From Heartwood Refuge & Academy in Henderson, NC, comes news that its founding teacher and abbot, Venerable Pannavati, Maha Theri, has suffered a heart attack, but “is back at the hermitage, already!” As Heartwood’s most recent newsletter tells us:
“On Wednesday morning during choir rehearsal, Venerable Pannavati had a hemiplegic migraine. While at the ER getting it checked out, a team of neurologists concluded it was the same controllable event she experiences from time to time and was being released. But Ven. Soma voiced concern about her recent fatigue, and based on that “new” information, the only woman doctor present insisted on one more test — for her heart instead of her head! The results indicated she was in the process of an NSTEMI heart attack. Suddenly, the 4 neurologists were gone, replaced by 6 cardiologists. And, they did an excellent job of patching her up!”
Also included was a message from Venerable Pannavati, which began, “Don’t be sad or worried about anything. We are of the nature to suffer loss, grow old, be sick and die!” It also indicated that Ven. Pannavati had already gone into retreat, “with gratitude.”
We at Buddhadharma and Lion’s Roar wish Venerable Pannavati and her community all best wishes for continued recovery and stability.