This Dhamma talk discusses the key elements of the Kāladāna Sutta in addition to three personal stories that show how donations can miraculously come back to you. Some of the stories can be found at my website at this particular webpage below with pictures of the original items: https://americanmonk.org/miracle-on-3-or-4-streets/ The video is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy_h71a17Qo Miracle On 3 or 4 Streets If you have ever wondered how monks survive on miracles when things go wrong, read on! Five stories are included.

That is me going for alms on Aalona Street Kilauea. I have a Christmas story for you. I have tried to keep it short but it didn’t work out. When I was in Kaua’i on from 2017-2019, an 18 month run, I made it a point to go for alms by the house to house loving-kindness method on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as a way to get food. Early on, I was invited to Waiapua Road while standing in front of Hanalei Big Save which was my Monday stop. This lady offered me food from the store after I refused to accept money and explained how things are normally done in Thailand for house alms. I explained further that the supermarket is a another way to get food in the West. After I gave the blessing, she said, “Oh, you really should come to our neighborhood! My house is such and such with the two palms, etc.” And so an alms round was born. I went to her street for well over a year. Ironically, most of the time, we would not see each other. Houses in America are often isolated, and the residents often don’t know what goes on outside on their street.

I remember when I was living in Kaua’i in a tent propped up in the corner of my friend Uncle Gene Taylor’s property. I had just come home from my daily alms round and I popped into his room to say hello. He is old and has difficulty walking, yet he is usually quite cheerful. As part of the visit routine, he asked me how my day was and I smiled and happily said, “Today was a great day. I got enough food today.” I always get enough food, but that day, it was a little easier.

All-focus As the rest of the song goes.. “And I don’t know when I’ll be back again.” It has been almost 1.5 years living on Kaua’i. I have had an incredible experience here by doing an experiment to see if a monk can establish a monastery any place he travels to through the lost art of wandering for alms. A practice done in the name of the Buddha but rarely practised anymore. I’m not just talking about collecting food with a bowl (also rare in the West), I’m talking about travelling to an unknown, uncharted land and literally living in a tent and seeing what happens with the goal of starting a monastery some time in the distant future. Did I succeed or fail? Well, not yet, and I’m leaving without knowing when I will come back. However, a real estate offer of $100,000 cash was made on some land. I will explain the details at the end. But it is the other stuff which makes me feel confident about my travels to Kaua’i.

This past July, I had an old friend named Ian Sloan (previously Venerable Visarada ) visit me in Kauai. He disrobed after being a monk for 25 years. He disrobed because of a conflict of philosophy about what happens at death. It was a combination of accounts from past life regressions in hypnotherapy, what he has read by Edgar Cayce, and the event of his father’s death. He seems to appreciate the Near Death Experiences which can still be explained partially with Buddhism, but he felt it was time to disrobe. 

Recently, I ran into a very angry man who came out of his house yelling at me and coming closer and closer. Eventually, I won the fight with my two big weapons, loving-kindness and my commitment of being free from money for all these years. I have been going for alms in this neighborhood for a little over a year now, and while I did have two girls yell at me, they did not leave their property boundary. Later, I switched to a new street in the same neighborhood as I explained in my last story. However, things were different as this guy came out of his house with raging anger, coming closer and closer to me, I was unsure what would happen.

Koral’s Family Just about every Wednesday, I still find the time to continue with my Kilauea alms round1 (which used to include Tuesdays too). I take a one-hour bus ride from Lihue, and then set out on my alms round, wishing loving-kindness to the houses one by one as I walk along the road. In the beginning, people thought I was some weird homeless person who might be crazy, but after some time, some fearless people spoke to me and then word started spreading. “He’s okay, he is just blessing homes.” Then it took a little longer for people to figure out the food part too.

All-focus Things have recently changed Things have recently changed in my life. I have now moved to Lihue. Things were going well at the place where I was at before in Kilauea. The owner was happy with what I was doing for the community and I was happy and fulfilled with what I was doing for the community as well. Unfortunately, the owner’s son came for a visit. In short, he said, “I want to visit a monk. I don’t want to live with a monk.” He pays the remainder of the bills from what the renters do not cover and what he says goes. Although we did several thousand dollars of work on his land to pay things forward, that was long forgotten and I was out. I stayed there for 4½ months and it was nice while it lasted. We are still friends and I was there a few days ago for a visit.

