In the summer of 2019, Ajahn Chandako gave a blessing to Watsonville Insight to start growing it's community while Tiffany Wong and Phoenix Toews were practicing at the Redwood Forest Hermitage with Kim Allen and Betsy Blessing. As Ajahn Chandako put it, "It doesn't sound like much is going on [in the South County of Santa Cruz in terms of meditation and mindfulness]. Why don't you start a home practice group?"
After 18 years of service to Vimutti Buddhist Monastery and the Auckland Theravada Buddhist Association, Ajahn Chandako has retired as abbot. He looks towards simplifying his life, moving in the direction of peace, reducing burdens, and a period of sustained Dhamma practice in solitude, according to the Vimutti Buddhist Monastery, New Zealand facebook page.
Watsonville Insight wishes him well in his new endeavors and will remember his years of hard work with gratitude.
We would also like to acknowledge that there is a thriving Japaneses Buddhist Temple in Watsonville in the Jodo Shinshu Tradition, where many Japanese Americans still practice the dhamma today.
May the dhamma benefit the all beings regardless of race, color, class or creed.