Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery 2013 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING August 28, 2013 MINUTES AGM 2013

Transcription

1 Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery 2013 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING August 28, 2013 MINUTES AGM Attendance: Sister Mon (Naruemon Teneralli), Dilani Hippola, Brent Styra, Leslie Hanrahan, Jacob Corr, Eamonn Hawthorne, Steven Zhao 2. Minutes of last year s AGM (September 8, 2012 at Birken): were accepted as read Moved by Leslie Hanrahan, seconded by Brent Styra. Carried unanimously. 3. Matters arising: (none) 4. PRESIDENT S REPORT a. Resident Monastics On April 5, 2013, Ajahn Sona, Abbot of Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery ( Sitavana ), began a year-long period of solitary retreat in silence and seclusion here at the monastery. Much gratitude is due to all those who have been supporting Ajahn s year of retreat from near and far. Ajahn will continue to be in solitary retreat until April 5, Throughout the past year, Sister Mon continued to be actively engaged in supporting Ajahn Sona in his teaching events and in the daily running of the monastery. During the period of Ajahn Sona s year-long retreat, Sister Mon is assuming the leadership role for the resident community at Birken. Venerable Pavaro continues to train in Thailand. In December 2012, Venerable Subharo moved on to train under Ajahn Viradhammo at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery in Perth, Ontario. We wish him well in his new monastic life in Ontario. In October 2012, Anagarika John moved on to train at Tisarana Buddhist Monastery in Perth, Ontario. He has subsequently moved on with aspirations to pursue ordination in Thailand. We wish him well with his endeavors. b. Monastic Visitors From July November 2012, Ajahn Tiradhammo spent the vassa / rains retreat in residence at Birken.

2 In January and March 2013, Birken welcomed Ajahn Sudanto, Tahn Caganando and Tahn Kassapo from the Pacific Hermitage (White Salmon, WA) to the monastery for brief visits during our annual winter retreat. In November/December 2012 and April 2013, Birken welcomed several Thai monks from Buddhapanyanuntarama Monastery (Burnaby, B.C.). In May/June 2013, Ajahn Sudanto from the Pacific Hermitage led a 10-day retreat at Birken, accompanied by Tahn Caganando and Tahn Kassapo and a group of retreatants. c. Retreats and events held at the monastery and off site We give sincere thanks to all the many Birken supporters who helped us to organize a number of off-site retreat and events this past year. Unless otherwise indicated, all events listed below were held at Birken Forest Monastery and led by Ajahn Sona: Aug 17 19, 2012 Sept 9 Sept Oct Oct 21 Oct Nov 18 Dec 16 Absolute Beginners weekend retreat at Birken 10-Day meditation retreat at Birken Public talk & day retreat in Kelowna Jan 2, 2012 Mar 27, 2013 Annual Winter Retreat Jan 6 Feb 10 Mar 10 April 5 May 23 June 2 d. Renovations and construction projects Week of Events in Lower Mainland (Vancouver area): -Daily meditations & talks at Baldwin House -Public talk (VanDusen) and day retreat (UBC Asian Ctr) -Mini-Kathina (robe offering) ceremony in Surrey Day events at Birken for Ajahn Sona s birthday and entry into year-long solitary retreat 10-day meditation retreat for Pacific Hermitage monks & supporters, led by Ajahn Sudanto Thanks to the generosity of many, extensive renovations were made to Ajahn Sona s kuti in the summer/fall of 2012, including the addition of a new indoor walking path, boot room and entry deck, new roofing, floors, paint, increased insulation, etc. These renovations were instrumental in creating an appropriate space for Ajahn Sona to spend his year-long solitary retreat in seclusion. A special anumodana to: carpenter Stephen Remedios; designer Tara Ranasinghe; and all the many Birken residents and volunteers who assisted with this project.