I recently changed my name officially to Bhante Bhikkhu Subhuti. I have been wanting to do this for a very long time but, unfortunately, I was unable to do it because the name change process has to be done in the probate court where one has residency. Since I had spent most of my time in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, it was just not possible, until recently. After being in Hawaii for a while, I committed to staying for at least three months longer to complete the name change process. Today was a landmark, with the arrival of my new passport.

This is where I live Wow! Today is February 7th and another year has passed. I have now completed 18 years total as a monk and I am working on my 19th year. Of course, my monk age is 12 rainy seasons because I changed Nikayas after my 6th year. I have been living my monk life in Kauai, Hawaii for about 10 months now and things have been moving along. How long will I stay in Kauai, Hawaii? I’m not sure.

On a warm Hawaiian Christmas day in 2018, I was off to collect my alms in the village. I was in a rush and worried that I would not be able to find a ride to the village where I go for alms because so few cars would be on the roads. Luckily, I got a ride and as I stepped out of the the car, I did my usual baggage check.

![Radio Tower ](/images/Telecommunication-Tower-Wave-Radio-Broadcast–273x300.webp" >}} Here is the link to the 2015 KKCR radio show. We were interviewed on Kauai Community Radio for about one hour instead of the scheduled 20 minutes. We all had fun doing it. It will give you a good taste of what we did on the island in 2015 and what I am doing now. I often enjoy revisiting this recording, and I hope you do too.

Here are a five remarkable stories of miracles to tell, but not all of them. There have been many miracles that have come my way when I needed them the most. For the Christians out there, they might say, “Doesn’t that make you believe in God?” My answer is, “It makes me believe there are heavenly beings (Devas & Devis)) who are looking out for me.”. There are other stories not included such as “My Watch Story”

Kauai Update #3 I have moved from the Botanical Gardens recently. I was able to stay there for 5 months and the majority of the time there was wonderful. However things were changing and it was time for me to look for another place and now I am staying in a new long term location in Kilauea. It all happened after a wonderful person picked me up on the side of the road holding my signs the day my parents, brother and in-law dropped me off (I’ll get back to that family-visit part later). So this guy I knew from before picked me up in Kapaa and asked me where I wanted to go. I told him I lived in Princeville but could be dropped off at the bus stop at the town before his road. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “I asked you where you want to go, because I’m going to drive you there.” He then showed me his bracelet which said, “What would love do?” Then he said he was driving me.

Here is a dhamma talk with a very brief instruction for Four Elements. It is not complete, but gives a small taste of four elements. Loving-kindness is also included as usual. The recording is cleaner using some post processing with the same recorder.

 As a Buddhist Monk collecting alms in Kauai, USA for the past 4 months, the results are in. On Tuesday and Wednesdays as shown on the map above, I collect my food, wishing loving-kindness to one side of the street at a time. So how many houses have given food at least once? About 18 people from different houses have given me food at least once. About 4 or 5 cars have given to me, but they are not included in the 18 number. This also includes two businesses which support me from time to time and one person at the bakery.. It does not include the one person who tried to give me money and another person who took the time to thank me for what I have been doing. I have also been offered an opportunity to work in a garden to get my food too, but kindly opted out.

mp3 Dhamma Talk September 2, 2018 Another mp3 recording of a happy Guided meditation and discussion at Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii. Expect about 35 minutes discussion, 40 minutes of guided meditation. Topics included discussion on samadhi, chanting of the loving-kindness sutta, anapana guided meditation, loving-kindness guided meditation. For those who missed it and want to hear, here it is. It is best to use head/ear-phones to improve clarity. 128 kb/s You may download the MP3 here

Image not found. With only 5 minutes left before we were supposed to start, the security guard told us that someone else had the room booked and we would need to move to a smaller amd inferior room. It was a mistake on their part, and while I did ask to see the schedule book, I opted out because we were running out of time and needed to setup the room again. It was disturbing and noisy, but we had to make the best of it. During the process of being notified and moving our setup I said a few times, “I am a monk and we need to be passive……We are Buddhists and need to be passive.” I ended up speaking on a topic related to such an event. In the end we were right and the other group that took the room apologized to me. However, we did the right thing and represented The Buddha the correct way. Before we meditated, I coached them on how to meditate when noises are in the room. Had we refused to move there would be “no enjoyment” of our gains. The next time something happens to you like this, remember how a monk should act. We lost the room but in the end, the purpose was to lean about peace.

