The reason we do not allow yoga or other practices during the retreat is because we would like you to experience the benefits of Vipassana meditation on its own, and because when you mix practices, it is difficult for the teacher to monitor your progress and make recommendations accordingly.

You should bring a sitting cushion, comfortable white or light coloured clothing (e.g. jogging pants, t-shirts, sweaters, etc) and toiletries. We will provide you with towels and linens.

No. Many meditators are not Buddhists, but highly benefit from the teachings of the Buddha.

This retreat is intended for beginners to take part. For many people, this will be their first exposure to meditation practice. Your teacher will adjust the retreat according to your level of comfort. If you have any concerns during the retreat, each student meets with the teacher daily, when they may ask all questions and voice concerns.

During the retreat, we will be observing “Noble Silence.” This means that talking is permitted but it should be restricted to useful speech, i.e., speech associated with necessities of circumstance (e.g. when organizing meals or for other logistical reasons) and when discussing your practice with the meditation teacher. You may also engage in limited pleasantries such as “good morning”, etc.

We charge a registration fee for accommodation and food provided at overnight retreats. While this fee is competitive compared to rates for accommodation at other centres, it does not include any remuneration for the teaching above providing for the teachers’ expenses. Since we are unable to put a price on the value of the Buddha’s teaching, as a rule, we will not give you advice or any suggestion on how much to donate. If you choose to make a donation, the amount is entirely up to you.

Due to limited space at our centre and the need to ensure its financial sustainability, we regret that we are unable to accept refund or rebooking requests later than 1 week before the start of your retreat.

To ensure financial sustainability of the centre, we regret that at this time we are not in a position to offer scholarships or accommodation in return for volunteer time.

At the moment, we are encouraging beginner students to register for 15-day retreats and returning students to register for 10-day retreats. This helps us organizationally with regards to cleaning and preparation of rooms and to keep the centre financially sustainable so that we can continue to offer this practice to our community. Also, and importantly, it ensures that students have enough time to progress in their practice which is particularly applicable to students who are working on the basic course. We do hope that you will be able to make arrangements in your schedule to join us for a 15 day course which is the current minimum booking for new students

We have one smaller single room that we have to use to balance out the genders. If there is an odd number of women then we assign it to a woman and if there is an odd number of men then we assign it to a man. Once we know the gender of the person who would go in the room based on the other bookings, it’s a question of whether any of the students are returning students and when they first started practicing with us. If they are all beginners than we assign the single room randomly between them. It is not available upon request. Students wishing to guarantee their own room, may book two spots and then would have a double room to themselves.

We will post all retreats in the newsletter as soon as they’re confirmed.