3 More insulated interior window panels were constructed & installed on windows in most of the guest rooms in the main vihara. An extensive project of adding further insulation to the exterior and interior walls of the north end of the building and new exterior panels for the kitchen windows was also undertaken, along with some corresponding design renovations to some of the guest rooms. These insulation projects further decreased the heat escape throughout the vihara this winter, allowing us to rely solely on two interior wood stoves for heat and lessening our firewood consumption dramatically. A special anumodana to: carpenter Stuart Clark (and his team of kitchen devas, Krissana & Ronnie); carpenter/designer Holger Schramm; and all the many Birken residents and volunteers who assisted with these projects. An additional kitchen sink, as well as a new counter and cabinets were installed in the Birken kitchen in August 2012 a special anumodana to Stuart and Krissana Clark for donating the materials and labour. Following a thorough inspection and overhaul of our septic system in July 2012, new drain pipes were installed for the sewage lines in the late summer/early fall of Further repairs to the septic tank pipes were completed in late March/early April In September 2012, a new water pressure tank was installed in the main vihara. Extensive work was undertaken in September-October 2012 to repair the pipes between the outdoor wood gasification boiler and water storage tank. A special anumodana to Aaron & Lee for their tireless efforts on this project. New bookcases were designed and custom built for the Birken basement library area. Correspondingly, several renovations were made to the walking meditation area, including new floor paint and greenery. A special anumodana to carpenter Doug Prentice for generously offering his time and labour to construct the beautiful new bookcases and to all the volunteers who helped with the basement renovations. In preparation for coming years, several cords of free firewood were gathered throughout the summer of A special anumodana to Brent Styra and Hazel Plumbley for their generous donation of time, labour and machinery to undertake this important task. e. Other news & concluding observations After many years of building monasteries, spreading the Dhamma and supporting many spiritual seekers around the world, Ajahn Sona has been enjoying his year of solitary retreat here at the monastery. In support of Ajahn s retreat, the monastery has been taking very limited bookings, focusing more on the basic maintenance of the monastery with the help of a small crew of resident stewards and occasional volunteers. With the exception of a couple of formal meditation retreats led by visiting monastics, there will not be any formal teaching or offsite events planned until Ajahn Sona emerges from his retreat in April Gratitude was expressed to those friends who continue to support the monastery throughout this quieter period. A special anumodana note of appreciation was also conveyed to the resident stewards who have committed to stay for long-term periods during Ajahn s retreat, including: Dilani Hippola, Charles (Abhaya) Jankauskas, Jacob (Karuna) Corr and Eamonn Hawthorne.

4 5. FINANCIAL REPORT Our donation stream and our expenses are fairly consistent from year to year. Donations have declined during the last few years of economic downturn, but the number of donations was seen to be rising until this year. With Ajahn Sona in solitary retreat, a more limited number of guests at the monastery and no offsite teachings events during the period of April 2013 April 2014, it was expected that the number and total amount of donations would see declines this fiscal year and next (FY ). Indeed, donations this year were down approximately 12.5% from last year, and were approximately 20% less than the average of the ten preceding years. The number of donations also declined about 23% from last year. Year Year less extraord'ry extraord'ry Year with extraord'ry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Sum 1,293, , ,623, Avg 129, , , % 80.2% 79.2% , , , Clear vision coupled with prudent management has led to a small net income each year over the last decade, with capital projects undertaken as funds became available. This year, however, we ended with a net loss of approximately $ This was largely due to a decline in our annual donation stream as well as a number of extra maintenance and building expenses incurred in the lead up to Ajahn Sona s year-long solitary retreat. It is expected that our donation stream will see an increase upon Ajahn Sona s return in mid and we hope to return to small positive cash flows thereafter. No new debt has been incurred for many years now and the one remaining loan (interestfree) is being paid down steadily at a reasonable rate, agreeable to Birken and our lender. Our liquid assets at year end are up from $112,000 last year to $113,000 this year. Please see attached financial statements for more information. A special anumodana to our accountant, Kanthi Randeni, for yet another year of excellent bookkeeping.

5 6. Board of Directors: This was a voting year. Two members of the board stepped down (Venerable Subharo and Linda Furrow). The number of directors reverted back to a total of five. This left one new position open (Vice-President) which was assigned to Naruemon Teneralli (Sister Mon). The rest of the directors renewed their positions for another term. 7. Motions: That the number of Directors be changed back from 6 to 5. That Naruemon Teneralli (Sister Mon) be added to the Board as Vice-President. Moved by Leslie Hanrahan, seconded by Jacob Corr. That the new slate for the Board of Directors be accepted as follows: Ajahn Sona President Naruemon Teneralli (Sister Mon) Vice President Dilani Hippola Secretary-Treasurer Brent Styra Member at Large Leslie Hanrahan Member at Large Moved by Brent Styra, seconded by Eamonn Hawthorne. that Leslie Hanrahan be added to the list of signing authorities for Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery for financial transactions. Moved by Eamonn Hawthorne, seconded by Jacob Corr. that Linda Furrow be removed from the list of signing authorities for Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery for financial transactions. Moved by Brent Styra, seconded by Leslie Hanrahan. that cheques may be signed, and financial transactions authorized, by any two of the three signing authorities: namely, Dilani Hippola; Brent Styra; Leslie Hanrahan. that Dilani Hippola and Brent Styra have debit cards, with normal limits. Moved by Leslie Hanrahan, seconded by Eamonn Hawthorne. That the 2014 AGM be held at Birken Forest Monastery on September 6, Meeting Adjourned.