That is me going for alms on Aalona Street Kilauea. Collecting alms, also known as piṇḍapāta by Theravāda Buddhists, is a legal activity in the USA. There are some restrictions though. I spoke with a lawyer who seemed to know civil liberties quite well, but there are no guarantees with what I say. However, this information should make sense and seem legal to you. It is legal to ring the doorbell of any house and preach to them or talk to them about politics under the freedom of speech rights. One can even ask them to support or give money to a cause. One can sell them vacuum cleaners too. However, if they have a sign that says, “No Solicitation” or “No Trespassing” or “Private Property,” or any other derivative, then one needs to stay clear away from the property lines or at least up to the sign location.

Aloha! It has been a little over a month since I have been on the island of Kauai. Things have been going well although my situation is still the same. I am still in a tent at Anini, but I have a new tent in Anini with a better view of the pristine Kauai shore! Things are dryer than the record rains we had last month.. and I guess if it were wetter than before a new record would be set. I have made somewhat of a schedule and I try to update my schedule on my phone calendar which synchronizes to the webpage calendar over here (in case you are interested).

Kauai Update April 22 Aloha! I have been in Kauai since April 9th. It has been a rough start but things are getting better everyday. If you have paid attention to the news, you may have noticed an unheard of 30" of rain in 24 hours. Actually, there were several days of incredible amounts of rain, but only the third day broke the records. See https:www.washingtonpost.com I was in a tent in Anini Park during that time and I am still in Anini Park. I am a little more dry now. On the record breaking day, I took a nap after my meal and when I woke up, I felt the floor and it was like a water bed. Luckily, I had a Thermarest that someone let me borrow. It became like a raft. When I looked outside my tent, there was water surrounding it. My tent was caved-in because the wind ripped some of the straps to hold it down. We all moved to a higher point and away from the wind. By then, the worst had come.

It seems like that time has come up again. Time surely does happen and so does my anniversary. Now it is 17 years! As usual, for the disclaimer, I am only 11 Vassa in official years. But Wow! Now it is finally starting to seem like a long time! I have been blessed with a wonderful adult life. I worked as a professional for only about six years, got paid like a doctor, and felt relaxed and at ease the majority of the time that I worked. Then I took a one and half year extended backpacking tour of the world and then renounced the world and ordained. Life has been a good ride so far, and I am still eager to continue to ride on the Bhikkhu train.

When Ven. Devananda and I traveled to Kauai in 2015, we did not have a Kappiya (helper) to buy us food or even pay for our luggage. One can live without helpers, but it does take some pre-planning. We had a ticket from Yangon to Honolulu that was dirt cheap at only $854 for a round trip fare. However, it came with 12 hour and 6 hour layovers in China. I think the whole trip was over 40 hours. All meals would be provided on the plane that were within our eating times. We did OK with that, but there was a problem when we would transfer to Kauai via a domestic flight. These days, luggage is not included in the airfare and Hawaiian Airlines did not allow one to prebook luggage and pay for it in advance except during the last 24 hours. My brother was arranging everything for us and he was on vacation during the same time that we were travelling. Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law?

A 2 part Powerpoint presentation about what two monks did in Kauai, Hawaii during June to December 2015. The theme was propagation, but the propagation was done just from being monks who do not touch money, and collect their food the traditional Buddhist monk way. The vision, how it got started, stories and experiences were shared. About 50 people were in the audience. Running time is about 1 hour total for both. There is a comment added at the end of part two so make sure you do not quite when it seems like it is over.

This video clip below came my way and I would hate to say that not only is this guy is correct right near the end of his talk, but he is expressing the same thoughts as the Buddha and myself…well, at least the last part. This link will skip over to 3 minutes 38 seconds. Remainder running time is about 2 minutes. NOTE: There is more I say below after this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CceQISThDYQ#t=3m38s

I remember when I went to America in 2008 with one of my monastic friends named Ven. Visarada. He was an experienced monk and had good ascetic practices. When we went to America, he did not have any luggage and brought everything he owned with him. Instead of using luggage, he used a simple cardboard box. It is simple, easy to get, easy to dispose of and also more suitable for a monk than fancy luggage.

I recently made a Hawaii video slideshow. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DjEHWNTHQ0

From the pamc lookout. I am back in Myanmar from Kauai, Hawaii. I will begin the Bus trip to Pa-Auk Meditation Center this morning. What a long transit back that was. Here is a picture taken from Pa-Auk Lookout point that friends and I had fun taking a while back. I will begin the Bus trip to Pa-Auk Meditation Center this morning.

