and grounds. Your participation and friendship have been invaluable to the monks. We’d also like to give special recognition to Ian, who dedicated 2-3 days weekly for many weeks this summer, helping with forest and garden work at the Hermitage.

Fall and Winter Suspension

As a reminder, Garden Parties will be suspended throughout the fall and winter seasons, as is our usual practice during the colder months. They will resume in early April next year. We look forward to welcoming you back for another season of community and support for the Hermitage forest and grounds. We’ll provide updates on our winter activities and share news about our spring events as the time approaches.

Thank you again for your continued support of the Hermitage and its grounds. We look forward to seeing you in the spring!