Meditation Retreat Information

International Dhamma Hermitage

Wat Suan Mokkh - Chaiya - Thailand  

Basic Rules

During the retreat, all participants are required to observe some basic rules. This is for the ben­e­fit of everyone - a very important part of getting you to the right frame of mind for med­ita­tion - and because you will be staying on monastery grounds. You must:

• Keep complete silence throughout the retreat
  (exceptions: personal interviews from Day 3 to Day 8 and emergencies).
• Stay within the boundaries of the retreat center.
• Keep the Eight Precepts, which are:
  1. Intend not to take away any breath(abstain from killing).
  2. Intend not to take away what is not given (abstain from stealing).
  3. Intend to keep one's mind and one's body free from any sexual activity.
  4. Intend not to harm others by speech.
  5. Intend not to harm one's consciousness with substances that intoxicate
     and lead to carelessness (no alcohol, no drugs, no smoking etc).
  6. Intend not to eat between after noon and before dawn.
  7. Intend not to dance, sing, play or listen to music, watch shows, wear
     garlands, ornaments and beautify oneself with perfumes and cosmetics.
  8. Intend not to sleep or sit on luxurious beds and seats.

This is the moral code for those who seek normalcy plus lightness and simplicity in living.