Portland Friends of the Dhamma

Portland Friends of the Dhamma An Ajahn Chah lineage-affiliated Theravada lay Buddhist meditation center in Portland, Ore. Our teachers are both monastic and lay.

Portland Friends of the Dhamma is a Theravada lay community of the Thai-Forest lineage of Ajahn Chah. We provide access to the Buddha’s teachings as preserved in the Pali Canon. We do this through ongoing programs, events, and workshops. In addition, we have a wide array of books and other media sponsored for free distribution. Our purpose is to help interested people understand the Buddha’s teach

ings both conceptually and through direct experience. Equally, we aim to support a community of lay people following the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path of virtue, meditation, and wisdom, grounded in generosity and compassion. Portland Friends of the Dhamma is supported by contributions (dana) from the community and does not charge fees for its programs or events. We are honored to be affiliated with the Abhayagiri monastic sangha, provide support to the Pacific Hermitage and receive guidance and teachings from both. We envision a City Refuge where we as laypeople can set aside our worldly burdens within a community that nurtures virtue, contentment, and calm, so that wisdom can arise. We aim to provide support for personal explorations into the Buddha’s teachings, guidance in training our minds, and direct contact with the lineage of the Ajahn Chah monastics. Finally, we envision a community of mutual support and companionship as we strive to apply these teachings in our daily lives, and walk the eight-fold path.

*Donations are essential to the health and welfare of our community and to continue offering teachings and community gatherings without charge. Please consider becoming a monthly donor today!*

05/19/2026

Bhikkhus, there are these eight causes and conditions that lead to obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not been obtained and to its increase, maturation, and fulfillment by development after it has been obtained. What eight?

(1) “Here, a bhikkhu lives in dependence on the Teacher or on a certain fellow monk in the position of a teacher, toward whom he has set up a keen sense of moral shame and moral dread, affection and reverence. This is the first cause and condition that leads to obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not been obtained and to its increase, maturation, and fulfillment by development after it has been obtained.

(2) “As he is living in dependence on the Teacher or on a certain fellow monk in the position of a teacher, toward whom he has set up a keen sense of moral shame and moral dread, affection and reverence, he approaches them from time to time and inquires: ‘How is this, Bhante? What is the meaning of this?’ Those venerable ones then disclose to him what has not been disclosed, clear up what is obscure, and dispel his perplexity about numerous perplexing points. This is the second cause and condition that leads to obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

(3) “Having heard that Dhamma, he resorts to two kinds of withdrawal: withdrawal in body and withdrawal in mind. This is the third cause and condition that leads to obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

(4) “He is virtuous; he dwells restrained by the Pātimokkha, possessed of good conduct and resort, seeing danger in minute faults. Having undertaken the training rules, he trains in them. This is the fourth cause and condition that leads to obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

(5) “He has learned much, remembers what he has learned, and accumulates what he has learned. Those teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing...read more from Anguttara Nikaya 8.2 wherever you read suttas.

04/24/2026

More on metta meditation and my cheat code for bringing up goodwill to extend to others.

04/23/2026

Metta is the Pali word for goodwill, which is one important doorway into meditation and Buddhist practice. Try this meditation focusing on your easy person, yourself, people you like and love, and all beings. Let me know how it goes 🙏🧡

04/16/2026

Address

1404 SE 25th Avenue
Portland, OR
97214

Opening Hours

Monday 7pm - 9pm
Friday 7pm - 9pm
Sunday 10am - 1pm

Telephone

+15032336498

Website

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