I went to the sacred Blue Room cave today with a friend named Narayandass. Its waters are known for their healing powers. I made a recording of some chanting before we meditated there. It was a special time and extremely high on my “Before I Go” list. A recording can be found at https://archive.org/details/Blueroomkauai. The raw recording has nothing added but was trimmed at the beginning and end of the file.

Here is a link for the Dhamma Talk on November 28, 2015. The talk was the third on the Mangala Sutta. This time, there was a high quality recorder. Talks are not edited. There are three parts. Lovingkindess and chanting. Part 1 Mangala sutta -who are the wise and review. Part 2 Meditation. Part 3

Loving Kindness Wins The Race (Adventures in Going for Alms in Hawaii) Last week we encountered a disturbing event while we were going for Alms in village in Kauai. There was a lady on a bicycle who approached us and asked us what we were doing. Her tone of voice was not so happy, but we enjoy telling people what we are doing because it does not happen so often and that is one of our goals when we stand in front of each house. So I replied with my canned response, mentally noting the cross around her neck by saying, “We are Buddhist monks, and we do not touch money. We are doing many things and one of those things we do is to collect food for our daily meal.” I usually then start to tell them about how we are wishing loving kindness to each house to keep our minds’ pure while we are waiting for people to figure the food thing out. However, this lady started to butt in with negative comments, like ,“Why don’t you get a job?” When I told her “spiritual practice” was our job. She sarcastically replied, “Oh, now isn’t that convenient?”

Easy but Low quality download and playback here (interview only, no music) Please try https://archive.org/details/oasis111518-2 http://americanmonk.org http://withmetta.net

Yesterday, I had spoken about how someone took our pictures and who said something like, “I just wanted to tell you (her hand was now over her heart) how much …what you do means to me. I really want to thank you for what you are doing!” She drove off in her electric car that sounded like a vacuum cleaner. A few moments later, the same vacuum cleaner showed up again, and then she asked if she could take our picture. We said, “No problem.” And then she did not hear us correctly, so we needed to repeat that it was OK. We posed for her, but she asked us to turn around so she could snap a picture of us in action. So, we turned around and started wishing loving kindness to the same house again. Loving kindness has no limits.

Dear Friends, Here is the link to the kkcr radio show where we were interviewed on Kauai Community Radio for about one hour. It gives a good taste of what we did on the island: We will be on the radio on Sunday at 11:00 am Hawaii time. The radio station is kkcr and can be streamed at the main page below. http://www.kkcr.org Program 10am -12pm http://www.kkcr.org/djs/kamran.htm We will come on at 11am island time.

This might be the last Dhamma Talk for Kauai.???? [![Dhamma-Poster](/images/Dhamma-Poster.webp" >}}](/images/2015/11/Dhamma-Poster.webp" >}}

HERE IS AN UNEDITED version of the Dhammatalk on the Mahamangala Sutta #2. There is quite a bit of silence in the beginning, so please be patient. Download here [![mangala2](/images/mangala2.webp" >}}](/images/2015/11/mangala2.webp" >}}

Yesterday, we got some pre-Halloween candy during our alms round at one of the houses. I thought that was very “sweet” of our donor. Halloween is a holiday on October 31, in America where kids dress up as, well, anything they want. They go around the neighborhood at night and ring the doorbells and say “Trick or treat!”. Then the person at the house would place some candy inside the ambitiously sized candy collection bags.

[![freespirit~01](/images/freespirit01.webp" >}}](/images/2015/10/freespirit01.webp" >}} We spend almost an hour at the library on Tuesdays when we wait for the Thai Restaurant to open. Ven. Dewananda signed this book out of the library called, “Free Spirit.” I was curious since “Free Spirit” was the name of my family’s sailboat when I was a kid. While I was flicking through the book, which by the way was well written, I came across this quote that struck me. I snapped a picture of it.

The website Http://TimeAndDate.com is a “must-know” and “must-have” for Buddhist monks, especially when they travel abroad. It calculates the Moon Phases and Solar Noon for a specific area. One thing that was very enlightening was how the Western calendars were off from the Buddhist calendars for the new and full moons. Why? Well… pick a place in the East, like Yangon and see when the full moon is. Then pick a place in the far West like Honolulu and see when the full moon is. Then you will see that the moons are moons anywhere in the world at one given time, and they do not pay attention to time zone differences. For instance, the new moon is on October 12 in Honolulu, but October 13 in Yangon. If you (from Hawaii) were to call someone in Myanmar on the phone in the afternoon of October 12, and asked them the date they would say it was October 13. They would also say it was a full moon day. That is why the Western or Eastern calendars are “off” by one day.

