She's Making a List...

 

Almsgiving Preparations Check List

And checking it twice.

Every year, around this time, I pull out my Almsgiving Preparations list.  Pictured above is a list I had made when the almsgiving was being held on a Sunday.  This year, the monks had another engagement on Sunday, so the almsgiving will be held on Saturday.  The preparations have to be brought forward by a day.

Here's this year's list:

Done Ahead:

✔️- Set the date
✔️- Invited the monks
✔️- Invited the participants
✔️- Confirmed the date with the monks
✔️-Confirmed the number of monks attending

✔️- Set the menu; bought some of the groceries
✔️- Cooked the "prepare ahead" dishes - Cashew curry, Dhal, Garbanzo beans, Murunga curry

✔️- Check supplies - paper plates/paper napkins, incense sticks, etc.; ✔️buy if needed

✔️-- Get the donations ready

✔️- Clean the living room

Still to do:

- Rearrange the furniture to set up the seating area in the living room 

- Set out candles, incense sticks & holder, lighter/matches to light the candles, etc.

- Clean the kitchen 

- Clean the bathroom
- Tidy the rest of the house 

- Take down the dishes used only for almsgivings and wash them
- Take out serving dishes, basins used for washing hands, serving spoons, etc.

- Set out items needed for the transfer of merit: teapot, cup, and basin; fill teapot with water
- Set out new bottle of water for blessing; bowl to catch drips when blessed water is poured out
- Set out items for washing hands: fresh cake of soap, hand towels, jugs of warm water & basins

On Thursday:

- Order ✔️& pick up Groceries
- Clean out fridge

On Friday:

- Pick up friend R
- Take out cooked curries from freezer and keep in the fridge to thaw

- Cook the rest of the curries: kale mallung, spicy potatoes, curried sauteed green beans, pappadum, boil eggs for salad
- Cut up pineapple

- Cover chairs and tables

- Take R home

On Saturday (Day of the Almsgiving):

- Cook rice (2 types - white and red) 

- Make the salad (hard boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, red onions)

- Arrange fruits (pineapple, grapes, tangerines from the garden, raspberries, blackberries) in saucers; cover
- Arrange a variety of sweets (kavili; kalu dodol✔️, thala guli✔️, aluwa✔️, chocolates✔️,  cookies ✔️) in saucers; cover

- Serve desserts into bowls or saucers
- Pour palm treacle into sauce boat or jug (to be served over yogurt)

- Warm up curries; dish out

- Serve up offerings to the Buddha and offerings for the Order of Monks 
- Pick flowers from the garden and arrange in vases
- Boil water and keep warm for those monks who prefer hot water
- Pour water and juice into glasses

10:45 a.m. - Everything should be done and ready!

11:00 a.m. - Monks arrive; Offerings to Buddha, Order of Monks, etc. take place and service begins with devotions being recited.

11:30 a.m. - Lunch is served to the monks

12:00 noon - Monks finish their lunch (they are prohibited from eating after noon), plates/begging bowls are cleared, a sermon is said, blessings are chanted, merit gained from almsgiving is transferred to departed loved ones, and donations are offered to the monks.

1:00 p.m. - the religious ceremonies are concluded, the monks leave; usually, lunch is then served to all the guests who participated

Almsgiving Menu:

- Rice (red rice and white rice)

- Curries (cashew curry, dhal, garbanzo beans, murunga curry, kale mallung, spicy potatoes, sauteed curried green beans, salad, pappadum, tomato chutney)

- Sweets (5 kinds)

- Fresh fruit (5 kinds)

- Yogurt & treacle

- Maybe pudding or pie

Orange juice, water

I usually post the menu and the order of serving on the fridge so we can consult it to make sure that nothing is forgotten at the last minute.

The lists help to keep me focused on what needs to be done.  I will be updating the lists as I go.