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 6 and emergencies).
- Stay within the boundaries of the retreat center.
- Keep the Eight Precepts, which are:
- Intend not to take away any breath(abstain from killing).
- Intend not to take away what is not given (abstain from stealing).
- Intend to keep one's mind and one's body free from any sexual activity.
- Intend not to harm others by speech.
- Intend not to harm one's consciousness with substances that intoxicate
and lead to carelessness (no alcohol, no drugs, no smoking etc).
- Intend not to eat between after noon and before dawn.
- Intend not to dance, sing, play or listen to music, watch shows, wear
garlands, ornaments and beautify oneself with perfumes and cosmetics.
- 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.