My friend Nikita (x ven Kippabinnya) made this flyer for our new location. There was a request to move to Kapaa which is more central. Golden Lotus seems like a nice place and they have cushions and chairs available. [![Old School Buddhism Dhamma Series](/images/Old-School-Buddhism-Dhamma-Series.webp" >}}](/images/2015/10/Old-School-Buddhism-Dhamma-Series.webp" >}}

I had to ask Bhante Devananda several times in order to go to the end of the road to see the ocean today. We have been at this location for six weeks now without ever going to the ocean at the end of our own road. However, after we got there, Bhante Devananda did not want to leave. Being the nice monk I am, I let us stay and we meditated on the mountain until it got dark. After all, it was our road and we knew the way back. Waiakalua, Kilauea Farms.

Here are links to the two parts of a Dhamma Talk on the Mahamangala Sutta givin at Princeville Community Center in Kauai. September 27th. The first part has Loving kindness The second part starts the main subject. (First 3 minutes were not recorded) The talk will be a series on the Sutta. This talk covered the introductory verses. The files are unedited and the breaks are recorded. Feel free to edit and resend them to me.

Here is an unedited file from the dhamma talk I gave. The first section on Loving kindness is missing. Soon I will add the first talk which has a similar first section. The two hours consists of: Chanting and loving kindness meditation 5 minute break An introduction and general overview of the Sabbasava Sutta. 5 minute break A brief meditation session, followed by Q/A and sharing of merit. The talk can be downloaded Here.

This video is probably the most beautiful and entertaining environmental message on Kauai, GMO and agriculture you will ever see. A “Wow!” for all 22:55 minutes! Subscribe to this blog to receive updates via email. https://vimeo.com/130279788

I am still happy to report that things are continuing to go well. However, we did have a small hiccup, OK, a big one. We moved. Yes, I know it was beautiful place we had, and maybe the most beautiful place in Kauai too. But something was just not right and so we decided to move out and we are in a new place on a three acre tropical fruit orchard. This arrangement should be temporary until we find a new place. I wanted to move to Anini which was my original plan, but our donor would not let that happen, so we are on her property now. Apparently, there are some rough people at Anini beach park and it has changed since I was last there 15 years ago.

There is a Bodhi Tree on our property and we sometimes do a vandana (chanting) in front of this tree rather than at the gazebo. We did one tonight until a passing rain cloud sprinkled on us. From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Tree The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo (from Sinhalese: Bo) and “peepal tree” in Nepal and Bhutan, was a large and very old sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa[1])[2] located in Bodh Gaya, India, under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment, or Bodhi. In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed. Bodhi trees are planted in close proximity to every Buddhist monastery.

Report on Kauai I am pleased to write you with a very happy report on our trip to Kauai. We have been doing really good work and things have been working out well. My concepts and ideas about Kauai as a special place for monks to live and practice has met and and exceeded my expectations. I feel it is very good for my overall monk life and development. Instead of relying on a big monastery structure for my needs, I need to keep on my toes in order to survive. It is difficult, but rewarding. We are currently living in a very special and beautiful estate which is called “The Sanctuary”. It truly is a sanctuary and very beautiful and peaceful here. I will explain further on this later.

This is a picture of the Waimea Canyon Trail. I recommend going on the Canyon Trail Hike and going further beyond the small waterfall and then to the edge of the cliff where the top of another huge waterfall is. The view is so spectacular.

My view this morning after chanting and meditation.

Our bus passes start on July 1. However, Kauai is easy to hitchhike on. To make things difficult, I do not want to use my thumb and just let people guess. The result? It is really easy and I regret having passes, although it is easy that way. Today we got a ride from someone who went to Kula High School where I used to teach in 2000. She knew our road and drove us door to door. She had mentioned that this road has beautiful places behind the gates and that she wanted to live on this road. I told her she might freak out when she sees our place. When she pulled into our driveway she said, “This is ridiculous!”

Where we chant and where I often meditate at “The Sanctuary” grounds where we live in Kauai. Where we meditate Behind where we meditate Where we live